Sony A550 review

Features of the A550 compared to its predecessors

The most notable feature of this camera is the presence of two real-time modes. The A500 and A550 have a small secondary sensor built in to provide a fast AF Live Viewfinder, and the slower but higher resolution main Live View sensor of the system, which is used by all other manufacturers, albeit without AF at all ( Sony calls this MF Check Live View).

Other changes are also quite bright - the 3.0-inch LCDs are sharper than those found on the A330 and A380, and both 5-series cameras are CMOS-based rather than CCD technology like the 330 and 380.

A550 vs. A500

As mentioned earlier, the Sony 500 series actually consists of two very similar models: the camera in question (Alpha 500. The most important differences are the sensor - the A550 gives you a few extra megapixels, and the screen (the A550 has three times the resolution). but there are some others that justify the price gap:

* Sensor resolution (A550: 14.2MP, A500: 12.3MP)

* LCD (A550: 3.0 ", 920k dots, A500: 3.0", 230K dots)

* A550 has speed priority of 7fps (A500 max 5fps)

* A550 has a larger buffer (14 vs.3)

Main characteristics

Canon 500D and Nikon D5000.

* 14.2 MP CMOS Exmor sensor

* Manual focus Check Live View using main sensor

* 5fps in optical viewfinder mode (7fps with focus and exposure)

* New user interface

* HDR mode that combines multiple exposures

* 5-level manual selection, with wide dynamic range optimization

* Screen rotates up or down 90 degrees

* The battery life has been increased (1000 shots when using the viewfinder).

Unfortunately, the much-requested Preview Depth of Field and Mirror Shutter options have not returned. In both Live View modes, apertures are kept wide open until the picture is taken, giving no idea of depth of field. And, although the mirror could theoretically be left in the raised position, the new MF Check live view system rotates it down and back to the same position only when the picture is ready, even in conjunction with a timer.

The A550 is distinctly larger than the A380 - in fact, it is much closer to the dimensions of the A350.

The 5-series cameras are significantly smaller than the A900 and A850.

Sony Alpha DSLR-A550 specifications

Body material - plastic

Sensor:

• 23.4 x 15.6 mm APS-C type CMOS Exmor Sensor

• RGB Array of color filters

• Built-in fixed low pass filter

• 14.6 million pixels total

• 14.2 million effective pixels

Image sizes:

3:2

• 4592 x 3056 (L)

• 3344 x 2224 (M)

• 2288 x 1520 (S)

16:9

• 4592 x 2576 (L)

• 3344 x 1872 (M)

• 2288 x 1280 (S)

File quality / format:

• RAW (ARW)

• RAW + JPEG Fine

• RAW + JPEG Standard

• JPEG Fine

• JPEG Standard

Dust protection:

• Charging protected by a coating on a low-pass filter

• Dust protection mechanism sensor

Lenses:

• Sony Alpha lenses (Also compatible with Minolta and Konica Minolta AF lenses)

FOV crop - 1.5x

SteadyShot INSIDE

• CCD-Shift SteadyShot INSIDE system

• Claimed equivalent to 2.5 - 3.5 shutter steps

Autofocus:

• TTL CCD sensors (9 points)

• EV 0 to 18 (ISO 100) detection range

• Intelligent focus, Focus Lock

AF area selection:

• Wide AF area

• Spot AF area (center)

• Priority selection area (any of 9)

Focus modes:

• Single AF

• Continuous AF

• Automatic AF

• Manual focus

AF backlight:

• Yes (with built-in flash)

• Range about 1 m - 5 m

Eye-start AF - Yes, menu selectable

Shooting modes:

• Program AE (auto, flash off, P)

• aperture priority

• Shutter Priority AE

• Manual

• Scene selection

Scene modes:

• Portrait

• Scenery

• Macro

• Sports

• Sunset

• Night / portrait

Sensitivity:

• Auto (ISO 200-1600)

• Manual selection of ISO 200 - ISO 12800 in 1 EV steps

Measuring modes:

• Multi-segment (40 segment cell pattern)

• Center-weighted

• Spot

Spectrum Measurement:

• TTL

• 40-segment honeycomb

• EV 2 to 20 (Multi-segment / Center-weighted)

• EV 4 to 20 (spot metering)

(At ISO 100 with F1.4 lens)

AE Lock:

• AEL button (configurable: by holding down a key or quickly pressing)

