Sony Alpha A100K 10.2MP Digital SLR Camera Kit with 18-70mm f3.5-5.6 Lens
by Sony
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Our Price: $295.00 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Digital Camera See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Sony Alpha A100K 10.2MP Digital SLR Camera Kit with 18-70mm f3.5-5.6 Lens
Customer Review: Outstanding Camera for Price
Summary: 5 Stars
UPDATED:
I've had the Alpha since September and have shot more then 2000 photos now. I love it even more now then when I reviewed it in September. This is a great camera that takes awesome pictures in full auto for the person that isn't ready to venture out. But, it still has all the manual controls for the person that does the full manual photos.
I've done one wedding shower and one wedding with mine and the pictures I've gotten are amazing. If you watch you can get some great used Minolta lens for a decent price including some great low light lens such as the Minolta 50 f 1.7.
I would recommend this camera to anyone looking into a digital SLR. The in camera stabilization makes it possible to shoot with much slower shutter speeds which is awesome in low light situation.
It has a very easy to understand user interface. You don't have to hunt through an extensive and time consuming digital menu to find the most commonly used features. They are available with the knob on the top left and a push of the button. Custom white balance is fast and easy to set.
My only complaint is that if you shoot at 800 or above ISO you get some noise and grain but a good noiseware program takes care of that with no problem. So far I have only had to go to 800 once in all my shooting to get my shutter speed up enough that I didn't need a tripod. And if you shoot in raw you have even less problem with the noise then if you shoot in jpeg. I personally think the reason that many complain about to much noise is they shoot in jpeg and Sony does not apply as much filtering in jpeg as Canon and Nikon does. And for those that are still on the fence the sensor that Nikon uses in their cameras are a Sony sensor.
If anyone has any questions please feel free to contact me.
I'm in love with my camera. I have had it for 2 weeks. The photos coming out of this camera are amazing. I have a picture of a flower with rain drops in perfect focus with the kit lens.
Someone also spoke about the anti shake, I have a 100-400 lens and I have taken several pictures at dusk with this lens not on a tripod and they are perfect. With the same size lens on a Canon rebel I can not get a picture without blur. So I say the anti shake works perfectly. I have also been able to take night shots without a tripod and still have no blur. I think the antishake is amazing.
My only complaint about the camera is that the shutter is a little noisy and if you shoot at 800 iso you do see some noise. But, I very rarely shoot at 800 so it's not a problem for me.
I would recommend this camera to anyone. And if you already have minolta lens it's a no brainer.
Customer 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.
Customer Review: After further review... BUY IT...AMMENDED!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
...I MUST add here an E-Book that Sony should include and that I just purchased... "The Complete Guide to Sony's Alpha 100 Digital SLR Camera" by Gary Friedman... It makes using this camera even easier and FAR better results than expected... it can almost make you a professional overnight!
I will make this brief as there are enough posts to give all the gory details.
1. After a VERY exhaustive review of all the other cameras out there and many demos in the stores this was, to me, the obvious choice. What swayed me was several well-respected magazines saying how great it was... none of them said anything to sway me away due to noise... and me first week with the camera has shown this decision to be correct one. If you are going to blow up a 1600 ISO snap to poster size after cropping it and putting it thorough Photoshop etc... well, then noise might be an issue.
2. As I am a recent convert from the Point-And-Shoot world of digital pictures I wanted a robust yet easy camera to use and shore with my tech-shy spouse. She has already picked up many many skills that made this and even better option. The buttons are well thought out and not easily pressed if not intended.
3. Again, as a recent convert, I also wanted to be able to transition into the world of intermediate to advanced photography. The lens that came with the kit is perfect for almost every application... save true macro shooting (which I suspect vary few of us do often)...
4. Lastly, the value decision was easy... I got a steal matching a big box retailer that also included the long zoom $250 300mm lens for $100 extra bringing the total to $850... of course you will need to buy a memory card... and I STRONGLY recommend the 4GB card so you can shoot in the combo mode of RAW/JPEG... (two formats shot at once!). PLUS... the option to use the Minolta Maxxum line of lenses and KEEP the image stabilization in the camera (the other brands IS is in the lens, making the price VERY expensive... ).
