Sony DSLR
Just after a little bit of advice regarding camera choice. I have been looking at the some DSLR’s lately and was contemplating the Pentax K-r for a while but recently the Sony A57 has taken my fancy, seems to be fairly highly feature packed, 10fps shooting, full 1080HD at 60fps as well as continuous auto focus throughout both of those modes due to the special mirror system that the Sony employs, it’s a semi transparent mirror. I’m trying to keep the price for camera and lens kit under $1000 and for the money this seems to be the best spec out there with either a 18-55mm lens or 18-130mm lens.
What will I be using the camera for? Well due to my recent injury and a desire to still go to the snow I would like to shoot some snowboarding with it, I figure I might just walk up and shoot the front valley park. The attraction of the Sony is the 10fps at full raw format. Is there anything else I sould be considering in this price r5ange?
After a very convincing argument from Gamblor in another thread this is my next camera purchase.
This website brings it under your budget.
I personally wouldn’t buy anything other than a Canon or a Nikon for a DSLR. They are the best. They have been doing what the do for a bloody longer time.
Sony is Minolta now yeah? But still cameras aren’t the parent companies primary focus R&D is not as high IMO
here is said thread if you are interested
I can vouch for the Nikon D5100 as this is what I ended up with last year when in the market for a setup!!!!! (Although the frame rate is not as good as the SONY)
Gamblor also recommended this site for a bit of info!!!!!
http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/recommended-cameras.htm#serious
I think the main argument for goin either a Nikon or Canon is the expandability, and also the higher potential for longevity of the brands!!!!!
I ended up with a total bill for $1200 from Bing Lee, (No doubt ya will find cheaper 12 months on)
Nikon D5100
VR 18-55mm Lens
VR 55-200mm Lens
2 x UV Filters
SanDisk Extreme Pro Card 16GB
Cleaning Kit + Lens Pen
LowePro Bag
Hope this helps somewhat?????
You may also remember such threads as this?????
https://www.boardworld.com.au/forums/viewthread/2648/
i just did a quick lookup of the sony specs and wow they look pretty good. Here’s a quote from someone who just bought one regarding the fps
I got my A57 yesterday, spent a couple hours setting it up, and photographed some birds this morning at the San Joachim Marsh in Irvine, California. Finally I got my answer. Yes the A57 really is faster and shoots at 10 FPS with auto focus unlike any other Sony DSLR including the A77 and A580. There are 2 options. The first is the standard 10 FPS (no crop) or 12 FPS (cropped) at widest aperture but with auto focus enabled. Yes. In other models auto focus is disabled in this mode except for the first shot. What’s fantastic is that the A57 will release the shutter at 10 FPS whether the image is in focus or not, just like Canon and Nikon DSLRs. Finally! The second option is that the internal A57 processor has been greatly improved (I had read this somewhere) and the camera is simply much faster, especially when the 70-400 has to be in focus before the camera will release the shutter. The secret benefit of the enhanced speed of the A57 is the ability to follow (in the view finder) fast moving subjects that don’t move in a straight line. I had difficulty doing this with the A77. The A57 isn’t perfect in this respect but it is now good enough. The A57 and 70-400 combo is a great combo, especially for subjects that move quickly.
However, you will prob find that 10fps is too much. You’ll end up with 30 shots for a snowboard jump! If you don’t mind going through and deleting 29 then no problem 
I did read that the handgrip was a little small. Def try to get to a store and pick one up to see how it fits in your hand. If it’s not comfortable then you won’t reach for it as much. Remember to leave yourself a little money for a good bag to carry it in. If you want to take it to the mountain then look at the F-stop line. Actually, I think they may have a city line too.
the nikon d7000 is an amazing camera too.
Cheers guys, from what I saw on dpreview.com (my usual go to site for camera info) it seemed like perhaps the best specced camera for the money. The only piece of info I cannot find is how many shots it can take at that frame rate and then how quickly will it write to the card. I imagine Gamblor that the frame rate can be dialled down somewhat, there’s usually a few options, even my Fuji S8100 lets me dial it down. Will try to get into a store and have a squiz at one however your average paxtons/hardly normal etc usually don’t get stock on new stuff too quick, always trying to flog the old models for near on RRP, I think as per my last 4 purchases it will be online.
normally there’s a high speed mode (10fps) then a mid speed mode that you can adjust yourself. Pentax and Sony are trying to catch up to Canon & Nikon’s market share so they offer more features at lower price points. don’t have time right this second to look up the specs for you but look up the size of the buffer for raw. If it’s close to 20 then it’s good.