Tag Archives: alpha

News just in from Sony, their much anticipated first DSLR offspring from their Sony-Konica-Minolta mashup, the Sony Alpha A100 DSLR plus 18-70mm lens kit. Judging from the pictures it looks pretty nice, pretty much standard DSLR fare. Only practical hands on experience would tell if it is usable and comfortable.

10mp puts it in competition, in purely sensor terms, with Nikon D200, D2X, Canon 5D, etc, although it is very strange the ISO starts at a wopping 160 – where is the ISO 50 and 100? It goes up to 1600 maximum. Not a huge problem but not a competitor to pro-level cameras that currently have greater range and also steps in between. Remains to be seen what the noise is like, presumably it is so good at 200 they do not see the need to go any further but as a ISO 100 user on a camera with great noise control I think they have missed a trick. The sensor is a 1.5x crop, like Nikon.

The kit lens is a pretty standard walk-around zoom, pretty bog standard. I don’t expect anyone to be jumping for joy but neither will too many people be disappointed, it would have been nice for them to come out with a real knock-out lens to get people talking.

Specifications

Imaging Device: 10.2 (effective) APC CCD Sensor; 23.6 x 15.8 mm; RGB primary color filter

Chipset: Bionz™ Processor LSI with Dynamic Range Optimizer (DRO/DRO+)

Recording Media: Memory Stick® Duo/Memory Stick PRO™ Duo media (via MSAC-MCF1N adaptor); CompactFlash™ Type I/ CompactFlash Type II / Microdrive™ media

Shutter Speed: 30 ~ 1/4000 sec, with Bulb

Exposure: Manual Exposure: Yes, w/EV indicator

EV Compensation: ±2.0 EV, 1/3 EV Steps

ISO: Auto/160/200/400/800/1600

LCD: 2.5-inch (measured diagonally) TFT (230k pixels) LCD with Clear Photo ™ design; Eye-start Auto-focus sensor

Display: Histogram: Yes, Live, RGB Playback

Microphone/Speaker: No/ No

Red-Eye Reduction: Yes: On/ Off

White Balance: Auto, Daylight, Shade, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Flash ( with custom White Balance color temperature adjustments)

Burst Mode: Continuous burst mode at 3 FPS to limit of media; Up to 6 RAW images in burst.

Color Mode(s): Black & White, Standard, Vivid, Adobe RGB (Except for Adobe RGB, all other color modes use the sRGB color space)

Scene Modes: Portrait, Landscape, Sunset, Night View/Night Portrait

Self Timer: Yes (10 seconds, 2 seconds, Off)

Still Image Mode(s): Normal (JPEG Fine/Standard), High-speed Burst (JPEG, RAW, RAW + JPEG), RAW (.ARW)

Memory Stick PRO™ Media Compatibility: Tested to support up to 4GB media capacity; does not support Access Control security function

Flash Modes: Manual Pop-up: Auto, Fill-flash, Rear flash sync, Wireless off camera flash (with Flash HVL-F56AM, F36AM)

Flash Effective Range: GN12 at ISO 100 (39 feet/ 12 meters)

Output(s): Video: Yes, NTSC/PAL Selectable

USB Port(s): Yes, Supports USB 2.0 Hi-speed

Battery Type: NP-FM55 Lithium-ion rechargeable battery (

Battery Capacity: 7.2V, 1600 mAh; CIPA standard: approx. 750 pictures3

Supplied Software: Picture Motion Browser for Sony v1.1 (Windows), Image Data Converter SR Ver. 1.1 (Windows & Macintosh), USB Driver

Operating System Compatibility: Microsoft® Windows® 2000 Professional, ME, XP Home and Professional; Macintosh®

OS X (v 10.3 or later). OS must be installed at the factory.

Limited Warranty: 1 Year Parts & Labor

Weight: 1 lb., 3 oz (545 g) body, not including battery, lens and media

Dimensions (WHD): (WHD) 5 1/4″ x 3 3/4″ x 2 7/8″ (133 x 95 x 71 mm)

SAL1870 DT18-70mm F3.5-5.6 Lens Specifications:

DT 18-70mm f/3.5-5.6 Standard Zoom

DT Lens Design for optimum DSLR performance

Superb wide-angle to mid-range telephoto shots

Aspherical Lens Elements for wide-angle accuracy

ED Glass for telephoto shots with well defined colors

Circular Aperture for pleasing defocused effects

Focal Length – 35mm Equivalent: 18-70 mm

Focal Length – APS: 27-105 mm

Angle of View – 35mm Equivalent: N/A

Angle of View – APS: 76ﾟ- 23ﾟ

Min Focus Distance: 1’ 2.4″ (38 cm)

Aperture – Maximum: f3.5-5.6

Aperture – Minimum: f22-36

Maximum Magnification: 0.25X

Lens Construction: 11 elements in 9 groups with 7 aperture blades

Filter Diameter: 55 mm

Dimensions: 2-5/8 x 3-1/8” (66 x 77 mm)

Weight: 8.3 oz (235 g)

Supplied Accessories: Front and rear lens cap, SH0006 lens hood

Supplied Accessories:

NP-FM55 Lithium-Ion Battery

BC-VM10 Battery Charger

Video Cable

USB Cable

Sony Picture Package software

Sony Image Data Converter .SRF software

Shoulder strap with eyepiece cap and Remote Commander clip

MSAC-MCF1N MS-Duo to CF Adaptor

Body cap

Accessory shoe cap

Image Data Converter SR Ver.1.1/Picture Motion Browser Ver.1.1 CD-ROMs

NOTE: No Memory Stick media or adapters are included.

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