Alpha 550 review is now on line

[David Kilpatrick]

I have finally completed what I am able to write at this stage about the Alpha 550:

http://www.photoclubalpha.com/2009/11/1 ... -and-lows/

It's a better camera in many ways than expected, especially at higher ISO (excluding the extreme 12,800 setting which seems to be a marketing bullet point, not a practical feature).

David

[bfitzgerald]

Interesting read..it seemed to get a good few punches thrown at it (criticism), then at the end..possibly some sympathy after a good beating! lol

As a 5d & A200 user, I am left wondering who it's aimed at. It's appeal is next to 0 for me..but then I've said, no MLU, no buy.
And I'll stick to that one from now on. At this "next step up" I don't think it's possible to forgive the (IMO rather many) lacking and expected features.

We'll see if Sony address any of these via firmware (I doubt it)

Ebay might be running out of Km 5d's soon!

[01af]

... I've said, no MLU, no buy.

What I keep saying is: if it has no MLU (mirror lock-up) and no MPF (mirror pre-fire) then it's a snapshooter's toy, not a photographer's tool.

I'd buy an A550 right away as a 2nd body to complement my A900 ... but definitely not without MLU. I'd accept MLU that only works in conjunction with manual-focus-check live-view. Sony's product manager who was responsible for the A550 must be a brainless fool.

-- Olaf

[bfitzgerald]

Well I wouldn't use the word "toy", but I am puzzled as to why they felt the need to not include MLU
After all they cannot say they were not asked, aka Sony blog and dp postings on the subject of MLU (and other stuff too)

I enjoyed reading the review, I was of course at the ringside screaming for a KO in style, gum shield on the canvas..and the fighter all over the place eyes gone, and out of it ref counting him out..what we got was a fairly convincing "points victory", and Carl gave us a TKO (technical KO)

If Sony take any notice of these points raised...is another matter in itself. Really, these are not that cheap..if £600 odd does not secure a few basic photo features, then it's a worrying sign of the direction Sony are heading in.

BTW the server on this site is dying, so many errors and a massive drop in speed..

[Dusty]

Having read the review I'm not sure what to think! I'd still like ISO 100 and good, consistent low ISO pics.

It seems to have some good features, and a few lacking points. Maybe they'll learn from this in time to get the 750 right. Or we may see a 600 series, there's room for that, too!

Even is ISO 1600 is good, I certainly don't want my camera deciding to use it at will. It would only be a firmware issue to put ranges in that are selectable. And Program shift! It amazes me that the control wheel makes no changes in ANY of the pre-programed modes. I guess they figure that if you know what to do, you'll just use A,S or M mode! But what about Vivid mode?

It seems like 2 steps forward, 2 steps back.

Dusty

[Mark K]

I have finally completed what I am able to write at this stage about the Alpha 550:

http://www.photoclubalpha.com/2009/11/1 ... -and-lows/

It's a better camera in many ways than expected, especially at higher ISO (excluding the extreme 12,800 setting which seems to be a marketing bullet point, not a practical feature).

David

Thanks David
After having read all you wrote, I believe A550 is a great camera at this price. ....

[stevecim]

Even is ISO 1600 is good, I certainly don't want my camera deciding to use it at will. It would only be a firmware issue to put ranges in that are selectable. And Program shift! It amazes me that the control wheel makes no changes in ANY of the pre-programed modes. I guess they figure that if you know what to do, you'll just use A,S or M mode! But what about Vivid mode?

It seems like 2 steps forward, 2 steps back.

Dusty

I agree, Dusty , 2 steps forward, 2 steps back. I ready think that Sony are leaving things like "program shift, setting iso min/max, MLU , 1/3 ISO setps" out to reduce the chances of end users making mistakes. It's all about making a camera "easier to use"

even a simple thing like 1/3 iso steps, would make me a lot happier with my A350, in Auto mode the camera makes a lot of use of the 1/3 iso steps, so clearly they are needed. but we can't select them. there are many times when I need a slightly faster shutter speed , but the jump from iso400 to iso800 is to large, I just find iso800 way to lacking detail/noisy.

