D40x or Rebel XTi ?

[Mazen]

TCav, may i ask what kind of camera do you have? just out of curiosity!
thanks

[TCav]

If you own a camera you are comfortable with and like, you're more likely to use it and learn how to use it better. Whatever it takes to make that happen is what I think you should do.

Re: 6MP vs. 10MP: I statedearlier that the likelyhood of noise in a photo is higher with the 10MP, but only when you'vs selected a high ISO. And you don't always have to crank the ISO up. Sometimes you can use alonger shutter speed with the help of a tripod or image stabilization. Sometimes you can use alens with a larger maximum aperture.But these are rare ocassions. In all other circumstances a 10MP image sensor will give you greater detail, allowing you to enlarge the photo further than you might otherwise, or crop more than you might otherwise. Noise is mostly only a problem if you let it be.

I have a Konica Minolta Maxxum 5D. Konica Minolta sold it's camera operations to Sony a little over a year ago, so the current equivalent to what I own is the Sony A-100.

I highly recommed image stabilization, especiallyin the camera body, but you started this topic with your choices narrowed, so I didn't raise the issue.

[Mazen]

I started liking photography because of my Dad's Minolta!!
The one he has is a film camera, but STUNNING pictures!
Anyways, doesn't Nikon have some sort of Image Stabilization mechanism?
VR( Vibration reduction) or something of sort?
(Now you opened the door at the Sony Alfa!!)

[TCav]

Nikon has Vibration Reduction (VR) which is an optical image stabilization system like Canon's Image Stabilization (IS)). It is not part of the camera body, and is only part of some lenses.

[TCav]

Mazen wrote:

I started liking photography because of my Dad's Minolta!!
The one he has is a film camera, but STUNNING pictures!
Anyways, doesn't Nikon have some sort of Image Stabilization mechanism?
VR( Vibration reduction) or something of sort?
(Now you opened the door at the Sony Alfa!!)

Just as a point of interest, if your dad's Minolta is an autofocus SLR, his lenses (if he still has them) will work on Sony dSLRs.

[Mazen]

I just erased the D40 from my list, put the D40x on the top of it, and now the Sony is a new entry!! I think i will stick in the 10MP range, I'm going to try the Sony today, and then Canon and Nikon to narrow down even more!
As for my Dad's Lenses he has a brand that starts with V!! i jst forgot the full name now!!and i don't think they're autofocus, i'll ask him, if they are, then Sony just hit the top of the damn list!!

[TCav]

Mazen wrote:

I just erased the D40 from my list, put the D40x on the top of it, and now the Sony is a new entry!! I think i will stick in the 10MP range, I'm going to try the Sony today, and then Canon and Nikon to narrow down even more!
As for my Dad's Lenses he has a brand that starts with V!! i jst forgot the full name now!!and i don't think they're autofocus, i'll ask him, if they are, then Sony just hit the top of the darn list!!

I was hoping to help you narrow your choices, not expand them. :-)

But since you seem to be regrouping, Pentax and Olympus also make fine dSLRs.

I think the lenses your father has (had?) are Vivitar, and are probably not autofocus, so not only won't they autofocus on the Sony A-100, they won't fit on the Sony A-100.

I will mention that many people complain about the amount of noise in images from the Sony A-100, again at high ISO settings. As I understand it, Sony tempered their noise reduction so as to preserve image detail at all ISO settings; others that took a more zealous approach to noise reductiondid so at the expense of detail at all ISO settings.

Also, while the Sony dSLRs are well supported by the market of 16,000,000 used Minolta autofocus lenses, the selection of new lenses is much smaller than for the XTi, andmaybe even smaller than for the D40X.

[Mazen]

Mazen wrote:

I just erased the D40 from my list, put the D40x on the top of it, and now the Sony is a new entry!! I think i will stick in the 10MP range, I'm going to try the Sony today, and then Canon and Nikon to narrow down even more!
As for my Dad's Lenses he has a brand that starts with V!! i jst forgot the full name now!!and i don't think they're autofocus, i'll ask him, if they are, then Sony just hit the top of the darn list!!

Vivitar is the brand of the Lenses!!

[Mazen]

TCav wrote:

Also, while the Sony dSLRs are well supported by the market of 16,000,000 used Minolta autofocus lenses, the selection of new lenses is much smaller than for the XTi, andmaybe even smaller than for the D40X.

I didn't really get this point, what i understood is that there is a wider choice of lenses for Sony, after that a smaller range for Xti and a narrower one for D40x?!?

[TCav]

Mazen wrote:

I didn't really get this point, what i understood is that there is a wider choice of lenses for Sony, after that a smaller range for Xti and a narrower one for D40x?!?

There is quite a good selection of USED lenses for the Sony (any Minolta autofocus lens ever made), perhaps even better than for the Canon and definately better than for the Nikon D40/D40X.

But for NEW lenses, the Canon XTI has a much better selection than the Nikon D40X or the Sony.