Sony Alpha DSLR-A550

Opinion: To compensate Princhov's crap....

Opinion: After one month of operation, I have only good things to say about the A550: picture quality is excellent (specially when watched on HD TV screens!), menue operation is very efficient and user friendly. High resolution LCD screen is exceptional. Auto focus is fast. Body is plastic but very solid, much better than the A350 - no more "squeaks" - with a solid grip to hang on to. New features on top of the A350 /380 are essential to me, and all work well. High ISO performance is exceptional.

Exceptional value for the money.

It is easy to work around the missing MLU. The missing video does not bother me.

Opinion: One of my key criteria when I went looking for an affordable dslr was a good working live view. Not only do i wear glasses, but my good eye (the one I use for critical looking) is the left one. Now that is hardly practical in combination with a OVF. Using the screen for focusing you want it to be very sharp. This all made the choice very simple: If you want very good LV combined with fast AF, the Sony A550 is the first choice. Frankly I dont like its looks. But it does not try to hide that it is a piece of plastic. It holds fine, but could be a bit taller, my pinky has nothing to grip. If you balance it from the right hand protrusion, it balances perfectly vertically, very nice for portraits. That saves me having to buy the vertical grip, for which Sony wants a whopping 250 euros. The tactile feedback from the buttons is very poor, but the right buttons are there, well placed. Only a white balance button is sorely missing. The menu is an example of simplicity and clarity. There is a very good printed manual, but no problem if it went missing. This camera is fast in startup, fast to operate and fast to learn. Picture quality is excellent, even up to high ISO. For the best sharp pictures one still needs to use low ISO and a heavy tripod, but the 550 let you get away with very little light. Another point that makes me happy: color reproduction is fantastic, even at high iso. DRO (dynamic range optimisation) is present, and needs to be used with caution. Also present is auto hdr. It makes two pictures in very fast sequence and stiches them together. Nice gimmick, but I dont think I will use it often. Also, strange to find such a gimmick on a camera that otherwise is rather simple. Not that I mind- a good good sensor and a good lens are the basis, as far is I can see. The 18-55 kit lens that came with is was very quickly replaced by a Tamron 28-75 1:2,8 which is a very nice companion to this camera. I also bought a little diffuser that fits into the flash shoe-not! Sony has fitted its own design of flash shoe. Sigh. No surprise the camera also produces its own raw format. All togethed, I very happy with this camera. I hardly ever miss a good shot.

Opinion: OVF is very good, slightly small but bright. Response of camera is generally fast, with some lag ocassionally when using the menu system - buttons not very good. Body is well-built, and the articulated LCD screen does not feel flimsy, so it inspires confidence in use. Colours are generally accurate, AWB still tends toward warm when used under artifical light but not as bad as previous models. The SSS function is much better now, and settles an image down faster than previous models - really earning its keep this time. LV AF speed is very fast as usual, a welcome change from all the other systems which seem to lag behind - except Panasonic. The high ISO performance has been much improved, with better control over chroma/colour noise, resulting in detailed images even at high to extreme ISOs. Noise is still visible but acceptable now. Coupled with the Carl Zeiss 16-80mm f3.5-4.5 lens, this camera really shines.