Do you A700/850/900 users make use of 1/3 iso settings?

[David Kilpatrick]

Do you A700/850/900 users make use of 1/3 iso settings?

You bet! The secret weapon on the A700/900 is ISO 320. The quality is actually better than at 200 - especially the sky blue noise. I also use 160, probably with no special reason. 320 is the sweet spot of these sensors.

That's why I have been a bit frustrated to see lower sky noise on the A550, generally, when it has auto selected 250 than when I set 200 manually. It is possible that 320 is also a very good setting for the 550 but you can't get to it.

David

[bakubo]

You bet! The secret weapon on the A700/900 is ISO 320. The quality is actually better than at 200 - especially the sky blue noise. I also use 160, probably with no special reason. 320 is the sweet spot of these sensors.

I had heard this said for the A900, but didn't know it was true for the A700 too. Somewhere I read something about 160 being better than 100 and 200 on the A700. Are you saying that 320 is the best ISO on the A700? If so, then that is good to know. All this year I have generally tried to use 160 as much as possible. ISO 320 would be a breeze since I would almost always be okay with shutter speeds.

[David Kilpatrick]

We use 160 more on the A700 than on the A900. Shirley used 320 for a stack of pix in September, but mainly 160. I have just checked one of her 320 pix and set the default to the same as my tests on the 550. Much lower noise than the 550 at 200. In fact, hardly any visible noise at all.

David

[alphaPDX]

It's a secret weapon even on the A200.. too bad it isn't achievable except randomly while shooting AutoISO

edited to a link - big image was too annoying
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_t0ROcoSshLc/SYpC7 ... /astro.jpg

[stevecim]

David, does the OVF seem any better to you than say the A350? seemed better to me, but I only used it for a few minutes in a store.

[alphaPDX]

Thanks for the detailed review, David! The compromises and philosophy that Sony shows here puts the A550 comfortably in 4th place if I were shopping now - behind A700, 200 and 850 (two of which would be mighty hard to find ). When my 200 meets its end, I fervently hope this strategy has been discarded & people can again buy a camera with 'advanced' features like mirror lock, clean iso100 and P-shift for under $1000. We shall see..

[stevecim]

Since there seems no sign of a A700 replacement, maybe the talk about Sony thinking that the A850 is the A700 replacement is true, maybe we should put has much pressure has possible on Sony to add MLU, P-Shift, ISO min/max, iso 1/3 steps to the A5XX.

I'm sure there will be hundreds of post on DPR saying why bother, the A5XX are perfect...if you want those features buy a A850....

but really, there is no market reason to not add these features to the A5XX. it will not impact on A700 replacement when/if it comes, since the A5XX don't have things like, mag-alloy body, dust seals, tethered shooting, better OVF, pluss Sony can add extra features like micro-AF adjust to a high end body, up the frame rate etc......

but by adding these features it means the A5xx will appeal to a larger market. Not everyone that wants these type features can afford $1000.00+ bodies. I know I can't

[bfitzgerald]

You have to wonder how many sales Sony "might lose" for not having some of the "asked for features"
That's really hard to work out, in fact impossible, but I think it will have some impact, no question. And they have lost some sales for little or no reason, other than to protect higher end models.

Add to that, the lack of video (and remember these ones will be on the market for the whole of next year we imagine) A whole year with no video in this range, when Canon has their 500d, Nikon's D5000 and the D90..and Pentax now as well.

That's got to hurt sales, and I just "don't understand that" Even if my interests in video are not much, it surely makes sense to try to get the best sales you can from your product. If Sony had done an exceptional job with these models, aka photographer wise, they might get away with it, but they have not..and it will hurt sales wise because of it..