Sony Alpha DSLR-A100

Review Date
March 16, 2010

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Reviewed by
pisco , Casual

Price Paid
$850.00 at BH Photo

Photography Experience
2-5 years , Outdoor

Summary
The A100 was my first DSLR, I've been using it since the Dec 2006 and the only reason why I upgraded is because my wife is taking it on a long vacation.

I like to photograph landscapes, so I don't mind the noise at high ISO. BTW, even Canon's Mark I use a tripod and ISO 100 when they can instead of ISO 400...

It's been a great camera all these 3 years had suffer some abuse (fallen down a couple of times), but had no problems.

Strengths
Color/contrast
Resolution
Compact/ light
Mirror lock up
DOF preview
AEL
Ergonomics
Easy to navigate menus

Weaknesses
High ISO: worse that others (all of them have noise above 400)

Similar Products Used
Sony A700

Customer Service
Great. I sent it once because camera was not re mapping hotpixels when the month changed. Sony covered all, and did more than just deal with the pixel remap.

Review Date
July 7, 2009

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Reviewed by
Jeffrey Nash , Intermediate

Price Paid
$418.00 at Best Buy

Photography Experience
11-20 years , Other

Summary
The sony A-100 camera is a fully functional dslr with a great potential to become one of the most sought after cameras for astrophotography. It's function controls which are mounted on the top and back make it the ideal camera for piggy back photography. Then I started thinking It would make a great camera for prime focus and projection photography. As it turned out I was right. With the compact flash card slot on the side and the battery on the bottom I can exchange both on the fly between exposures It was lightweight enough to connect to my telescope via an t-adaptor and is very stable while photographing distance star clusters. That is a challenge.in its self with any other camera. This camera is destine to become the 57 chevy of cameras.

Strengths
A Light weight camera with long battery life. And good stablity while photographing.

Weaknesses
I cannot think of any weaknesses for any application or use.

Similar Products Used
Sony DSC-W-100

Customer Service
I have never had to use them..

Review Date
April 29, 2009

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
4.00 of 5, 1 votes

Reviewed by
mitigusu2004 , Intermediate

Price Paid
$1000.00 at The mall shop

Photography Experience
6-10 years , Outdoor

Summary
extraordinary camera both for experts and for beginners. it is idiot proof. simple and plain menus. medium level camera, get best results

Strengths
excellent image quality, fast, reliable, solid, strong, idiot proof, extraordinary resolution, sharpness, colours, vivid, for me is one of the best. rich range of accessories.

Weaknesses
noise (audible) focusing system, not ultrasonic lenses, shutter button sometimes difficult to understand operation,
some times underexpose in low light and dull conditions

Similar Products Used
nikon D 80
canon 40D

Customer Service
not required

Review Date
March 9, 2008

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 1 votes

Reviewed by
kool100vr4 , Intermediate

Price Paid
$485.00 at EBAY

Photography Experience
21+ years , Outdoor

Summary
I have this Sony A100K for over 6 months now, i had a chance to do a side by side tests with my Nikon D50, with the same Tamron 28-105mm SP f2.8 lens on both, results turn out as so: sharpness both were sharp, but A100 is a hair sharper( both sharpness set at max), colors A100 turned out better in neutral, more to real life color than D50, D50 seems turned toward reddish neutral, details contrast went to A100, with its extra dynamic range plus A100 Anti Shake really helped, features went to A100, the build is the same differences, i like A100 style better,the noise went with D50 in high ISO. So you can see, i like A100 in everyway, except in noise issue, i can see noise starts at Iso 200 in the sky or grey ereas...
I bought the after market power pack grip to add on my A100, plus a hotshoe adapter to use with any flashes, instead of the only groove hotshoe mount by Sony.
last month, after i got back from my vac with A100, it malfunctioned in many aspects,so i sent it to Sony repair Center in Texas, in 5 days it came back as new condition and free of charges, Sony you are the best.Thnxs.

Strengths
GREAT!

Weaknesses
NOISE

Similar Products Used
NIKON D50

Customer Service
1 TIME

Review Date
February 7, 2008

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 2 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Visitors rate this review
2.00 of 5, 1 votes

Reviewed by
Allen , Intermediate

Price Paid
$1150.00 at Govan Mani. SOUTH AF

Photography Experience
0-1 years , Fine Art

Summary
I am very happy with the Sony a100. the build is definitely much better than the Canon EOS400D

it's very ergonomic, fits very well in your hand.

Image quality is sharp (under ISO400)
great lenses available, especially the Carl-Zeiss range.

Strengths
Build compared to other Entry Level DSLRS.
Ergonomics.

Minolta Legacy.

Weaknesses
Price (at the time it was released)
Low lens range (compared to Canikon)
High Noise/grain at ISO400+

Similar Products Used
Canon 350D

Customer Service
Haven't had experience yet.