Back into Photography with a Sony A300K
 

So i couldn't pass up the chance to get a DSLR for dirt cheap, and i am now back in the game.

i was driving back from cali with a friend, and we knew Circuit City was having a going out of business sale, so we decided to take a look and see what was left. we stopped at the one in Kaizer in Oregon. (the store was a mess lol.)

there wasn't much i wanted, until i came a cross the DSLR's. there were 2 in my price range that i was looking at. all were 30% off by the way =o.

Nikon D40 (i think) 6mp, 359.99
or
Sony A300K 10mp, 419.99

and what made this even better was oregon's lack of sales tax :thumbs:

all in all, for the camera plus a 4gb CF card, it cost me 451.98

my question to you, is where should i start to relearn everything?
i haven't touched an SLR since highschool when we were using Pentax K1000's =o

any advice would be appreciated, and hopefully i'll be able to start contributing some shots of my own =D

W00t~! Another Sony user! YaY! You are in possession of the camera with the best live view system on the market! Which lens/es did you get?

Maybe take a beginner's SLR course at Langara or Focal Point.

Good choice...I was considering a Sony, but Zeiss lenses (while phenomenal) are a little pricey...but third party lenses like Tamron and Sigma are starting to make some GREAT glass these days...

As for where to start? ANYWHERE :) Take pictures of your friends, your car, your neighbourhood park and experiment...post them up, and wait for feedback...then get right back out and see what you can do.

it came with a zoom lense, i'll post back in a bit with more details, i gotta run out for a bit.

ok, lens is a DT-18-70mm F3.5-5.6

^^^ You need to throw away that lens and get the Sony Zeiss 16-80mm. :)

$$ i've already spent too much as it is haha, it will have to wait for a while.

unless you've got one you want to off load for cheap? ;D

Hehe...no. I like mine. I do have a 17-35mm f2.8-4 I might want to get rid of though.

Should have gotten the nikon >.>

why?

Err, yeah, why??

Because I dislike Sony =] And he's my brother and I can harass him all I want ^^

Why do you say that? Have you used a Sony DSLR before, and didn't like it for some reason, or are you just talking out of your butt? :(

I dislike sony as a whole, and yes I have. One of my ex's is a photographer.

I just found the Nikon less confusing, that's all =] No need to get offended.

200k user here, for about a year now.

It's awesome.

Sony users unite :D

A350K w/ Tokina 28-70 F2.8

Besides all the Sony hardware is based off the great Konica-Minolta.

No offense taken...just don't understand the logic, as the Sony DSLR's are essentially Konica Minolta products with the Sony name on them, so you must hate Konica Minolta too?

I'm the total opposite - All of my audio/video equipment except my PVR is Sony. Never had a problem.

Konica Minolta 800si 35mm SLR
Konica Minolta 7 35mm SLR
Konica Minolta 7D DSLR
Sony A700 DSLR
Minolta 50mm f1.7
Minolta 50mm f3.5 macro
Minolta 135mm f2.8
Minolta 200mm f2.8 APO HS G
Minolta 17mm~35mm f2.8 D
Minolta 24mm~105mm f3.5~4.5 D
Minolta 28mm~105mm f3.5~4.5
Minolta 70mm~210mm f4
Minolta 75mm~300mm f4.5~5.6
Tamron 70mm~210mm f2.8 SP LD
Sigma 170mm~500mm f5~6.3 APO
Sony/Carl Zeiss 16-80mm f3.5-4.5
:)

I didn't say I hated Sony, I said I disliked it as I found the Nikon to be much less confusing. And the only thing of Minolta I've ever had was a P&S camera that broke 2 months after I got it lol.

Quite the collection there. Grabbing a Minolta 24-105mm next week. Just gotta find a nice 50mm and maybe a beercan :D