Does anyone here have a Sony A100?

[Tommybojangs]

I'm a sales associate at a large camera retail store. I've played with D2x's and Fuji $103 crapcams and everything in between. I'm curious if anyone out there has had a lot of saddle time on the Sony. As well as that, I guess I'm asking your opinions those of you who have went ahead and purchased the a100.

I know quite a bit on the Nikons. I love the D50 and D80 for their smooth and precise feel. I feel like I could cut the tip off a kneedle with any Nikon. The Sony a100 feels a little more like a sharpened butter knife, however I cannot let go of the fact that the Sony has some unique features such as built in IS. I've tested both cameras back to back several times. Even the nikon d50 seems to be picking up a little bit more detail on the target i focus and shoot, however the sony has more detail on the surrounding area. I've toyed with the settings...i don't know what i'm doing wrong. I can't see how a camera with a 4mp DISADVANTAGE can capture a sharper image especially when it's not equipped with IS. BOTH cameras were set to the same exact iso, shutter speed, and ap.

I'm ready to buy a DSLR and I just can't choose between the Nikon D80 and the Sony A100... :( :confused: HELP!

EDIT: I'm sorry. I'm new here. I didn't realize there was a sony specific forum. Can a mod please move this thread?? (SORRY!)

[forno]

Are you using equivelent quality lenses?

[Tommybojangs]

Are you using equivelent quality lenses?

yeah, the pos 18-55 that comes in the nikon kits vs the sony kit lens, the 18-70

[DonSchap]

To be honest... the SONY kits lens leaves a lot to be desired. If you can, get a real Minolta AF lens, like the AF 50mm f/1.7 (around $30-50 on ebay) and shoot some frames with it. Then, you will see the difference. The kits lens is simply an inferior level lens, which is best avoided.

The best part of the SONY is that you can get the Minolta-glass relatively cheap and it is some of the finest lensing in the world, due to the buy-out, last February. People just don't realize how good some of the glass was.

To give you kind of an idea of the variation between these two... these are test shots I took with both the SONY "kit lens" and the Minolta AF 50mm f/1.7 under identical lighting and within minutes of each other.

SONY 18-70mm "Kit lens" @ f/4.5
16254

Minolta AF 50mm f/1.7 (20 years old) @ f/4.5
16255

To be honest, I could hardly believe it, myself... but, there it was... an almost "diffused" image in comparison. It is because of this that I practically never use the "kit lens"... and am current waiting to get an ultra-wide angle for this camera. I hope this "exposure" helps you out. LOL :D