what do you mean by MOST PEOPLE??? ohh no..you got it all wrong here..

the 80-200 2.8 is a much talked about lens but it is an expensive lens...not many got this, but many wish they got this lens..

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Added on September 7, 2009, 4:07 pmokay...

New - RM 9xx
2nd hand - RM 600-700

I had one before...and I sold it because i dont use it really... but i assure you it is a sharp lens and really nice for candid pics..



This post has been edited by alpha_company: Sep 7 2009, 04:07 PM

you will soon enough... people will at look you in awe..hehe..especially with the newer 70-200vr..hehehe

pocket burned la..hehe

if you considering all of the above...

D60 and 1000D is old news and in dslr, newer usually means better.. now for you it's down to D3000 and A230. Both has it's pros and cons..

Im not sure about this but I the A230 has built in stabilization for any lens you use and built in motor so you dont need to buy lenses with built in motor and can use older minolta lenses with no probs..

On the other hand the D3000 has 11 vs 9 focus points on A230.
D3000 also has a 3 inch LCD vs 2.7in on the A230 and higher flash sync speed than A230...

You need to properly check the specs again for other comparisons..i just give out some of it...

MOST IMPORTANT of ALL...go and hold both in your hands.. if it feels right then take it..

1. Trust me, you wont be using live view 99% of the time. Live view function on dslrs are much slower in autofocusing compared to normal point & shoot digital cameras.

2. Other 3rd party manufacturers also make alpha/minolta mount lenses. Some are cheap and some are not. I also need to tell you that most of the current SONY made lenses do not have AFS/ HSM/ USM fast speed ring type motor in their lenses. Most of their lenses are using motor that's built into the body. Only some of their high end lenses have SSM (fast speed ring type motor).

3. I do like SONY's top of the line flash, the F58 and its cheaper than SB900 too. The swivel head of the f58 is reallly nice.

4. You also need to take note the availability of older 2nd hand lenses. Old Nikon and Canon lenses are easy to find but only nikon lenses with built in motor can AF on the D3000. On the other hand old minolta lenses are harder to find but they can all work with alpha series because all have built in motor in the bodies.

5. You wont go wrong with any of them. I would suggest looking at a 2nd hand Nikon D80/D90 or look at the alpha 500 series (not sure how much it is)