turtle20774
Member
SONY dSLR – A100 Quality Issues?
In January 2007 I purchase a SONY dSLR A100 camera body. I purchased the A100 largely because I had a number of Minolta lenses and a Minolta 3600 HSD flash and wanted to ‘go digital’ at a reasonable cost.
The first thing I noticed is that many of the pictures I shot seemed to be underexposed (noticeable on camera screen, computer screen, and actual prints). So I began shooting exclusively in the P-mode taking multiple pictures ( +1/3, +2/3, and +1 exposure compensations) and then picking the best image as the one to print (but lets face it, commercial photo printers sometimes make the +0 and +1 print images look the same).
Next I noticed that the in-camera flash was producing better pictures that the ‘fully compatible’ Minolta 3600 HSD. In a dark room the in-camera flash produced a ‘good’ picture; the 3600 HSD was very dark. It was like the Minolta flash was firing either too early or too late.
Since I had been asked to take pictures at an indoor retirement party, I purchased the SONY HVL-F56AM Flash. At one point during the 4 hour event, whenever I tried to turn the flash ‘off’ it wouldn’t cooperate – I had to resort to removing the batteries to turn the flash off. I returned the SONY Flash the next day for a replacement one. Whether or not the replacement HVL-F56AM flash will exhibit the same characteristics as the original flash is unknown at this time since I haven’t been in a position where it has been in constant intermittent use.
While on a family vacation in Orlando using the in-camera flash as a ‘fill flash’, the flash refused to fire and the A100 screen displayed a message “Camera Error Code 0x31”. I called SONY and they told me that the camera would have to be repaired – luckily it was still under warranty so I was only on the hook for shipping charges. I’ve just received the repaired camera; haven’t had much of opportunity to use it.
These experiences have led me to believe that SONY released the A100 and some accessories to the public before they were adequately tested (much like a computer BETA software release) or that SONY’s quality control is lax.
All-in-all I like the A100 - especially the convenience of the top left-hand control knob, the ease with which one can adjust exposure compensation and the image stabilization feature (great for low light pictures) , but I am disappointed in the original ‘quality’. Hopefully when the ‘Camera Error Code 0x31’ was addressed, SONY also addressed the Minolta Flash incompatibility and the exposure issues I presented to them in the repair order.
In January 2007 I purchase a SONY dSLR A100 camera body. I purchased the A100 largely because I had a number of Minolta lenses and a Minolta 3600 HSD flash and wanted to ‘go digital’ at a reasonable cost.
The first thing I noticed is that many of the pictures I shot seemed to be underexposed (noticeable on camera screen, computer screen, and actual prints). So I began shooting exclusively in the P-mode taking multiple pictures ( +1/3, +2/3, and +1 exposure compensations) and then picking the best image as the one to print (but lets face it, commercial photo printers sometimes make the +0 and +1 print images look the same).
Next I noticed that the in-camera flash was producing better pictures that the ‘fully compatible’ Minolta 3600 HSD. In a dark room the in-camera flash produced a ‘good’ picture; the 3600 HSD was very dark. It was like the Minolta flash was firing either too early or too late.
Since I had been asked to take pictures at an indoor retirement party, I purchased the SONY HVL-F56AM Flash. At one point during the 4 hour event, whenever I tried to turn the flash ‘off’ it wouldn’t cooperate – I had to resort to removing the batteries to turn the flash off. I returned the SONY Flash the next day for a replacement one. Whether or not the replacement HVL-F56AM flash will exhibit the same characteristics as the original flash is unknown at this time since I haven’t been in a position where it has been in constant intermittent use.
While on a family vacation in Orlando using the in-camera flash as a ‘fill flash’, the flash refused to fire and the A100 screen displayed a message “Camera Error Code 0x31”. I called SONY and they told me that the camera would have to be repaired – luckily it was still under warranty so I was only on the hook for shipping charges. I’ve just received the repaired camera; haven’t had much of opportunity to use it.
These experiences have led me to believe that SONY released the A100 and some accessories to the public before they were adequately tested (much like a computer BETA software release) or that SONY’s quality control is lax.
All-in-all I like the A100 - especially the convenience of the top left-hand control knob, the ease with which one can adjust exposure compensation and the image stabilization feature (great for low light pictures) , but I am disappointed in the original ‘quality’. Hopefully when the ‘Camera Error Code 0x31’ was addressed, SONY also addressed the Minolta Flash incompatibility and the exposure issues I presented to them in the repair order.
