Sony Alpha SLT-A65 Translucent Mirror Technology Digital SLR Camera Body & 18-55mm Lens with 70

So this is my very first DSLR so I don't have any experience with them but I am so happy with this! My older sister is a pro and turned me on to to do the research. After about 14+ hours of research I landed on the Sony A65 SLT. I have been working with it for about a month and a half. I love the camera! I have been devouring anything I can get my hands on to help me learn photography. I purchased David Busch's guide to the camera (from Amazon--love, love, love Amazon!) and already finished the book. Very helpful but that's another review. The camera itself is very intuitive and super easy to use. I recommend the review from dpreivew if you want to know detailed specs and a professional review.

The components of the kit are the reason I give this 4 instead of 5 stars. As a value it is a 5 star kit--bundling many things that individually would cost you a lot more. You can get a feel for needed accessories with these so that is why I would rate the value a 5 but the quality of the kit items is sub par.

The Lenses:

The standard 18-55 kit lens is where most will begin. It is a good decent lens but not spectacular. I will eventually replace it with the Sony SAL-1680Z Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T DT Zoom Lens 16-80mm f/3.5-4.5 when I can get the money :).

The Tamron 70-300 lens is alright. Without a tripod or monopod it is horrendous--haven't got a good shot yet. However I did shoot the moon with the last night and am very pleased with the results. I shot some pics of my son's baseball team and they were okay.

The wide angle and macro lenses are screw-on to one of the other two. I played with them a bit, not impressed. Probably could have done without them. It is possible I just haven't used them in the right application but I doubt it...

Filters:

The UV filters are decent--no Hoya or Rocketfish. They are glass and do a good job protecting the lenses.

The Bag:

Official Sony Alpha bag but, in my estimation, a bit small. It works...

The Tripod:

Is a very light and cheap piece of crap probably only good for a tiny point and shoot camera. With the Tamron lens on it, it is very bouncy. You have to use the infrared trigger so you don't get camera shake. This and the memory card were the reasons I couldn't give it 5 stars. In a word: worthless.

The memory card:

Lots of storage, but very slooooooww I bought a PNY 16GB card with a 35mbps transfer rate and am so much happier. It is worthless for video capture if you want to do it in the highest resolution the camera offers or anything other than mpeg4 vga. It literally takes 4-5 seconds to access a raw photo.

The cleaning kit:

Is adequate, nothing to write home about.

The extra battery:

Not a Sony brand and has noticeably less capacity than the Sony. Still nice to have a spare!

Things it should have included:

> HDMI cable

> a tripod that can actually hold the weight of the camera or a monopod.

> A lens hood for the 18-55 lens

Otherwise as a kit, it is a good starter kit for a beginner. But you get what you pay for: most will not be satisfied with the accessories.

I love this camera. Excellent features and ease of use and the the pictures are so vibrent and so rich in colour. No other camera can comare to Sony A65/A77.

I checked other cameras like Canon and Nikon but no body can beat Sony A65.

Specailly this kit is very handy with this price.

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