In body image stabilization
Auto Focus in several modes
solid build
reliable
awesome set of features.

low light conditions bring out colour noise at higher ISO settings
not sealed to fine dust, moisture
doesn't have an auxiliary battery capability
doesn't have a vertical shooting set of controls (not much of a negative though)
a bit hard on battery power

Although first out of the gate for Sony DSLR's the A100 gets high praise. As a Konica-Minolta camera rebadged and improved by Sony the A100 performs well throughout the range of features. It is a good, solid, camera that delivers on everything; AF is sharp and quick, in-body image stabilization, metering, etc.
I have used the A100 for almost 3 years now and I can't see why I would change, except to buy a camera with higher pixel count and better low light capability. If the a900 is as good as I have read, that might be my next purchase, but the A100 will still have a place in my camera bag.
I use the camera for personal and professional purposes. Not a complaint yet from myself or my clients.

Customer Service

have not had to use CS yet.

Similar Products Used:

Minolta 35mm cameras and lenses

Super steady shot
In build anti dust
easy to use
easy to setup
good results
nice colours

noise (although i have to test it because mine has the latest firmware )
the sound it makes is louder than my other dslrs
non auto pop up flash

The Sony Alpha 100 is a unique piece of electronics. I have bought it in like mint condition for a reasonable price.

I like the tilting screen , the super steady shot and inbuild dust removal. it is only the second day i'll have it , so i cannot say that i really know it all, but teh menu's are real easy to use , read some reviews and decided that i wanted it

first results are not bad at all , given the fact that i really didn't focus on making a good picture but nevertheless the image was good .

It is not yet going to replace one of mine nikons or the canon just a add in the gear list ..

Customer Service

not used so far

Similar Products Used:

Nikon D80
Nikon D50
Canon eos 300D

Color/contrast
Resolution
Compact/ light
Mirror lock up
DOF preview
AEL
Ergonomics
Easy to navigate menus

High ISO: worse that others (all of them have noise above 400)

The A100 was my first DSLR, I've been using it since the Dec 2006 and the only reason why I upgraded is because my wife is taking it on a long vacation.

I like to photograph landscapes, so I don't mind the noise at high ISO. BTW, even Canon's Mark I use a tripod and ISO 100 when they can instead of ISO 400...

It's been a great camera all these 3 years had suffer some abuse (fallen down a couple of times), but had no problems.

Customer Service

Great. I sent it once because camera was not re mapping hotpixels when the month changed. Sony covered all, and did more than just deal with the pixel remap.

Similar Products Used:

Sony A700

A Light weight camera with long battery life. And good stablity while photographing.

I cannot think of any weaknesses for any application or use.

The sony A-100 camera is a fully functional dslr with a great potential to become one of the most sought after cameras for astrophotography. It's function controls which are mounted on the top and back make it the ideal camera for piggy back photography. Then I started thinking It would make a great camera for prime focus and projection photography. As it turned out I was right. With the compact flash card slot on the side and the battery on the bottom I can exchange both on the fly between exposures It was lightweight enough to connect to my telescope via an t-adaptor and is very stable while photographing distance star clusters. That is a challenge.in its self with any other camera. This camera is destine to become the 57 chevy of cameras.

Customer Service

I have never had to use them..

Similar Products Used:

Sony DSC-W-100

excellent image quality, fast, reliable, solid, strong, idiot proof, extraordinary resolution, sharpness, colours, vivid, for me is one of the best. rich range of accessories.

noise (audible) focusing system, not ultrasonic lenses, shutter button sometimes difficult to understand operation,
some times underexpose in low light and dull conditions

extraordinary camera both for experts and for beginners. it is idiot proof. simple and plain menus. medium level camera, get best results

Customer Service

not required

Similar Products Used:

nikon D 80
canon 40D

GREAT!

