This isn’t a very detailed or deeply researched post. I’m in the process of deciding which camera, if any, to purchase. I thought some of you might find the kind of approach I take to down-selecting informative. After a lot of research, reading tons of reviews, I narrowed my decision down to four cameras. Two traditional DSLRs, the Nikon D5100 and Canon T3i; the Sony SLT-A55 with transluscent mirror tech; and the big sensor in a tiny can, Sony NEX C3 (scheduled for release today). I listed the factors that were important to me on the left and their corresponding weight on the right. Most of my specs were pulled from snapsort.com, others from the manufacturer’s website, and a few from other blogs. For example, I went to imaging-resource.com to get the startup time and shutter lag for the C3. No specifications in the spreadsheet have been verified by me nor do I make any assertion of their veracity ya da ya da ya da.
Continued below . . .
So, the first thing I did was eliminate the Canon. I do someday aspire to a high end Canon, but I don’t intend to have a large lens collection for this first camera so forward-compatibility was not a factor on my table. In the specs I cared about, the Canon mostly bombed relative to the other cameras. But I have to admit that cupping the body of that sweet DSLR in my hand was a sensuous experience not afforded by any other camera on the list.
I’m guessing that what is important to me is not the same as it is to you. What factors did I fail to consider?
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