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After a few days of use I'm happy to say that my initial impression of borrowed design has melted away. The Sony Alpha A100 is Sony's first SLR, backed up by years of Minolta experience and Sony's reputation for design excellence. By naming it the Alpha-the name used for Minolta Maxxum cameras in Japan for years-Sony has signaled that they're not at all concerned about their new camera's association with the Konica Minolta line. Nor should they be.

As is always the case when we preview a pre-production camera, we reserve final judgement until we can see a full production sample. That said, our first impressions of the Sony Alpha DSLR-A100 have been very positive. Our few days with it showed it to be a competent photographic tool that was enjoyable to shoot, and transformed our somewhat lukewarm first impressions into respect, admiration, and a hope for a bright future for Sony's new Alpha line. Fit and finish were excellent, ergonomics were very good, and the shots we captured with it were impressive. . ."

The DSLR-A100 was responsive, starting up in less than a second and it captured shots quickly. Continuous shooting was very fast as was focusing. We did a lot of shooting in the RAW+JPEG setting and the camera handled those massive files with ease. Remember this is a 10MP camera and JPEGs are 3872 x 2592 pixels. Color was very accurate though we tended to up the compensation simply because we like more contrasty images, especially landscapes. Skin tones were spot on, even when making large prints (13 x 19s are no problem with a 10-megapixel camera)."

All in all, Sony has come up with a decent camera in the Alpha 100. A good beginning is half the battle. Consider the price/quality ration in the current market and you will see that the well known DSLR manufacturers have suddenly been confronted with a competitor to be afraid of! Not only is the Sony Alpha 100 a pleasure to work with, it also gives great results. People who now work with a Konica Minolta can go on to Sony without a hitch."

With Excellent resolution, at just under 2,000 lines, the A100 beats the Canon EOS 30D and Rebel XT, stomps the Olympus Evolt E-330, and is nearly as sharp as the more expensive ($1,700, body only) 10.4MP Nikon D200."

There will be plenty of buyers for each camera, and many happy owners all around. The cameras are not equivalent, though, and their differences are reflected in price, appropriate owners and features. The Sony Alpha A100 is intended for buyers who don't plan to buy more advanced equipment soon. The Canon certainly could be, and the Nikon is not just an entry camera, it's an appropriate backup body for prosumers and pros on a budget."

Photo quality was excellent in almost all respects. The A100 took well-exposed photos 99% of the time, though the metering system was a little weird on a few occasions (see the example in the photo quality discussion). Colors were accurate and saturated, and vignetting (dark corners) was not a problem."

I'm happy to report that despite its small dimensions the A100 hasn't sacrificed user comfort, the hand grip is the perfect size, well shaped and a sticky rubber coating. The rear of the camera features a shaped thumb grip and the overall combination is comfortable and balanced. "

There's no denying Sony's Alpha DSLR-A100 is an impressive camera for the money. Simply having 10.2 Megapixel resolution and built-in anti-camera-shake is enough to elevate it beyond most budget digital SLRs. Throw in a high resolution 2.5in screen and some neat image processing options, along with a kit lens which zooms-in further than the competition, and it's looking even stronger.....But it's not all good news..."

It's a curious fact that right out of the box, some of the newer better compact digital camera can match DSLRs for image resolution and impact. The DSLRs beat the compacts on many other measures but if you want a camera to give you great pictures without any effort then I'd recommend something like the Casio Ex-Z600. To my eye the Sony Alpha 100 gives images with exactly the kind of punch and tonal range that I associate with the very best compact cameras but with all the flexibility and expandability of a complete system DSLR. That may seem a very strange comparison to make but I expect more first time DSLR users to be delighted with the Sony on day one than with an entry level offering from the other players."

The Sony ? (alpha) A100 is a good value for users who want stabilization, dust control and 10 megapixels, but don't mind a clunky interface and slow operation. It's a snapshot camera with some very appealing bells and whistles, and it will be a very good fit for casual photographers who want a DSLR, but don't need one..."

Seeing that this is Sony's first step into the digital SLR market, albeit with the help of Konica/Minolta technology, the Sony A100 is an excellent camera for those wanting to try their hands at DSLR photography. Of course if you already own Konica/Minolta lenses, buying an Alpha 100 would be your natural course of action as you can use most of your older lenses. However for other users we feel the Alpha 100 offers enough advanced features to satisfy both beginners and enthusiasts. You get the very useable Super SteadyShot feature, an advanced anti-dust system; the Handy Dynamic Range Optimizer and superb handling and control."

Super SteadyShot is an (according to Sony) improved version of Konica Minolta's CCD stabilization Anti-Shake system. In our tests we observed a two stop shutter speed advantage using Super SteadyShot, which is good but not quite up to the 3.5 stops claimed. I'm also still not convinced that the 'hit rate' of sharp images is as good as a lens based optical stabilization system."

Aiming a product at DSLR beginners, as much as existing Konica Minolta users, means ease of use and a stress-free transference of skill sets are required, and on those two counts the Sony A100 delivers. That start up time of just over a second, mere 3fps capture, and loud shutter may not be good enough to please the pros, but it's a performance that's more than adequate given it's a DSLR intended for mass market consumption."

The effectiveness of stabilization is not systematically measurable because it depends on so many factors including the photographer's movements. Instead, it must be measured empirically. For this we took shots of several targets while varying shutter-speeds and quantified the number of sharp shots. The results showed that the Sony Alpha A100's built-in stabilization performs statistically better and more consistently than the Pentax K10D. However, the difference is less pronounced than anticipated...."

In short, from Sony appropriating the KM D-SLR technology to the launch of the Alpha 100 and a complete camera system, it has taken 6 months. Obviously, a lot was happening behind the scenes prior to KM pulling out of the photo market, but this speed is something of an indicator, a statement of intent, of just how serious Sony is in making inroads into the current market dominance of Canon and Nikon. Only time will tell how successful it will be."

With an attractive price, the 10-megapixel Alpha 100 is deserving of the attention it has received. Purchased as a kit with one or two lenses, the Alpha is immediately useable, and will produce high quality photos at all but the widest angle of the 18 - 70 mm lens. Moreover, with its numerous advanced features and full compatibility with a wide number of Minolta A mount lenses in addition to the upcoming Carl Zeiss designed Sony lenses, the Alpha 100 should prove to be one of the most popular entry-level DSLR cameras."

...In full resolution JPEG Fine images, overall quality is superlative, especially at ISO 100. The camera uses a high compression ratio but JPEG artifacts are well controlled. After optimizing my technically best photos for printing with Photoshop CS2, I made many gallery-quality 13x19" inkjet prints - even from ISO 400 JPEGs - with great definition of intricate details. Switching to Raw Capture mode produces even better results. Anyone who owns a wide format printer will probably be able to make much larger prints that will look great at the typical viewing distances..."