Brief Scenes

Canon SD900 OR Sony Cybershot DSCW80 ???

Need help deciding between these two cameras:

I had a Sony point and shoot camera for a couple of years after which it was burned out after only about ten thousand images. Sony is into electronics, not cameras. What I liked about the camera was that it was well built, robust and it performed relatively well. What I hated about the camera was that just about anything I wanted to do I had to open a menu to activate it and do it. While Sony may build good electronics, they do not understand how photographers work and use cameras and as a result they do not design them to place critical controls on buttons where they can be easily and quickly accessed. Now that may not be an issue for you if you’re only going to use it in automatic mode, but it becomes a really big issue when it comes to trying to use the camera’s controls.

The other issue with Sony is that they like to be proprietary. They use a memory stick which only Sony uses so expect to pay more for memory cards when compared to compact flash and secure digital, the current most popular cards. I also knew a guy who had a Sony SLR. He wanted to borrow my flash and discovered that Sony had designed the hot shoe for the flash in a non standard manner so that only Sony flashes could be attached to the camera.

Personally I don’t like supporting companies that don’t follow standards which enable you to obtain whatever accessories you need from more than one supplier. Ultimately that means you’ll always end up paying more for an accessory with those manufacturers and you won’t necessarily get a better product, usually it’s only an average product.

So stick with a manufacturer that is in the camera business and always has been. Their cameras are designed in a way that work for photographers and at least you can get competing products at better prices.

I’d vote for the Canon, they build excellent cameras that are designed for use by photographers and they have been building cameras for decades, in fact longer than Sony has been in business.

There’s another minor consideration too, Sony uses the memory stick and only Sony uses that card. If you go Sony, you’ll have to invest in two kinds of memory cards, nikon D40s and D40xs use an SD card. For whatever it’s worth, Canon also uses an SD card. So the cards you buy for the Canon you can use in the Nikon and visa versa. That makes more sense to me than having two different cards.

Finally, I think you’re making a good choice in SLRs, I personally use a Nikon D70s and a Nikon D200. But, I’d recommend the D40x instead of the D40. It’s a bit more expensive but it has almost twice the resolution and a few new features that weren’t built into the D40. Additionally, the D40 is nearing the end of its product life cycle whereas the D40x is relatively new. That means you’ll get tech support on the D40x for a lot longer than you’ll get it on the D40. I’d also suggest the 18mm-200mm lens for it. This gives you an amazing range in a lens and prevents you from having to constantly change lenses if you get the short kit zoom and later a telephoto. Just something to think about.

I hope that helps a little.

Sony Alpha DSLRA330L 10.2 Megapixel SLR Digital Camera Kit – JR.com