
Review Summary
2011-09-04T21:00:00
I love this camera the onlty thing I would change is to make it light bit on the heavy side. I love that it takes my old minolta lenses.
KEVIN R.
2011-03-15T20:00:00
This is the best camera I have owned. I have had it for several months now and have used it for sporting events, weddings and my daughters activities both inside and outside. I was very impressed with the pictures of her shot inside the cafeteria, they were more crisp and vivid than my previous camera. I would defiantly buy it again!
ColoradoMountains

2010-04-25T21:00:00
Nice overall design, fits well in hand, love built in stability, and acepts my older Minolta lenses. I I had this camera now for two weeks, and have used it to shoot a soccer game, and some wildlife photos. The 5 fps is nice for both action and wildlife, it also comes in hand when shooting a 2 and 5 year old when they play. The ability to take my older lenses with the minolta a mount. This just added value to the camera and no need for me to buy more lenses. All featers work well on my old lenses also. I also like the high iso nice for low light work if needed, and the built in stability means i dont need is lenses which also cuts my cost down. This camera does not have video but i didnt want video so i dont miss it. I looked at both canon and nikon and went with sony. I am very happy with my choice!
KEVIN R.
2010-04-23T20:00:00
I have been using my new a500 for about a week now, I was able to use it a youth soccer game and came away with some nice shots. With the 5 fps i was able to get some nice actions shots, and it take my old minolta lenses so that is a huge pluse. nice screen could be a bit brighter but is no problem yet. I have use a Canon xsi and I like the feel of the a500 a lot more feels much more substansale when you hold it but it is not at all heavy. Nice design and love the contol dial located on the left instead of the right make it easy to change modes while shooting.
wheelchairman

2010-04-13T20:00:00
I would consider myself an informed dabbler when it comes to photography. Not exactly entry level, but not advanced enough to be an expert, and this camera was just perfect for me. It truly eased me into the world of DSLR's with its user friendly settings and quick blurbs on how the settings affect your pictures. Compared to other DSLRs I've looked into, the specific settings are not as exstensive such as white balance. You can set it at outdoor, cloudy etc but other cameras have more options within those options. This wasnt important to me since the difference is negligable in the final picture and sometimes too many settings can be confusing for beginners. Its a good weight with its metal body and very nice grips help you hold it, an excellent value for the price. I found my pictures came out exactly as I wanted them since the controls were so easy to access. I love this camera and I definitely reccommend it for entry level, and advanced photographers.
fislam

2009-12-26T19:00:00
This is so far the best Christmas Gift anyone can ever receive...specially if you are into taking pictures (shutter-bug)....... Nice body frame, fast shutter response, an excellent grip..... room for fingers nice.... really no complaints yet...only had this camera for a day........
PictureRed89

