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Sony A300 Review - In Depth

Posted May 16th, 2008 by cgarrard

Sony DSLR-A300 Review

AlphaMountWorld brings you our Sony Alpha A300 Digital SLR Review, with Image Sample Galleries

May, 2008 Carl Garrard

Sony A300 Front View

The Sony A300 is Sony's third and final entry level DLSR announced for 2008. A bargain high speed Live View camera, it's packed with one of the industries best 10.2mp image sensors, a tilting and variable angle 2.7" LCD, industry leading Super Steady Shot in-body image stabilization, Eye Start auto focus sensors, anti-static/anti-dust CCD cleaning, and more.

This camera is punch number three from Sony in the onslaught of the entry level market, and boy did they really came out swinging! The A300 carries over the same sensor and and general performance as the A200, but with more of the extra goodies from the A350. Currently the A300 is priced at $699.00 (USD) which includes a 18-70mm kit lens, and this little camera just may be the best bet of all three. Or is it? Please read further!

Sony Alpha A300 Review - Table of Contents

Sony A300 Review - Stand out Features

Sony A300
A300 Top View

The little speedier brother to the A350, the A300 is very much similar yet gets an edge in media card write speed/times and better high ISO performance, at a cost of 4mp less resolution. Sony has given a buyer looking for a first DSLR (or a DSLR w/live view) lots of choices with the 3 new models available. To make buying easy, an individual just needs to decide first if they want live view, and then what size sensor they want. The price of these DSLR's is very close, so price really shouldn't be an factor in the decision making process.

The A300 sits smack dab in the middle of the range, in price and features. In my opinion, it offers the best value of all 3 if live view is a must have feature. The A300 behaves much like the A200 when using the optical view finder (OVF) in performance, less the magnification at .74x vs .83x of the A200. It bests the A350 in noise performance at high ISOs and write speeds to the recording media in both OVF and live view modes, albeit not by much in live view mode.

Other than that, it is pretty much a twin to the A350 from a functional point of view.

Sony A300 DSLR standout features include:

  • 10.2 MP APS-C CCD
  • Real-Time Live View/Preview Via top deck switch
  • 2.7" Tiltable Variable Angle LCD Screen
  • Smart Teleconvertor Button 1.4x and 2.0 X Zoom
  • ISO range of 100-3200
  • Super Steady Shot In Camera Image Stabilization
  • Dynamic Range Optimizer
  • Anti-Dust Technology
  • Eye Start Auto Focus System
  • Bionz Image Processor
  • 1200 Zone Image metering (Via Live View)
  • Auto Pop-up flash
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