Camera Labs

Firstly, Gordon thank you very much for all your efforts. My girlfriend and I have been huge viewers of your videos and your website.

I have recently purchased a "Sony DSLRA350K Camera (14.2 MP) inc 18-70mm lens" from Amazon UK.

This is my first scurry to going digital on a SLR. I have come to terms with the fact that I may never get any more mileage from my 1962 35mm Pentax. Over the last ten years I have purchased some of the higher end Pentax compacts and had good enough results.

My questions to the wise.
1. I have an opportunity to cancel (5 week delay)! Should I? I read on a forum that Sony have a new camera out in March. Should I wait it out six months and see what the Sony Santa brings?
2. Has anyone got this case? I have searched for a review or a photo of it with a camera. I need a case that is easy to use but remains attached to the camera. So I don't have to try and hold both the camera and the case when snapping.
3. I also need a battery charger for the car. I hijacked another post (sorry) and was advised to buy a inverter. Which is a good fallback plan. But I was hoping for a more elegant solution that is more forgiving to the more absent minded of us.
4. Which lens £500 - £1000 that is happy taking boring mundane (florescent lighting) indoor work shots almost 99% of it's time. But comes to its own in landscapes, portrait and newbie handling the other 1%?
5. Bjorn van Sinttruije!!! Owner of the thread above!! Someone has to stop him! You are breaking my wallet! (Fantastic thread m8y)

Hello everyone and this is a great forum.
Bookmarked!

The thing with waiting is that there is always something better around the corner. It is a balance to judge if it is worth the wait. The most likely camera they're going to bring out is a replacement to the A700 which is quite different from the A350 and positioned higher up. As the A350 is currently less than a year old, it is less likely to be updated but they still might.

I'm not familiar with the case. But if you use a shoulder type your hands remain free when using the camera.

On the car charger, would keeping multiple charged batteries be adequate to keep you going? A flat battery takes quite a while to charge so you're going to have to be in the car a lot for it to be worth looking at. Just 2 batteries should last a busy day easily.

Lens - a tricky one and probably best filled with more than one lens. Landscapes tend to benefit from wider angle, yet portraits start around telephoto. I have and love the Carl Zeiss 16-80 for wide shots and general indoors shooting. There's also the somewhat cheaper 16-105 which is also quite decent in quality. The longer end of both of these should be ok for portraits, although it's not an area I dabble in so will let others flesh out the advice there. Either will still leave plenty in the budget for another lens, maybe a brighter prime to get better bokeh for portraits, or the wide 11-18 zoom for landscapes.

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Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

Hi plone,

May I offer you a warm welcome to the CameraLabs forums. I've moved your thread to the correct section - don't worry as we all get the occasional spot of finger trouble.

Bob.

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OM-D E-M5 + ED 12-50mm, H-PS14042E, H-F007014E, L-RS014150E, M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 45mm 1:1.8.
Gitzo GT1541T, Arca-Swiss Z1 DP ball-head.
Astrophotography: TEC 140 'scope, FLI ML16803 camera, ASA DDM60 Pro mount.

Welcome plone to the Camera Labs forum!


Don't say that please! I've been in bed for more than a week now due to a serious flu, haven't done this little posting in months!

My thoughts about your questions:
1) No, don't grab that opportunity to cancel. If there's gonna be a new model in March, it's more likely to be the A700's replacement, so that will probably not be something you're waiting for. So it would only delay the fun of owning a DSLR.
2) Do you really need a case that stays attached to the camera? I think a small shoulder bag would be a lot more comfortable, just get the camera out of it when you want to shoot some photos and leave the bag hanging on your shoulder (with some accessories, the Sony leather case couldn't hold those).
3) I agree with popo about buying a second battery. You really can't live without one if you take photos a little more frequently than the average camera user.
4) Since you seem to have a good budget for lenses, I'd be looking into the Zeiss 16-80mm and a 50mm f/1.4 for those low light indoor shots. The money you'll have left might be a good start when saving for a telephoto zoom such as the 70-300mm G or even that amazing 70-400mm G!

- Bjorn -

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