The following images were taken with the Sony Alpha DSLR-A100, all using the DT 18-70mm f3.5~5.6 lens. The quality mode was set to L:10M Fine, configured to capture the full 10.2 Megapixel resolution with the lowest JPEG compression ratio. Default settings were used for White Balance, colour space, contrast, colour and sharpness, while the D-Range Optimiser was set to Standard; see the intro page for the complete testing configuration. The individual exposure mode, file sizes, shutter speeds, aperture, ISO and lens focal length are listed for each image.

The crops are taken from the original files, reproduced at 100% and saved in Adobe Photoshop CS2 as JPEGs with the default Very High quality preset, while the resized images were made in Photoshop CS2 and saved with the default High quality preset. The three crops are typically taken from far left, central and far right portions of each image.

Woodland: 4.90MB, Program, 1/25, f5.6, ISO 100, 18-70mm at 35mm (equivalent to 53mm)

				Bright sunlight streaming through the trees of a woodland poses a challenge for any metering system, but the Sony DSLR-A100’s Multi-Segment option performed admirably. There’s inevitably blown highlights on the central crop, but the shorter exposure required to retain them would have compromised the rest of the shot.

Portrait: 2.03MB, Aperture Priority, 1/500, f5.6, ISO 100, 18-70mm at 70mm (equivalent to 105mm)

						Zooming the Sony A100’s kit lens into 70mm and setting the aperture wide open allows you to capture good-looking portraits with a nice blurred background. Even with the aperture wide open, the crops reveal sharp detail. As our results pages show, the kit lens performs well when zoomed-in.

Sweetshop: 3.11MB, Program, 1/100, f7.1, ISO 400, 18-70mm at 40mm (equivalent to 60mm)

				Set to fully automatic, the Sony A100 delivered a good result with this composition, but preferring the jars to look brighter, we applied +1EV compensation. Closing the aperture and zooming-in a little has eliminated any fringing, despite the high contrast edges, although viewed at 100%, the image is relatively noisy for 400 ISO. With thanks to The Remarkable Sweet Shop.

Bicycle: 3.01MB, Aperture Priority, 1/80, f20, ISO 200, 18-70mm at 18mm (equivalent to 27mm)

				We wanted a large depth-of-field for this shot of an old bicycle, so set the Sony A100’s kit lens to f20 in Aperture Priority mode. Also shooting at the widest 18mm focal length has ensured details both near and far are sharp. The crops are detailed and clean at 200 ISO.

Indoor: 3.09MB, Program, 1/30, f3.5, ISO 400, 18-70mm at 18mm (equivalent to 27mm)

				This interior shot featured both indoor and natural lighting, but the Sony A100 did a good job of determining the best white balance. Viewed at 100%, there’s also little softening to worry about, despite shooting at wide angle with the aperture wide open. There’s more noise visible in the crops than we’d like to see at 400 ISO, but it’s acceptable.