Sony Alpha DSLR-A100

Performance
For our tests, we used a 1GB Imation CompactFlash card and the bundled DT 18-70mm F3.5-F5.6 kit lens. The Alpha is compatible with Type I/II CF cards, Memory Stick DUO and Memory Stick Pro DUO (with the bundled adapter).

	We ran tests on the DT 18-70mm F3.5-F5.6 lens that's bundled with the Alpha 100 kit.

One key requisite of a digital SLR is its performance, and Sony's Alpha 100 didn't disappoint in that aspect. The camera powered up in 0.5 second and took about 0.8 second to capture its first photo. Shutting down the unit took slightly longer at 1 second until the red indicator light went off. Focusing was quick in most situations and shutter lag was almost negligible.

For instant review, the camera took 1.1 seconds for JPEG Fine-quality pictures and 1.2 seconds for RAW images. Scrolling through our pictures in playback mode was nearly instantaneous for both recording formats.

We liked the tactile feedback of the shutter button and there was a significantly different feel between half-priming for a shot and the actual click of the button. However, we felt that the loud clack of the mirror flip was distracting and would have preferred it to be muted a notch or two.

The Alpha 100 employs a nine-point autofocus system. Our gripe, though, lay with the flatish directional keypad on the rear of the camera which doubles as controls for its AF system. There was a tendency for the thumb to slip, especially when selecting the outlaying diagonal AF points. Spot meter on the Alpha measured 3 percent, 0.5 percent tighter than the 3.5 percent on Canon's EOS 30D.

	The pop-up flash on the Alpha sits 3cm above the body when activated.

Unlike Canon's Picture Styles, adjusting color settings on the Alpha 100 was basic. We could select from Standard, Vivid, Portrait, Landscape, Sunset, Night, Black-and-White and Adobe from the DEC (Digital Effect Control) option on the left mode dial. In addition, we could increase/decrease contrast, saturation and sharpness.

Even though the pop-up flash on the Alpha 100 sits 3cm above the body when activated, we noticed shadows at the bottom of the frame at the wide end of our DT 18-70mm kit lens. Sony rates the range of the built-in flash at between 1 and 5m.

Continuous shooting, as claimed by the company, clocked at three frames-per-second when shooting 10-megapixel images in JPEG Fine quality, and we could shoot until our memory card ran out of space. Burst mode in RAW format was slower at 2fps, and went on until the buffer was full (the buffer is indicated by the number "6" when seen through the viewfinder. This number drops as the buffer fills up. When shooting in JPEG, the buffer is indicated by the number "9" but we never managed to deplete the buffer). It took approximately 5.7 seconds for the buffer to be cleared before we could resume shooting in RAW at 2fps.

The 2.5-inch LCD monitor was able to give us reasonably vivid and sharp images even under bright sunlight. With the exception of the Olympus E-330, you won't be able to use the LCD screen here to frame your shots. You'd still have to rely on the viewfinder, which was clear even though it showed only 95 percent of the total view.

The 1,600mAh Lithium-ion battery pack is rated for 750 shots on a single charge. During our one-day field test, we took approximately 200 shots with the Eye-Start AF turned on half the time, Super SteadyShot on, occasional flash, typical reviewing of images on the camera's LCD. At the end of the day, we still had a full battery.

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