Sony SLT a33

[djmurray324]

So I was at a camera store today thinkingthat I was about ready to pull the trigger on either a Sony A500 or Canon T1I and the sales guy pushed the Sony SLT a33 hard on me.

What are your thoughts on this camera? How does it compare to the A500 and TI1. Being someone who know almost nothing on cameras I was really impressed but thought I would ask for feedback here before taking the plunge.

My primary uses are pics of the kids and want something fast and that can take good indoor shots. I am upgrading from a P&S and all of these cameras fit my budget. I know many of you recommend the Pentax KX but I have ruled it out, I can't deal with the AA batteries and lugging the charger with us on weekends away.

Thanks.

[shoturtle]

Before rehashing everything already said. This thread is pretty much what you can expect with the A33, just a bit slow burst rate then the A55

http://forums.steves-digicams.com/so...-sony-a55.html

[TCav]

One of the things about the A33 is that it uses a smaller, less powerful battery than the A5X0 dSLRs, and it uses an electronic viewfinder instead of an optical viewfinder like in the A5X0, so it uses up that smaller battery faster. If you've ruled out the K-x because you don't want to deal with lugging a charger around with you, you might want to rule out the A33 & A55 as well.

[djmurray324]

Is the battery that bad?

[shoturtle]

it is pretty small,

[shoturtle]

You will also have to consider that the camera has a evf, so that will help drain the battery faster. I have 4 batteries with my m4/3 camera because the evf does drain the better a bit faster the my dslr.

[djmurray324]

Thats too bad I liked playing with it at the store. Should this be a deal breaker?

If so it sounds like I am back to where I started, A500 and T1I. Should I consider the Pentax KR or is it not worth the extra $$$ right now.

[shoturtle]

The k-r has have a nice AF system upgrade over the k-x.

The A33 is a nice camera, think it is a bit over price for a camera that over heats when shooting video. The other thing that was not mention in the A55 thread is, all the action shots posted on line on different sites use a much more expensive lens, to get the photos in focus when shooting at 10fps, the song G 70-300 or the G 70-400 where the lens uses, to focus fast enough to keep up with the shutter. The are very expensive lenses.

But the T1i and a500 are very good deals right now.

[TCav]

Originally Posted by djmurray324

Thats too bad I liked playing with it at the store.

One of the design goals was to make the A33 & A55 smaller and lighter. The biggest, heaviest single component is the battery. The obvious solution to acheiving their design goal was to use a smaller battery. It makes sense, but it has its consequences.

Originally Posted by djmurray324

Should this be a deal breaker?

Your call, but if you don't want to lug around a charger on weekend trips, you're likely to encounter the same problem with the A33 as you are with the K-x that you ruled out for that very reason.

Originally Posted by djmurray324

If so it sounds like I am back to where I started, A500 and T1I.

That's not a bad neighborhood to be in.

[shoturtle]

The k-x uses AA batteries, and you get about 1000-1100 photo if you do not use a flash.