Sony DSLR-A550

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Style
Color

	Price

	Body only $896 With 18-55mm lens $1,601
	all DSLR-A550 prices

	Snapsort rank

	Within its price range #n/a of 7 details Among similar cameras #n/a of 9 details

	Key specs

	Sensor size APS-C 23.4x15.6mm Screen resolution 921k dots
	Megapixels 14 MP Movie format None
	Screen size 3" Light sensitivity 12,800 ISO
	see all specifications

	Lenses

Browse Sony Alpha DSLR-A550 lenses at LensHero

Explore our gallery of 7 sample photos taken by the Sony Alpha DSLR-A550.

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The Sony DSLR-A550 vs other recent entry-level DSLRs

	Image stabilization
	Sensor shift

	Flip-out screen
	Great for movies

	In-camera HDR
	Combines multiple exposures

	Rapid fire
	7 fps

	Above average battery life
	950 shots

	More storage slots
	2

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The Sony DSLR-A550 vs other recent entry-level DSLRs

	Noisy at high ISO
	807 ISO

	Little color depth
	21.9 bits

	No movies
	None

	Small viewfinder
	0.52x

	No touch screen
	More buttons

	No weather sealing
	Need to shelter it from weather

	contrast detection autofocus
	slower focusing

	Uses battery, see less detail
	Pentamirror

	No GPS
	Missing geo-tagging

	Quite large
	Professional size (137×104×84 mm)

	No focus motor
	Won't autofocus with all lenses

	Thick
	3.3"

	Not so popular
	Among snapsort users

	Low overall image quality
	66.0

	Narrower dynamic range
	11.8 EV

	Below average sized screen
	3"

	Poor maximum light sensitivity
	12,800 ISO

	Lower true resolution
	14 MP

	Manual focus only
	None

	Slightly fewer lenses available
	126 lenses

	Old
	August 2009

	Lacks boost light sensitivity
	None

	Below average viewfinder coverage
	95%

	Expensive
	$895.93

	Slow shutter speed
	1/4000 of a second

Image quality data for the Sony DSLR-A550 provided by DxOMark

Alpha DSLR-A550

Sony

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Showing 4 comments

Juanfra Valero Cara

(9:43 PM, May 13, 2013)

It has phase detect AF, not contrast AF. Please fix.

Johnmcmillin

(4:44 AM, April 27, 2011)

I got a similar a500 recently as a cheap panorama maker. As a happy user of Sony's higher-level cameras, I wanted their Dynamic Range Optimizer feature, and this was the cheapest model that had the full feature. Also, I demanded a consistent Kelvin WB setting, which I don't find in Nikon's consumer-proced models. The a5xx series has those helpful features, but they left off one other thing I counted on-- a focus button. On the A500, and perhaps its relatives, there's no way to switch AF on or off except for the switch at the lens mount, which is clumsy to access with the camera mounted vertically on a rotator. Aimed at a blank wall, the AF locks up the camera. So I turn off AF completely for my pans, using it as a MF camera. How's that for 21st-Century progress?

That's just one of the un-ergonomic, misguided choices made in the design of this camera. You almost wonder if it was crippled to make the parallel A33/55 series of EVF SLRs look more desirable, sending Sony's clientele in the company's favored direction? But the camera still has a little appeal. My a500 has a very nice senor, with improved high ISO and longer DR than my A700. The A580 is supposed to be even better. On any day, I rather give back that fraction of image quality for the build quality, complete controls and better VF of the a700, though.

Mark Feeney

(2:48 AM, November 12, 2010)

Hi, stevenom. Cool link, but the camera it references is the newer Sony SLT-A55. Those model numbers are pretty close!

Steven

(1:54 AM, November 12, 2010)

This is one of the two cameras included in Time's The 50 Best Inventions of 2010:

http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2029497_2030652_2029799,00.html

Sony Alpha DSLR-A550

Summary Sony DSLR-A550

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Pros

The Sony DSLR-A550 vs other recent entry-level DSLRs

Cons

The Sony DSLR-A550 vs other recent entry-level DSLRs

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Showing 4 comments