I'm thinking of going down the a 3000 route

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Greg Beetham
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Re: I'm thinking of going down the a 3000 route

Unread post by Greg Beetham »

Well done Kirk Tuck. I think we are all making a mistake though, the A3000 is a kids toy that well off people might buy for their kids, and that's all it is I think, the only difference about it is that it can actually take a photo instead of just make noises and flash lights.

Sony call all high end cameras ‘Alpha’ according to SAR, http://www.sonyalpharumors.com/category/rumors/ well why not? They call the A3000 an Alpha also, so I can see how that is plausible.
I thought Alpha was for the A-mount, I’m sure when Sony launched the A100 they said as much. The Minolta SLR’s were apparently called Alpha in Japan, Maxxum in the USA and Dynax everywhere else but they had one thing in common, they were all A-mount cameras, I don’t think there was a video cam anywhere in the mix or some other different mount mixed into the A-mount line.
Maybe Sony could create an Alpha division that makes all sorts of stuff, i-phones and tablets maybe game consoles and TV’s too, why not? All you need is a little bit of make.believe, snort something, and the world is your oyster.
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Re: I'm thinking of going down the a 3000 route

Unread post by alphaomega »

As the SAR chap says here http://www.sonyalpharumors.com/sony-aus ... ilce-5000/
Note: the A3000 is DSLR styled, the A5000 is NEX styled and the A7/A7r will be OMD styled. It’s all a bit confusing
So yes, Greg Beetham "has put his finger on it". Sony would appear to be in a state of confusion over their rush to release more cameras than the rest added together and change/swop/rename/innovate/rebadge - what have you. I have actually given up following the charade. Give me a NEX-6 upgrade with that 20Mp new sensor and better EVF with new 16-70 Zeiss zoom at £1,000.00-1,200.00 here in UK and I will be happy.
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Re: I'm thinking of going down the a 3000 route

Unread post by David Kilpatrick »

I think some of the point is being missed. This camera may not even be for 'our' markets - consumer or professional - and it has a distinct feel of being made for some other markets like maybe China, India, Russia. It is now only £299 from WEX with lens.

Pako, it is completely usable for professional work. It even has the viewfinder effect on/off menu option which means you can use it with studio flash. The focusing with E-mount lenses is very fast (clunky with adapted A-mount using contrast detect, but so are all). But like everyone says, it is not a pleasant camera to use. It is like Praktica compared to Pentax 50 years ago - but think how many Prakticas sold, creating a whole generation of new 35mm photographers.

As a bonus I suspect it would float but I have not tried it :-)

David
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Re: I'm thinking of going down the a 3000 route

Unread post by Dr. Harout »

David Kilpatrick wrote:...As a bonus I suspect it would float but I have not tried it :-)

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Re: I'm thinking of going down the a 3000 route

Unread post by pakodominguez »

David Kilpatrick wrote:I think some of the point is being missed. This camera may not even be for 'our' markets - consumer or professional - and it has a distinct feel of being made for some other markets like maybe China, India, Russia. It is now only £299 from WEX with lens.
It is still 400$ here in the USA -but I'm not sure if Adorama has in on stock...
David Kilpatrick wrote: Pako, it is completely usable for professional work. It even has the viewfinder effect on/off menu option which means you can use it with studio flash. The focusing with E-mount lenses is very fast
This is what I suspected.

This reminds me to what I heard at the time of the first gulf war, where photojournalist didn't bring the, then brand new, Nikon F4; but FM2 bodies because the weather and the sand storms; it was les painful to leave on the road a 400 $ body than the 2500+ $ F4.
David Kilpatrick wrote:But like everyone says, it is not a pleasant camera to use. It is like Praktica compared to Pentax 50 years ago - but think how many Prakticas sold, creating a whole generation of new 35mm photographers.
I never used a Praktica, but a Nikkormat, that I prefer to forget...
I won't buy this camera, I'm waiting for the NEX7 replacement, with better AF and probably uncompressed video. I'm not really excited with the rumors about a NEX FF camera, since I'm not buying a new set of lenses for such a camera.
David Kilpatrick wrote: As a bonus I suspect it would float but I have not tried it :-)
;-)
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bfitzgerald
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Re: I'm thinking of going down the a 3000 route

Unread post by bfitzgerald »

Praktica was ok in it's day, cheap cameras with basic functionality but it was an affordable path for some folks to take. Difference is they were not badly built cameras in most respects, but def the budget offerings of the day.

Trouble is this isn't the 70's and 80's, and things have moved on.
For £299 you can easily bag a Canon EOS 1100d or D3100 on clearout offers. It doesn't take an expert to know most folks wont even look twice at the a3000, nice sensor or not. (if the best sensors sold cameras Canon would have gone under by now)

Another critical point is this, overlooked by some in the excitement of mounting other lenses with adaptors. People want "autofocus" they are used to it, and people tend to go for OEM branded lenses over third party offerings. Budget Canikon's offer a gateway into 2 big and mostly complete camera systems, with a vast s/h market too..and tons of s/h bodies if you really get into things seriously as want a back up or second body.

