Sony Alpha A900

	Sample Photos Summary
• Sharp high-res images allow significant cropping and enlargement without loss off detail • Mixed results using Creative Styles settings; minimal effect in many cases • Captures subtle gradations in color and texture very effectively • Night shooting produces nicely balanced exposures with more detail than expected, despite the image noise
	White Balance	Page 7 of 18	Playback

Sample Photos

Clicking on any of the large photos below will call up the full-size original, though considering the size of these 24.6-megapixel files, those with slow Internet connections should consider themselves forewarned.

Landscape Sample
				Focal length: 24mm Aperture: f/10 Shutter: 1/320 ISO: 400 This lake shot was taken on an overcast day on Long Island, using Program mode with -0.7 EV exposure compensation. Metering was set to center-weighted average.
				In these actual-pixels crops, we see the sharpness that made the A900 our resolution leader, with clean sharp edges. There is signficant color fringing in the corners, though.

Close-Up Sample
				Focal Length: 105mm Aperture: f/5.6 Shutter: 1/20 sec. ISO: 400 The clock photo was taken on a shaded porch, using a custom white balance setting and a fairly large aperture to keep the face sharp while the busy background fades out of focus.
				The coloration in the metal surfaces is smooth and realistic, the details on the clock face were captured nicely, and image noise is not an issue.

Texture Sample
				Focal Length: 50mm Aperture: f/10 Shutter: 1/250 sec. ISO: 200 These world masks were shot on a bright, overcast afternoon, using the Vivid Creative Style to make the colors even more vibrant. A custom white balance reading was taken, with metering set on center-weighted average.
				The range of textures shown here include papier mache, yarn, wood, fabric and mottled plastic, in the far right sample, which was captured with admirable subtlety.

Creative Style Sample
				Focal Length: 55mm Aperture: f/22 Shutter: 1/1000 ISO: 1600 We used this tool-time tableau to explore the effect of different Creative Style choices. The main image was shot in the Neutral setting, the others in (left to right) Vivid, Standard, Autumn and Sepia.
				Colors in Neutral Mode certainly look flat in comparison. Vivid and Autumn make the orange shovel unnaturally hot. The pale blue door barely shifts in any of the color images, though the pale yellow rake intensifies in Vivid mode. And for sepia fans, the effect here mimics an old daguerreotype nicely.

Night Scene Sample
				Focal Length: 60mm Aperture: f/11 Shutter: 2 seconds ISO: 3200 The house looks significantly brighter in the photo than it did to the naked eye. It was shot using the Night View Creative Style setting, which is supposed to enhance contrast, though we didn't see a lot of difference between this shot and others taken using the Standard setting. The shutter speed was set manually, to enhance depth of field.
				Yes, there's a great deal of noise when shooting at long exposures at the maximum official ISO setting, but there's also lots of useful detail in a nicely balanced exposure.

Wildlife Sample
				Focal length: f/4.5 Aperture: f/5.6 Shutter: 1/60 ISO: 800 This ferocious animal was captured in a fairly dark room, with sunlight coming in through the window, using automatic white balance and evaluative metering.
				The far left image shows the reflection of a window in the cat's eye. Overall the level of detail is impressive, and the coloring very accurate even with automatic white balance.

Still Life Examples

	Still Life Comparisons
	Sony A900	Canon 5D Mark II	Canon 50D	Nikon D90	Nikon D700
ISO 50
ISO 100
ISO 200
ISO 400
ISO 800
ISO 1600
ISO 3200
ISO 6400
ISO 12800
ISO 25600

Noise Examples

	Noise Comparison Table
	Sony A900	Canon 5D Mark II	Canon 50D	Nikon D90	Nikon D700
ISO 50	Not Available		Not Available
	Sony A900	Canon 5D Mark II	Canon 50D	Nikon D90	Nikon D700
ISO 100
	Sony A900	Canon 5D Mark II	Canon 50D	Nikon D90	Nikon D700
ISO 200
	Sony A900	Canon 5D Mark II	Canon 50D	Nikon D90	Nikon D700
ISO 400
	Sony A900	Canon 5D Mark II	Canon 50D	Nikon D90	Nikon D700
ISO 800
	Sony A900	Canon 5D Mark II	Canon 50D	Nikon D90	Nikon D700
ISO 1600
	Sony A900	Canon 5D Mark II	Canon 50D	Nikon D90	Nikon D700
ISO 3200
	Sony A900	Canon 5D Mark II	Canon 50D	Nikon D90	Nikon D700
ISO 6400
	Sony A900	Canon 5D Mark II	Canon 50D	Nikon D90	Nikon D700
ISO 12800	Not Available			Not Available
	Sony A900	Canon 5D Mark II	Canon 50D	Nikon D90	Nikon D700
ISO 25600	Not Available		Not Available

White Balance	Page 7 of 18		Playback
Sony A900 Digital Camera Review Navigation
Intro	Product Tour	Color	Noise
Resolution	White Balance	Sample Photos	Playback
Hardware	Controls	Design & Handling	Speed & Timing
Canon 5D Mark II Comp	Canon 50D Comparison	Nikon D90 Comparison	Nikon D700 Comparison
Conclusion	Specs & Ratings