I agree completely about what a stout little image maker the A100 is and continues to be...

In reviewing images of my own; all raw and processed in about the same work flow; up to ISO 400 or so, the A100 delivers stunning results when compared to the others in the line-up. I love my A700; but I will never part with my A100.

I shot a gig over the weekend and used both bodies along with my normal vintage Minolta glass. For the candid action type shots; it was the A700 and the HVL 56, at around 1000 to 1600 ISO... for the participants portraits; I used the A100 & Beercan @ ISO 100 with the Minolta 5600HS off camera in an umbrella.

I am looking forward to spending some time using my 50mm Macro on the A100 to see what type of results it delivers. I am sure that it will be my failings as a shooter if I am not pleased...

Thanks Carl for rounding out the review library by welcoming the one that started all of this...

:)

Thanks Carl, for reminding us that the A100 is still a force to be reckoned with. Mine does sit on the shelf for long periods of time, and does not come out often, but I think it is time for it to have a permanent home in my car! That way I won't miss taking pictures wherever I end up!

My A100 still has the reputation for capturing my favourite images. They will remain with me forever, even if Sony's newer generation bodies manage to bring better refinement.

Good one!

Thanks for the write-up, like I've posted before, I thought many reviewers under-rated the A100 when it was introduced, or in some cases damned it with backhanded praise. I still think that's the case, not only for the A100, but other equipment in the Alpha range. It's funny to go back and look at the DPR review only to discover that the A100 gave up nothing IQ wise to the D200, which was something like twice the price at the time, and I guess still is. Granted the D200 was more rugged and had weather-sealing, etc. But still, the A100 is a pretty good choice even today.

I liked my A100 but traded it for an A200... there are a few minor things I miss, but I think overall I like the A200 a bit better.

I agree with your review. I use my A-100 since more than one year and still appreciate it. I was my first DSRL still it was not my first SRL (I used Pentax in the '70s )nor my first digital camera (Nikon P50).
Just some more points:
I appreciate the fact that

• the flash dont pop unless I asked for.
• I appreciate the old Minolta AF lenses (the 70-210 f:4, the 50mm f:1.7).
• I appreciate that I can put my

old Pentax M-42 on it (with a cheap ring) even the old old extension tube for macro.
You have done a real good job.

I had the A100 for a year and it took some great pictures, especially outdoors. I liked the way it handled, but I take more indoor pictures. I sold the A100 because of flash (lazy-eye/inconsistent exposure) and autofocus (accuracy/speed) issues. These are what I think are the biggest weaknesses of the A100. I eventually got the A200, and now the A700.

Great review Carl and this pretty much sums up and confirms what we've known all along, namely that the A100 was and is a bloody good camera! The reviews were in some cases a little harsh and missed some of the most important features.

There are even some things it does better than the Nikon D3 ;-) rotating display on the screen and a screen that shuts off when you put your eye to the viewfinder! Note how both Canon and Nikon copied Minolta/Sony on that one!

Great job Carl.

glad it seems to be of some use, and that there are others that side with my thoughts.

I'd offer a toast but I can't post images in the replies (grin).

C

The review is great and prompted me to tell my A100 story. I have 2 X A100s, an A700 and an A900, but I seem to allways grab a 100 body when I just want to walk and not be burdened, usually with a Sigma 30mm. The size is great.
18 months ago I dropped an A100 with lens attached and watched it bounce down the street. The base plate has a huge crack in it but THE CAMERA STILL FUNCTIONS PERFECTLY. On my other A100 I had a problem arise with a green line across images at the top but it just disappeared by itself and the body works fine. Low light, highest quality then 700 or 900, everyday work horse in good light then the 100 is fine. I also read a test somewhere with 700 against 900 and I repeated the test and found the same results - If you have APS-C lenses mainly stick with 700 3 for the price of 1 x 900) the results are great and at normal viewing distance for prints from an Epson 3800 (A2), you cannot distinguish between the 2 bodies.
If anyone also reads the Ricoh forum I am the guy who dropped a GX100 into a bowl of water (by accident) and after drying it off it works fine.
I have racked up a SLR out of an helicopter, a 6x7 lens left on the wing of a Landrover as I sped off, a zoom lens left on the sun roof of a car for 50 miles, range finder camera dropped out of a car and an Olympus E10 down a mountain. CLUMSEY OR WOT.
All the best

David

What a nice way to spend 30 minutes this AM! You won't find me w/o my A-100 very often - over 33,000 actuations & counting. I've had thoughts of upgrading, but I really don't find the A-100's shortcomings all that annoying. I suppose I could use a little better (faster) AF, but I can live with what I have for the time being.

It is indeed a pretty rugged camera. I've carried mine around in bicycle panniers for over three weeks w/o incident - it is definitely well built.

Real nice review! Thanks for the nostalgia.

I would really like to be able to update to 1.4, but I don't know where to find it.......... I am still on 1.0!

I provided the links :)

Carl

http://www.alphamountworld.com/reviews/sony-a100-review-v1.4-firmware?page=0%2C4

I am in South Africa, and don't know which one I should go for - are there any differences between the two?

