Sony Alpha DSLR-A100 Digital Camera Review

Sony Alpha DSLR-A100

Digital Camera Review

Nov 29, 2006 - By Patrick Singleton
2.5 With the release of the Sony α (alpha) DSLR-A100, the biggest name in consumer electronics has entered the booming DSLR market. The 10.2-megapixel DSLR has a dust control system and sells with a kit lens for $850, making it very competitive in its category. With built-in Super SteadyShot image stabilization, the A100 has a unique and compelling feature set. But the major features are only part of the story – read on to learn about image quality, usability and detailed performance.
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Sony Alpha A100 Review


Auto Mode (8.0)
The Sony alpha A100 can be set to a fully automated mode that takes care of every shooting parameter except image size. That includes ISO, shutter speed, aperture, white balance and auto focus. It's important for beginners to remember that auto mode cannot activate the flash by itself. The user has to pull the flash unit up from the camera body.
 
Custom Image Presets (7.5)
Custom image presets are automatic modes that are meant to set the camera the way an experienced user would in a given kind of condition or to get a given effect. Presets are very popular on simple compact cameras, and their presence on a DSLR indicates that the camera's market is meant to include users transitioning from simple equipment. The Sony alpha A100 includes 6 presets, which is a typical number for entry-level DSLRs. The presets work as described.
 
Presets
 
Portrait
Limits depth of field, and optimizes color settings for skin
Landscape
Maximizes depth of field, and boosts color
Macro
For close-ups. Boosts color
Sports action
Maximizes shutter speed, sets auto focus to continuous, allows bursts of shots
Sunset
Bumps up reds and yellows
Night Scene
Allows long exposures, but it keeps the scene relatively dark
Night Portrait
Allows exposures up to 2 seconds to capture dark background, but uses flash for the person
 
Drive / Burst Mode (5.5)
Sony says the α (alpha) A100's burst mode runs as fast as 3 frames per second, but we could only get 2.5 fps. We used a SanDisk Ultra II CompactFlash card, which should not have limited the camera's performance. On the plus side, the camera will keep on shooting JPEGs at that speed until the card fills up. Its maximum burst of RAW files is 6 frames.
 
Playback Mode (7.75)
The Sony alpha A100 playback mode includes the typical options. It magnifies images up to 12x, and shows 16, 9, 6 or 4 thumbnails at a time. The thumbnail mode scrolls through images one at a time, or skips between folders. When the camera is set up to create new folders for each day of shooting, folder navigation is quite a convenient tool.
 
The Sony alpha A100's slide show mode shows each image in memory for 5 seconds in sequence. Though DSLRs tend not to have the range of slide show options that compact cameras have, the A100's complete lack of options is disappointing.
 
Movie Mode (0.0)
The A100 has no movie mode. Like most DSLRs, it lacks the live preview mode that would allow it to record movies.
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