Sony Alpha 100 replacement body

[lawklandman]

I bought a Sony Alpha 100 shortly after it was launched. The battery now drains down very quickly which seems to be because of a fault with the Steady Shot feature (you can hear a whirring sound when the camera is switched on). The retailer said it would be cheaper to buy a new body rather than have the camera repaired. My question is what body to buy (it needs to be compatible with the original 18-55 lense and the minolta 70-300 which I already have.

Thanks for any advice

[blaireau_photo]

Hello lawklandman - Welcome to the Sony Forums

The lenses that you have described will be OK with any Sony SLR/SLT camera. If you let me know some details about what you require i.e. price range, I will be able to give you further advice on this. For instance, would you be looking for an entry level camera body or something a little more sophisticated?

Thanks,

Simon

[lawklandman]

Something a bit more sophisticated I think. I saw a Alpha 500 body only on eBay at about £250 which would seem a sensible sort of budget but not sure how new a model that is

Thanks for the response

[blaireau_photo]

Hello again

I believe that the A500 was introduced in mid 2009 - if you take a look on the Google shopping tool there may be one or two eBay sellers that appear to be selling it for less than that for just the camera body.

It may help you to take a look at a comparison between the two models - I have noticed this article on Snapsort.

There are many differences listed for both picture quality (a better sensor and built in HDR) and ergonomic reasons (including a flip out screen which is also a live viewfinder) but overall it shows that with the lenses that you already have, this would be a good step up at a reasonable price without purchasing a new one.

Thanks,

Simon

[silawre]

It is down to budget really, you could consider the A500, A550, A450 and A580, all very good second hand cameras.  Or you could consider one of the SLT range of cameras like the A37 and A57.

Si

[lawklandman]

Thanks again.

[lawklandman]

Not sure of the difference between DSLR and SLT. I'll try and read up on it, but thanks for the response.

[silawre]

Hi,

The main difference is that an SLT camera has a fixed translutant mirror, in other words the mirror does not move when you press the shutter.  This allows the camera to continue metering and auto focusing right up to the moment the shutter button is pressed and there is no lag waiting for the mirror to move out of the way.  It also means there is no viburation from the mirror as it does not move.  It makes for a quieter camera when in use too.

SLT's also come with a EVF, (eletronic view finder) rather than and OVF (optical view finder) so the image in the view finder is supplied by electronics rather than a glass prism.  This has been a hot topic in a lot of forums with some finding the EVF not performing as well as the OVF.  Personally the EVF and my A77 and A99 has never let me down.

Si