Digital Camera Fiend - A Camera Review

Two years ago Sony paired with struggling camera manufacturer Minolta to create a new product. The Sony A100 digital camera is the fruit of their efforts, and although Minolta has since bowed out of the camera business, its influence reverbiates through Sony’s digital SLR camera products.

The design of the A100 is patterned after Minolta’s Maxxum 5D camera, with stylized updates and battery improvements by Sony. The A100 was good enough to be namd Popphoto Magazine’s 2006 camera of the year despite many who claim it is only an average camera.

“It doesn’t make my cut as something I’d use personally,” photographer Ken Rockwell said, when explaining on his website why he WON’T be reviewing the Sony A100.

Rockwell dislikes the Sony camera’s interface and believes Sony’s forray into the DSLR field will be a short one. He suggests buying the Nikon D50 or a cheaper Canon Digital Rebel instead, two DSLR companies that will definitely be around for years to come.
But supporters of the A100, like Popphoto, say the A100 has put Nikon and Canon on notice. A Popphoto reviewer said the Sony A100 successfully combines many elements to create sharp pictures. In a Popphoto lab test, only the Nikon D80 beat out the A100 for image quality (for DSLRs $1000 or less).

Priced at $850, Popphoto believes that the Sony A100 set a new standard for how much camera you can get for under $1000.