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Sony Alpha DSLR-A100

Digital Camera Review

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Physical Tour

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Design / Layout
November 29, 2006 By Patrick Singleton
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Viewfinder (6.75)
The Sony alpha A100's optical viewfinder sits in a large, comfortable rubber eyepiece, but the window itself is small. With 0.83x magnification (at infinity, with a 50mm lens), the viewfinder’s view of the world looks a little shrunken. It's also less bright than competing DSLR viewfinders, and its view is grainy.
 
The A100’s viewfinder is 95 percent accurate, which is about the same as competing models with optical viewfinders. Users who require glasses can ditch them with this model and instead use the diopter adjustment, which moves from -2.5 to +1.
 
On the screen, it shows the auto focus sites and the spot metering area. Below the screen, it shows exposure data, flash status, frames remaining, and image stabilization status. The stabilization status includes a row of bars like a cell phone's signal strength meter, indicating how badly Super SteadyShot is needed.
 
Just below the viewfinder is a sensor that detects when the user’s eye is level with the finder. When it detects the user, the LCD screen dims and the auto focus system jumps into action.
 
LCD Screen (8.5)
A 2.5-inch, 230,000-pixel LCD is pretty much expected on a mid-range DSLR these days, and the Sony alpha A100 has one. It's brighter than average – in our comparison review, we found it easier to use in bright light than the LCDs on the Canon Rebel XTi or the Nikon D80. Its tonal range is flat, though. It's not safe to rely on any LCD to judge exposure, but the A100 is particularly tricky. Users should look at the camera's histograms and highlight warning because blown highlights aren't always obvious when the camera renders images on the LCD.
 
Because the A100 uses the LCD as its primary interface, showing all of the camera's settings at once, its ease of use is very important. The A100's shooting layout is easy to read with the exposure mode, frames remaining, shutter and aperture settings in large, bold figures. Less crucial settings are smaller. The display rotates when the camera is held vertically, which is a much more appealing feature than it sounds like – it's much faster to read the display when one doesn't have to cock one's head. The feature works with the camera turned either way – grip-up or grip-down.
 
Flash (7.5)
In a room with a low white ceiling, the pop-up flash on the Sony alpha A100 reached to about 20 feet at ISO 100 and f/3.5, the maximum aperture of the kit lens at its wide-angle setting. That's typical for built-in flashes, and a useful amount of power for fill-flash in moderate ambient light. The user must pull the flash into position. It's not spring-loaded, and does not deploy automatically. The A100's maximum sync speed is 1/160.
 
The following flash modes are available: Auto, Fill, Rear Sync, Wireless Flash, Red-eye Reduction, and Off. The flash is directly over the lens when the camera is held horizontally. That's the right spot for it, because it will cast shadows directly behind subjects, out of view. Unfortunately, the light source is very small, so it casts a very harsh light that is generally not flattering for portraits.
 
The A100 accepts only Sony's own accessory flashes, which offer bounce capability, flash sync at all shutter speeds and wireless connectivity. The Sony wireless system allows the use of only one external flash at a time, a disadvantage compared to other wireless systems that can control multiple flash units.
 
Lens and Mount (7.0)
The Sony α (alpha) A100 kit lens is an 18-70mm f/3.5-5.6 Sony-branded optic. It shows color fringing at its wide-angle setting, and barrel distortion. Both are common drawbacks of kit lenses like this one. The lens is small and lightweight. The body of the lens is mostly plastic, and it feels flimsy. The maximum apertures are small, so the user will need plenty of light, high ISOs or both to shoot decent pictures without a tripod. The lens's focal range is a bit longer than the standard 18-55mm that most kit lenses offer, but otherwise, it matches the low standard most manufacturers set for low-priced kit lenses.

Although Sony has successfully adopted Konica Minolta's lens line into its Alpha series, the lenses are unfortunately offered at a premium. The inclusion of in-camera image stabilization on the A100 is marketed as a cost effective method for gaining improved performance on all lenses; however, many of Sony’s non-stabilized lenses are still more expensive than Canon's IS or Nikon's VR glass with similar specs. While this may give voice to the debate between optical lens-based stabilization verses a CCD-based setup, it doesn’t do much to validate Sony’s marketing angle or excessive price tags. 
 

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Sony Alpha DSLR-A100
Digital Camera Review
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Previous: Page 2

Physical Tour

Previous: Page 4

Design / Layout