New Sony Alpha A550 review at DCI

Alpha fans will be pleased to see the A550 getting some review-attention, although as always with camera reviews, sometimes it can be a "be careful of what you wish for". So with that as an unnecessary preface, the Alpha A550 received a brand new review at the remodeled Digital Camera Info. As usual, we won't spoil their findings here, but for those who are spoiler-averse, be sure to jump over the first page of the review since they summarize each review page. Conclusions are on the last page, and as usual, we won't spoil them here.

The noise patrol will be thrilled to see their noise comparison page where the A550 goes up against the Canon T1i/500D, Nikon D5000, Olympus E30 and Panasonic GF1. I was hypnotized while staring at the E30 ISO 3200 ;-)

The review has been added to the list of A550 reviews which includes the two Alpha-priority websites (AlphaMountWorld, PhotoClubAlpha), Photocrati, Photoreview, WDC and a first look by LL-Cool-Landscapes.

Because of Sony's draconian price police, the free hand of the market is not allowed to adjust prices for the cameras, so all the retailers are singing in unison at $900 for the body only and $1000 for the kit that includes the 18-55mm SAMmie.

However, you can get a better bang for the buck by taking advantage of the instant rebate promotions that can get you two-lens kits for $1050 and $1070 respectively at B&H Photo. Specifically, the A550 + 18-55mm + 55-200mm goes for $1050, and the A550 + 18-55mm + 75-300mm goes for $1070. The instant rebate promotion ends on December 19.