The DSLR Marketplace - the main players

This is my take on the state of play in todays DSLR market. I apologise to Pentax and Oly users - these makers produce fine cameras, I just havent included them because both companies have such limited ranges at the moment.

Clearly my groupings are pretty arbitary and people can debate all day on precisely where any particular camera sits. In the main I've thought in terms of:

Band 1 - entry level - my first DSLR. (Note how many of these bodies can only be bought with a lens - designated by the + symbol)
Band 2 - my second, DSLR. I'm getting serious and value little touches like a second control wheel, more direct buttons, less menues etc. May do a little lite pro work.
Band 3 - ok, I'm not mucking around anymore. People have worked there way here and are after very serious photograohic tools. Bigger, heavier bodies, big VF's, lots of direct controls, can be relied upon for a variety of pro roles.

A couple of things leap out from this:

1. The need for something like the 7D becomes pretty obvious.

2. The D40 is hopelessly outgunned as an entry to DSLR land and will be replaced soon.

3. Despite having a lot of camera's on the market, Sony still has two huge gaps to fill

a) A 'serious' APS body to take on the D300s and 7D (expected to be filled in about 5 months), and

b) A high end pro model to take on the D3/1D pairs (may never be built).

Thom on Sony Envy - its not just "us"

Over here in Sony land its usually a pretty dark and dreary place full of whiners (why have we got video, Sony cant make a decent JPG, why is Sony's noise so bad - see here and here for more on the Sony Whine). So it comes as something of a surprise to see that outside our little world there are people looking in and seeing stuff they like.

Apparently its true!

After all if Thom Hogan felt motivated enough to write about Sony Envy I can only assume that there are a reasonably significant number of people out there that are at least talking up a big game for us Alpha users. Actually however, Thom is pretty right when he wonders why this is and recommends Nikon users take a deep breath. Ok, if you really, really want a high resolution FF and dont own an oil well then obviously the Sony A850 is the ducks guts. Or if you are (like me) in love with in-body image stabilization. But apart from that, even as a Sony user I struggle to understand why anyone with any sort of investment in the Nikon system would consider a swap.

Still, its nice to see Sony appears to be moving out of the joke and into the "to be taken seriously" catagory.

PS. Thom Hogan is a big Nikon blogger and as such gets a fair bit wrong on the Sony system but he is a good writer with a nicely balanced view of the world. I highly recommend you check out his site.