• half-pressing the shutter

AE bracketing:

• One or continuous bracketing

• 3 frames

• 0.3 or 0.7 EV steps

Exposure compensation:

• -2.0 to +2.0 EV

• 0.3 EV step

Shutter - electronically controlled, vertical travel, focal plane

Shutter speed:

• 30 to 1/4000 sec

• lamp

Flash X-sync • 1/160 sec

Aperture values - depends on lens, in 0.3 EV steps

DOF Pre-No

White balance:

• Auto

• Daylight

• Shadow

• Partially cloudy

• incandescent lamps

• Daylight lamp

• Flash

• Color temperature / filter (2500 - 9900 K)

• Customizable

White balance fine tuning:

• Automatic (no)

• Preset WB: -3 to +3

• Fluorescent WB: -1 to +2

• WB color temperature: G9 to M9 (magenta to green)

White balance bracketing:

• 3 expositions

• Selectable high / low level

Dynamic Range Optimizer:

• Off

• optimization of the D-Range (auto, manually select the level 1 - 5)

• Auto HDR (Auto, Adjustable between 1.0 - 3.0 EV in 0.5 EV steps)

Color Space:

• sRGB

• Adobe RGB

Color modes:

• Standard

• Bright

• Portrait

• Scenery

• Sunset

• Black and white

Image parameters:

• Contrast (-3 to +3)

• Sharpness (-3 to +3)

• Saturation (-3 to +3)

Noise reduction:

• Exposure duration for exposure more than 1 second

• High ISO NR for ISO 1600 or higher

• User control: on / off

Viewfinder:

• Fixation at eye level of optical glass pentamirror

• Spherical Acute Matte focusing screen

• Magnification approx. 0.80x

• 95% frame coverage

• Diopter adjustment (-3.0 to +1.0)

• Eye-relief 19mm from 15mm frame eyepiece

• Movable eyepiece

• Viewfinder information

Live View (Quick AF Live View):

• Dedicated Live View sensor (pentamirror tilt system)

• 1200 zone of estimated metering

• Sensitivity 1 - 17 EV

• 90% frame coverage

• adjustment of exposure and white balance

• Face and smile detection

• Smart Teleconverter (x1.4 / x2.0 optional)

• Display: Histogram, real-time display of settings (White Balance, Sunset / Black & White Creative Style, Exposure Compensation)

Live View (MF Check Live View):

• Live View with CMOS Exmor sensor

• Measurement varies depending on shooting mode

• 100% frame coverage

• Display: Live display of settings (White Balance, Sunset / Black & White Creative Style, Exposure Compensation)

• Magnification (x7.0 / x14.0), Grid on the display

LCD monitor:

• 3.0 TFT Xtra Fine LCD

• 921,600 points

• Automatic brightness control (auto adjustment in 2 steps)

• Manual setting in 5 steps

Flash:

• Built-in pop-up flash (manual pop-up)

• Measurement: ADI, Pre-flash TTL, manual flash control

• Guide number 12 (ISO 100 / m)

• Angle of coverage 18 mm (35 mm equiv.)

• flash sync 1/160 sec

Flash modes:

• Off

• Auto

• Fill Flash

• Rear sync

• Slow sync

• Wireless / high speed sync.

Flash Bracketing - 3 exposures in 0.3 & 0.7 EV steps

Flash Compensation - -2.0 to +2.0 EV in 0.3 EV steps

External Flash (Optional)

• Sony HVL-F58AM

• Sony HVL-F56AM

• Sony HVL-F42AM

• Sony HVL-F36AM

Modes:

• One frame

• Continuous shooting

• Speed-Priority (shooting with focus and exposure locked)

• Self-timer (10 and 2 sec)

Continuous Shooting:

• Approximately 5 fps max (4 fps in Live View)

• Speed-Priority: 7fps max

• RAW: Up to 14 frames

• RAW + JPEG: up to 7 frames

• JPEG (Fine): 32 frames

• JPEG (standard): 116 frames

Self-timer:

• 10 sec

• 2 sec

Orientation sensor - Yes, for shooting, playback and display of the control panel

Connectivity:

• USB 2.0 Hi-Speed (Mass Storage, Multi-LUN or PTP)

• DC-IN

• remote entry

Remote control

• Wired: with optional RM-S1AM or RM-L1AM

Video output:

• AV (selectable NTSC or PAL)

• HDMI

• PhotoTV HD settings used with BRAVIA.

