Blake
Hello,
I've been thinking about upgrading to one of these three cameras. They're all within 200-300 dollars of each other in price, so I need to decide which one. I'm going to go to my local camera store soon and hold them, but I still want y'alls opinion.
I love the Sony's 24mp and 12fps, for only $1400! But is there a reason that it isn't as popular as the other two?
I love the D7000's dual memory card slot, and the fact that the lenses are cheap. But I'd sacrifice lens price for a better camera.
The 7D is probably the least favorite out of the three, but that could change possibly!
Help! Thanks for any and all answers.
Answer
You need to decide what your priority is going to be. All of these cameras are fine tools, but each one has strengths that the other does not have.
Overall when you look at features and price, the Sony A77 blows the other cameras away, but that doesn't mean it's the best dSLR of the three.
Sony A77 pros would be the fast phase auto focus when shooting video. Canon and Nikon do not offer this at any price. Check out the youtube videos showing how fast the sony is and how slow the other two are. The Sony has anti shake built in so all of your lenses (and primes) will be anti shake. Not all Canon and Nikon lenses are anti shake, and neither has anti shake primes.
The A77 swivel screen moves around in ways the other two don't. You can actually turn and lift the screen so that you can see yourself if you shoot a self portrait. It has GPS built in, no need to buy something extra. 12 fps max is nice, but honestly, it's not going to make you a better photographer, or make your photos look any better. Only someone shooting sports can make use of it.
24 MP sounds great on paper, but image quality takes a hit at high ISO/low light photography. By ISO 1000 things start to get rough, and 1600 is terrible, I've downloaded many, many RAW files and seen this for myself. 12fps is actually a bit ridiculous, and you have to shoot wide open to make it happen, this causes all kinds of other problems, better to shoot at the 8 fps mode, and even then that's probably too much in most cases
In good light, shooting at ISO 800 and below, it's a great shooter, and yes it does have more dynamic range than any sensor in and out of its price class, but that's at the lowest ISO only. Also, the RAW files are huge, you need a smoking hot/fast memory card (more money) and a large hard drive to deal with all that data.
If you are a video shooter first, then the A77 is the best choice.
Moving on... Canon and Nikon have more lens selection and more third party stuff like wireless flashes, video lights, brackets etc. The Nikon D7000 uses the superior Sony sweet 16 image sensor that blows both the Canon and Sony A77 out of the water when it comes to shooting in low light or at night. The RAW files from the Nikon D7000, Sony A580 and Pentax K-5 (all using the same Sony image sensor) are yummy for the price. You could shoot RAW at ISO 3200 all night and not worry, they will clean up very nicely in lightroom 3.
The Canon 7D would be my last choice. It's getting old already, and Canon made the same mistake that Sony did with the A77. Instead of going for better image quality, they went for pixels and it shows at high ISO. Other than that, there are lots of Canon shooters that love this camera for all it does, but in my opinion, it's about as worthless at high ISO as the Sony A77. One final thing to remember when comparing cameras, and pixel counts.
The image sensor isn't getting any larger, these are all APS-C sized image sensors. So the more pixels get packed in, the smaller the pixels must become. Smaller pixels gather less light, and noise gets worse. While improvements are made with each new sensor to combat noise, sometimes the extra pixels can erase the improvements. The Sony A77 24MP sensor and Canon's 7D are examples of this. The current Sony 16MP sensor is an exception, with more pixels it easily beats their last generation of 10,12 and 14MP sensors. Good luck.
You need to decide what your priority is going to be. All of these cameras are fine tools, but each one has strengths that the other does not have.
Overall when you look at features and price, the Sony A77 blows the other cameras away, but that doesn't mean it's the best dSLR of the three.
Sony A77 pros would be the fast phase auto focus when shooting video. Canon and Nikon do not offer this at any price. Check out the youtube videos showing how fast the sony is and how slow the other two are. The Sony has anti shake built in so all of your lenses (and primes) will be anti shake. Not all Canon and Nikon lenses are anti shake, and neither has anti shake primes.
The A77 swivel screen moves around in ways the other two don't. You can actually turn and lift the screen so that you can see yourself if you shoot a self portrait. It has GPS built in, no need to buy something extra. 12 fps max is nice, but honestly, it's not going to make you a better photographer, or make your photos look any better. Only someone shooting sports can make use of it.
24 MP sounds great on paper, but image quality takes a hit at high ISO/low light photography. By ISO 1000 things start to get rough, and 1600 is terrible, I've downloaded many, many RAW files and seen this for myself. 12fps is actually a bit ridiculous, and you have to shoot wide open to make it happen, this causes all kinds of other problems, better to shoot at the 8 fps mode, and even then that's probably too much in most cases
In good light, shooting at ISO 800 and below, it's a great shooter, and yes it does have more dynamic range than any sensor in and out of its price class, but that's at the lowest ISO only. Also, the RAW files are huge, you need a smoking hot/fast memory card (more money) and a large hard drive to deal with all that data.
If you are a video shooter first, then the A77 is the best choice.
