Sony Alpha SLT-A55V Review Discussion

[Jim Keenan]

Announced this past August for a September debut in the market (along with the Alpha a33), the Sony Alpha SLT-A55V is the higher resolution and faster continuous shooting half of this duo. DCR.com Editor Allison Johnson shot the a55 at a Sony function in Jackson and Yellowstone, Wyoming, and came away impressed with the camera's speed. Fast continuous shooting rates and a capable autofocus combined with good image and color quality to create a very good first impression.

Read the full content of this Article: Sony Alpha SLT-A55V Review

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[KCook]

Ok, I'm a little surprised / puzzled at the high rating for "Expandability". My biggest disappointment with my Sony A200 has been the lack of user customization for controls. Nikon really runs rings around Sony on that score. Still, the A33 is on my wish list, mostly for the wicked AF.

Kelly

[Allison Johnson]

Hey Kelly, we give the expandability rating based on how well a person could expand their system if they buy that particular camera. Since there are plenty of good Zeiss and Sony lenses on the market it got a pretty good score in that arena.

[KCook]

I agree that lens selection for Sony Alpha is pretty good. Thanks in part to Sigma and Tamron. So what category in the ratings in the summary covers user customization of camera controls? Also, possibly a dumb question, but is the scale for these ratings supposed to be uniform across all classes of cameras? Or is a DSLR rating biased for only the DSLR class?

Kelly

[Allison Johnson]

Ratings are relative to the class of a camera - we wouldn't expect DSLR image quality from a $200 point-and-shoot. Customization of controls would fall under Design/Ease of Use. More options for the user, like more custom controls, would have a positive effect on its ease of use. Of course, there are many more factors that contribute to that particular score.

[KCook]

Ok. I think my confusion there was equating of "ease of use" with "ease of learning". A design with advanced control customization is not going to be simple, thus not so easy to learn for a novice. In that regard, my old Sony A200 is dead simple. I would give it high marks for ease of learning, but it lacks any control customization.

fuzzy thinking Kelly