[tandeld]

Hi !
I'm new to Pixalo. From the first impression, I have a gut feeling that I'm going to enjoy being with you all.
I need your guidance/ openions regarding purchase of photographic equipments.
I want to buy a good reliable,sturdy d-slr, preferably one which can take Carl Zeiss lenses ! I'm not a professional photographer, but I may become one ! Presently I can call myelf a serious amature.
I'm a die hard fan of Carl Zeiss optics !!!
I've zeroed down on Sony A700 or A350. I intend to buy Carl Zeiss 18-60 lense to start with.

Can you all guide me regarding purchase of this equipment? I would lke to have very frank openions . In my my country, not many people are aware of anything other than Nikons and Canons !!!!. But I swear by Carl Zeiss !!!!!!!!! And I'm not the one who can afford to keep changing ones photographic equipments.
So please, give me alternatives/reasons for NOT buying the combination I've mentioned above for the reasons I've mentioned above !!!!!!! AWAITING YOUR REPLIES!

[billz]

Hi

Sorry can`t help with your choices, have you tried the camera lenses and equipment forum.

[JMitchell]

Well being the Nikon fanboy that I am, I'd say go Nikon, but you obviously don't want to
I've heard good things about the A750, and that it shares a lot of the technology of the D300, so that can only be good
Perhaps a Sony user will come along to offer more advice, not sure if any of the regulars use Sony

EDIT: Perhaps a mod'd like to move this to the "which camera" forum

[AQ]

Hi there and welcome

I cannot help you re the Zeiss lenses but today all the major brands have suburb optics in their ranges.

However I do have the very strong view that the skill of the person behind the camera counts for very much more than the brand of the lens on the front.

Anyway good luck with you future photography.

[Sonsey]

I do not own or have used a Sony DSLR myself but from reading the various reviews in magazines and around the net it seems Sony have come on in leaps and bounds with their latest DSLR cameras. If your a die hard Carl Zeiss fan then I would say feel free to go for the Sony and not worry to much, it'll certainly do a good job for you.

[primer]

Hi There,

Don't forget that Zeiss make lenses for Nikon as well. If you do go Nikon, you open up lot more of an opurtunity to expand with lenses and accesories. That is not to say Sony cameras are not good, but you need to look at the total solution. Buyning a DSLR is not about the camera, its about the ability to expand to do want YOU want it to do.

Cheers,

Prime r :-)

[Chris H]

One thing that may help is telling us where you are from.

In my my country, not many people are aware of anything other than Nikons and Canons !!!!.

I would tend to add to whats been said, in that there are some superb Canon and Nikon offerings that more than match Carl Ziess kit. Incedentally that was my Dads favourite kit years ago. I think he would have loved todays digital offerings

[jake]

Well I have an Olympus E500 and have just bought a Sony 350 because I had quite a few Minolta lenses extention tubes ect. The Sony350 produces better images, and as has been pointed out in the press, prints straight off the camera. I find the camera very easy to operate ( I'm no spring chicken ). It is bigger than the Olympus but not that much bigger. Live view proved a very usefull feature this weekend when I was taking shots of cars from nearly ground level. It's also very usefull when you want to hold your camera up in a crowd. For candid shots people don't seem to notice a camera held at waist level as much. Sure the pro cameras will last longer but ask yourself how long you intend to keep it, with the rate things are improving I recon three year is about long enough for significant developements in camera design. If you are a pro and someone else is paying your expenses it's a different ballgame.
So what don't I like about the camera? It's quite noisy soundwise compared to my other camera but whilst we are on the noise issue the digital noise is far less than the Olympus which was not very good above 400ISO.

[Rob Barron]

I think there is another aspect to this issue that needs to be considered:

Carl Zeiss Optics and Sony Corporation are unrelated. Sony is utilising CZ lens and that is all well and good, they are excellent. But you cannot be certain that Sony will always choose to contract out their lens manufacturing to CZ so you may find you are forced to us different lenses in the future.

There is no question at all that the optics used by Canon and Nikon are absolutely as good as CZ so it isn't an issue of you going for the best. It is simply an issue of you having decided that you want the CZ brand name on your lenses and that is entirely your prerogative. But don't make the decision based on a belief that somehow those lenses are going to be better than Canon and Nikon lenses as that is simply not true.

Cheers,
Rob