Sony a55 DSLR Camera with 18-55mm zoom lens

This camara intrigued me enough to switch from Canon. I have only used it for 500 exposures, so I'm still getting use to this camara, but here are my first impressions:1. I love the Geo tagging (gps info added to the images) As far as I know this is the first DSLR/SLT camara that has this build in - Canon requires a very expensive grip and you still need an external GPS receiver. Nikon has a slightly better solution, but it is still external.2. The view finder is cool, but I come from a full frame camera which also had a good view finder.3. The image quality is on par or better with this price range camera. I'm using "EX" sigma lenses not Sony (Also very happy with the lenses)4. Love the rotating rear display. I shoot some glammour this weekend and all the Canon and Nikon guys where laying on the floor to get low angles, then there where all looking at me when I just fliped the screen to see it from top, held the camara low and started firing away, it was a subject of conversation.5. Build in image Stabilazation is another great feature to this and other Alpha cameras. I had to spend so much extra money when I had my Canon to get IS featueres, not here.6. The video was probalbly one of the other things that made me switch. My Canon took outstanding full HD1080p video, but focusing was a big issue as well as video transfere to my Mac, to do it right you had to import it with the Canon software and the export it from there - what a pain. I can work stright with the AVCHD video in Imovie or Final Cut Express (it is only 1080I or 760p) The 760p can be directly imported into aprature (AVCHD is not recognized?)7. Panorama and HDR fetures are outstanding and blow my Canon awayThings that I do not like:1. Video has very limited time before you have to take a breake or it overheats (9min +/-) - they do not advertise that ;) . So do not think that you can through away your camcorder just yet. There are lot's of discussions about the lack of manual control, it is not a big deal to me.2. It is not a good studio camara. When I put the camera into manual control and set the settings to work with my studio strobes, I hardly see my model in the viewfinder or display. I have to use low aptreture settings or high ISO to be able to see anything, missing out on details. Now this camera is not advertised as a pro camera and it is a great alaround and travel camera, but I thing this is just a limitation of the SLT technology, since the viewfinder is a mini display and not a glass prism. (I will edit this review, should I find a work around for this) - Edit: Listed in the comments are some discussions in reguards of this point.3. Tha lack of a grip - I have big hands and this is a compact camera and I love grips even for bigger cameras.All around I thing this is a lot of bang for the buck and has unique features theat easily off set the down sides. I can't wait to see how Sony is going to further develop this and their other Alhpa cameras.

The Sony A55 is rather unique camera. Although it looks and handles like a (small) Digital SLR camera, it does not have the traditional Reflective Mirror and consequently, no optical viewfinder. Instead the camera relies on a very good Live View (LCD Framing) system and a very good electronic viewfinder. The technology is called Translucent Mirror Technology and I believe it is propietary and only found in some SONY manufactured digital cameras.Although Live View is a feature found on most, if not all, recently released DSLR cameras, focusing and shooting performace is sluggish on all non-Sony cameras. The Sony A330 series was actually somewhat revolutionary as it featured a traditional single lens reflex (SLR) mirror system with an optical viewfinder and a very responsive Live LCD view system on the same camera by employing secondary-sensor Live View.Translucent Mirror Technology takes this technology to a new level. The optical viewfinder has been replaced with a fully electronic viewfinder.Although I personally prefer an optical viewfinder to frame photographs, I was very impressed with the A55. Both the LCD and the electronic viewfinder are very bright and sharp. The LCD fully articulates but inexplicably, pivots on the bottom (not on the side) making it less useful than it could be. The camera knows when to switch from the LCD to the viewfinder (and visa versa) based upon a sensor for that purpose. I learned that an electronic viewfinder has one convenient and practical advantage over its optical counterpart. With an electronic viewfinder it is no longer necessary to review the photo just shot on the LCD; the viewfinder may be used for both shooting and reviewing. This is especially helpful when shooting multiple photographs in rapid succession.The camera uses an excellent 16mp sensor found in other quality DSLRs including the Nikon D5100. Default settings generally renders natural color and fine details. ISO performance is fine through ISO 1600. ISO 3200 does show some grainy noise and loss of detail upon close inspection (but still very pleasing color and generally very usable photographs). There are no ISO settings between 1600 and 3200, an issue definitely not unique to the A55. Automatic white balance and metering are excellent indoors and outdoors except that there is some overexposure in bright sunshine (easily fixed by adjusting the exposure compensation a bit or by switching to spot metering). I highly recommend using a small external flash with bounce capabilities for indooor shooting(ie the HVLF20AM) for more accurate and more even exposure.The A55 is a bit smaller and lighter than almost all traditional DSLRs (but a bit larger and heavier than most compact series cameras). Image stabilization (steadyshot) is built in to the camera body; consequently all lenses are automatically stabilized and a bit lighter than the Canon & Nikon equivalents. A really versatile lens that is very inexpensive, very light and reasonably sharp is the Sigma 18-200mm (27-300mm equiv). This lens is branded under other names such as Quantaray and can be found for not much more than the price of a kit lens. I believe that all Sony Alpha & many Minolta Lenses are fully compatible with the A55 (some high quality/fast aperture Minolta lenses are available rather inexpensively). The Sony 18-55mm (27-84mm equiv) kit lens is pretty good as far as kit lenses go. The older 18-70mm kit lens is not very good and should be avoided.For those who like the shooting experience of a DSLR and prefer live view and/or an electronic viewfinder, the A55 is a great camera and a terrific value.