Does anyone know a reputable place I can buy the Sony a300 without a lens? I want to immediately upgrade the lens, and would rather buy the camera body without a junk lens i won't use, and I don't really need the 14MP or the extra cost of the a350.

Also, planning to go with the Sony SAL18250 Alpha DT 18-250mm f/3.5-6.3 lens. Anyone have other suggestions?

Sony doesn't package the A300 'body only'. Only the A350. And retailers risk repercussions from Sony if they do.

And while the 18-250 is the best superzoom lens available, it's more expensive and not as good as multiple lenses with less ambitious zoom ranges.

Hey, thanks for the input. I was hoping someone might know somewhere *reputable* I could find the a300 body only, even though I know sony doesn't "approve." (though why they would care is beyond me) I've found places online that *do* sell body only, but none I'm familiar with or would trust.

As for the lens, I'm really looking for one good all around lens to get me started, that will give me the zoom range I'm used to out of point and shoot. New baby on the way, which is how I'm justifying the camera to the wife. And if I spend more time messing around with lenses than I do taking pictures, she's going to kill me, so a single lens will avoid that all together. Also, less stuff to haul around with all the baby stuff, etc.

Thanks again!

Actually, I think it would probably be a while before you let the new baby get far enough away that you would use anything longer than the kit lens. And with the money you save, you can get a 50mm f/1.7 which would be great for some 'available light' shots of the wife and new baby.

I'd just like to have a good all around lens for most situations to start. the 18-250 would give me some flexibilty for wildlife shots whenever we do get to start going back up into the mountains (colorado). And really, at this point, one of the main goals is to avoid messing with switching lenses as much as possible, even if that means spending more on a single lens compared to a couple of different lenses.

Thanks again...

Hi,
I am also looking to buy the A300 with a 18-250 Sony lens. A google search of the A300 body does comes up with a few online sellers but from most reviews I have read they all sell gray market goods and not trustworthy.
I have been searching for quite sometime and have also called all trusted sellers like nationalcameraexchange, bestbuy, buy.com, ritz etc and none of them sell just the body. If you or anyone reading this post do come across a trusted seller please post it here

Thanks in advance.

why not buy a kit? Give a kit lens a chance to prove itself, then if you don't like it - sell the kit lens and buy a superzoom (not a great idea as the only lens imho), or part-exchange it. Just an idea.

Sony only sells the A300 in certain bundles that include the 18-70mm kit lens.

They do have a $100 instant rebate sale on some of their bundles now with the Accessory kit ($100 value that includes a case and spare battery). So, you can pick one up at roughly the same price as the kit without the accessory kit.

I'd probably go that route, then buy a different lens separately if you don't want to use the 18-70mm. It doesn't add enough to the cost of a kit to worry about it, given the bundles they have right now.

Here's an example from a reputable dealer for that bundle (it's actually slightly less than the standard kit with the A300 and 18-70mm lens alone, and you get the body, lens, a case, and a spare battery with this option).

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...R_Digtial.html

Unfortunately that deal is gone. All dealers seems to have the same price for any Sony DSLR. No kits with extras or price variations...