Thanks for the review. I just recently purchased an a100 as my first DSLR, and I love it so far. I have been wondering if there was a newer firmware out, since mine was on 1.02, and you review helped me out in that respect. Now I'm on 1.04.

i agree. it is a fantastic camera. I am pretty much satisfied with the autofocus though. it depends on the contrast between the subject and the background. if the contrast is adequate, you have chances to get a decent autofocus and rather very fast. I am not sure about the shutter button. sometimes I think it appear too soft. in the dark, i did push it energically and still no action. probably beacuse lack of focus. anyway i tested this camera (in fact i have 2 of them) with tamron lenses (which appears very sharp) in all weather conditions: rain, wind, cold almost - 10 deg celsius. and almost 40 deg celsius and more. it is a fantastic camera. i think much of its value lies in simplicity and not so complicated menus and controls. i prefere this camera over my other cameras. with tamrons you have a very decent gear. sharpness is fantastic. the images have 3 dimensions almost. thank you for the review and your feedback

What I believe to be the SSS mechanism in my current A100 is still trying to compensate after I have taken a shot. This doesn't happen a lot, but it does happen every now and then. To get it to stop, I have to depress the shutter release half way. Both A100's I have owned do this, so I think I can safely assume that it wasn't a quirk of just one camera. It probably should have been addressed in a previous update, but it would be nice if Sony could do some small firmware release to get rid of it.

I don't believe my A700 does this at all, so there must have been a solution to the problem.

Carl, thanks for the great review on Sony's first DSLR. I still shoot with my A-100 and as a matter of fact am waiting to get some good shots with my new SAL 18 -250mm to see what the praise is about from many who own this lens. I will still shoot some with my A-700, but I just like the images the A-100 always produced with very little effort. It was the one I chose to learn digital with even with the so called shortcomings(quirks) it was said to exhibit. Still loving my camera, although it has less actuations than many on this and DPreview's site, due to the nature of the job I work and the limited outings that I get to use my equipment. Thanks again for a great review of a very worthy DSLR.

of the a100. I have decided to sell my new two month old a350. I do not like using the controls on this alpha. I am very sorry now that I sold my a100 . As I look back at some of my best IQ shots in the past few years I fine the a100 to be outstanding. In some cases better than my a700. The Dynamic Range of the a100 is just awesome.
I my have a buyer for my a350 . She has an a100 in like new condition and wants to upgrade to the a350. Thanks you for posting this long over due review of the a100.
Dan

I as well love my A100 and the only complaint I have ever had is the speed of focus in low light. With my two kids (one's 4 the other 2 in Aug) as my main subjects I kept missing those 'aw thats so cute' moments. So I splurged and picked up the a900 with the CZ 24-70 lens - I'm in love all over again :) (But now I'm itching for the super zoom 70-400mm and am really trying hard not to head over to Henry's - I do love my toys)

The A100 is in no way retired though, its outdoor capabilities are phenomonal and it accompanies us on our hikes - I also just upgraded the firmware this past weekend - but haven't taken any pictures yet to see any differences.

Since I have nearly all the Alphas here, or have owned all of them, they all fit specific niches. Lately, I've decided to take the A100 out with the 70-300G (when it arrives) for a lighter and more compact wildlife set up. Since the 70-300G has SSM, focusing speed really wont be an issue.

Carl

Would you please kindly advise me if the sony a100 can accept the Minolta 100 mm Marco lens?

Philip

First off, I would like to say "Thank You" for the latest review. This review has made me dig this camera and lenses out of the closet after not using it for 8-10 months.

I noticed that the firmware installed in my camera is 1.0. My question is will I get that much better performance by updating to 1.04. Has anyone had regrets for updating to 1.04?

Anyways, Thanks again

Thank you for the "thank you", always helps give me a shot in the arm to keep going knowing somehow what I write helps in one way or another.

I have heard no complaints about the upgrade to 1.04 from anyone.

Carl

I like this test of "old" cameras. Sometimes I miss this camera that I could use some time ago. It has some of the defects of the 7D(AF performance), but the detail and colours were really nice

If one day I need an additional APS camera I would prefer this than the A200/A230

Congrats for your web

Good review. The A100 has not failed me once and that includes in cold weather and the like. A really neat workhouse. May I ask, what did the rebuild and upgrade cost you? I plan on keeping the A100 for a long time.
Thanks
Orogard

All they did was check it over, clean the viewfinder, and replace the grip. At that time it cost me nothing, but I'd assume the service would cost near 200 or so (I got a quote from Precision before I went to Sony about it). Not sure what Sony would charge.

C

I sent my A100 to Precision in very late December and it did take a bit longer than I expected due to the holidays, but it was worth the wait. I sent mine in for the SSS because it had failed and when it did, turning the camera on would result in about 2 seconds of internal vibration, pretty much the same when you turned it off. I was shocked when I saw what all they did to it! They not only repaired the SSS but the worked on the shutter, cleaned it, did several other adjustmets on it, all for $205.95. I was thrilled when I got it back. The shutter seemed much much quieter and seemed faster too. I already had the updated firmware. According to the wrk ticket I got back the went through calibration on my camera 3 times, but as I understand it, that was because each time they did something else to the camera, they calibrated it prior to the next repair/update.

I was really pleased with all they did and the cost. I don't blame them for the time it took, I didn't exactly pick the best time to send it in.

Carl -- I still use my Maxxum 5D for similar reasons you continue to use your A100. It's a little workhorse that handles just right, even though I have my A700 in my kit too. My favorite set up is the 5D with my 50 1.7 -- nice small, low light solution. My only problem is that dreaded "first black frame" problem that I see from time to time. I've been thinking of upgrading the 5D to an A500/550 cam, but the cheapskate in me says wait for the day the 5D completely fails ...

I continue to enjoy your updates. Keep up the great work.

As I found out once again this week, one of the very nice things about the A100 is that you can hand it over to a DSLR novice and let them shoot away. I never got asked a single question about using the camera the entire time. A good design is a good design.

I just bought an A100 and am awaiting it's arrival. Reading this review really made me excited for it to come! It sounds like I made the right choice for my first DSLR.