5000 Yuan Shopping Guide: Which entry-level SLR camera is better?

IT168 Shopping Guide With the continuous exploration of the true meaning of photography art, more and more friends who are eager to delve deeper into photography find that the consumer digital cameras in their hands have become increasingly difficult to meet the needs of applications. So, they turned their attention to the entry-level SLR camp. Today's entry-level SLR camera market is also the most important battleground for mainstream businesses. It can be said that occupying the entry-level SLR market will occupy one-third of the SLR market. This is why competition in today’s entry-level SLR market is fierce. How to choose an entry-level SLR camera has always been a common question. How to choose an SLR camera that suits you? Let’s talk about it in detail below.

A brief description of entry-level SLR cameras from three perspectives

What are the differences between entry-level SLR cameras from the three perspectives of manufacturers, users, and media? What is your understanding of entry-level SLR?

▲Different understandings from three angles

Camera manufacturers:

For camera manufacturers, entry-level SLR cameras are definitely one of the important strategic markets, starting from Canon Judging from the four major manufacturers, Nikon, Sony, and Pentax, the status of entry-level SLR cameras is definitely not inferior to high-end SLR cameras. This can be seen from the launch of an entry-level SLR camera with mainstream hardware specifications and functions every year. Moreover, the promotion of entry-level SLR cameras is also increasing year by year.

Popular users:

For mass users, with the gradual popularity of SLR cameras and their pursuit of photography, entry-level SLR cameras have become really popular in the past two years. In the minds of mass users, SLR cameras are still high-end products, and the image quality is obviously higher than ordinary digital cameras. The higher the price of a SLR camera, the better the SLR camera is, and it even reaches a state of blind pursuit.

Professional media:

For professional media, they are much more rational than mass users. After all, they come into contact with related products every day and have a deeper understanding of the products. In the eyes of professional media, entry-level SLR cameras are also a very important part in the field of SLR cameras. This type of SLR camera is very suitable for mass users who are just getting started, no matter in terms of price, control, and functions. At the same time, professional media will also correctly guide users to understand SLR cameras. If you want to improve your photography skills, it cannot be achieved by improving equipment and hardware.

▲Three entry-level SLR cameras

The author recommends three current mainstream entry-level SLR cameras, namely Nikon D3200, Canon EOS 600D, and Sony A37. Let’s see which entry-level SLR camera is more suitable. Suitable for you?

Analysis of the pros and cons of Nikon D3200, Canon EOS 600D and Sony A37

Specification parameters

"Canon EOS 600D

"Nikon D3200< /p>

"Sony A37

Effective pixels

18 million

24.16 million

16.1 million

ISO100-6400

ISO100-6400

ISO100-3200

Shutter

1 /4000

1/4000

1/4000

Continuous shooting

3.7fps

4fps

7fps

Viewfinder

Optical pentamirror

Eye-level pentamirror

SVGA Xtra Fine LCD screen Electronic

LCD screen

3.0 inches, 1.04 million pixels, reversible

3.0 inches, 921,000 pixels

2.7 inches, 23 Megapixel

Camera

1920?1080/30fps

1920?1080/30fps

1920?1080/25fps

Battery

LP-E8

EN-EL14

NP-FW50

Interface

USB2 .0, HDMI

USB2.0, HDMI

USB2.0, HDMI

Volume

133.1?99.5?79.7mm< /p>

125?96?76.5mm

124.4 x 92 x 84.7mm

Weight

570g

455g< /p>

448g

Among the current three entry-level SLR cameras, each has its own distinctive features. The D3200 has an ultra-high pixel count of 24.16 million. Although the Canon 600D is not a new product, it is comprehensively The price/performance ratio is very outstanding. Finally, the Sony A37 has the most functions and ultra-high continuous shooting speed among entry-level SLRs.

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What about Nikon D3200?

The Nikon D3200 has reached 24.16 million pixels, which makes the Nikon D5100 look extremely embarrassing. The Nikon D7000 has temporarily secured the market with its excellent body performance. But once the Nikon D5100 is also upgraded to the D5200, the D7000 will also face the embarrassment of today's D5100.