There is absolutely no doubt in my mind this is the best DSLR under $1000... and maybe under $2000... if you buy anything else you will very quickly wish you had bought the Sony!
Customer Review: Awesome!
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this camera when it first came out. At the time nothing came close to matching it for the price. Now there are some other 10 megapixel DSLRs that are affordable but i'd still get the A100 (only other one i'd consider is the Pentax). It has been fantastic and is now an absolute bargin. Awesome image quality (below ISO 800), fast AF, great handling and very fast shooting. The battery life is awesome. Its rated at 750 shots with 1/2 using flash and I belive it. I've shot hundreds of shots in a weekend and not come close to emptying it. So much better than my old batter hog point and shoot digital. The built in metering is also very good and the manual mode very easy to use. Built in image stabilization makes this camera much more useful in low light (you can use 1/3rd the shutter speed of other camera and still get it sharp) than an unstabalized Camera and makes any lens stabilized. With Canon or Nikon you have to buy stabilized lenses which cost a lot. The grip is also better than that of any other low end DSLR i've used. Substantially bigger than the one on the digital rebel or on my old film Olympus SLR. Makes the camera just stick to your hand. Shooting is so much more fun with the control you get from a camera like this. I find myself wanting to do nothing but go out and shoot on nice days and have taken some great pictures on this. I've blown enlargements up to 13x19 with good results. Haven't tried bigger yet.
The kit lens is good for what it is. Very high quality but a small aperature that makes it slow to focus at full zoom and not the greatest at low light. This is a problem common to all kit lenses. Personally i'd get at least one faster lens, or just get the body and a faster zoom. There are a lot of used Minolta lenses out there that are cheap and good that you can use on this camera. The 50mm f 1.7 is a bargin as is the legendary "beercan" a 70-210 f 4 with amazing bokeh. Sony lenses are a little overpriced at this point, imo, so i'd look to either the used market or to makers like Tamron and Sigma for your lenses.
Customer Review: Splendid Resurrection of Minolta Autofocus SLR System With More to Come....
Summary: 5 Stars
I've been noticing some very positive, quite glowing, reviews of this new digital SLR camera from Sony - especially an extremely enthusiastic preview from Popular Photography - which is not merely a modest upgrade from the Konica Minolta Maxxum SLRs, that were produced by Minolta for approximately twenty years, until Konica Minolta sold this system to Sony. One of the new camera's best features is the option to use image stabilizing for each lens, since it is built into the camera body, instead of on some expensive optics only, as is the case with those from Canon and Nikon (Speaking of which, Minolta had produced lenses of similar high quality for its Maxxum cameras; most, if not all, of these will be revived for the Sony Alpha digital SLR.). Another excellent feature is the better ergonomics, with the camera's control knobs and buttons bigger and easier to handle, than on previous Maxxum cameras. Last, but not least, there is the promise of new superb-quality lenses from Carl Zeiss, manufactured by Sony under strict Zeiss quality control (This is apparently the case with Sony's numerous Cybershot digital cameras, especially with the more expensive models, which include elaborate Zeiss Vario-Tessar and Vario-Sonnar zoom lenses featuring Zeiss T* multicoating.); the first three lenses in this Zeiss Alpha line should be available to customers by year's end (One of these lenses is a fast, brand-new 135mm f1.8 Sonnar lens.). Those interested in a quality digital SLR should consider seriously the Sony Alpha A100K 10.2 MP Digital SLR, with an accompanying 18-70mm f3.5-5.6 Sony Alpha lens which should be useful for many photographic applications from wideangle to telephoto photography (EDITORIAL NOTE: I did spend a considerable amount of time handling this camera and discussing it with SONY representatives last fall at the annual Photo Plus East show held in New York City, thinking that it might be a potential digital SLR system, without replacing my manual focusing Contax SLR system, simply because it uses autofocusing Carl Zeiss lenses.).