Wednesday, July 28, 2010

REVIEW : Sony alpha390 with 18-55mm Kit lens for $600

Sony Alpha390: 14.2MP CMOS sensor, Live View with Quick Auto Focus, SteadyShot INSIDE™ image stabilization, on-screen Help Guide, Graphic Display, Tiltable 2.7" Clear Photo LCD Plus display, high sensitivity ISO 3200, 18-55mm zoom


Review:
Pros
RAW image quality are average to good
 Image Stabilization is good
Handling and Feel is extremely good and comfortable
Tilting 2.7-inches screen @ 230k-dot resolution (vs. Nikon D3000- 2.5-inch)
Live View ( no Live Viewn in Sony A290)
Wireless flash capability
Beginner's dSLR, made easy to use
Cons
Images are soft at almost all ISO
Extremely small Viewfinder
Poor 2.5 Frames/sec burst mode
No movie mode
Non-Adjustable Noise reduction
Few external Control, No Video Jack (cannot be connected to TV)
Lack of AF assis Lamp ..AF struggle in Low Light
Poor battery Life
White Balance off in certain condition



CONCLUSION:  Sony Alpha390 is a decent camera but there are better choices available on markert at this price point. If price is dropped from $600 to $450-$500, then it would have been a very good choice at that price. With no movie mode as Nikon D5000 available at this price, its up for a serious challange. However the Image quality was still little above average.

Rating: 6.5/10



PRODUCT SPECIFICATION:


Exposure System
  • Creative Style : Standard, Vivid, Portrait, Landscape, Night view, Sunset, B/W Contrast, Saturation, Sharpness
  • Exposure Compensation : ±2EV (in 0.3 EV steps)
  • Exposure Settings : Auto, Auto Flash Off, Program Auto (P), Aperture priority (A), Shutter priority (S), Manual (M)
  • ISO : Auto, 100 to 3200 (in 1 EV steps,Recommended Exposure Index)
  • Metering : TTL metering w/ 40-segment honeycomb-pattern SPC
  • Metering Modes : Multi-segment, Center-weighted, Spot
  • Metering Sensitivity : EV2 - 20 at ISO100 with F1.4 lens, (EV4 - 20 in spot metering mode)
  • Scene Mode(s) : Scene selection (Portrait, Landscape, Macro, Sports, Sunset, Night portrait/Night view)
  • White Balance Mode : Auto, Daylight, Shade, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Flash, Custom

Recording
  • Media Type : Memory Stick PRO Duo™ media / , SD and SDHC memory card,
  • Still Image Max Effective Resolution : Approx. 14.2 megapixels
  • Still Image Mode : RAW, RAW+JPEG, Fine, Standard
  • Still Image Size 16:9 : L size: 3872x2576 (12M) M size: 2896x1920 (6.5M) S size: 1920x10280 (2.5M)
  • Still Image Size 3:2 : L size: 4592X3056 (14M) M size: 3408X2272 (7.7M) S size: 3408X2272 (3.5M)
Drive System
  • Drive Mode : Single-shot, Continuous, Self-timer, Self-timer Continuous, Bracketing, Remote Commander
Focus Control
  • AF Modes : Single-shot AF, Automatic AF, Continuous AF, (AF/MF selectable)
  • Focus Area : Wide (Up to 3 active focus points glow), Spot, Local (9 local areas selectable)
  • Focus Features : Predictive control, Focus lock, Eye-start AF, AF illuminator (Built-in flash, Range: approx. 1-5m)
  • Focus Points : 9 points
  • Focus Sensitivity : EV0 - 18 (ISO100)
  • Focus System : TTL phase detection system
Advanced Features
  • Advanced User Interface : "Easy-to-understand Graphic Display and on-screen Help Guide User-friendly function menu"
Imaging Sensor
  • Anti-Dust : Charge protection coating on low pass filter and image-sensor shift mechanism
  • Color Filter System : RGB primary color filters
  • Imaging Sensor : APS-C size CCD sensor (23.6x15.8mm)
  • Pixel Gross : Approx. 14.9 megapixels
  • Processor : BIONZ™ image processor
LCD Display
  • Angle Adjustment : Yes(upward by up to 135 degrees, downward by up to 55 degrees)
  • Brightness Control : Auto Brightness Control (Auto setting in 2 steps, manual setting in 5 steps)
  • Coverage : 100% (Playback), 90% (Live View)
  • Customization : Display color (Black, White, Brown, Pink)
  • LCD Type : 2.7” TFT Clear Photo LCD (230,400 pixels)
  • Live View : Quick

Software
  • Operating System Compatibility : Microsoft Windows 7/Windows Windows XP* SP3 / Windows Vista** SP2 / Mac OS X ?v10.4 or later? *64-bit editions and Starter (Edition) are not supported. **Starter (Edition) is not supported.
  • Supplied Software : PMB (Picture Motion Browser) Image Data Converter SR Image Data Lightbox SR
Weights and Measurements
  • Dimensions (Approx.) : Approx. 128.1 x 97.1 x 83.5mm (W/H/D, excluding protrusions)
  • Weight (Approx.) : Approx. 497g (without battery, memory card, accessories)
Viewfinder
  • Diopter Adjustment : -2.5 - +1.0m-1
  • Field of View : 95%
  • Focusing Screen : Spherical Acute Matte Screen
  • Type : Fixed eye-level, penta-Dach-mirror
Camera
  • Camera Type : Sony Digital SLR camera with built-in flash and inter-changeable lenses
Convenience
  • Live View : Quick
Optics/Lens
  • Lens Mount Type : Sony α lens, Minolta and Konica Minolta AF lens
  • Magnification : 0.74x (with 50mm lens at infinity)
Interface
  • BRAVIA® Sync™ : Yes, via HDMI with compatible BRAVIA HDTV
  • HD Output : HDMI
  • Memory Card Slot : Dual memory card slot: Memory Stick PRO Duo™ media SD and SDHC memory card
  • Tripod Mount : Yes, 1/4"-20
  • USB Port(s) : USB2.0 Hi-speed (mass-storage, PTP) 
Power
  • Battery Type : NP-FH50
  • Number of Still Images : Approx. 510 images with viewfinder, approx. 230 images in live view mode (CIPA standard)


Flash
  • Flash Compensation : ±2EV (in 0.3-stop increments)
  • Flash Coverage : 18mm in focal-length of lens attached
  • Flash Metering System : ADI flash (automatic change for Pre-flash TTL)
  • Flash Modes : Auto, Fill-flash, Red-eye reduction, Rear sync, Slow sync, Hi-speed sync*., Wireless
  • Flash Type : Escamotable automatique
  • Guide Number : 10 (in meters at ISO100)
  • Recycling Time: Approx. 4 sec.



In the Box

  • NP-FH50 Rechargeable Battery
  • Software CD-ROM
  • DT18-55mm SAM Kit Lens
  • Shoulder strap
  • USB cable
  • BC-VH1 Battery Charger
  • Body cap 


© 2009 Sony Electronics Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. Sony, α, BIONZ, BRAVIA, Sync, Clear Photo LCD Plus, SteadyShot INSIDE™, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Duo, Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo, InfoLITHIUM, HDNA, and Stamina, are trademarks of Sony. HDMI is a trademark of HDMI Licencing LLC. All other trademarks are trademarks of their respective owners. Non-metric weights and measurements are approximate and may vary.

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