Sony Alpha DSLR-A380

Very similar in terms of core specification to its predecessor the A350, the A380 is - if anything - a minor downgrade to the older model. Unlike two of its arguably most direct competitors, the Canon EOS 500D and the Nikon D5000, the Sony A380 does not offer video capture nor does it come with an on-screen 'Quick control' type user interface, something that has pretty much become a standard on all recently introduced SLRs. The rest of the feature set and specification is, next to the competition, not particularly impressive either.

While the 14.2 megapixel resolution is still more than competitive and the output at base ISO is generally good, the frame rate in continuous shooting is pretty slow, the high ISO performance isn't quite on the same level as the rivals and the battery capacity is poor. The A380's Quick AF Live View system is great, but as a whole, the camera is far from impressive, and it's inadequate, pinchy handgrip is - frankly - just annoying.