sonyalpharumorsLog in

I sell a lot of D90 and A550. I can tell you this: I don’t really hold much with what the review has to say: if you take an A550 out into the standard retail parking lot with its standard kit lens, and the D90 with its standard kit lens, and take the same shot and bring them back in to print… the customer buys the A550 90% of the time (the other 10% don’t care that the Nikon lost, they just refuse to own a Sony). The direct to print quality of the a550 is excellent… and if you really want to cheat, you set for 1.5 steps HDR just to show off that little extra you can get (the A550 has better DR to begin with).

Another tip: HDR is a wicked high iso fix as well since it acts just like an image stack. Set the HDR to a low step, 1 or 1.5, set the camera to 3200 or 6400 and show the customer the differences between the two shots: original vs. HDR 1/1.5. You can shoot ISO 6400 all day in this camera in this mode. It’s only for stationary objects, obviously but ’tis the season for holiday light photography.

I don’t know… the a550 breaks so many barriers, I think DPR was expecting a D300 competitor for less than $1k. I think they got a serious enthusiast camera that’s easier to use and still has all the REAL needs of an enthusiast camera (spot metering (No canon in this class can do a real spot meter), the best IS in the business (Canon and Nikon are inferior here, with the paucity of quality VR/IS optics in this price class), wireless TTL flash (where’s the Rebel store that? Oh.. wait…), near 5fps while IN liveview WITH AF (Nikon might achieve .5fps, the Canon will sacrifice everything for about the same), 7fps if you don’t mind the focus lock, same screen as a D700/A900, dual card slots (only Oly offers this outside of Sony in this price class)… etc. etc.

Program shift is obsolete. You set for a priority mode. There’s your program shift. We haven’t taught Ps in our classes for 3 years because it’s easier for the average enthusiast to understand aperture and shutter as individual components. If you’re shifting program, you’re looking for an aperture or a shutter setting. Switch to A or S. Done.

MLU? Really? The guys who REALLY REALLY use MLU use it for astronomy and even the D90′s dark frame subtraction isn’t exactly up to snuff. Your 40D, D300, and E30 guys are out there using MLU. People in the sub $1k class rarely if ever do. If you’re in product or jewelry photography, unless your shutter is well over 1″ you don’t need MLU on the Sony. We’ve proven this ourselves. This is a niggle and a poor one to use as a con.

DOF Preview? Agreed. Every DSLR should have it, and that’s my old school way of thinking… but it really isn’t 100% necessary. Not with the delete button existing as it does today. Pre-shooting and chimping are in… logic is out; which is also why the art of sports photography has left the building. These guys don’t have timing, they have 10fps. Nice. Way to waste photos that could have happened should have just taken your time to compose and hit the shutter at just the right moment instead of blasting away hoping to get real. Sadness.

Anywho, I don’t believe the A550 got a totally fair shake. It’s not without it’s flaws but it goes out of my stores highly recommended on a daily basis because it can simply do things other cameras in this price class can’t. And anyone who sees the direct from camera HDR prints just drops their jaw… especially when you show them B/W HDR… talk about zonal printing. Amazing output.

I don’t bring up the video capability of the T1i and the D90 because neither camera implements it worth anything. The enthusiasts who pick it up for video are looking for a camcorder. They are NOT getting a camcorder. I think we can all agree on that. The ease of use is minimal at best and then all the lovely parsing they have to do to make it usable in home media presentation. Couple that with poor sound quality, rolling shutter should you pan faster than 1 meter per hour, very little manual or auto control. Yeah. Not a factor. I’m sorry that people believe it is simply because it sells cameras as tick in the ol’ check box… but that’s consumerism, not technology, at work.

Just playing the devil’s advocate on behalf of the A550. I know the T1i and the D90 are great cameras, and that they’ve earned their kudos, and rightly so… but I also believe the A550 has its place, and that this place is substantial. I ALSO believe that the Canon and Nikon koolaid supply is going to start drying up this year as more competitors step up, more new models step out. Just because you saturate a market with your advertising does NOT make you the better camera. What the customer needs determines that. i.e. I’ll likely never sell another Nikon or Canon to a real estate photographer again (unless, obviously, they demand it). HDR will save those guys so much time and effort… they’ll thank Sony profusely for considering them personally.

/rant