Boasting more pixels (for now) than its budget D-SLR rivals, Sony’s Alpha 100 mixes innovation with the tried and tested. The result is a camera that’s a fuss-free pleasure to use.

The Sony A100 feels just right in the hand, is very responsive and is intuitive to use. Anyone with Konica Minolta auto-focus lenses in their bag should look seriously at the Sony, it is a fine product of the marriage of the two companies.

This is a stunning camera that will be perfect for enthusiasts on a tighter budget or anyone trading up (or across from film) and want the specification extras that this camera affords over its similarly priced competitors.

Positives: Excellent image quality up to 400 ISO, particularly when with RAW format. Good 40-segment metering. Colour modes. Effecitve Super Steady Shot stabilizer. Function Dial quick and efficient. Dynamic range optimization. Anti-dust system. Unlimited JPEG Fine burst mode. Excellent autonomy with the Li-ion battery. Negatives: Control Dial placed too close and in front of the shutter release. Somewhat slow and noisy autofocus. Depth of Field Preview button placed too far down to be practical. Manually opened flash. Light-duty construction.

It’s clear that Canon and Nikon have a new, strong competitor in the DSLR market: Bad news for them, but great news for the consumer!

There’s no denying Sony’s Alpha DSLR-A100 is an impressive camera for the money. Simply having 10.2 Megapixel resolution and built-in anti-camera-shake is enough to elevate it beyond most budget digital SLRs. Throw in a high resolution 2.5in screen and some neat image processing options, along with a kit lens which zooms-in further than the competition, and it’s looking even stronger.

Not flawless, but Sony’s debut DSLR impresses with a 10.2-megapixel resolution and built-in anti-shake.

The A100 is a very capable camera with a wide feature set, a good range of manual controls and some unique developments. The built-in Super SteadyShot provides you with that little extra comfort level at slower shutter speeds and the ability to use longer lenses with more confidence.

Sony makes it’s SLR debut with a 10.2-megapixel camera that certainly looks the part. Sony’s first SLR is worthy, but it faces stiff competition from the likes of Nikon and Canon.

The Sony A100 is an overall disappointment. It’s far too similar to the Konica-Minolta cameras it’s built on. Those cameras failed in the marketplace, and some of Sony’s few and minor changes, such as the parameters dial, aren’t improvements.

Even though it is the first dSLR with interchangeable lenses from Sony, the Sony Alfa A-100 is not a new camera – it’s a remake of the Konica Minolta Dynax 5D with all the ensuing consequences.

While it has a comfortable, solid design and performed quite well in most of our imaging tests, the default lens is a big let down.