Sony Alpha A100 Samples

Just below, the Sony Alpha A100 is compared to its closest competitor, the Pentax K10D. The top row presents the overall scene at ISO 100. Below that are 100% scale crops taken from full-resolution images at each ISO setting from its respective camera. These shots were taken during the day using program mode with no exposure compensation and set ISO sensitivity.

The Sony Alpha A100 shows low noise levels below ISO 400. At ISO 400, noise become noticeable at 100% but has little effect on image details. ISO 800 and 1600 images from the A100 show increased noise and reduced details. This is where the performance of the Alpha A100 is below that of the average DSLR.

The most noticeable difference between the A100 and K10D shots is the different exposure. Since the scene below is very contrasty, neither camera can capture its entire dynamic range. The result is that the Alpha A100 chose to expose more conservatively than the K10D to preserve more details in the highlights on the glass bottles. The difference is about 2-stops, which is quite significant. It is important to mention that during testing there we also cases when the K10D produced a darker exposure than the A100.

In terms of noise levels, it can be seen that the A100 produces noticeably more noise at ISO 800 and 1600. There is also a softening of details starting at ISO 400, although it is not as pronounced as with the night ISO shots. Overall, results from the A100 are very usable until ISO 400. Higher ISO settings should be reserved for small prints.

Sony Alpha A100	Pentax K10D
Entire scene	Entire scene
ISO 100 0.5s F8	ISO 100 2s F8
ISO 200 1/4s F8	ISO 200 1s F8
ISO 400 1/8s F8	ISO 400 1/3s F8
ISO 800 1/15s F8	ISO 800 1/6s F8
ISO 1600 1/30s F8	ISO 1600 1/10s F8
ISO Lo80 0.8s F8	The sample to the left uses the Sony Alpha A100's unique Lo80 mode which exposes for ISO 80 and adapts the image tone-curve for low-key subjects. The scene here is an ideal subject for Lo80. The result is an image with very low noise and increased details in its darker areas. Note that this has to makes the darker areas brighter to store the added details in the JPEG file.
ISO Hi200 0.4s F8	The sample to the left uses the Sony Alpha A100's unique Hi200 mode which exposes for ISO 200 and adapts the image tone-curve for high-key subjects. This scene is actually not ideal for this mode as it contains much less highlights than shadows. The result is only minor differences between the standard ISO 200 shot and this Hi200 shot.