Canon Rebel Digital vs.Minolta Dimage A1

[jack_belen]

I am having trouble deciding between a Canon Rebel or a Minolta

Dimage A1. I have a Mamiya 7II that I use for my fine landscape work.

This digital purchase would be for grab shots, vacations and family

pictures. Any suggestions?

Thanks,

 

Jack

[e_lin]

the digital rebel is pretty cool. its seems to be more popular too because i don't seem to know much about the DImage A1. one thing i don't like about the rebel is the crappy casing :)

[erb_duchenne]

Well, personally... I got the 300D. One huge point is that A1 not available. Another great point is that I use film EOS, and the 300D can share all the lenses.

 

I guess if you want a good all-in-one package the A1 has a pretty good zoom range and is pretty compact. But it's only limited to that. You can't ouright change your lens... but is that what you're looking for anyway?

 

Other points worth noting is that the A1 sensor size is small and is only 5MP. The 300D sensor is same size as 10D (SLR) and is 6.3 MP.

[gsbhasin]

Jack,

<p>300D is better than A1 because it has a larger sensor, and so very low noise at upto ISO800. Now that makes it easy to shoot grab shots, indoors and in low lightinig.

<p>On the other hand, the A1 comes with an in-built 28-200 eq zoom, for which you would have spend a lot more money on the 300D.

<p>I personally would take the 300D any day.

<p>Best Regards,<br>Gurpreet

[cgifool]

I own an A1, and borrowed a 300D one day for a few hours. The A1 is the best camera for -me- because its not very bulky, the lens has good zoom versatility, the image-stabilization lets me do better handhelds in lower light conditions, and 5 MP is plenty for me. I also like the ability to preview the shot on the screen, and shoot quicktime movies.

 

My impressions on the 300D, although its not the camera for me, despite people who say the body is "cheap feeling", it felt fine to me (albeit with a heavier lens from the kit one), plenty solid. The biggest plus for the rebel to me was that the autofocus and speed of shooting was definitely faster.

 

-dave

[mormegil]

Check out their respective reviews on www.dpreview.com

 

I have a 300D (Rebel Digital), so I'm a bit biased. From what I've read, I would think you would expect better image quality on the Rebel Digital, in general. I like the built in "anti-shake" on the DiMage A1, that should help telephoto and dim light. Though you *CAN* get that on the Rebel, but you'll have to spend quite a bit of money on the lenses that give you this (especially for the wide angle area).

 

I prefer the larger sensor of the 300D, it allows for narrow depth of field. I doubt you can get as narrow DoF on the dimage, since it has a muchs maller sensor of about 9mm wide (3.88x cropping factor). This also gives you more noise at the same ISO.

 

So, if you are happy with digital P&S quality (and it's not bad), and just want more versatility, and wouldn't buy another lens if you could, then the DiMage A1 is probably best.

 

If you expect to purchase other lenses, want better image quality, the possibility of narrower depth of field (for portrait work etc), and don't epect to take movies, get the Rebel Digital.

 

If you want the 200mm with the Rebel Digital, you can get the 55-200mm 4.5-5.6 (80-360mm equivalent) from Adorama for $209. I don't think I've seen a review on it. You can also get the EF 80-200mm 4.5-5.6 II for $99. A lot of people rag on it, but for a consumer, it's probably fine, and may be comparable to the DiMage optically.