Camera Phones Plaza

The Alpha DSLR-A550 is a Sony digital camera that comes at a starting price of $700. This camera means business and it represents some serious competition for models like the Nikon D90 or the Canon 50D. It features an 18 – 55 mm lens and further specs will reveal that this camera is a great choice under many circumstances.



This Sony digital camera has a 14.2 megapixel sensor and 2.5 fps of continuous shooting. It comes with a 9 point autofocus and 40 segment metering. Unfortunately, it cannot record any videos but who needs that function when you have a camera that can take these amazing photos just like the Alpha DSLR-A550 can.  The size of the included LCD is 3 inches and it allows you to view the photos that you took.  The battery life is estimated to be able to take 950 pictures. The dimensions of the camera are 5.4 x 4.1 x 3.3 and the total body operating weight is 22.9 ounces. Even if it heavier that the usual similar cameras, the Alpha DSLR-A550 Sony digital camera comes with a couple of great features that can inspire any photography passionate. But just because it is a Sony camera with a rather spicy price does not mean it is flawless. As you know, dSLR cameras generally come with buttons located on the top right of the camera where they can easily be reached with your fingers. This model, however, has the buttons located closer to the camera and they are quite difficult to reach when you are focused on taking a picture.

The Fn button located on the back will pull up autofocus mode, ISO sensitivity, Creative Styles, DRO/Auto HDR, white balance, flash compensation, metering, autofocus area, flash settings and drive mode. For people that are interested in how long it takes from the moment you turn the camera on and until the moment you can actually take the picture, here are some details and figures that will clarify all that. The time between power up and the first shot is about 0.4 seconds, when you are looking to focus and then take a shot it will take about 0.3 in good light and 0.7 seconds in dim light. The time it takes between shooting 2 different pictures is 0.7 seconds and if the flash is enabled, it takes 0.9 seconds.



Like I said, the Alpha DSLR-A550 Sony digital camera comes with its flaws and one of them is not knowing the setting of contrast, color, saturation and sharpness for each of the styles since they are all listed as 0 and then you choose whether to increase or decrease. The noise profile is excellent, maybe one of the strongest features of this camera. Too bad that the Alpha DSLR-A550 Sony digital camera has problems as far as color rendering goes… and the design is not that good looking either.  There are some things that would determine us not to recommend this camera so if you have a couple more hundreds of dollars to spend, the Nikon D90 could make a much better choice.