My α Journey Cero – How I became an Cinnabar

Decided to post ala Ring 0 style, now for the prologue.

Initially, camera serves as a snapshot device of my life. 2 years ago, I bought a P&S camera. The camera served me well and I started to love photography more. Came the day that I left it in the company car. Well, that’s another post.

Extensive research on the net (dpreview, CNET, etc) is always part of the process when I want to buy something. If you were to ask me which model of P&S to buy, I can tell you the pros and cons about a few candidates. The thought of getting a DSLR came to mind and I started to look at them as well.

Since I love photography, why not buy a camera that allows me to yield better results? I was clear with what I want – a beginner DSLR which gives the best deal right out of the box.

I lined up a few models from different brands and the choice is obvious on paper. The anti dust sensors, the eye-start auto focus (everyone says that this is uber cool), and the Super Steady Shot (SSS) makes perfect sense. Any lens (including 3rd party) that is attached to the Alpha will have image stabilizer whereas for other brands, you need to buy lens which has some sort of IS technology in every single lens that you buy.

A200’s price sealed the deal; it was also the cheapest in the market. As I said, the choice is clear but there’s something that stops me from buying it. I’m NOT in Malaysia. Sigh, it’ll be 1 month before I’m scheduled to go home. I went to Hidalgo to look for A200 but it seems that the launch date of A200 in Pinoyland is no where to be seen. The guys back in Malaysia were showing off their joy with the A200 in LYN. This gave me to read more to find out the pros and cons of the Alpha.

When I reached home, I went to Sungei Wang to get the Alpha. They salesman tried to coax me to get a Canon instead. He let me played with 2 models and the macho Alpha strengthens my choice. The grip of Alpha is perfect and the mirror flap/shutter sound is just plain manly. To be honest, one of the reasons I decided to buy DSLR is because it looks cool and Sony wins hands down in this department.


My α Journey Uno – Baby steps
My α Journey Dos – And there shall be light
My α Journey Cero – How I became an Cinnabar
My α Journey Tres – Fall in love
My α Journey Cuatro – Alpha Convention
My α Journey Cinco – Infinity and Beyond