Sony Alpha 550

[actionjane]

I am wanting to purchase a sony alpha 550. Mainly because of the 7fps its the best sony has I have found. I like the Sony brand, I enjoy it in other products. I am VERY new to the dslr's. My current camera is a Nikon Cool Pix that is roughly 5-6 yrs old and has only 3mp and point and shoot only.
Is the Sony Alpha 550 worth the price?

[NikS]

I've read very good things about this camera, however, i'll advice you to check the general prices on lenses, and compare it to other brands. May sound silly, but where i live - everything Sony related is ridiculously expensive, and i'm not sure if there're any worthy 3rd party brands.

[kuvahmagh]

Sigma & Tamron both make lenses with Sony mounts, though all of their line may not be available in it.

[bono]

I own the Alpha 500 and think it is a really good camera. The 7fps on the 550 only work with no AF and no exposure change. Otherwise you get about 5fps.

The Sony lenses are quite expensive, that is for sure. But you can buy Tamron or Sigma or Tokina. And there are plenty of secont hand Minolta AF-lenses around. They work perfectly and even some of the 1985 models give great results.

[klint28]

Originally Posted by actionjane

I am wanting to purchase a sony alpha 550. Mainly because of the 7fps its the best sony has I have found. I like the Sony brand, I enjoy it in other products. I am VERY new to the dslr's. My current camera is a Nikon Cool Pix that is roughly 5-6 yrs old and has only 3mp and point and shoot only.
Is the Sony Alpha 550 worth the price?

the sony a 550 is awesome. a few of my friends have bought them after having a play with my camera, they are coming down in price to

[gramikay]

I own the Sony a550 as well as the a300. There are many old Minolta lenses on the market that will fit both of these cameras and they do a really good job. My favorite lenses are the Minolta 50mm 1.7 that I picked up from ebay for a song and the Tamron 18-200mm which pretty much stays on my camera except for low-lighting indoor shots. For me, it was the right choice.

[Hexenmeister]

Greetings, all. Long time RSS follower, first time poster.

I recently got an A550 and am loving it. I especially love shooting with the 50mm f/1.4. If fact, it's really the only lens I've used on it, even though it came with the 18-55 and 55-200. Now I'm making a simple pinhole "lens" for it by modding a body cap. There is one detail, however, that I need to properly size the pinhole, and that's the depth of the body cavity from the mounting ring to the CCD.

Does anyone happen to know the measurement?

[Liacs]

So happy I am not the only Sony-crazy one here... I am thinking of buying the 550 too, currently owning the old a100...
I decided against the newer ones 560, 580 because I do not need the video and I can manage without the panorama feature. I guess those are the two main advancments, no?
For that price difference I rather buy some other accessories or just do a citytrip to try it out

[PWhite214]

While I don't have a Sony 500 series, I mostly use older Minolta glass on my Sony Alpha cameras. I have a couple of lenses that are not very good, but, most are truly wonderful. By shopping carefully, you can pretty well find what you need for reasonable prices.

Phil

[LenDog]

I've been using an a330 for over a year, and was looking to upgrade within the brand, but I opted for an a700 instead of the 550. It's the only "prosumer" camera Sony has ever made, and it's a very capable APS-C frame. I bought a used one, there aren't many for sale out there which is usually a good sign.