Hi, I'm fairly new to photography and i'm looking to upgrade to a DSLR, i'm currently using a Minolta Maxxum HTsi Plus. The two cameras i've looked into are the Nikon D40X and the Sony Alpha A-100. My areas of interest are Outdoors/Nature, anything. Since i have a minolta lens that i can use on the Sony it makes it a good choice but then again i only have one lens. I like them because they are somewhat affordable and they're 10 megapixels however nothing has really made me want one more than the other. Any suggestions or ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
It's a personal choice. People will recommend the camera that they have because they think that it's the best choice. Each camera has it's ups and downs. Mega pixels aren't that important, unless you will be printing to very big sizes. The D40 would probably be fine at around six mega pixels.The d40 and d0x won't auto focus with all lenses so you might want to look elsewhere. The a100 has in body shake reduction, and weather sealing. The problem I have with sony is that there is no upgrade path yet. Nikon has lots of lenses and a few pro bodies. I would also look at the Canon Rebel XT (and XTi if you need 10 mega pixels) or for a little more, the Pentax k10d.
I have the olympus e510. I think it's a pretty good camera with built in anti-shake and anti dust. The kit lenses are pretty good and there are enough lenses to upgrade to as well.
The best way to decide is to actually go and hold all of the cameras you are interested in. All of the specs are fairly similar LCD size, megapixel, lens support, so just focus on the parts that will make a difference for you. Your first priority should be comfort. How does the body feel in your hands, weight, build quality, etc. I was dead set on buying a Nikon D70 until I went to the photo store and actually used one. It just wasn't comfortable for me handling it and I did not like the menu button layout. I preferred the feel of the Canon 20D better since the XTi was too small for me. Was one of the best choices I ever made. Since I now moved into nature and wildlife photography, I just like the line-up of premium glass that Canon offers. All manufacturers will carry lenses that cover the entire gamut, and if they don't, a secondary vendor will. So just choose the body that functions best for you.
www.dpreview.com is a good website that will let you compare each camera side-by-side and really get a good idea of the feature differences. Then of course the actual physical holding of the camera is pretty important. Good luck.
