- Photo: Sony
The Sony Alpha range has become synonymous with providing a quality stable of DSLR cameras catering to the novice photographer, who’s just gotten started and is looking to add a quality camera to his or her already well packed arsenal of cameras. The Sony A450 is a digital SLR camera that sort of sits in-between the low and high end.
Features and handling
Coming with 14.2 megapixels, auto functioning and some impressive high-speed shooting, the A450 is ready to go and shoot anything which the novice photographer may find intriguing and photogenic. The Sony A450 has been packed with a CMOS sensor and an improved ISO range 200 to 12800 meaning that the A450 handles noise very well, and is also a star performer in difficult lighting environments. Sony has made the DSLR camera very easy to use. The A450 is slightly bigger and bulkier than the A330 and A380 which are positioned below it in the Sony Alpha range, but the A450 is more comfortable in hand with a bigger handgrip. The controls on the Sony camera are also easily accessible and well laid out, thanks to the camera’s larger body which allowed Sony to place more function specific buttons on the back of the camera, rather than those annoying wheels with lots of functions on them. Sony has also included several autofocus modes on the camera, which makes the Sony Alpha camera a breeze to use for lesser skilled photographers. However, this doesn’t mean that manual control has been left off the camera, and the A450 still comes with some manual controls like the Manual Focus Check Live View.
On the back of camera, Sony has also placed a 2.7-inch LCD camera and an optical viewfinder, meaning that those who are more traditional and still like to peak into the viewfinder to frame images instead of using the LCD screen can. The flash on the camera can also be brought up at the press of the button without any manual action required from the user in moving the flash, which also adds to making the A450 one of the most accessible digital SLR cameras available on the market.
Image quality
The Sony A450 is capable of taking spectacular shots thanks to the aforementioned 14.2 megapixel CMOS sensor, coupled with impressive noise reduction and image stabilisation technology. Sony has also included a Dynamic Range Optimiser feature which improves the camera’s colour range making it capable of capturing richer colours. The camera can shoot in JPEG and RAW mode which is a definite plus for photographers who like to edit their images after capture. Sony has also included image modes on the DSLR camera allowing photographers to capture images in different creative modes like black and white, sepia, sunlight and others.
Overall, the Sony A450 is a digital SLR camera which delivers a surprisingly large amount of value given its retail price of £399.The A450 is also comfortable in hand, takes good images however there isn’t a video capture mode on the camera, which may or may not take away from the camera given the photographer’s particular tastes. Either way the A450 is one of the standout cameras of the Sony Alpha range.
Tags for this article: digital camera, digital SLR camera, DSLR camera, Sony A450, Sony AlphaSony A450 Price
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Video Review
| Description: From 2010's PhotoWalkthrough coverage of the Focus On Imaging show in Birmingham, UK. The Sony a450 is their latest foray into the SLR market and while they're still very focused on the newcomer the feature set of this little camera is quite ground breaking. |