▲Nikon D3200

The ultra-high pixels of Nikon D3200 indeed bring it ultra-high image quality performance. Although the description of texture and the control of high sensitivity are not satisfactory, as a camera with high pixels as its selling point, Nikon D3200 has completed its task. I believe that the subsequent D5200 and D7100 (if this is the case) will make up for it. The D3200 has no shortcomings in terms of picture quality.

Resolution advantage

The biggest selling point of Nikon D3200 is its ultra-high pixels, which also indicates that it will have a great advantage in resolution.

▲ISO12233 resolution standard board (4000 lines) taken during the resolution test

In the test, we used Nikon D3200 and Canon 600D to shoot the ISO12233 resolution standard board (4000 lines). Samples were taken at different apertures and tested through Imatest software, and finally the best resolution value was obtained. The following are the best resolution test results of the two:

▲Resolution comparison

Judging from the test results, the impact of the high pixels of Nikon D3200 on the resolution is indeed very large. Compared with The advantages of 600D are very obvious. And high pixels are very suitable for shooting landscapes when going out.

▲Nikon D3200 official sample

The higher the pixels, the more delicate the photos will be, but it is difficult for ordinary users to feel such professional requirements. Similarly, when taking photos with high pixels, the file size will be larger and the more space will be taken up.

Applicable people:

D3200 is suitable for beginners and home users. At the same time, for Nikon photographers who want to have high pixels as a backup camera, the Nikon D3200 can also complete the task, but the plastic body of the Nikon D3200 cannot withstand the harsh shooting conditions. At the same time, as a product that may be fully launched in the summer, the Nikon D3200 is also a good student machine. Parents should reward students who are admitted to college with one.

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What about Canon EOS 600D?

Canon 600D continues the consistent style of the EOS series entry-level models in terms of control performance. It also has excellent performance in terms of image quality. The video function provided by the Canon 600D is full of texture. Canon 600D has only made major improvements in appearance, using a flip screen and adding anti-slip rubber pads.

▲Canon EOS 600D

However, the 600D has not continued to improve its main parameter configuration compared to its predecessor. Of course, it cannot be said that Canon has exhausted its talents. How much has it left behind? Hands-on, only Canon knows this (perhaps there will be quite a surprise after the 650D is launched), but Canon’s increasingly pandering tricks really make people a little uncomfortable.

Advantages of high sensitivity

The following scene is the standard test environment for sensitivity in the IT168 evaluation room. We fixed the camera on the gear head of a heavy-duty tripod and allowed the camera to shoot at various sensitivity levels without moving. Then we took a slice of the photo at the same position from the picture above, as shown in the red box in the picture, to see what the sensitivity of each level of 600D and D3200 is.

▲Photography benchmark

▲Sensitivity comparison between Nikon D3200 and Canon 600D

As shown in the picture above, Canon 600D has obvious advantages over Nikon D3200 in terms of high sensitivity. , Nikon D3200 starts to have noise from ISO 800, and the noise increases significantly until ISO 3200. After ISO 3200, not only the noise increases, but it is also accompanied by color shift. The higher the sensitivity, the better it is for shooting at night.

▲Canon 600D official sample

The high sensitivity of the camera is mainly reflected in shooting low-light night scenes and high-speed moving objects. In dark light conditions, such as starlight, high sensitivity Good can bring better picture quality performance.

Applicable people:

As Canon’s mainstream entry-level SLR camera, the 600D’s outstanding comprehensive performance is very suitable for ordinary users. It adopts a flip-screen design and adds surface skin. , and has added intelligent scene shooting and creative filter functions. It is rare to have such a powerful hardware configuration at the current entry level. At the same time, the imaging quality of 600D is also top-notch in APS-C format, and 18 million pixels are definitely enough. . With its powerful comprehensive performance, it is a good choice for novice photographers who are just starting out.

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How about Sony A37?

As Sony’s third entry-level camera using a fixed semi-lens, the Sony A37 has rich functions and mainstream hardware specifications. The continuous shooting speed of up to 7 frames per second is really fast for such a camera. To be honest, the speed of SLR cameras of the same level is only 4 frames or even lower.

