Sony Alpha

Which is a better camera, Sony Alpha 350, Canon EOS 40D or the Nikon D80?

All good camera's but you are comparing cameras from different times and price ranges. It's kind of hard to do a simple comparison.

The D80 launched in the summer of... 2006 I think, now it's under a grand, it's semi-pro. Canon's 40d is just about at the one year mark. It's semi-pro, now just under a grand if you look around. Sony's 350 is brand new, just 2-3 months old.

It's about 799 right now, not semi-pro, more pro-sumer. The closest camera to compare to the others is Sony's A700 which I own. You can get it for about 1,200 depends on where you buy it.

What Canon and Nikon owners don't know or won't tell you about Sony Alphas.

Image stabilization is built into the body, not the lens. Works with any lens you attach, Canon/Nikon only certain lenses.

Canon and Nikon do not have stabilized primes.

The Sony 350 has a flip out LCD and the best live view. Canon and Nikon's live view can be slow at best, clunky at worst. It's why Nikon's live view on the D300 is called tripod mode if I remember correctly, and the D300 while a great camera is like 1800 bucks.

Between the camera's you've mention here, the Canon 40d is my top pick.

If money is an issue, it's the Sony A350.

Throw in the A700 from Sony into the question, that's my pick, and that's why I own it.

Sony's first pro dSLR launches sometime this year. Not much is known about it, so who knows.

It sucks choosing between all three because they all take great pictures. It's the controls, and features, and little things that make a difference. It's funny how just two years ago, the question was always "what's better, Nikon or Canon" now Sony is mentioned so often. They are seriously working to get into this game, no doubt.

I think your next step should be to search the net for how these cams handle, how fast they autofoucs, how many shots they can take without stopping, lens choices, etc. You've got a lot of work ahead of you. If you are curious, check my profile page, I think I've got a link to some of my A700 pics.

Good luck.

Sony Alpha 700 camera review by What Digital Camera magazine

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