Sony A-580

[palermo22]

Ordered one last week - should have it shortly. I considered the A-55 as well as the Canon D60 and T2i but in the end I thought this was the best camera for me.

[SONYNUT]

now all you need is some good lenses,flash,tripod,head,memory,batteries,case,
filters,software,faster computer.......

[DonSchap]

in the accessory bag?

Congrats on your decision, "palermo22". The α580 is, perhaps, the best choice in APS-C DSLRs at this time. It seems to be offered at a fair price and with the battery life reportedly at over 1000+ images, Niiiiiice.

The SLTs are not even close at half of that!

The α580's Optical Viewfinder ... means power-economy. Running a set of "ready spare" (one or two) $ONY rechargeable batteries for an α55 is not cheap. Throw in "time-to-charge" each battery (one at a time!) ... and it gets to be a rather cumbersome overhead. I've done the battery shuffle with BOTH flash units and the various cameras ... and I hate having to dance to that tune.

[palermo22]

Actually the first item I did get was Gary Friedman's new book on the A580 - it's a wealth of information. Highly recommended!

[S3000]

now all you need is some good lenses,flash,tripod,head,memory,batteries,case,
filters,software,faster computer.......

LOL !!!

So true !!

[SONYNUT]

almost forgot..52" plasma to watch your videos..

[Robert Besen]

I just got the email from Crutchfield today. My a580 body only, which I ordered on Dec 19th has finally shipped. Can't wait.
Now, my question: does anyone know if my old Minolta 3600HS D flash will work with the a580?

[SONYNUT]

Not fully but good enough with the right settings

[Robert Besen]

Thanks for replying Sonynut.

I read in the a560/a580 manual that ratio flash isn't supported. Do you have any idea what other limitations I might expect? Aside from it being pretty wimpy in the first place.

[SONYNUT]

I use one all the time..........i actually like it better than the fully auto ones......you can dial in what you need manually with no surprises