Sony Alpha DSLR-A100 digital SLR

Posted by T3 Online on Mon 29 Oct 2007

Sony's first digital SLR is a sure-fire winner.

If you're in the market for a budget digital SLR, this is probably the place to start. In a market full of six- and eight-megapixel models, it's equipped with a 10.2-meg sensor. That means big, A3-size prints, but it's the other features on board that really make it stand out.

Most importantly, there's Super SteadyShot which, as the name suggests, counteracts camera-shake caused by wobbly hands. It works really well, letting you take handheld shots at much slower exposures than normal. As it's fitted inside the camera body, you also get anti-shake on any lens you care to attach.

The body is sleek and compact, but well-built and comfortable. The 2.5-inch screen displays exposure information and rotates as you turn the camera. You can take pictures at 3fps.

The basic package includes a 18-70mm, 3.8x lens, which zooms in a bit closer than the 18-55mm lenses supplied with most digital SLRs. Sony's announced 21 further lenses for it and it also works with existing Konica Minolta lenses, as Sony has now bought out that company.

On the downside, the anti-dust system didn't actually stop dust getting into our model, and the images aren't as smooth as Canon's 350D at the highest sensitivity settings. However, at lower sensitivities they have more detail than rival DSLRs. It also copes well with tricky lighting conditions and "Automatic" mode delivers well-exposed photos.

It may not be perfect, but this is still a great camera. Given its rep for top-notch imaging products, it's surprising that Sony has avoided this market for so long, but it's clearly making up for lost time: it's sauntered in to the SLR game and scored with its first touch.