+/-2EV (in 1/3 EV-stop increments)
18mm in focal-length of lens attached
ADI flash (automatic change for Pre-flash TTL)
12 (in meters at ISO100)
Auto, Fill-flash, Slow sync, Rear sync, Wireless
Approx. 4 sec.
Auto Pop-up
Dual memory card slot: Memory Stick PRO Duo media SD and SDHC memory card
Yes, 1/4"-20
USB2.0 Hi-speed (mass-storage, PTP)
Charge protection coating on low pass filter and image-sensor shift mechanism
Yes, via HDMI with compatible BRAVIA HDTV
Standard, Vivid, Portrait, Landscape, Sunset, B/W Setting Adj. for; Contrast, Saturation, Sharpness
DRO; off, Auto/Level (Lv1-5) Auto HDR; off, Auto Exp. (Up to 3EV between 1.0-3.0EV in 0.5EV steps)
Quick Auto Focus Live View Manual Focus Check Live View
Flash Off, Portrait, Landscape, Macro, Sports Action, Sunset, Night portrait
Easy-to-understand Graphic Display and on-screen Help Guide User-friendly function menu
Sony a Digital SLR camera with built-in flash and inter-changeable lenses
RGB primary color filters
Approx. 12.3 megapixels
APS-C size Exmor CMOS sensor (23.5 X 15.6mm)
Sony a lens, Minolta and Konica Minolta AF lens
Approx. 12.9 megapixels
BIONZ image processor
Memory Stick PRO Duo media, SD and SDHC memory card
RAW, RAW+JPEG, JPEG Fine, JPEG Standard
L (10M): 4272 x 2400 M (5.4M): 3104 x 1744 S (2.5M): 2128 x 1192
L (12M): 4272 x 2848 M (6.4M): 3104 x 2072 S (3.0M): 2128 x 1416
Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional Windows XP*SP2 Windows Vista Mac OS X(v10.1.3) or later
PMB (Picture Motion Browser) 4.3.01 Image Data Converter SR 3.1 Image Data Lightbox SR
Single-shot AF, Automatic AF, Continuous AF, (AF/MF selectable)
Single-shot, Continuous, Self-timer, Bracketong; Cont./ WB, Remote Commander
+/-2EV (in 1/3 EV steps)
Auto, Auto Flash Off, Program Auto (P), Aperture priority (A), Shutter priority (S), Manual (M)
Wide (Up to 9 active focus points), Spot, Local (9 local areas selectable)
Manual Focus Check Live View Predictive control, Focus lock, Eye-start AF, AF illuminator
9 points
EV0 - 18 (ISO100)
TTL phase detection system
Auto, 200 to 12800
TTL metering w/ 40-segment honeycomb-pattern SPC
Multi-segment, Center-weighted, Spot
2EV to 20EV (4EV to 20EV with Spot metering), (at ISO 100 conversion with F1.4 lens)
Flash Off, Portrait,Landscape,Macro,Sports action,Sunset,Night portrait
Auto,Daylight, Shade, Cloudy, Incandescent, Fluorescent, Flash, Color temp.,Color Filter, Custom
-2.5 - +1.0m-1
Approx. 19 mm from the eyepiece, Approx. 15 mm from the eyepiece frame at -1 diopter
95%
Spherical Acute Matte Screen
0.80x (with 50mm lens at infinity)
Fixed eye-level, penta-Dach-mirror
Yes(upward by up to 90 degrees, downward by up to 90 degrees)
Auto Brightness Control (Auto setting in 2 steps, manual setting in 5 steps)
100% (Playback), 90% (Live View)
3" TFT Clear Photo Plus LCD4 (230,400 pixels)
32 - 104 degrees F (0 - 40 degrees C)
NP-FM500H
Approx. 1000 images with viewfinder, approx. 520 images in live view mode (CIPA standard)
Approx. 137 X 104 X 84mm (W/H/D, excluding protrusions)
Approx. 597g (without battery, memory card, accessories)
Sony 1 year parts and labor limited warranty
027242748613




made for me
By fislam
I would consider myself an informed dabbler when it comes to photography. Not exactly entry level, but not advanced enough to be an expert, and this camera was just perfect for me. It truly eased me into the world of DSLR's with its user friendly settings and quick blurbs on how the settings affect your pictures. Compared to other DSLRs I've looked into, the specific settings are not as exstensive such as white balance. You can set it at outdoor, cloudy etc but other cameras have more options...
View full Review
Awesome Camera
By PictureRed89
This is so far the best Christmas Gift anyone can ever receive...specially if you are into taking pictures (shutter-bug)....... Nice body frame, fast shutter response, an excellent grip..... room for fingers nice.... really no complaints yet...only had this camera for a day........
Exceptional picture quality, super-fast response and maximum shooting versatility come together with the Sony a500 camera. A 12.3 megapixel Exmor CMOS image sensor and BIONZ image processing engine deliver amazing image quality with high-sensitivity shooting at up to ISO12800. You can also expand your shooting opportunities with two Live View modes, Quick Auto Focus Live View and Manual Focus Check Live View.
Plus, a 9-area tracking auto focus system makes it possible to capture high-speed shots with a fast shutter speed and up to 5 frames/sec continuous shooting. And it's easy to frame high and low-angle shots on the tiltable 3.0" LCD. The a550L comes with a DT 18-55mm lens zoom lens.
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