▲Sony A37

The automatic portrait composition is a highlight. When taking a photo containing a portrait, this function can recognize the face, use face detection technology and combine it with part of the scene to create a new composition with a moving portrait as the core. Even photography beginners can use automatic portrait composition to record beautiful portraits.

Functional advantages

The Sony A37 has a telephoto zoom continuous shooting priority AE mode of up to 7 frames per second, which can effectively "zoom in" the subject with a magnification of approximately 1.4x , maintaining fast and precise focus on objects during high-speed continuous shooting. Even when shooting in normal continuous shooting mode, you can easily reach a continuous shooting speed of 5.5 frames/second.

▲Continuous shooting speed 7fps

When taking a photo containing a portrait, this function can recognize the face and create a moving portrait based on the face detection technology and combined with some scenes. Core new picture composition. However, the results of automatic portrait composition optimization vary depending on the shooting conditions and environment, so ideal results are not always guaranteed.

▲Auto portrait composition

Applicable people:

Sony A37 is positioned at the entry level and is also suitable for entry-level users. Its continuous shooting of up to 7 frames per second The speed is really good enough for such a camera, and the full-time focusing system allows entry-level users to use the focus tracking function more easily without having to worry about problems caused by defocusing.

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E-commerce quotations

In view of the fact that the current e-commerce quotations are transparent and price changes are easy to grasp, IT168 investigated the five major e-commerce companies for everyone. The latest quotations of Canon EOS 600D, Nikon D3200, and Sony A37 to facilitate everyone to check prices and purchase:

Domestic e-commerce quotations

""Canon EOS 600D

"Nikon D3200

"Sony A37

JD

4599

4999

N/A

Ruiyi

4459

4899

N/A

Zhuomei

4459

4790

N/A

Amazon

4599

5099

N/A

Newegg

4699

4999

N/A

As an old product, the price of Canon 600D is still It is very stable. With the news that the Canon 600D has been discontinued overseas, the price of the Canon 600D has also been gradually reduced. The e-commerce companies with the lowest prices for kits are Ruiyi.com and Zhuomei.com, while the Nikon D3200 has just been launched, so the price is relatively high. The e-commerce company with the lowest price for this phone set is Zhuomei.com. There is currently no price on any e-commerce website for the Sony A37 just released last week, but the Sony official website has a set price of 4,399 yuan

How to get glasses?

The recommended glasses for Canon EOS 600D are 18-55mm, 50mmF/1.8, and 70-200mm 4L.

▲Canon EOS 600D

▲18-55mm

▲50 F/1.8

▲70-200 F/4 L< /p>

Reason for recommendation:

1. Canon’s kit lens has always been the most affordable and low-priced 18-55mm.

2. Canon 50F1.8 is very sharp and can be used for shooting portraits, and it is very cheap and cost-effective.

3. 70-200 4L is the cheapest red circle lens. You can have a red circle lens for more than 4,000.

The recommended glasses for Nikon D3200 are 18-55mm, 50mmF/1.8, and 70-300mm.

▲Nikon D3200

▲18-55mm

▲50 F/1.8 G

▲70-300mm VR

Reason for recommendation:

1. Nikon’s entry-level kit lens is very affordable.

2. Nikon 50F1.8 is very sharp and can be used for shooting portraits. It is very cheap and cost-effective.

3. The 70-300 has anti-shake, and the 300mm end is equivalent to 450mm when used on the D3200, which can be used to shoot birds.

The recommended lenses for Sony A37 are 18-55mm, 50mmF/1.8, and 55-250mm.

▲Sony A37

▲18-55mm

▲50 F/1.8

▲55-200mm

Recommendation reasons:

1. Sony’s entry-level kit lens at a very affordable price.

2. Sony 50F1.8 is very sharp and can be used for shooting portraits, and the price is very cheap and very cost-effective.

3. The 55-200 is the best partner for the 18-55, achieving seamless focal lengths of 27-300mm.