Sony Alpha DSLR-A100K Digital Camera w/ 18-70mm Lens (10.2MP, 3872 x 2592)

Sony DSLR-Alpha 100K

Alpha DSLR-A100K Digital Camera w/ 18-70mm Lens (10.2MP, 3872 x 2592) Review, by Ben Long November 17, 2006

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• Latest User Reviews 1 review
• Reviewed by: ufahad

  Duration of ownership: 8 Months

  Strengths: Very Good image quality, easy to use, inexpensive

  Weaknesses: lens are expansive

  Overall: you dont know why peple perfer nikon or cannon over it, beacuse in case of price this is best camrea.

• Reviewed by: touristguy87

  Strengths: The super steady shot works down to 2s handheldSupports auto-ISO in the manual shooting modes, very nice, Rebel XTi doesn't do that.

  Weaknesses: Too many buttons, dials and switches, all over the camera. Menu system is kind of goofy. ISO difficult to adjust compared to RebelNoisy as hell, ISO800-1600

  Overall: I tried this in CC and I have to say that I was impressed with the low-speed performance, and the 17-85 is a nice range. I was able to get very usable, if a little soft, shots down to 2s and maybe they were soft because I ended up having to shoot ISO80 F22 to get down to 2s exposures in the CC showroom, but who knows. I almost bought one just to try it out for real (but I was going to go for the 18-200 package). What stopped me was the noise at ISO800-1600. There is some really nasty vertical streak noise in this camera at ISO1600 even at ISO800. I measured it in Neat Image shooting RAW and it is 14.something at ISO1600, 8.something at ISO800...these numbers are 50% more than my S2 at "ISO400" and "ISO200" (another story there, they are more like ISO800 and 400). They are twice the noise values at the same ISO for my Rebel XTi...shooting RAW. This set up a direct dilemma between the Rebel XTi, which I had already, and the A100. Shoot the A100 ISO80-400 leaving ISO800 for emergencies, use the SSS IS system and never have to buy an IS lens, or, buy IS lenses for the Rebel, at about a 50% premium for the lens over a non-IS lens, and be able to shoot it ISO100-1600 without ever worrying about noise (just the in-camera NR, so I'd really want to get a big CF card and shoot RAW at high ISOs). The problem for the A100 is that the Rebel is SO clean that I can shoot it ISO1600 RAW and not even need to use NR on it (of course, doing so reduces the file size because it cuts the noise level in the file). There is no way that I would want to shoot this camera at ISO1600. And I am hardly a "purist". I have other P&Ss that make plenty of noise at ISO400...this camera was by far the worst. It has alternating blue and brown streaks of noise, running vertically over the shadow and mid-tones of the image, at ISO800 and 1600. If you can avoid those speeds, you will get a decent camera in the A100. For me, I preferred to pay a few hundred extra and get lens-based IS (the SSS shots were still a little soft, viewed at 100%, even if I had no business getting *anything* out of the camera at those speeds handheld and the camera did produce a good shot, it wasn't tack sharp below about 1-5 s) and most of all, a very good, very clean sensor in the Rebel.I will bet that the next version of the A100 will not have this problem and will be a much better DSLR. This one will sell well, anyway. But "purists" won't buy it because of the noise. In my opinion, it really isn't that much better than an S2, if indeed it *is* better than an s2. It all depends on what you think when you read "ISO80-1600". No doubt this is bigger, heavier and a lot more expensive than an S2, with a much shorter zoom range even if you go with the 18-200 package.

• Reviewed by: inspireer002

  Strengths: Great quality. Easy dials to use for fast maneuvering. Manual or auto control over the flash.

  Weaknesses: You have to manually flip the flash up. Auto focusing doesn't stick. Dust.

  Overall: I have suggested this camera to many of my friends and people I had never met before! It's a Minolta camera with a Sony name. It has a loud shutter noise, which I personally enjoy as do most people who use my camera. Whenever the shutter sounds, I feel like a got a good quality camera. The auto focusing feature, which I sometimes need to use for parties and what not, doesn't "stick". It finds the correct point, holds it until I push farther down on the button and then it focuses again, finding a different focus spot. Very annoying. I have yet to find if the image stabilization works. I cannot tell if it does anything. Most of the time I am trying to capture something fast and I don't have the time to stand there and wait for the image stabilization meter to go all the way up. Change the ISO speed to 1600 for indoor or night shots and you don't need a flash. Great colour and quality. The body is a little big an bulky, but allows for a firmer and more stable grip. It collects dust like my Grandpa's war medals. It seems to think the viewfinder is a good hangout place and is extremely difficult to remove! I had some issues a while back where if I ever changed the camera mode to black and white and back to colour again it the "Bracket: 0.3Ev single" shot mode would turn on by itself, thus filling my memory card and computer up 3x faster with the same picture! It has happened a few times since then and now I have to go through the time to check and make sure it's off. (For those who aren't educated in what the 0.3Ev single is: when you take one picture, it copies it three times onto your memory card, all exactly the same with a slight tonal difference.) I found that after I bought this camera the price dropped about $200 so I feel that everyone is getting a good deal. : )

• Reviewed by: otoole2

  Strengths: Many easy to use modes. Steady shot is awesome! Can get very large, poster size prints.

  Weaknesses: Sometimes hard to tell the quality of the photo on the viewing scrren.

  Overall: We bought this camera for a trip to Australia. Both my husband and I had a history of poor photos. We brought back more than 300 photos, 95%+ of which were amazing, clear and in focus. We printed all sizes and the colors, light, focus, etc are professional quality. We highly recommend this camera.

• Reviewed by: exsonycust

  Strengths: Ease of use.

  Weaknesses: No lens cap strap, loud shutter very slow flash, manual flip to flash. Poor service from Sony. Just too slow.

  Overall: A nice camera - bought to replace a Sony digital camera but on comparison to a friend's Nikon D70s it suffers badly in comparison. Have had for around 25 days and not really enjoying using it. I assume the very slow flash is the reason that so many shots of animals are being lost as the camera just cannot in any way keep up - its slower than the old Song digital and that was bad enough!Hard to say whether the camera is faulty or its just terribly slow - the store it was bought from has not been very helpful at all. Waited over a month for it to arrived (paid for) and it was not worth the wait.

• Reviewed by: PCW1333

  Strengths: Weight, balance, compatibility with "A" mount lenses, picture quality

  Weaknesses: Sony Corporation is not up to same standards of customer service

  Overall: This Sony body is great. It has the features and it takes a beautiful photograph. I can't get over what beautiful resolution. Sony corporation has taken a step backwards in customer service, in my mind. They don't even include a memory stick with the camera. I do like the ability to use lenses I own from Minolta and Tamron. The camera user manual leaves a lot to be desired. Experimentation was my only option to learn the camera. But as I learn the camera, it amazes me with it's output. Again, Sony customer service has a lot to be desired. They shipped me the wrong battery and because it took me over thirty days to contaqct them, they won't take it back. That is not the Sony I have come to admire.