E mount has, even in comparison to A and K mount..almost no s/h market, and a relatively basic line up. The A3000 is going to confuse people expecting to be able to use "Sony lenses" when they won't fit natively to E mount bodies. It's a path that is filled with errors and misunderstanding of this market and the type of buyer you are trying to attract. What Sony needed more than the A3000 was a really decent entry A mount body, which they failed to deliver with the A58. Until they work that angle the A3000 doesn't have a hope in hell of doing anything bar confuse a few buyers, or act as a cheap pretend DSLR type body to current NEX users.
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Re: I'm thinking of going down the a 3000 route

Unread post by classiccameras »

This is fun
It was said with tongue in cheek but with an underlying truth.

A friend of mine who works in a very well known camera shop explained his views on the various DSLR manufacturers.

Canon, market leader and don't they let you know it, but most sales are entry level DSLR. Their asperations for the pro end of their range is very good but not quite as good as Nikon. They are in the camera business in a serious way and are recognised as the leading brand globally.

Nikon, resting on their pro laurels and let you know it now and again. They are a serious camera maker with a reputation amongst pros as the camera to have and be seen with but this has filtered down much to Nikon's pleasure with the entry level market,

Pentax, they are trying to be serious

Sony, they are not sure yet what serious is.

Olympus, living in cloud Cookoo land with no steering mechanism.

Panasonic, quietly confident.

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Re: I'm thinking of going down the a 3000 route

Unread post by bakubo »

When I was in high school and had owned my Mamiya/Sekor 1000 DTL for a year a friend who was on a very tight budget came to me wanting help to get an SLR. I helped him figure out what to buy with his limited funds. This was pre-internet. We decided on a Praktica LTL. He ordered from a place advertised in the back of Modern Photography. I don't recall the price exactly, but I think with the 50mm f2 (or was it f1.8?) it was about $175. I had a chance to handle it when it arrived and it seemed pretty decent.

http://camerapedia.wikia.com/wiki/Praktica_LTL
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Re: I'm thinking of going down the a 3000 route

Unread post by mikeriach »

Apologies for digressing, I think my first ever SLR was the Chinon CM1 (can't remember exact model) but it was built like a tank. I thought about a Practical MTL2 at the time but couldn't get locally. The Chinon reminded me of the Nikon FM series but without the cost. Similar style and heft. Those were the days!
All my Sony SLT gear gone. Still got my RX100 though.
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Re: I'm thinking of going down the a 3000 route

Unread post by classiccameras »

I started out with a Zenit E, which had a Leica thread, and it was also built like a T-34, but it took quite decent pictures.
I progressed to a Praktica NTL which also had the 42-mm thread and it had a F/2.8 Tessar lens. Took good pictures.

After thet I got lured by the Pentax adds and got a Spotmatic with an F/2 Takumar lens. Lots of people found that fitting a Pentax Takumar lens to a Praktica enhanced the picture quality quite a bit.
There's more, but another time.
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Re: I'm thinking of going down the a 3000 route

Unread post by caporip »

Praktika MTL3(?) was my first SLR built like a tank as I recall but a good place to start in a lot of ways.
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bfitzgerald
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Re: I'm thinking of going down the a 3000 route

Unread post by bfitzgerald »

http://www.trustedreviews.com/sony-a300 ... era_review

Another review again not my fav site by any means but they give it a bit of a hammering, nice IQ but iffy elsewhere.
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Re: I'm thinking of going down the a 3000 route

Unread post by bakubo »

I just noticed that David has put up his A3000 review:

http://www.photoclubalpha.com/2013/10/0 ... ilpatrick/

It also includes some m4/3 comments.
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Re: I'm thinking of going down the a 3000 route

Unread post by classiccameras »

Bak, thanks for posting that, very interesting but the bit that got my attention was the accurate focus and sharp pictures when no IS was in use. A very below average bit of kit, lets see what comes next.

This is interesting, one of the reviews of the older Olympus 4/3 cameras said very sharp pictures could be achieved if the IBIS was disabled and a higher shutter speed used. IBIS can be switched off on older Olympus cameras, I guess also on newer models. I tried out this idea and yes razor sharp pics with the IBIS off but you do need a higher shutter speed and a very steady hold.
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Re: I'm thinking of going down the a 3000 route

Unread post by bakubo »

classiccameras wrote:IBIS can be switched off on older Olympus cameras, I guess also on newer models.
IBIS on my E-M5 has 4 settings: IS 1, IS 2, IS 3, off. I don't recall what all the settings are. I keep mine on IS 1 and that is the standard IS setting. I think the other Olympus models all allow you to turn IBIS on and off also.
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