difficult choice: keep my sony/minolta collection?

There is no right or wrong answer.

What I would suggest to to put your alpha gear in a safe dry place for several months. If your don't miss it, then you should probably sell the equipment. If you do miss it, then you can pick and choose which items to keep and which to sell. Other than as a "collector" there is no reason to own 4 alpha DSLR's and a redundant set of lenses.


There is no reason that you have to be "all in" with one brand/mount.

My serious photography is with an A230 and A65 with a selection of affordable lenses.

I also almost always carry a Panasonic compact with me.

I have a cheap Polaroid digital camera with a water-proof case for snorkeling.

I also own several 35 mm (and one APS) cameras that I still use.

I would suggest you only keep anything hard to find. You can sell everything else and repurchase it if you have regrets later.

i have not read through all the posts, but my two cents are:

i'm buying a nex-7 for my PERSONAL photographing.
i can no longer be arsed to carry around my a900 with v-grip and a kilo of glass to every party, birthday, event that i attend simply because it's way too much of a hassle.
for weddings or anything else where i need the speedy performance of my a900, aswell as work related stuff, i'll still use the big chunk because it really is an AWESOME performer.

now, on the NEX-7 i can still use any of my amazing lenses (preferrably the primes) and just settle down with manual focusing and enjoying my shots and shooting =)
i owned the first version of the nex-5 and dismissed it because the controls weren't quite up to what i was aiming for. that has been corrected with the nex-7 and the benefits of the electronic viewfinder are MANY:
first of all, what you see is what you get. camera settings reveal if you have too big or small aperture even before you take the picture. no more relying on the dodgy light meter, no more exposure compensating for snow or anything that is large and black.
second, for manual focusing with the newer nexes, there will be a marking of the sharpest points of the picture (where focus is) and it will be highlighted in red (or green if you want that colour instead).
and third, the electronic EYEPIECE is placed in the top LEFT corner of the camera, that means NO MORE SMUDGY NOSE MARKS ON THE DISPLAY!!
the list of benefits go on and i simply can't justify NOT having one because as it is now, i only take pictures when i'm asked to do a job, almost never for my self anymore.
and i miss my personal photographing time

I also use compact camera for daily usage, but the enjoyment using my DSLR is the reason why I keep 'investing' on this hobby

I agree with so many of the other posts that going through a gear reduction exercise has many benefits. Previously I'd look in my kit bag, see all the bodies and lenses, and not bother. I'm slowly trying to whittle it down to 2 zooms, 2 primes, 2 bodies. The result of this process is that I've been taking many more pictures than previously.

I treat my travel kit seperately, a Dynax 7 + 24-105. I only average a roll of film a week on holiday.

gsaronni wrote: You never can carry a DSLR, zoom and flash, but a compact is something you carry everywhere

I disagree. I carry a DSLR or film SLR with me most of the time. Today I'm carrying my 2kg Arax 645 in case there is anything vaguely interesting to shoot. That and because I need the exercise.

I'm in a similar sort of dilemma in that I have lenses I haven't used in two years, but I can't decide to part with them. And it's difficult to justify keeping a D7 as well as the D9 and other film cameras when I so rarely use film now.

Oddly enough, when I was all film I did have a digital compact, took it everywhere always, took loads of photos, thousands and thousands, but strangely enough never used one for work, not ever, except for indoor ones (which I now do with a DSLR anyway). When it stopped working I wanted to replace it but couldn't find a compact I liked. But in truth, I haven't found that I missed it. So the hard drive is emptier that it would otherwise be, and I either take an A900 or an SLR film body or do without. I wouln't have thought it would work out that way.