Sony Alpha 100

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Sony α 100 with kit lens 18–70 mm

The Sony α100 ( DSLR-A100 ) was the first model of the series to Sony's acquisition of Alpha system (the SLR system around the A-mount ) of Konica Minolta in the spring of 2006. was the camera at a press conference on June 5, 2006 presented to the world public in Marrakech and replaced on January 5th, 2008 by its dedicated successor Sony α200 (DSLR-A200).

The camera follows on from the Minolta Dynax model series and can be seen as the direct successor of the Dynax 5D , which is clearly manifested in its appearance, handling and the underlying technology . So it is not surprising that the α100 has demonstrably been developed by Konica Minolta, as an analysis of the firmware and the Konica Minolta code number "2187" in the service manual of the camera show.

With this camera, Sony aimed both at newcomers from the digital SLR market and at those who switched from analog photography. The α100 has a CCD image sensor in APS-C format (23.6 × 15.8 mm / 28.4 mm diagonal) with 10.2 megapixels, which is practically identical to the Nikon D200 .

The α100 can be operated with both compact flash cards and Sony's memory sticks . Since the camera only has one compact flash slot, Sony supplies a corresponding adapter for the memory sticks. As a rule, fast CF cards have a speed advantage compared to Sony memory sticks.

technical features

Lenses

With a few exceptions, all lenses can be used without restrictions with the A-bayonet introduced by Minolta in 1985 .

Exceptions:

  • Minolta AF Reflex f8 500 mm (only central AF sensor can be used)
  • Minolta AF 3 × -1 × macro zoom (no image stabilizer)
  • Some third-party lenses require chip upgrades to be properly recognized by the camera

Flash units

Flash units can only be used for fully automatic flash control if they are digitally compatible. These include the flash units of the Minolta HS (D) series and the Sony flash units of the HVL-AM series. The existing ADI capability of a flash unit is a more reliable indicator of suitability in connection with the Alpha 100, but there are also some flash units that do not offer ADI support, but are still digitally compatible. This includes the macro flash controller MFC-1000 for the ring flash and twin flash. The Sony Alpha 100 no longer supports the "classic" TTL measurement of the film or sensor level during exposure (TTL-OTF), as it is supported by almost all analog Minolta Dynax cameras, but uses a pre-flash for TTL - Flash measurement (Preflash TTL aka P-TTL). Alternatively, it can also work with ( ADI flash control ).

If a flash unit is not digitally compatible, the flash is always fired at full power, which almost always leads to severe overexposure; in extreme cases, the picture even becomes completely white.

If you want to take photos with a non-digital flash unit, there are two options:

  1. Manual exposure (setting "M" on camera, setting flash output on flash)
  2. Specify the aperture (setting "A" on the camera), select the aperture so that the maximum distance that may be shown on the flash display corresponds to the distance to the object. In the ideal case, the flash then reaches a correctly exposed object at full power.

With both options, however, it must be taken into account that ambient light is not compensated, as is the case with TTL flash control.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ forum post on 8 September 2006 by Matthias Paul, administrator in the Minolta-Forum (MIFO) firmware analysis of the Sony Alpha DSLR-A100
  2. ↑ Forum contribution from May 17, 2006 by Matthias Paul, administrator in the Minolta forum (MiFo) Overview of the various flash modes

literature

  • Josef Scheibel & Robert Scheibel Photos digital - Sony Alpha 100 . vfv Verlag, 1st edition October 2006. ISBN 978-3-88955-173-3
  • Frank Späth: Sony α100- The book about the camera . Point of Sale Verlag, 1st edition 2006. ISBN 3925334769 .
  • Frank Exner: Digital ProLine The professional manual for the SONY α 100 . Data Becker. ISBN 978-3-8158-2623-2

Web links

Commons : Sony DSLR-A100  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files