Digital Camera Reviews & Photography Tips

Sony A850 Reviews

CNET.uk reviews the Sony A850 and writes;
“Offering high performance at a relatively low price, the Sony Alpha DSLR-A850 is one of the cheapest ways to enter the world of full-frame photography. If you can afford it, you’re unlikely to be disappointed.”
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PhotographyBlog reviews the Sony A850 and writes;
“In terms of image quality, the A850 is also hard to find fault with. The resolution is jaw-dropping, the dynamic range is fantastic, the tonality is great and the colours are pleasing. You do get quite a bit of noise at ISO 1600 and higher (and sometimes lower as well), but it won’t really impact on the final output… we do not hesitate to award this camera our coveted Highly Recommended rating.”
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Stuff.tv reviews the Sony A850 and writes;
“All in all the Sony A850 is a triumph. While it’s not perfect, and in many ways feels like an A900 Lite, it’s also a full-frame camera that doesn’t break the bank (well, relatively speaking). In the hands of a decent photographer it’ll deliver incredible stills, but the lack of video is a weakness. “
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Review Video by PhotoRadar;

Steve’sDigicams reviews the Sony A850 and writes;
“..we can easily recommend this camera to dSLR users looking for a camera offering offering the highest possible image quality with a very high resolution output, suitable for all types of photos except perhaps the most demanding conditions encountered during some sports shooting (where you may want a faster frame rate than this model offers).”
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DCR reviews the Sony A850 and writes;
“With the right lens and the appropriate settings, the Sony A850 is capable of producing excellent images both on-screen and in print. Using the 24-70mm Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar f/2.8 lens, images were sharp and detail capture was quite good.”
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WDC reviews the Sony A850 and writes;
“Get the right lens on the front and the a850, just like the a900, can capture significant detail thanks to such a high resolution sensor. Both Raw and Jpeg files respond well to sharpening, though beyond the +/-3 ‘Sharpness’ setting in Creative Styles there is no further in-camera sharpness control, bar the usual Raw file post-processing.”
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PopPhoto reviews the Sony A850 and writes;
“From ISO 100 through 400, it showed about a 1-stop improvement—that is, the A850’s noise level at ISO 400 (Very Low) was about the same as the A900’s noise level at ISO 200. The A850 also bested the older camera’s color accuracy, with an average Delta E of 7.7 (Excellent) versus 9.0 (Extremely High)”.
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Shutterbug reviews the Sony A850 and writes;
“I found the noise was no problem up to ISO 400, slightly greater at ISO 800, as expected, and at ISO 1600 it crept in, but only if you really dug into the file. In well-exposed areas it is barely noticeable at that speed, but when magnified you could see specks in the shadows. Overall very impressive, and what we have come to expect from full-frame sensor performance.”
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CNET.asia reviews the Sony A850 and writes;
“The good: Inexpensive full-frame dSLR; bright viewfinder; sensor-shift image stabilizer; dual memory card slots; plenty of customizable options. The bad: No video recording function; high ISO images tend to be too noisy; some buttons hard to access. The bottom line: The A850 is a decent full-frame camera for its price but fussy shutterbugs may not take to its below-average pictures at high ISO settings. “
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PhotoCracti reviews the Sony A850 and writes;
“image quality is superlative at ISO 100 to 200. My best RAW photos—made with Carl Zeiss ZA lenses at around f/8—are suitable for gallery quality 24×36-inch prints. By ISO 400 some digital noise is apparent, but that’s not a problem in 13×19″ prints.”
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PhotoReview.au reviews the Sony A850 and writes;
“Camera response times were similar to the A900 in our tests. The AF system was quick to lock on to subjects, even in dim lighting after dark. Focusing was accurate for more than 90% of the shots we took, regardless of the drive mode selected. “
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DigitalTrends reviews the Sony A850 and writes;
“As for digital noise, the bête noir of point-and-shoot digicams and some entry-level DSLRs, it didn’t appear until ISO 800 and wasn’t a problem until hitting 1250. At 3200 and 6400, quality was bad no matter what level of DRO (Dynamic Range Optimization) we used. .”
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AlphaMountWorld reviews the Sony A850 and writes;
“A850 is a responsive, comfortable, intuitive, and easy to use camera. Yes that sounds a lot like what I’ve said about the A900. With image quality, it seems nothing has been changed. Overall as I have said before the image quality is excellent with the A900 and same goes for the A850.”
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Sony A850 preview video by WDC;

ImagingResource reviews the Sony A850 and writes;
“Sony A850 presents a bit of a trade-off between detail and image noise. It’s a camera with enormously high resolution, but also somewhat higher noise levels at high ISO settings than some of its competition….Shooting with the Sony Alpha A850 can be summed up in one word: Satisfying.”
Rating: Dave’s Pick