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(More customer reviews)Sony has been trying really hard to compete with Canon, Nikon, Olympus and other major DSLR players since the release of the alpha 100. The 550 along with 500 are the latest additions to Sony's already very crowded DSLR line-up.
Unlike its other live-view siblings, the 550 is a very fast live-view enabled DSLR. Clocking at 4 frames per second under live-view (with continuous focusing), the frame rate surpasses many of the earlier Sony DSLRs, trailing behind only the alpha 700 and 900. None of these models are live-view enabled. There are a few options for continuous shooting for the 550 here: Hi, Lo, and speed priority. At "Hi" mode, the DSLR blasts away at 4 fps while it tracks the subject's movements. There are few instances of hesitation here, where the camera slows down a little, but the bottom line is, Sony did not lie about the 4 fps capability. Switching to speed priority, however, was a bit of a let down for me. Although the continuous rate immediately went up to an amazing 7 fps (you can literally hear the shuttle slamming away like mad at 7fps), the live view was disabled and the screen went dark. Therefore, you can't track the subject while you're firing at 7fps with the live view mode turned on. Also, the camera can't track a subject moving toward or away from you.
The maximum number of continuous shots according to the manual is as follows: Fine (JPEG) = 32 shots, Standard (JPEG) 116 shots, RAW & JPEG = 7 shots and RAW = 14 shots. One good thing about the camera is that it does not slow down as you're reaching toward the limit of these figures, so far I've tested Fine and Standard mode, and the camera does not disappoint.
The Exmor sensor is impressive, although it won't impress Canon or Nikon DSLR owners (Do refer to the sample images on top, and observe how the noise level of this new sensor increases with the increase in sensitivity). Maintaining details and color all the way up to ISO 1600 is no easy feat, but the 550 does it well with the new APS-C CMOS Exmor sensor. There is unfortunately still enough chroma noise visible at full zoom, probably due to the fact that Sony's noise reduction engine has never been great to begin with (all their earlier alpha models had alot of chroma noise at high ISOs), but the Exmor sensor helped alot in bringing the 550's sensitivity up to 12,800. Granted, chroma noise is really high at that ISO and details are being sacrificed with the noise reduction engine aggressively filtering out those stray signals, but when you really need to shoot at that sensitivity, you'd be glad that the 550 actually gives you the option to do so. Earlier alpha models maxed out at ISO 3200, with heavy noise reduction that had no effect whatsover on chroma noise. Entry level models, especially the a300 series (including the latest a390), suffer horribly from color blotches at ISO 1600 to ISO 3200 (the results are actually worse than the a200 models (including the latest a290)), which renders their full resolution exposures completely useless.
The Auto HDR should only be turned on during really severe back-lit conditions. When applied, it brings the shadows out of the dark and produces a well balanced image without the use of fill-in flash. However, when used under normal conditions, the Auto HDR will over-compensate the shadows and produces a dull and "flat" image. The effect is however adjustable, from +1.0 EV to +3.0EV. The Auto HDR should also not be used for capturing moving objects, as two consecutive frames will be captured and overlapped against each other to produce the final image. A football flying across the football field will turn into two footballs in the final image. Dynamic Range Optimizer (DRO, 5 different selectable levels) should be used under normal shooting conditions and when shooting fast moving subjects. However, do note that as the DRO function pushes the shadow areas out of the dark electronically, the noise level in those dark areas will increase along with the DRO setting. DRO Lv4 and Lv5 produce very noticable noise in darker areas, so should be used sparingly.
The new DT 18-55mm lens has less zooming power than the DT 18-70mm model that comes with older alphas, but the resolving power of this new lens is somewhat impressive. The DT 18-70 could barely make it past the 10MP mark, whereas the DT 18-55 seems to be able to capture details beyond what the alpha 550's 14.2MP sensor could see. The focusing mechanism is very quiet and responsive, making it easy for you to get close to pets and creatures that are easily startled by sounds. But if you already have an army of alpha mount lenses waiting for the 550, I would recommend that you skip this camera-lens combo and go straight for the body only package.
Another thing to note about the DT 18-55mm lens is that is has an amazingly minimum focusing distance, at 25cm. This is the shortest distance you can place the camera's sensor from your subject. With the zoom dial set all the way to 55mm, this entry level lens is able to capture very impressive macro photos. The DT 18-70mm (bundled with older entry level alphas) had a minimum focusing distance of about 40cm, so this new lens, unlike its older sibling, makes a great macro lens too, if you are not trying to magnify a button or a bead. The actual distance of the subject from the glass of the lens is alot less than 25cm, as the minimum distance is measured from the surface of the sensor to the subject.
After using the a550 for almost 10 months, I'm having no luck finding any reasons to regret having replaced my a350 with this model. Granted it is not one of the best cameras out there, with limited customization (no control over maximum ISO, minimum ISO when the ISO is set to auto, like a Nikon, and no minimum shuttle speed control) and a few missing external controls (like white balance or steadyshot switch, both can be found on a350) and the LCD screen is little bit crowded with alot of unnecessary information for the sake of point-and-shoot camera users (but can be turned off, thankfully), the design of the updated graphic user interface is simply sublime.
And more importantly, for anyone who has been using an entry level Sony DSLR (200, 230, 290, 300, 330, 350, 380, 390), the quality of the images produced by the a550 at high ISO (800 and above) will astound you. Your low light pictures will now be almost clean, with minimal chroma noise, with smooth, film-like grains added to the exposures progressively as the ISO climbs to the maximum value of 12,800.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Sony Alpha DSLR-A550L 14.2MP Digital SLR Camera with 18-55mm Lens
Sony Alpha A550L 14.2MP Digital SLR Camera w/ 18-55mm Lens
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