Shutter Mike Photography

My initial reasons for going with a Sony DSLR over the generally more popular Nikon or Canon were based almost exclusively on practicality.  I had (and still do in fact) a Minolta SLR film camera and several lenses when I started shopping around for a DSLR.  At the time Sony and Minolta had partnered to develop a new line of digital SLR cameras with the Minolta lens mount.  That meant I would not need to invest in lenses in addition to the camera body.

However, when I did my research I did take a few other factors into consideration.  I knew I wanted image stabilization in whatever camera I bought.  At the time, the Sony Alpha line of cameras had this feature built into the camera body whereas most DSLRs have that have this feature have it built into the lens.  The in-camera option means I have stabilization regardless of the lens I use.  Combine that with the fact that I already owned a few non-image stabilizer lenses from my Minolta and there were two pluses in favor of the Sony.

Price was also a big factor of course.  At the time I bought my first Sony Alpha it was a new line from Sony and the Alpha 100 was their first release.  Sony’s pricing model was (and still is) to present feature rich cameras at a price that opens the DSLR market to more consumers.  So the pricing worked and sealed the deal.

I used my Sony Alpha 100 for about 3 years and had been very happy with the features and performance so when I went to upgrade I stuck with Sony for pretty much the same reasons that brought me to Sony the first time.  Only this time, the additional features of the newer Sony models that had been released since I first got my a100, such as the 24 mp full frame sensor of the Sony Alpha 850, basically kept me from even looking at the competition.

I have used the Sony Alpha DSLR cameras for several years now, first the a100 and now the a850, and have been very happy with the cameras’ features as well as the image quality.  I feel Sony produces a quality camera and would definitely recommend them for both first time DSLR users and more experienced photographers.