Camera Labs

16TH AUGUST UPDATE! FULL REVIEW NOW POSTED:

http://www.cameralabs.com/reviews/Sony_Alpha_DSLR_A380/

Gordon


Hi everyone, ahead of our upcoming full review of the Alpha A380, I thought you'd enjoy seeing a preview of the High ISO Noise results page versus the Nikon D90. As you know, the D90 shares the same imaging pipeline as the cheaper D5000, so the results here are also indicative of what you can expect from that model.

http://www.cameralabs.com/reviews/Sony_ ... oise.shtml

Thanks for the preview Gordon! Sadly, there's no positive surprises...

- Bjorn -

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Leica M9-P (my article on Camera Labs) | Leica D-Lux 5 | 50mm Summilux

the flower has changed?

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Thanks Gordon!

Can you comment on whether the softness is due to the 18-55 kit lens or the camera itself?. That looks pretty bad for a 14mp sensor.

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Graham
Flickr

While it is a test of noise, it's a valid point. A 50mm prime or something sharper would help a bit.

Gordon, I think a more fair comparison, in which the D90 would still likely win, would be the D90 vs the A700 which is in the same price range. The A380 is really just an A200/A300 with a larger sensor, processing is all the same, and so noise is just as bad. The A380 (totally unnecessary camera) would be better compared with a D5000 or D3000 in which the D5000 would still win due to it's 12MP CMOS.

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Sony α300
Sony HVL-F58AM Bounce-Shift Flash
Tamron SP 17-50mm F/2.8 XR Di II LD Aspherical (IF)
Tamron SP 70-200mm F/2.8 Di
Sony 50mm F/1.4 SAL-50F14
Sony 100mm Macro F/2.8 SAL-100MF28

CMOS sensor is way better at handling noise than CCD but try testing color accuracy or contrast (or resolution with the same lens). When the A300/A350 came out many prefered it's IQ over the A700 though the A700 would still show lot less noise at high ISO.

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Minolta primes: 2.8/20 2.8/24 1.7/50 2.8/135
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Minolta cameras: Dynax 5D 7000
M42: Pentax Asahi S-M-C Takumar 1.4/50 and 2.8/105 Carl Zeiss Jena Flektogon 2.4/35 Industar-61L/Z Kiron 2.8/105 Macro

Doesn't really matter, all the Nikon models (D5000,90) with pricing close to the A380 have that 12.3mp sensor so the image comparisons would be near identical.

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Graham
Flickr

Graham, you're absolutely right. I used the D90 to represent several Nikon models, including the D5000.

As for the new kit lens, I can't comment too much until I've fully examined all the images for my A380 review, but it's certainly nothing special - it's just a basic 18-55mm, and the AF speed and noise are pretty much the same as the Canon 18-55mm.

PS - dr4gon, remember the crops were taken from near the middle of the frame, and at f8, so the lens was performing fine. But as always, what I'm testing here is the kit as a whole, not isolating the body. That's our policy for consumer models.

I know this is meant to be a noise test, but there is something that worries me more.

The white balance in the Sony image looks off. It's a little too "cool" for my liking and that is a bigger bummer than noise as it affects all ISOs and it affects the resulting photo in a far more visible way. To me, this shows that the D90 has a much better AWB setting than the Sony A380 and this is far more important to me.

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PhilipGoh.com

I noticed the cool colour of the Alpha crops too. Doesn't really matter if you shoot RAW, but it doesn't look good for JPEG-shooters. In the A900 result pages, the difference in colour temperature isn't nearly as evident...

- Bjorn -

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Street and documentary photographer | Google+ | Twitter | Tumblr

Leica M9-P (my article on Camera Labs) | Leica D-Lux 5 | 50mm Summilux

Due to the pixel density of the A350/A380, it is just entering diffraction softening at f/8, where the slightly bigger pixels of the D90 are not. So if the maximum system resolution is to be determined, a slightly bigger aperture may help on the A380, assuming the lens itself isn't the limiting factor.

Having said that, in general real world use (with other lenses) it isn't a noticeable difference, but I've not done a controlled test to look for it.

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Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

It doesn't really matter how the camera performs, almost NOBODY wants to buy this camera. It feels absolutely horrible to hold in your hands, and the shutter sound is disgusting. Not only that, but the materials seem like they could have been plucked from the dashboard a 1980s Chevrolet.

Its just rubbish. I'm sorry, it just is. Give us back the A350 design!

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Nikon D80 || AF-S DX 18-135mm
Nikon N75 || AF 28-80mm G , AF 70-300mm G, AF 50mm f1.8D, AF 35mm f2.0 (all Nikkor)

Fair enough regarding the lens IQ in the center and WB easily fixable in post, but the test does show that the Sony's are behind in high-iso. What else is new? Sony didn't change it for some reason or another.

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flickr

Sony α300
Sony HVL-F58AM Bounce-Shift Flash
Tamron SP 17-50mm F/2.8 XR Di II LD Aspherical (IF)
Tamron SP 70-200mm F/2.8 Di
Sony 50mm F/1.4 SAL-50F14
Sony 100mm Macro F/2.8 SAL-100MF28

I think it's safe to say that nobody serious about photography cares about the new A230/330/380. Let's hope that Sony don't make the same mistake with the A850. Can you imagine a full frame camera styled like the A380. Yuck!

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PhilipGoh.com

Funy Yuck you there!

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