NOISE

I have this Sony A100K for over 6 months now, i had a chance to do a side by side tests with my Nikon D50, with the same Tamron 28-105mm SP f2.8 lens on both, results turn out as so: sharpness both were sharp, but A100 is a hair sharper( both sharpness set at max), colors A100 turned out better in neutral, more to real life color than D50, D50 seems turned toward reddish neutral, details contrast went to A100, with its extra dynamic range plus A100 Anti Shake really helped, features went to A100, the build is the same differences, i like A100 style better,the noise went with D50 in high ISO. So you can see, i like A100 in everyway, except in noise issue, i can see noise starts at Iso 200 in the sky or grey ereas...
I bought the after market power pack grip to add on my A100, plus a hotshoe adapter to use with any flashes, instead of the only groove hotshoe mount by Sony.
last month, after i got back from my vac with A100, it malfunctioned in many aspects,so i sent it to Sony repair Center in Texas, in 5 days it came back as new condition and free of charges, Sony you are the best.Thnxs.

Customer Service

1 TIME

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NIKON D50

The kit lens is not as sharp as some.

The camera has minor faults, but overall does the job well under all conditions. I would only complain about the autofocus hunting and sometimes failing totally under poor lighting conditions.

But the rest is brilliant, especially the anti-camera shake mechanism which works well enough that 2 second hand-held exposures are not bad with a fairly wide lens.

Build compared to other Entry Level DSLRS.
Ergonomics.

Minolta Legacy.

Price (at the time it was released)
Low lens range (compared to Canikon)
High Noise/grain at ISO400+

I am very happy with the Sony a100. the build is definitely much better than the Canon EOS400D

it's very ergonomic, fits very well in your hand.

Image quality is sharp (under ISO400)
great lenses available, especially the Carl-Zeiss range.

Customer Service

Haven't had experience yet.

Similar Products Used:

Canon 350D

Image quality outstanding
Anti-shake excellent
Battery life excellent
Light weight camera body
Takes existing Minolta AF lenses
Many same connections as Minolta 7D (e.g. remote shutter cable, CF cards, Flash)
Takes high capacity CF compact flash cards
Excellent exposure sensing - built in exposure range optimization works well

None with current online available firmware, and proper flash settings (see summary)

As an advanced amateur, I have come to enjoy the many capabilities and outstanding images from the Sony A100, and from Sony Corporation support. (See Support below)

On images: The camera delivers outstanding images in general - with good lenses capable of magazine quality portraits. Of course, image quality depends on both settings and subjects, but I typically find these personally best: +2 Sharpness, Red-Eye flash setting (I find this a must for groups or portraits to avoid "lazy eye"), normal DRO (digital range optimization), and Color Saturation +1. The built-in color balances for Sun, Shade, Incandescent, and Fluoresent, Flash, Cloudy all work fine, and it is possible to use a white piece of paper for in-camera sensing of the perfect white balance. For flash, I use an Minolta 5600 unit, purchased earlier for my Minolta 7D DSLR. I do use photoshop for image adjustment and "digital artwork", but it certainly helps to have great raw images coming in. To date, I have not used RAW to store the images, but instead save my images as JPEG normally with the wider Adobe color gamut.

I also like the fact that this camera is light to hold. Though I have some heavy lenses, it is nice to have a light SLR to carry around. I find the continuous autofocus works quite well under normal lighting conditions. I have used this camera with all Minolta, Tamron, Sigma lenses, and even on my astronomical telescope without any problems. The 10.2Mp images have gorgeous color and ... overall I am really very pleased with this camera, and find it a very good value.

Customer Service

I was able to get a store returned A100 inexpensively on line, but when it arrived one of the electrical card contact pins had been bent over and thus the camera would store or read images. Still under its 1yr warranty period, Sony repaired this product 100% free, rapidly, and installed the latest firmware at that time. I have since upgraded the firmware myself. So...A+++ to Sony for support - truly an outstanding company dedicated to repeat customers.

Similar Products Used:

Konica-Minolta 7D DSLR
Minolta 7000 Film SLR

Super Steady Shot knocks the competition away, and works very well. I can get up to 1second exposures with just my hands using super steady shot.

the Dynamic Range Optimization is also a great feature and does its job very well

most older minolta lenses work great with this camera

NONE!!

excelent camera, chose this over the Nikon D40, Nikon D40x, Nikon D80, Canon Rebel XTi, and many other DSLRs of its class.

bought the camera as a kit with the 18-70mm lens from circuitcity.com for $589.99 brand new!
so far ive taken over 2300 pictures with this camera over the past 2 weeks and its performed well beyond my expectations.

Customer Service

havent had to use it yet

Similar Products Used:

Nikon D40x, D80, Canon Rebel XTi