Sony Alpha A550 and A500 review double-feature at Photocrati

With waves and waves of interesting, potentially-interesting or at least curiosity-interesting cameras out there, it was inevitable that some cameras would fall off the radar. Two of the cameras that fell off the radar were the new Sony A5XX-series, but now, they are getting their chance to grab some of the spotlight.

Peter K. Burian has posted a review double-feature of these two at Photocrati. This is an experiential-type review (aka photographer-priority), so you have to wait for dpreview et al for the Imatest parade. A number of the new features and claims made by Sony are tested in the report. Conclusions are at the bottom, which as usual, we won't spoil.

The A500 uses a 12mp CMOS sensor and the A550 uses a 14mp CMOS sensor. The latest Pentax K-x action has pointed out the miracles and wonders of the 12mp Sony CMOS sensor, so that may be another boost for these two cameras.

As you may recall, a number of the Sony CCD-based DSLRs (A2XX/A3XX) got "yelled at" by reviewers. You can look up those reviews via the DSLR Review Organizer (shortcut: noisyreviews.com)

And since we are talking Sonoltalpha, Imaging Recourse has just posted their take on the brand new 18-55mm SAM DT kit lens by Sony. You can find it at their gear-review site SLR Gear. This is a lens that generated some excitement when it was announced (remember the Swiss samples?), so, how did it do now under the microscope of the lens reviewers?