Sony's admission to the DSLR bazaar has been an absorbing one to watch - the aboriginal bearing of the A2XX/3XX ancestors was a three-camera advance on a bazaar that best manufacturers had approved to abode with a distinct model. Sony instead created three cameras that placed greater accent on alluring new users beyond from bunched cameras (whether that be through amount or what was, at the time, the best seamless, compact-like alive appearance arrangement on the market), rather than artlessly stripping bottomward their higher-end models. With the contempo brace of that range, its cameras accept confused alike added appear a compact-user affable estimation of what an entry-level alms should attending like - with the anticipated aftereffect that the A230, A330 and A380 accept prompted disappointment and alike derision from the company's DSLR fanbase.
However, the barrage of the A500 and A550 accomplish it bright not alone that Sony wasn't aiming for absolute DSLR users with its 2XX / 3XX alternation but additionally that it intends to breach the admission akin bazaar bottomward into added segments than any added architect has afore tried. So now, in the sub $900 market, Sony offers bristles DSLRs - the amount acquainted A230, the simplified A330 and A380 alive appearance cameras and the A500 /A550 for the added accomplished DSLR user.
As such the A5XX alternation cameras achieve a brace of the appearance absent from the best contempo 2 and 3-series models - so the 'fives' affection the beyond 11.8Wh FM500H batteries acclimated in antecedent Alphas and accommodate Auto Exposure Lock buttons. There is additionally a added alternative of alien buttons for giving fast admission to a array of cutting settings such as drive mode, ISO and D-Range, absolution up the four-way ambassador for AF-point selection.
The return of two-mode live view
The most notable feature of the new cameras, however, is the inclusion of a second live view mode - so the A500 and A550 still sport a small secondary sensor in their viewfinders to provide live view with fast phase-detection AF, but can also utilize the slower but higher-resolution main-sensor live view system used by all other manufacturers. This two-mode solution is one we've not seen since the Olympus E-330 which, at the time, prompted the suggestion that live view was a problem looking for a solution. Since then, live view has become a highly prevalent feature but still one whose purpose isn't always clear. Interestingly, Sony offers a little guidance, dubbing its new imaging sensor live view mode 'Manual Focus Check Live View.'
The other changes are also quite striking - the 3.0 inch LCDs (in a lovely high resolution incarnation on the A550), are better articulated than on the A330 and A380 and both 5-series cameras are based around CMOS, rather than the CCD technology of the 330 and 380.
Key features
The A550 and A500 represent a new category of camera for Sony and the specification makes it look like the company is aiming fairly squarely for Canon's 500D and Nikon's D5000, pitching a little above both in terms of most specifications.
- 12.3 and 14.2 mp CMOS Exmor sensors
- Manual Focus Check Live View using the main imaging sensor
- 5fps in optical viewfinder mode (7fps with focus and exposure locked on A550)
- New user interface
- HDR mode that combines multiple exposures
- 5-level manually selectable Dynamic Range Optimization
- Screen articulates up or down by 90 degrees
- Increased battery life (1,000 shots when using the viewfinder on the A500
Sadly, the much asked-for depth-of-field preview and mirror lock-up options have not returned. In both live view modes, the lens aperture is kept wide-open until the shot is taken, giving no representation of depth-of-field. And, although the mirror could theoretically be kept in the 'up' position, the new MF Check live view system still flips the mirror down and up again just as the shot is being taken, even when combined with self-timer. Whether this lack of mirror lock-up will make any difference to images won't become apparent until we've tested the camera.
