Sometimes cameras come out that suprise you.  Canon and Nikon make amazing cameras and will probably always be “The Big 2″; but there is definitely some competition brewing in the SLR market these days.  Olympus has some fine cameras out there, especially their new E-520.  A great camera for not a lot of bank.  But a big name in the consumer electronics business is trying to make a name for itself in the consumer SLR market.  Here comes Sony.

If you are brand new to the interchangeable lens category, I would still look at the Nikon D60, the Canon Digital Rebel XSi, and the Olympus E-520.  All are worthy contenders.  But for my dollar, I think the new Sony Alpha A300 is pretty tough to beat.

It has some pretty neat things built in.  First, it has steady shot built into the body, so you don’t have to have vibration reduction or image stabilizer built into the lenses.  Second, the live view mode in the camera is far and away the best of the current crop of SLR’s.  The LCD monitor is articulated and allows for waist level shooting or shooting overhead.   You lose almost no speed when shooting in this mode.  At 2.5 fps in the live mode, you can barely tell a difference in speed between viewfinder and live view mode.  Third, and one of the neatest parts of the whole Sony line of SLR’s, is the fact that all Minolta AF lenses work on the body.  So haul out those long forgotten Minolta lenses sitting in the back of your closet.  They work now!

One thing to note for those of you used to Sony.  This and all Sony SLR’s use compact flash cards.  They got that one right!  Lexar cards, Sandisk cards, Kingston cards, etc.  They all work.  No proprietary Sony Memory stick necessary!

The image quality is very impressive.  It is on par with any of the competion.  10.2 megapixel sensor.  Low noise.  The color is outstanding!  My only real gripe of the camera is that the viewfinder is a little on the small size to accomodate the way the live view mode operates.

If you already have Canon lenses or Nikon lenses then I would stay in those camps.  No reason to get rid of good glass to change to the A300.  But if you are new, or starting out again in digital SLR’s, give the Sony a look.  For under $600, a very nice package can be had!

If you have any specific questions you can contact me here, or just come by Roberts and I can walk you through this or any other camera!