Advise needed on upgrading my gear

[Jean001]

Hi,
I am in need of some pro advice. I bought a Sony Alpha 200 back in the day when I started out taking pictures. I have since bought 2 nice lenses (wide angle and telephoto) for said camera, and got to really love taking pictures. I now want to upgrade to something more substantial to take my photography beyond the casual snapper status. I was told by my local camera dealer that Sony is not the right choice going forward, and that I should look at something the Nikon D7000 DX or D700 FX, which I can understand. Would you agree that the Sony ship has sailed and that I should rid myself of it, and take up a dedicated DSLR brand (Canon or Nikon) instead?

[RichardTaylor]

Sony make good cameras and have a fine line of lenses.
Canon & Nikon may have a couple of more esoteric lenses, like the tilt/shift series and may have more 3rd party lenses availabe.
However I feel the Sony/Zeiss lenses should cover a lot of needs.

What is it about your existing gear that restricts your photography?

I shoot with Canon DSLRs & P&S cameras.
Canon make a lot of consumer and business products as well as cameras.

[Jean001]

My wife and I are going on a wildlife photography course, after which we have a couple of other courses in mind. When I went in to my local camera store, to buy some more "pro" lenses, I was told that my wife's Nikon could do with an upgrade, so I got her the D7000, and when I asked about lenses for my Sony Alpha 200, or an upgrade, I was told in no uncertain terms that Sony was crumpling and was only bringing out low budget lenses and cameras... I then had a look online, and it seems as if the top of the range Sony Dslr on the market in South Africa is the Sony SLT-A55. I can't even find an Aplha 900 anymore. I am just worried that I spend more money on Sony now, and in 2 or 3 years, I have to make the move anyhow...

[RichardTaylor]

That doesn't appear to be the case here.
Full range of Sony DSLRS and lenses appear to be available at a camera store (and it is a good one) near where I live.

However seeing your wife has gone the Nikon route, I would go that way also as it makes sharing lenses very easy etc.

[Jean001]

So I decided to stick with Sony after reading up about some new gear coming out on SonyAlphaRumors. Can't wait for the SLT-a77, and hopefully some nice Zeiss Lenses. Anyone have any recomendations on whether the Zeiss 24-70mm is worth going for, or should I wait to see whether there is an updated version to be anounced in August?