Sony Alpha A100

[neilgarratt@msn.com]

I've been visiting this site a long time, just registered for the forums
As someone who doesn't have an investment already in lenses and is thinking about getting a digital SLR for the first time, up until now I've been pretty torn between either the Rebel XT, the 20d or the d70s.

looking at the specs/price of the Sony Alpha compared to those 3, I'm very seriously considering going with this instead. I don't really care so much about the difference in megapixels (thanks to the informative posts I found here on the subject dispelling my preconceptions about how much of a difference it makes ) ... but the built-in image stabilization, the anti-dust features, the eye sensor AF system and the improved manual control knobs from the KMs make this a very compelling argument to someone who's just starting out and will likely only buy 1 or 2 lenses in my first couple of years.

Hi Maalak-my first try to reach this site-agree with ur views.neil

[Leo S]

Hi, can't find anything about the picture quality around? Have I missed something?

Anyway, from what I've seen of example pics from the Sony A100, I must say it's quite disappointing. Check these links out:
http://www.dpreview.com/gallery/sonya100_preview/
and a swedish site for photographers:
http://www.fotosidan.se/clindh/alfa/

At dpreview, D200 pics in my view seems a of a lot better than the Sony. Comparing at original size of course. And one can't blame it all on the kit lens either, I think.

Any thoughts on this?

[Maalak]

Hi, can't find anything about the picture quality around? Have I missed something?

Anyway, from what I've seen of example pics from the Sony A100, I must say it's quite disappointing. Check these links out:
http://www.dpreview.com/gallery/sonya100_preview/
and a swedish site for photographers:
http://www.fotosidan.se/clindh/alfa/

At dpreview, D200 pics in my view seems a of a lot better than the Sony. Comparing at original size of course. And one can't blame it all on the kit lens either, I think.

Any thoughts on this?

the Nikon d200 is a more expensive camera... so I wouldn't really be too surprised if it too better pictures. Personally I don't think the shots from the first dppreview gallery look bad at all, but I'm more wondering if those were taking with pre-production models?

I don't know, I'll still be waiting anxiously to see the comparison galleries once it's actually released.

[Gopher]

Hi, can't find anything about the picture quality around? Have I missed something?

Anyway, from what I've seen of example pics from the Sony A100, I must say it's quite disappointing. Check these links out:
http://www.dpreview.com/gallery/sonya100_preview/
and a swedish site for photographers:
http://www.fotosidan.se/clindh/alfa/

At dpreview, D200 pics in my view seems a of a lot better than the Sony. Comparing at original size of course. And one can't blame it all on the kit lens either, I think.

Any thoughts on this?

Agreed, nothing impressive about those shots. Problems though, look like they could be photographer / lens related.

[privard]

I've been putting off buying into a system until the reviews on a production alpha are in, but so far it looks like the noise is going to be a killer issue for me (I shoot a lot of low-light). And it's too bad because otherwise the alpha looks like exactly what I want--that built-in IS is really tempting. I guess I'm just hoping for a miracle between the preview cameras and the final production ones. If Sony doesn't fix the noise until the next camera, it'll be too late for me--I'll already be too invested in Canons by then. I'm not as concerned about the lack of sharpness some sample shots have shown because that's probably just a difference in the in-camera sharpening setting rather than a weakness of the image-acquisition system, and I'd just as soon handle sharpening myself in Photoshop.

[Gopher]

I get the feeling that CCD is inherently noisier than CMOS.

I recently spoke with a satellite astronomy engineer who concurred. It wasn't his speciality but he mentioned he was getting a CMOS based camera for his own astronomy photography (20Da). This is how rumors start, I know.

I too was hoping for more from this camera.

[DonSchap]

Noise may not be that big a factor.

Check this link --> Link to review


Examining the reviewer's last three sample shots of the final lens... comparing ISO-400 to 800 to 1600... IMHO, I found them well within tolerances... and after eyballing them at 200%, I have to disagree about his findings. There is no dramatic threshold. In fact, I wish we all could get shots with only this level of noise at ISO-1600. Gee whiz...

I'd venture to say that if you do not need the "expanded" ISO-3200 (H) {Custom Function-08} on the EOS 30D... this camera looks like it could save you $300+ and throw in the "Super SteadyShot" for free. That represents a virtual savings of $300 per lens on glass you may already own. Awesome... just awesome.

Highly Recommended? I'd have to ask... why bother recommending anything else for a newbie?

Heck, for a mere $900 (the average cost of a single IS-equipped Canon lens)... it gives all my old and great Minolta glass... a new lease on life! That's like... way cool!

[krzkrzkrz]

Hi, can't find anything about the picture quality around? Have I missed something?

Anyway, from what I've seen of example pics from the Sony A100, I must say it's quite disappointing. Check these links out:
http://www.dpreview.com/gallery/sonya100_preview/
and a swedish site for photographers:
http://www.fotosidan.se/clindh/alfa/

At dpreview, D200 pics in my view seems a of a lot better than the Sony. Comparing at original size of course. And one can't blame it all on the kit lens either, I think.

Any thoughts on this?

In regards to: http://www.dpreview.com/gallery/sonya100_preview/

In my opinion, the image quality doesn't at all look bad. I don't know why you would say this. Compared to the 30D, the image quality in the Sony A100 stands out quite nicely


PS. theres also a review at: www.cameralabs.com for the A-100

[Gopher]

In regards to: http://www.dpreview.com/gallery/sonya100_preview/

In my opinion, the image quality doesn't at all look bad. I don't know why you would say this. Compared to the 30D, the image quality in the Sony A100 stands out quite nicely


PS. theres also a review at: www.cameralabs.com for the A-100

What the heck? Someone painted the back side of that red helecopter purple! You can see a part of it just peeking over the top!

Not to be blamed on the camera though. Must have been the kit lens.