Sony Alpha a230 review

The Sony A230 is an entry level DSLR from Sony. All in all, it is a very good camera, considering its relatively low price. The camera shoots 10.2 megapixel images which can be displayed on its 2.7 inch LCD screen. It has an ISO range of 100-3200, a built in anti-shake system, eye-start auto-focus and Dynamic Range Optimizer. The camera is slightly cheaper than the A330 model, which features Live View and a tilting LCD screen, and is much cheaper than the 14 megapixel A380. If you buy it with a decent lens, the camera will probably set you back about $450.

The Sony A230 really excels is in its ease of use. Most of the controls and features are fairly self-explanatory and easy to use. The intelligent auto mode seems to produce good looking results, and the manual settings are easy to change. Unfortunately there aren’t enough external buttons, which means you can expect to do a fair amount of navigating through menus with the camera’s D-pad. The A230 is fairly chunky, and is quite heavy. It feels well built and robust, although some of the panels are a bit plasticy. It uses a special rechargeable Sony battery, which can be annoying. The camera has an unusual grip which many people do not like. I have no problems with the grip, however, and find it to be rather well designed in fact. The view finder is very small, meaning it can be quite hard to use the manual focus properly. The LCD is good enough; having reasonable outside visibility but still reflecting a fair amount of light. The Steady Shot feature on the Sony A230 seems to work fairly well when shooting at lower exposures. The camera also comes with numerous scene shooting modes, like landscape and portrait, which are helpful for novices no doubt. The camera has no internal memory, but instead an SD card slot. Overall, while it does have some annoying features, the Sony A230 is fairly easy to use.

The Sony also has very competitive image quality. The images are sharp and vibrant, and the colors tend to come out very well. Noise isn’t a big problem, although you can expect to see some when shooting with the highest ISO settings. The camera shoots in standard or fine JPEG or in RAW. It handles night photography well, allowing you to set shutter speed up to 30 seconds, or even longer with bulb mode. The anti-shake feature works really well, allowing you to shoot sharp images at relatively long shutter speeds.

The Sony A230 is a very good camera. While the lack of external buttons can get annoying from time to time, it is generally very easy to use, and will deliver very high quality images without you having to mess around with the settings too much. As an entry level DSLR, the Sony A230 is one of the best options out there, especially because you can pick one up for a very reasonable price from Amazon or another online retailer nowadays.

Review courtesy of Charlie Nourse on http://hubpages.com/hub/Sony-Alpha-230-A230-camera-review

Nikon D40 Review

Nikon D40

The Nikon D40 is essentially a very good and comprehensive entry-level digital SLR to use. The D40 has many of the functions you need and although it is not used any more, it is widely available for a low price (£180-£200) on the second-hand market.The images are captured on its 3008x2000 (6.0 megapixel) CCD sensor. It has a sensitivity range of 200-1600, and you can boost it up to 3200 in the on screen menu. Considering the lower resolution I find the images of very high quality. The D40 does not support "sensor cleaning" which is a shame, because it is quite common to get small specs of dust on the sensor when changing lenses, which results in black smudges on the final images which then have to be photoshopped. It shoots in 5 different qualities, NEF(RAW), JPEG BASIC, JPEG NORMAL, JPEG FINE and NEF(RAW)+JPEG BASIC, shooting in RAW allows the photographer alot more freedom with editing when one gets back to the computer. The maximum shutter speed is 1/4000s which   is great for capturing action, and high light-intensity shots. You can put the shutter speed right down to 30s which is good for capturing light trails and the likes. There is also the bulb mode, in which you can leave the shutter open for as long as you choose to, but for this you really need a remote, and there are none (yet) compatible with the D40. The continuous drive mode allows you to take pictures at 2.5fps which is also great for action shots. The metering can be set to spot, center-weighted and 3D matrix metering II; which is great for capturing macro shots.

Stunning low-light image I captured with the D40

What the Nikon D40 really stands out in is its ease of use. The D40 has an extremely well developed user interface, and you dont really need any prior knowledge to take pictures with it. The aperture and shutter priority modes are also very easy to use by using the wheel located at the top right of the camera. There are many different scene options as well such as night portrait and macro which are really helpful for specific shoots.

Image courtesy of Ken Rockwell

Image courtesy of PhotoReview

The D40 is also extremely light compared to its competitors, this makes it an easy camera to take with you on short day trips or even long holidays. It weighs 522g (including the lithium ion battery).

Another area in which it excels is its super bright and clear lcd screen. The screen measures 2.5" and is extremely bright and clear, perfect for examining your images right after taking them. You may think that this bright screen would sacrifice battery life, but no! On one charge you can take an excess of 1000 images ! this makes it easier to travel around, not having to hassle with spare batteries.

The Nikon D40 is compatible with all nikon AF-S and AF-I lenses which makes it great for using with a wide range of focal lengths.

In conclusion, I find the D40 an excellent camera, even if it hasnt got high resolution or "live-view", it still takes breathtaking images, and it is definitely a good option to look into when investing in the amateur SLR market.
If are considering buying a D40, the best place to look would be Amazon