Why I chose Sony's A550 - Review

Many people have asked me why did I choose a Sony Alpha over the more popular (in Malaysia) Canon EOS or a Nikon. Working at a camera shop, I had the chance to try out all the cameras within my budget. So I know very clearly which camera suits me best. Without much hesitation, I choose the Sony Alpha 550 !

Here's why.


Its been 3 months (as of 1st August 2010) since I bought my DSLR and I'm extremely please with it.

I've tested it with several other of its competitors like Canon's 500D and 550D, and also Nikon's D5000 and D90 and now I'm pretty sure I made the right choice.

Why? I'll start from the outside of the camera. The handling is pretty good, fit my hand perfectly. The excellent buttons lay out which places the most commonly used buttons at the disposal of your right hand.

But what matters most of course is the inside.

• 14 Megapixels. GOOD
  
• Excellent battery life. GOOD
  
• In-body auto focus motor. Beats Nikon's D5000
  
• Live view mode. Not only it gives you a quick auto-focus and face detection, changes in settings such as White Balance can be seen as you change them. BEATS THE REST
  
• LCD screen that you can tilt for low or high angle shots.
  BEATS THE REST
  
• ISO up to 12800, higher than the rest.
  
• ISO performace, better than all recently Sony Alpha(s) (though I have to admit D90 does better)
  
• Quick continuous shooting of up to 7fps. BEATS THE REST
  
• SteadyShot. The in-body image stabilizer works just like all of its competitor's IS/VR but better in a few ways.
  1. its in the camera so you'll get the benefit in every single lens you use.
  2. This indicator at the right bottom corner of the LCD screen/View finder.It tells you how much your hands are shaking and lets you stabilize before shooting. And that, I tell you, is very useful. ONLY SONY ALPHAS CAN DO THIS
  
  
• HDR. Quite simply, BRILLIANT !!!

*click to enlarge*With the HDR you can come up with photos like this. THE REST OF ITS COMPETITORS OF TODAY, CAN NEVER DO THIS

Well, as far as I like this camera and I want to say its perfect, unfortunately, ITS NOT. NO product is perfect any way.

• The price is a bit more expensive than the rest.D90 has a 18-105 kit lens and if you want to trade in your 18-55mm kit lens for something similar to that of Nikon, it will cost more.
  
• No video function *NOT BOTHERED*
  
• metering is only reliable like 90% of the time if you don't give the camera time.
  
• Lacks ISO customization. You can only go from Auto,200,400,800,1600,3200,6400 or 12800. Only the Auto setting can get you in between those numbers but then, ITS OUT OF YOUR CONTROL. (This being the only fault that bothers me)