Sony Alpha A100 Summary

Having lots of Konica-Minolta Maxxum lenses, we just had to try the Sony Alpha. The first impression is a solidly built camera with a dense body. Holding it is comfortable and buttons are easily accessible. The viewfinder is good but a noticeably smaller than on the Maxxum 7D or the Canon 20D. Still, it is larger than most. Just as with the Konica-Minolta DSLR cameras, the Sony Alpha A100 uses the rear LCD as a status panel. This panel has to be used to change most settings other than the basic shutter-speed, aperture and ISO sensitivity. For example, when changing metering modes, the only feedback is on the LCD. That is unfortunate but is common for competing DSLR cameras. The display itself is quite useable, it rotates when changing the camera's orientation and has an anti-reflective coating.

The Sony Alpha A100 has more technology features than any other available DSLR. The most important one is body-based anti-shake inherited from Konica-Minolta. This is extremely valuable in low-light and when using long lenses. Remember though that any stabilization feature compensates for the photographer's movements and does nothing against subject motion. Long lenses can be bought without stabilization, saving a significant sum of money and wide-angle lenses get stabilization which is rarely available for such focal-lengths. Next up is dust-reduction, this is a solution to a common problem for cameras with interchangeable lenses. Until now, only Olympus had such system.

There are subtle features which do not get much attention but can greatly help photography. The first are two tone-mapping mode which strangely appear as part of the selection of ISO sensitivity. It was the same way with the Maxxum 5D which is the first camera with these options. The low-key option creates a tone reproduction curve designed to preserve more detail in dark areas. The high-key options does the opposite, preserving more details in bright areas. Another interesting option is wether exposure-compensation adjusts ambient light or flash. When exposure compensation is set to adjust ambient light, flash power is kept constant as the exposure is changed. In the other mode, which is common with most cameras, the flash is used to adjust exposure in low-light conditions. These two interpretation of exposure compensation can produce rather different looking images.

Finally, there is the dynamic-range optimizer (DRO). It idea is a useful but unfortunately it has been reported to not be entirely reliable. Plus, the results are a matter of taste. Just like adjust saturation, contrast and sharpness, it must be done after some experimentation. The main difference is that DRO works differently from scene to scene. Hence, for consistent results, better keep it off. In some cases, having a scene where both shadow and highlight details are clearly visible results in a flatter and less pleasing image.

The bottom line is that this is a great camera except for hand-held low-light photography where high-ISO sensitivities are frequently used. Action photographers will also be better satisfied with a faster continuous drive. Below ISO 800, this camera is nearly perfect and provides excellent value for its price and capabilities.