Sony Digital SLR Cameras |
Page updated: March 2009 |
Sony has branded its digital SLR line "ALPHA", using the lowercase α from the Greek alphabet.
The rationale: when you want your cameras to be number one, doesn't it make sense to use the first letter of the alphabet?
Joking aside, the term ALPHA is familiar to photographers and Japan and China who have used Konica Minolta cameras - which makes sense, since Sony acquired all of Konica Minolta's digital SLR technology in 2006.
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A Brief History of the Sony Digital SLR Camera
Sony has pretty good timing.
They ramped up their digital SLR presence and partnered with Konica Minolta right before KM closed up shop for good.
Sony acquired all of Konica Minolta's production know-how, allowing them to develop their first digital SLR in fairly record time.
What follows is a short timeline of the development of the first Sony digital SLR:
- July 19, 2005 - Konica Minolta and Sony announce partnership to jointly develop digital SLR cameras
- January 19, 2006 - Konica Minolta closes up shop and sells operations to Sony
- January 22, 2006 - Sony sets their sights on acquiring a whopping 25% of the digital SLR camera market
- April 19, 2006 - The ALPHA brand of digital SLR cameras is introduced
- June 5, 2006 - Sony announces their first digital SLR: the ALPHA DSLR-A100
2008 promises to be a big year for Sony digital SLR cameras: so far, they have already announced three new models (the A200, A300 and A350) with plans to announce a couple more (including a professional-grade 24 megapixel full-frame camera) toward the end of the year.
Sony wanted to be a big competitor in the digital SLR camera market, and that's exactly the direction they're heading.
The Latest Sony Digital SLR Cameras
Sony's latest digital SLR offerings now span the range from beginner models to ones geared more for advanced amateurs and semi-professionals.
Sony ALPHA DSLR-A100 |
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Release Date | July 2006 |
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| Key Features | 10 megapixels, dust control, image stabilization | |
| Uniqueness | First Sony DSLR | |
| Great For | Travel and low-light | |
| Level | Intermediate to advanced | |
| Avg. Kit Price | Discontinued | |
| Competitors | Canon Rebel xTi, Nikon D80, Pentax K10D, Samsung GX-10 | |
| The A100 is the first digital SLR released by Sony, the result of their acquisition of the Konica Minolta company in 2006. The A100 has a lot of advanced features in addition to its 10 megapixels, including a dust control system, built-in image stabilization and eye-start autofocus. | ||
Sony ALPHA DSLR-A200 |
Release Date | February 2008 |
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| Key Features | 10 megapixels, dust control, image stabilization | |
| Uniqueness | Enhanced Dynamic Range | |
| Great For | Travel and low-light | |
| Level | Beginner to intermediate | |
| Avg. Kit Price | $500  | |
| Competitors | Canon Rebel xTi, Nikon D80, Pentax K10D | |
| The A200 is the third digital SLR released by Sony and it benefits from many of the improvements that Sony has made since the release of the A100. The camera includes 10.2 megapixels, a dust control system, built-in image stabilization and eye-start autofocus. | ||
| Compare prices for the DSLR-A200 at Amazon, Adorama or B&H Photo Video | ||
Sony ALPHA DSLR-A300 |
Release Date | May 2008 |
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| Key Features | 10.2 megapixels, dust control, image stabilization, live view | |
| Uniqueness | Flip-out LCD | |
| Great For | High and low angle photos | |
| Level | Beginner to intermediate | |
| Avg. Kit Price | $600 | |
| Competitors | Canon Rebel XSi, Nikon D60, Pentax K200D, Olympus E-510 | |
| Previous digital SLR cameras from Sony did not include a live view LCD screen, but the DSLR-A300 does. In addition, the LCD screen is articulated, and can be pulled out from the camera body for easy viewing when composing photos from high and low angles. The live view mode on the DSLR-A300 allows for full use of the camera's autofocus system and continuous 3 photo per second shooting mode. | ||
| Compare prices for the DSLR-A300 at Amazon, Adorama or B&H Photo Video | ||
Sony ALPHA DSLR-A350 |
Release Date | April 2008 |
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| Key Features | 14.2 megapixels, dust control, image stabilization, live view | |
| Uniqueness | Flip-out LCD | |
| Great For | Enormous prints | |
| Level | Beginner to intermediate | |
| Avg. Kit Price | $750 | |
| Competitors | Canon Rebel XSi, Nikon D60, Pentax K20D, Olympus E-510 | |
| The DSLR-A350 is a lot like its sibling, the DSLR-A300: it includes a new live view mode (not available on other Sony SLRs), an LCD screen that flips out from the back of the camera, built-in image stabilization, dust control and Sony's dynamic range optimization (DRO) which increases shadow detail to produce more natural-looking images. The big difference between the two cameras is in the megapixels: the A350 has 14.2 while the A300 has 10.2. | ||
| Compare prices for the DSLR-A350 at Amazon, Adorama or B&H Photo Video | ||
Sony ALPHA DSLR-A700 |
Release Date | October 2007 |
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| Key Features | 12.2 megapixels, dust control, image stabilization | |
| Uniqueness | High speed | |
| Great For | Action | |
| Level | Intermediate to advanced | |
| Avg. Kit Price | $1,000 | |
| Competitors | Canon 40D, Nikon D300, Olympus E-3 | |
| The A700 is Sony's second digital SLR camera, and sports a larger sensor and a faster shooting rate than the A100 (5 photos per second). A new 11-point wide area autofocus is designed to focus quickly on any subject. The A700 includes the built in image stabilization and dust control that are also available on the A100. The camera body is dust and moisture resistant, and the magnesium alloy frame makes the camera lightweight but sturdy. | ||
| Compare prices for the DSLR-A700 at Amazon, Adorama or B&H Photo Video | ||
Sony ALPHA DSLR-A900 |
Release Date | October 2008 |
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| Key Features | 24.6 megapixels, dust control, image stabilization | |
| Uniqueness | Full frame sensor | |
| Great For | Enormous prints | |
| Level | Intermediate to advanced | |
| Avg. Price | $3,000 (no lens) | |
| Competitors | Canon 5D Mark II, Nikon D700 | |
| The A900 is Sony's first foray into the pro-DSLR market. The A900 includes a lot of high-end features but the standout is its sensor: it's full frame and it captures a whopping 24.6 megapixels in every shot. The real suprise here is that it's able to capture images at a continuous rate of 5 photos per second (despite their enormous size). Also of note: the Sony A900 is the only full frame digital SLR that also includes a built-in image stabilization system (Sony's SteadyShot technology). | ||
| Compare prices for the DSLR-A900 at Amazon, Adorama or B&H Photo Video | ||
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