Moving on... Canon and Nikon have more lens selection and more third party stuff like wireless flashes, video lights, brackets etc. The Nikon D7000 uses the superior Sony sweet 16 image sensor that blows both the Canon and Sony A77 out of the water when it comes to shooting in low light or at night. The RAW files from the Nikon D7000, Sony A580 and Pentax K-5 (all using the same Sony image sensor) are yummy for the price. You could shoot RAW at ISO 3200 all night and not worry, they will clean up very nicely in lightroom 3.
The Canon 7D would be my last choice. It's getting old already, and Canon made the same mistake that Sony did with the A77. Instead of going for better image quality, they went for pixels and it shows at high ISO. Other than that, there are lots of Canon shooters that love this camera for all it does, but in my opinion, it's about as worthless at high ISO as the Sony A77. One final thing to remember when comparing cameras, and pixel counts.
The image sensor isn't getting any larger, these are all APS-C sized image sensors. So the more pixels get packed in, the smaller the pixels must become. Smaller pixels gather less light, and noise gets worse. While improvements are made with each new sensor to combat noise, sometimes the extra pixels can erase the improvements. The Sony A77 24MP sensor and Canon's 7D are examples of this. The current Sony 16MP sensor is an exception, with more pixels it easily beats their last generation of 10,12 and 14MP sensors. Good luck.
Canon T4i or Sony A65?
Mike
Which camera is better for low light pictures? I want to shot at weddings and church events.
http://www.amazon.com/Canon-REBEL-Digital-Camera-18-135mm/dp/B00894YX2U/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1353043319&sr=8-1&keywords=canon+t4i
Or:
http://www.amazon.com/Sony-Translucent-Mirror-Digital-18-135mm/dp/B00836H3M6/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1353043425&sr=1-2&keywords=sony+a65+camera
Please help decide.
Answer
You need to do more research. both are poor choices for low light. When you can't flash, the image sensor performance is crucial because you will be shooting in low light at very high ISO.
Strike all Canon dSLRs off the list, they are in last place when it comes to image sensor performance across the board. Sony Exmor sensors have been pounding Canon since 2007. So go with a Sony Alpha, Nikon, or Pentax. They all use Exmor sensors. But there are some duds, and right now, those duds are the dSLRs that use the APS-C 24 megapixel sensors. Skip the Nikon D3200, D5200, Sony A65 and A77. In this price range, you can go cheaper, with the Sony A57 that actually beats out the A65.
But better choices are the new Pentax K 30 and K5 II, nothing can touch them for the dollar at high ISO, they both feature the new updated Sony sweet 16 image sensors, so they even beat out by a hair the Nikon D7000. You can also look for a used Sony A580, it easily beats out the A65 in low light. A used Nikon D7000 or Pentax K5 are good choices too.
If you need to buy right now, and want a semi pro body, and consider yourself a more serious user, the Pentax K5 II is what I would be looking at. The follow up to the 2010 Nikon D7000 would be nice, but it's not here yet, and no word on when and if it's coming.
You lens choice is poor. the 18-135mm is a good all around good light lens, but in low light, it's going to force you to jack your ISO to 3200 and even 6400. You'll need primes to keep that ISO down if you want clean looking shots in low light. You will need primes if you don't want to spend thousands and thousands on large aperture zooms. You will need fast primes like a 35mm f/1.8 and a 50mm f/1.8 depending on whether you go Nikon, Sony or Pentax, you will need to research what wider angle primes will cost.
You need to do more research. both are poor choices for low light. When you can't flash, the image sensor performance is crucial because you will be shooting in low light at very high ISO.
Strike all Canon dSLRs off the list, they are in last place when it comes to image sensor performance across the board. Sony Exmor sensors have been pounding Canon since 2007. So go with a Sony Alpha, Nikon, or Pentax. They all use Exmor sensors. But there are some duds, and right now, those duds are the dSLRs that use the APS-C 24 megapixel sensors. Skip the Nikon D3200, D5200, Sony A65 and A77. In this price range, you can go cheaper, with the Sony A57 that actually beats out the A65.
But better choices are the new Pentax K 30 and K5 II, nothing can touch them for the dollar at high ISO, they both feature the new updated Sony sweet 16 image sensors, so they even beat out by a hair the Nikon D7000. You can also look for a used Sony A580, it easily beats out the A65 in low light. A used Nikon D7000 or Pentax K5 are good choices too.
If you need to buy right now, and want a semi pro body, and consider yourself a more serious user, the Pentax K5 II is what I would be looking at. The follow up to the 2010 Nikon D7000 would be nice, but it's not here yet, and no word on when and if it's coming.
You lens choice is poor. the 18-135mm is a good all around good light lens, but in low light, it's going to force you to jack your ISO to 3200 and even 6400. You'll need primes to keep that ISO down if you want clean looking shots in low light. You will need primes if you don't want to spend thousands and thousands on large aperture zooms. You will need fast primes like a 35mm f/1.8 and a 50mm f/1.8 depending on whether you go Nikon, Sony or Pentax, you will need to research what wider angle primes will cost.
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