Sony a (alpha) DSLR-A230L with Customized Lens Kit 10.2 Megapixel

This camera is fantastic! I Love it! I have no experience with picture taking....haven't even owned a camera in years other than a cell phone camera. It's easy to use and takes beautiful pics. I picked it up quickly and I am seriously technology challenged. I use it for family pics and work. Being an artist, I can finally take my own pics of my work. It's saving me a ton of money.

As the manager/owner of a detective agency (http://www.aaccurate.info), I was looking for a dSLR that would provide the lens swapping capability of an SLR while not breaking the bank. For a mere $380, each investigator gets an A-230L camera, 18-55mm Sony lens, bag, cleaning supplies AND a host of extra gear that includes a fish eye lens for landscape shots (a must for dSLR shots), a screw on lens doubler, a tripod, 4Gb card and LCD covers. Wow. That's a great place to start. For an additional $280, I purchase each new investigator a Sony 75-300mm A/F lens with a Sony A/F lens doubler. That kit comes with filters.

That's less than $675 for a complete dSLR kit that covers A/F lenses of 18-55 / 36-110 / 75-300 and 150-600 (yes, that's all AutoFocus). Add the screw on doubler (disable A/F) and you're now at 1200mm for less than $700 for the kit.

The shots are clear and Sony's LCD display is easy to learn if you have a good photo background (or you learn quickly). No hidden gotcha's yest. The multiframe capability is a little slower than I had imagined but still shoots a good rate for PI work. If multiframe shooting is your hot button (sports), you probably want to look at a different camera. My friends Nikon D-90 frames like a bandit but costs twice as much when comparably lensed.

I forgot to mention that FumieCamera (that's our E-bay seller) included the 3 year warranty for the above price. The 75-300 lens and doubler came with a 5 year warranty from JerseyPhoto.

The wife is going to shoot Senior portraits for the year book with the camera so we'll probably get the external flash for those. A PI really doesn't need the extra flash. The included pop-up flash does a really good job for what we do.

Happy shooting!

Brook Hammond, manager
Aaccurate Investigations
www.aaccurate.info