I'm a frugal bastard, everyone knows that. But when it comes to my cameras, I believe in my logical reasons for not buying the top of the line, flagship models. In the case of Sony those would be the A99 and the A77. So when it came to upgrading from my current Sony A35, I went back and forth between upgrading to the similar A37 or going to an A65 or A77. I was really torn, but when I looked at price versus features, I had to stick with my so-called entry level professional DSLR or what Sony calls their SLT.
Why would a former professional photographer go with a so-called entry level DSLR and not something like the A77 or A99? I'll tell you why, first and foremost, I'm no longer a professional. I don't need to wow potential clients with my expensive gear and secondly, after shooting with the A35 for over a year now, I have to say, I am overwhelmingly impressed with the results. I am getting better quality images out of this awesome A35 than I did out of my top end Nikons that I shot with from 2004-2007.
Technology has come a long, long way. I remember the first good digital camera I shot with was 5 megapixels. Granted, the A99 and the A65 boast 24.3 megapixels, but the A35 and A37 hold their own as far as image quality at 16.7 megapixels. And that's more than enough for producing even large, print quality photos. Most of my content is still shot for publication on the web, so 16.7 mp is more than enough.
I'm also a believer in waiting for a year or so until after a new product is released to get it at a better price. So, eventually I'll upgrade to the A77 or A99 but for now there's no justifiable reason. I have 3 cameras for less than the price of one and that brings me to my final reason for going with the A37 as my latest purchase. I am allowed an amazing amount of creative flexibility because I can carry 2 cameras (now 3) in my bag. I can have each with a different set up, ready to capture any kind of action at a moments notice. I can have an assist on a second camera and the third camera shooting video, the options are almost limitless and that's because I can afford three, high-quality cameras for less that the price of one A77 or A99.
My next purchase will hopefully be one of my "dream" lenses, either the Sony Zeiss 18-70mm and/or the Sony SAL 70-400mm but I will probably wait to buy those when I also upgrade to either the A77 or the A99.
Anyway, I placed my order on eBay about an hour ago. Purchase price for a "New Other" mint condition Sony A37? $300 minus a $20 loyal customer discount from eBay, net cost $280. Not bad eh?
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