Storage:

• SD / SDHC

• Memory Stick Pro Duo / Pro HG Duo

• Supports FAT12 / FAT16 / FAT32

Food:

• NP-FM500H Li-ion battery (1650 mAh)

• Charger included

• Optional AC adapter

• Battery lasts for about 950 shots with viewfinder, 480 in live view (CIPA standard)

Vertical Grip - Yes (VG-B50AM)

Dimensions 137 x 104 x 84 mm (5.5 x 4.2 x 3.9 inches)

Weight (body) - without battery: 599g

Design

The A550 immediately looks in place in the current Alpha line, with consistent design enhancements such as vertical stripes on the handle, has taken its place as the big brother of the recently launched second generation A2XX and A3XX cameras. Unlike those cameras, however, the main grip has a more traditional design, which makes it much more comfortable to grip the camera - it immediately resembles an A300 / A350. It also has significantly more external control possibilities, AEL has its own button and separate buttons are provided for the functions that are presented on the joystick buttons of the simpler models.

In hand

Fortunately, the A550 has much more than the conventional grip found in the A230, A330, and A380 designs: a comfortable grip that will be familiar to anyone who has used a DSLR before.

Exposure compensation and AEL buttons (which for most users are likely to be two of the most commonly used) have good positions with the ability to easily switch between the two with your thumb, not from the standard shooting position. The buttons on the top of the camera are more difficult to reach, and you may need to look away from the viewfinder. However, these buttons were designed to be controlled in change mode settings (ISO, D-range and dial mode), and this is not a camera that will necessarily be used with an optical viewfinder.

LCD Monitor

The A550 gets the beautiful 920,000 dot (VGA resolution) LCD that appears in most DSLRs. This is a 4: 3 screen (640 x 480 pixels), a 640 x 428 pixel live view sensor released for full resolution, with a black bar with camera settings at the bottom (due to live view has many main image sensors with an aspect ratio of 3: 2).

The result is that primary live view (using a second sensor) is vastly improved over any other system offered by Alpha, in that the preview screen is as crisp and accurate as it can get. And, of course, this camera also has manual focus in the live view system, which again takes advantage of the high resolution screen.

Regardless, the high resolution of the screen lends a greater impression to the captured images when you view them. It doesn't seem like a big achievement, but I can't help but like the camera, which displays the captured images well.

Viewfinder

The Alpha 550's viewfinder display is almost identical to the A380, and has the same 9 AF points (although the focus points light up differently - they've lost their little red points), but the view is much prettier, brighter and larger at the same time.

Viewfinder size

The size of the viewfinder is a key factor in the convenience of an SLR - the larger it is, the easier it will be to plan and focus your shots, and the more enjoyable and engaging the process is.

To judge the viewfinder (using a fixed lens, not an equivalent magnification lens), you should also pay attention to the size of the sensor. The chart below shows the sizes of sensors from different manufacturers.

The chart below shows the relative size of the Canon EOS 500D, Olympus E-620 and EOS-1Ds Mark III viewfinders. The Nikon D5000 viewfinder is essentially the same size as Sony and Canon.

The A550's viewfinder is by far better than previous Alpha models, and almost as large and almost as bright as the equivalent Canon and Nikon models (although it should really be better for the price). The biggest problem with the vantage point is how far from the eyepiece can you get your eyes to still see the entire image in the viewfinder, which is 15mm shorter than most competitors.This means you need to have your eyes close to the eyepiece in order to see the entire frame (and display), which is not so easy with a sticking LCD panel.

Viewfinder performance

Most cameras at this level have a frame size slightly larger than the viewfinder image - in other words, you will get a slightly larger picture than you see in the viewfinder. Like most of its competitors, the A550 only shows 95% (vertically and horizontally) of the frame.

Live view switch

The live view switch is shown in the photo below.

Connections

There is an HDMI port on the left side of the camera for connecting to HD TVs. There's also a USB connection for uploading your images, and just behind it, a remote shutter release connector. As with the latest A230 and A3XX series cameras, there is no AV output for non-HD TVs. On the other side of the camera, just above the memory card cover, there is a DC IN jack for powering the camera.

