A good first result, although pixel-peep and you’ll see the faintest smattering of noise in shadow areas and minor coloured fringing.

Like the A350 before it, the A380’s images are however lacking the crispness and bite of many consumer models and some may prefer to boost the internal processing.

In our tests the A380 shot at just under 2fps which is not suitable for fast action, although ok for the leisurely motion here. The sequence was sharp, and the frame here detailed when viewed at 100%. With the boost to 200 ISO though, noise levels have increased slightly in shadow areas. This would only concern pixel-peepers though.

In the plane of focus there’s some good detail here, but as above, fine chroma noise is visible in shadow areas, and as mentioned earlier, a lack of processed crispness compared to most DSLRs at this price point.

As seen in our High ISO Noise results page, the A380’s image quality begins to suffer at 400 ISO and above, with more apparent noise artefacts and further softening of what was already hardly crisp output. The subject matter is quite forgiving here, but there’s certainly better performers at higher sensitivities.

What’s arguably an under-exposure here hasn’t helped in this regard and the camera also struggled to get the focus spot-on for the main subject in this composition.

As you’d expect, and also seen on our High ISO Results page, there’s an increase in visible noise artefacts at 800 ISO. Chroma noise and some splotchy noise reduction are clear when viewed at 100%, and while it’s not too bad viewed in isolation, several rivals perform better at high sensitivities.

The Alpha A380 tops-out at 3200 ISO, at which point noise artefacts have significantly reduced the quality. You can see versions of this scene at all sensitivities in our High ISO Noise results, and also how the D-Range Optimiser handles it in our Features section.