Sony Alpha A100K 10.2MP Digital SLR Camera Kit with 18-70mm f3.5-5.6 Lens by Sony
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Digital camera reviews of Sony Alpha A100K 10.2MP Digital SLR Camera Kit with 18-70mm f3.5-5.6 Lens
Digital camera Review: Cool cam owns extreme price
Summary: 5 Stars
I love the camera. It has a little of everything. The camera is loaded with all the manual controls you could desire. The picture quality is great. I really enjoy using this camera, especially since I don't feel like I have to protect it with my life. At the price I paid, it just can't be beat. That's all folks!Digital camera Review: Cool one, nice pictures
Summary: 5 Stars
Well I dont think my money got wasted!!
Cool one shooting great pictures, auto focus is good.
Have a 2 GB card and start shooting memories...
Recommended!!!
Digital camera Review: Customer Service Awful!
Summary: 2 Stars
Like others have said in their reviews, the camera is decent, but the cusotmer service is horrendous! I purchased the camera in July, 2007 from Ace Photo and the camera arrived very quickly. The problem started when I tried to download my first set of photos-- I couldn't do it automatically as there were corrupt files. I figured it was my memory card so I purchased another one, but had the same problem. And, on the camera, there is an error code for formatting memory cards. So, I called Sony Cusomer Service and I was unable to talk to anyone that had actually seen the camera so they walked me through algorithms that were not at all appropriate for the problem. In fact, they couldn't even find the error code I had in their list. Even so, they made me spend 3 hours on the phone with various agents going through processes that made no sense for the problem I had. In the end, they told me I would need to purchase a memory card from them (becuase they couldn't verify any of the cards I was using would work correctly even though they were Dane-Elect and Sony!) and if that didn't work then I could send the camera in at my own cost for them to repair it. I am amazed that Sony treats customers in this manner... it has definitely made me think twice before purchasing Sony products in the future.Digital camera Review: Did my research, bought it, great product.
Summary: 5 Stars
When it came time for me to jump into the DSLR world there were a ton of choices. Having owned both Canon and Nikon in the past I had no loyalties either way, so I approached buying my camera with a clean slate. After a month of testing out each product (Rebel XT, XTI, Nikon D40, D50, D70, D80 Sony A100) I landed on the Sony alpha A100. I read every online review I could find on it and considered heavily before buying.
What I like:
Built in AF motor
Built in IS (steady shot)
Built in CCD Cleaner on camera shut off
Dynamic Range Optimizer (DRO)
Raw mode and editing software is great
Ergonomics (feels great in hand)
10.2MP for cropping (shares the same CCD as the D200)
Full manual control
Kit lens (produces Sharp crisp images more so than Canon/Nikon kit lens)
Twin top rotary dials (makes life a ton easier when switching quickly for action shots)
Continuous shooting mode until memory card full
Great battery life (400 or so pics with flash for about half of them)
Beautiful color reproduction
******Lens Interchangeability with Minolta Maxxum line*****
I have bought 2 lenses off craigslist (50mm f1.7 & 70-210 f4.5-5.6) for $20 each that would cost well over $200 a piece new. And Since the AF motor and IS motors are built in the are AF and stabilized!!!!!!
What I don't like:
High Iso's get a little noisy--(read this before hand new it was gonna happen.) Only noticeable on long exposed night shots. To combat this I Fix my ISO at night to either 100 or low 80 and use a tripod.
With DRO set to highest setting, night exposures can get this weird artificial light gradient effect (note with kit lens).---To combat just switch it to a lower setting.
I take it everywhere with me, and have already produced 2 full size (18x24" & 20x30") prints with it and their quality is amazing. After 1000+ shots, I fully endorse this camera and would recommend it to anyone.
Digital camera Review: Disappointing Image Quality
Summary: 2 Stars
I bought this camera for Christmas after having spent several weeks reviewing test reports (such as on [...] and reading user opinions. I wanted to buy a DLSR because eight to six years ago I owned a nice SLR from Minolta and was very happy with it. After buying our first digital camera (a compact 6 MP SONY DSC-V1) we haven't really used our SLR anymore. We have used our compact V1 a lot, maybe shot 7,000 pictures over the last three years, and even though being happy most of the time there have been moments where I wanted to have a real SLR/DLSR back. So, at the end I decided for the SONY A100 over Canon or Nikon for a couple of reasons:
1) We have been very happy with our SONY V1
2) We were very satisfied with our SLR from Minolta and the A100 is based on earlier Konica/Minolta DLSRs
3) The image stabilization (steady shot) seemed to be a major advantage
4) Sensor cleaning (anti-dust) mechanism
5) I could potentially use an old objective from my Minolta
After having received the camera and after having shot maybe 100 pictures (not too many, I admit), most of them test pictures where I took the same scene with our old V1, I must say that I am quite disappointed of the picture quality. I don't know whether it is because of the 18-70mm lens that came with the camera (even though I have read that the quality of that lens is actually not that bad) but it turns out that the pictures with the A100K are worse than those taken with our V1, which I find quite amazing, and disappointing.
The test pictures that I have taken with both cameras were taken at home, with and without flash, in various modes (e.g. AUTO mode, program mode, shutter priority, etc.). I played with the ISO settings, the flash level and the EV settings for the exposure compensation and so on. The scenery was colorful (many objects/toys with different colors) and allowed a good comparison of color reproduction and sharpness.
What I can see so far is that for some reason the pictures with the A100K are quite blurred, even though I use steady shot (also with flash where steady shot would not be required) and even though I set the sharpness already to +1, as recommended by many users. Still, the image quality is disappointing, in all modes that I have tested so far. It turns out that our V1 gives really better results, even though it is a fairly small lens (from Carl Zeiss, though), a much smaller sensor and only 6 MP. The color reproduction on the A100K seems better and more natural, on the V1 the red is typically over-pronounced.
The other, very annoying impression is noise. I read about noise issues for ISO settings above 400 ISO but there were some users that mentioned that you hardly shoot at 800 or 1600 ISO, which I found convincing. However, now, in this typical "home environment" I can see that on some pictures even the noise at 250 ISO is significant, I mean, you look at the picture and one of the very first impressions is that it is quite noisy. You look at the EXIF info of the picture and it tells you that the ISO (I shot in ISO AUTO mode) is 250 or 320. This is really very bad. I didn't expect that I would have a "noise problem" for a typical daylight picture at home even, under certain circumstances, not all pictures, of course.
I will definitely return the A100K. I think I will try another DLSR, maybe the 10MP Rebel from Canon, otherwise I will stick to my V1 or look for a newer model. We realized in the last two days how superb the V1 is, actually, by having this comparison with the A100K ...