The A550 has slots for SD cards and Sony's own Memory Stick format. It also accepts higher capacity SDHC and Memory Stick HG Duo cards, and has a small switch to choose which slot you want to record into.

Base / tripod

The tripod mount is centered in the center of the base of the A550 body. There is no material around the mount to provide additional hold, but there is enough surface area to connect to the tripod.

Flash

The A550 has the same flash as the A350, with a guide number of 12 (m) at ISO 100. It is more powerful than the A230, 330 and 380. The hot shoe is standard Minolta.

Battery / storage compartment

The A550 (and A500) uses the FM500H battery, which appears in the A100, A200, A300 and A350. This is, of course, more batteries that appear in A2XX and A3XX cameras, and offers double the capacity (11.8Wh, not 5.9Wh), and gives the A550 quite impressive potential (950 shots), based on CIPA testing with the viewfinder. The A500 has an even more impressive 1000 shots battery capacity.

Lens / Sensor

The A550 features a standard Sony Alpha mount, which is identical to the Minolta A mount. The new CMOS sensor should not be confused with the same resolution CCD (A350 and A380).

Battery charge duration

The Alpha 550 runs on a NP-FM500H with a high capacity (as does the Alpha 700, 900, etc.). Battery Even with Live View Mode, if you rarely use flash memory or playback, you can get over 1000 viewfinder images on a single charge.

Live View Mode ~ 480 images

Viewfinder mode ~ 950 images

Package content (18-55mm kit)

* Sony Alpha A550 digital SLR camera

* NP-FM500H Li-ion battery

* BC-VM10 Battery Charger

* Case

* Shoulder strap

* USB cable

* Software CD-ROM

* Manual, Warranty

Top control panel (left)

There is a mode dial in the upper left corner of the camera. Below are the Menu and DISP buttons to access the menu and select the playback mode and Live View.

Top control panel (right)

The layout of the buttons is very similar to that of the A350 - only the Smart Teleconverter buttons are different, the more useful exposure compensation and AEL lock buttons are easily accessible. The four buttons on the top of the camera are not easy to reach with the traditional eye-level camera position (the ISO button is especially awkward), but they are pretty good to use if you are holding the camera at waist level using Live View. There are two new control buttons for the new features of the A550: D-RANGE and MF CHECK LV.

Testing

Dynamic range. D-Range Optimizer

DRO disabled

DRO Auto

Level

Level 2

Level 3

Level 4

Level 5

The Alpha 550 has the latest version of Sony's proprietary DRO Dynamic Range Optimization feature (similar features are now found on most DSLRs, most based on technology developed by Apical). DRO works by changing the tone of the shadow luminance curve in an image without significantly altering the highlights. The Alpha 550 offers both automatic and manual DRO controls (although, as we saw earlier, the automatic settings are very conservative and often show no effect).The highest level is useful for dealing with very high contrast situations (for example, shooting in a dark room with a lot of light coming through windows), but it significantly increases shadow noise at higher settings.

The DRO does not interact with the camera's metering, so it makes no attempt to highlight additional information - it's all about the shadow. As a result, users who shoot exclusively in RAW mode will not see any effect from DRO (this is a post-shoot processing step, so it only appears in JPEG format).

Default and Manual Exposure Compensation Examples

Adobe Camera RAW

default

Adobe Camera RAW

-2.5 EV digital comp.

Adobe Camera RAW

default

Adobe Camera RAW

-3.0 EV digital comp.

Auto HDR

The most intriguing new feature on the Sony Alpha 550 is Auto HDR. DRO is good for lightening shadows and fighting high contrast shots, but it can't really increase the dynamic range of a shot. That's where Auto HDR comes in handy. The principle is simple: two shots are taken in quick succession at different exposures, and the powerful Bionz processor then combines them to create a single image.

This is hardly a new idea: it is at the heart of all HDR photography techniques - it's not even the first camera to offer HDR fusion (in fact, the Pentax K-7 doesn't beat Sony in this capability, as it uses three shots for one image). The Alpha 550 mode is unique in that you can use the camera manually, as the processor can compensate for any small movements between shots. Of course, if you move the camera too much (or use a shutter speed slow enough that camera shake or subject movement is noticeable), you will get some weird effects (where there is too much difference between frames).

Overall, the new feature not only works as advertised, but will likely prove to be really useful in many situations.

Sample photos with Auto HDR (using a maximum setting of 3.0 EV)