Sony Alpha DSLR-A390

The Sony Alpha A390 is based around a Sony Bionz image processor, and an APS-C sized (23.5 x 15.7mm), 14.2 effective megapixel image sensor. The sensor is mounted on a moveable platter, allowing it to provide for in-body SteadyShot image stabilization, and resides behind a Sony A lens mount that's also compatible with Minolta and Konica Minolta-branded AF lenses. The Alpha A390 is capable of shooting at 2.5 frames per second when using the optical viewfinder, and 2.0 frames per second when using live view. The A390 also includes Sony's anti dust system, consisting of a low-charge coating over the sensor, and dust removal achieved using the sensor shift mechanism.

The Sony Alpha A390 is a direct replacement for the Alpha A380, and features a similar body design, but with a more traditional grip which should prove more comfortable. As with the previous model, the A390 has clearly been designed with simplicity in mind, with an interface that reduces the number of rear-panel buttons, plus a GUI design with extensive settings help available through the LCD display, and a clearer display of the camera's status. this includes Sony's distinctive shutter / aperture gauges, which show the effect of each variable on images in terms of blur / sharpness. The Alpha 290 features a penta dach-mirror TTL optical viewfinder with 95% coverage, 0.74x magnification, -2.5 to +1.0m-1 diopter correction and a 16.5mm eyepoint.

On its rear panel, the Sony A390 includes a smaller than average 2.7" LCD display with 230,400 dots of resolution. The Alpha A390's display is articulated, and includes both a five-step manual brightness control, and a two-step automatic brightness control. The LCD's articulating mechanism has a generous range of motion, with adjustment from 135 degrees upwards to 55 degrees downwards now possible. The Sony A390 also includes live view capability, taking advantage of the versatility offered by the articulated display. When in use, the A390's live view mode allows for framing images on the LCD display, albeit with a slight reduction in the maximum frame rate to 2.0 frames per second

The Sony A390 uses a nine-point autofocus system. Sensitivities range from a minimum of ISO 100 to a maximum of ISO 3,200 equivalent, while shutter speeds are from 1/4000 to 30 seconds plus bulb. Metering is achieved courtesy of a 40-segment honeycomb SPC, and Sony has included Dynamic Range Optimization, a built-in auto popup flash, and a hot shoe for external flash strobes. A self-timer function captures three or five shots after a 10-second delay.

Power comes from an NP-FH50 rechargeable battery, which includes Sony's ActiForce technology, allowing faster charging during the initial 80% of the charge process, as well as improved battery gauge accuracy. Images are stored in either Raw or JPEG formats separately or simultaneously, on either SD / SDHC cards or Sony's own MemoryStick PRO Duo cards. Connectivity options include USB 2.0 High-Speed, as well as HDMI for connection to high-definition displays. Note that there's no standard-definition video connectivity, though.

The Sony Alpha DSLR-A390 is priced at $599.99 with an 18-55mm kit lens, and ships in the USA from July 2010.

Sony NEX-C3 Concise Review

The NEX-C3 is the first of Sony's second generation of mirrorless cameras, following the introduction of the 14MP NEX-3 and NEX-5 in mid-2010. If these first two models showed how committed Sony is to offering APS-C capabilities in a compact form factor, the point is underlined by the arrival of the still-smaller C3.

Sony is one of the companies with most to gain from a widespread adoption of mirrorless cameras. The inroads it made into the conventional DSLR market were pretty modest compared to its ambition, and there's clearly an opportunity to combine its in-house expertise from its Cyber-shot compacts with the interchangeable lens know-how it gained when it bought Konica Minolta, back in 2006.

The NEX-C3, even more than its predecessors, underlines the company's desire to offer this blend of compact camera convenience with large sensor image quality. Despite its larger sensor, the C3 challenges the smallest Micro Four Thirds models in terms of size, with only its kit zoom limiting its compactness.

The big news, beyond the NEX-C3's reduced size, is the inclusion of a 16MP sensor. This isn't exactly the same sensor used to such great effect in the Sony A55 (amongst others), but a re-engineered version designed to offer improved power consumption, with the promise of lower image noise and improved temperature characteristics as a result.

Beyond the new sensor, however, the changes are modest. There are changes to the user interface - the addition of a distinctly Olympus-style outcome-orientated simple shooting mode is the most obvious revision. There's a touch more user customization available to shooters in the more user-controlled modes. In the NEX-C3, Sony has forgone labeling the left and right buttons on the control dial as they are now user selectable. The C3 also includes a selection of fun image processing filters (another feature it's hard not to associate with Olympus).

Sony has previously spoken of expanding the NEX range in two directions - in an easy-to-use direction for point-and-shoot upgraders, and towards offering greater manual control for enthusiasts - and it doesn't take extensive analysis to work out which of these the C3 is part of. Just as Panasonic has decided to shrink and simplify its G and GF-series cameras, Sony is clearly trying to attract customers who want DSLR quality but wouldn't consider lugging a big black lump of camera around, and who (quite reasonably) are more interested in taking good pictures than learning what f-numbers mean.

Sony NEX-C3 specification highlights

• Revised 16.2MP CMOS sensor
• ISO 200-12800
• Creative Control results-orientated user interface
• Picture Effects processing options
• 720p30 HD movies in MPEG-4 format