Sony DSLR-A580 Review

Sony A580 Overview

by Mike Tomkins, Shawn Barnett, Zig Weidelich, and Carl Garrard
Review Posted: 05/03/2011

Announced alongside Sony’s attention-grabbing Translucent Mirror cameras, the A33 and A55, the launch of the Sony A580 was probably robbed of some attention — and that’s maybe a little unfair, because when compared to its predecessor, the A580 sports some genuinely useful changes.

The Sony A580 is based around a new 16.2 megapixel, APS-C sized image sensor, which now carries Exmor APS HD branding. (Compared to the A560, alongside which it is also announced, the A580’s sensor is the main difference.) Perhaps the most significant change between the older A550 and the A580, though, is a brand new autofocus system, based around a 15-point AF sensor, of which three are cross-type points. From the fifteen total points, eleven can be addressed directly, and four serve as assist points.

Also new to the Sony A580 is its high-definition movie recording capability, which is fast becoming a common function even among entry-level DSLRs, and an absolute must-have feature for enthusiast cameras. The Sony A580 can record movies at up to 1,920 x 1,080 pixel (Full HD) resolution, with stereo audio — either from a built in microphone, or an external mic with a 3.5mm jack. The A550’s Smart Teleconverter button, which simply cropped the image when shooting at lower resolutions, has been abandoned in favor of a new dedicated Movie button.

Sony has also made some useful tweaks to the A580’s body design. The Drive Mode and ISO buttons have both been moved nearer to the Shutter release button, making them easier to reach without having to change your grip on the camera. There’s also a new Depth of Field Preview button just beneath the right side of the lens mount. The Mode dial is also a little larger, easier to grip, and clicks more firmly between positions to prevent accidental adjustment. The various scene modes on the Mode dial have been consolidated into a single Scene position, simultaneously reducing clutter and freeing up room for a new Sweep Panorama position.

Sweep Panorama has appeared in Sony’s Cyber-shot and NEX-series cameras previously, and is now making its debut in an Alpha DSLR. The function, which offers 2D and 3D modes, automatically captures numerous images as the A580 is panned across the scene, and then stitches the result in-camera to create a single seamless image. The Sony A580 retains its predecessor’s Auto HDR function, where the camera captures multiple images and merges them into one High Dynamic Range image, but now increases the number of images from two to three, as well as the possible strength of the effect, by doubling the step size to create a total range of up to 6 EV in 1 EV steps. High ISO Noise Reduction has also been adjusted, and now offers a choice of Auto or Weak modes, in place of the previous High or Normal positions. A new Multi-Frame NR function overlays six sequential images in-camera, to create one final exposure with about a two-stop improvement in signal to noise ratio.

The Sony A580 retains the articulating display screen from the A550 design, as well as the unusual Live View mode that uses a secondary, low-resolution sensor inside the pentamirror, so that phase-detection autofocus can be offered during live view. The A550’s alternative MF Check LV mode — which raises the mirror and exposes the imaging sensor like the live view modes on most other DSLRs — has been renamed and greatly improved. It’s now called Focus Check LV, and offers not only manual focusing or phase detection AF with a brief interruption to the live view stream, but now also offers contrast-detection autofocusing.

A few other notable changes include the addition of an ISO 100 position, slight updates to the Help Guide function and menu system, a change to Sony’s new Playback mode, which segregates still and video content, support for the latest generation SDXC cards, and the removal of PictBridge support.

The Sony Alpha A580 started shipping in November 2010. Pricing has been set at around $800 body-only, and $900 when bundled with an 18-55mm kit lens. Be sure to try our links to see the latest prices.

See our Hands-on Preview on the subtab above or by clicking here.

Sony Alpha A580 Field Test

by Carl Garrard

Overview. I’m happy to report that Sony’s Alpha A580 represents the first DSLR model to receive an incremental upgrade treatment without receiving a whole new body design since Sony took over the Konica Minolta camera division in 2006, and it’s also the first to sport any kind of video. The Sony A580 effectively replaces the Alpha A550 DSLR in Sony’s lineup and comes with a host of improvements to the body’s exterior, its handing, and a list of cool extra features I was anxious to try out.

Features like Multi-Frame Noise Reduction, Sweep Panorama, Hand-Held Twilight, a Dual Axis Digital Level Gauge, and Focus Check Live View (which replaces Manual Focus Check Live View) are fun and useful. With the following additions, such as a Depth Of Field Preview button, the Two-Second Timer Mirror Lock Up, Release w/out Lens menu option, and upgraded 15 point Auto Focus system w/three double cross sensors, the Sony A580 gave me the impression of a much more aggressive and refined mid-range DSLR offering.

Note: There are a couple of items worth mentioning about the units that Sony provided for review. Both cameras were focusing soft when using phase-detection autofocus at wide-angle. I confirmed this by switching to contrast-detect autofocus during Focus Check Live View with each camera and got sharper results. My personal copy of the Sony A580 doesn’t have this issue, however. Overall, the problem proved intermittent and inconsistent with both bodies, so it’s hard to say if this is an isolated case or not. It’s doubtful the autofocus issue will be a production unit issue but it’s worth mentioning all the same.

Handling. Weighing in at 24.5 ounces (694g) with a battery and two memory cards installed, the Sony A580 is by no means a heavy DSLR, but it’s no featherweight either. Weight seems to fall right where it should be considering where the A580 is placed in Sony’s line up: a mid-range DSLR with a mid-range heft. Very nice actually. My hand never tired holding the A580 with a small to decent sized lens for extended periods of time while shooting with it. Volume wise, the Sony A580 is a chunky DSLR, but about the same size as competitors. I don’t find the A580’s size too objectionably large at all, though other IR staff thought otherwise. For Alpha users who own any of the Sony A100/200/300 series DSLRs, the A580 is just slightly larger than these models, but you’ll hardly notice it.

Attention was mainly given to redesigning the Power switch and Shutter release position, the Control dial, and the size and position of additional buttons on the top/and top right rear side of the camera. Because of these changes, the Sony A580 operates in a much more fluid and functional manner. Handling is very important to me: Controls ought to be placed in areas of the utmost priority based on the frequency of their use, and Sony has done an excellent job improving the handling interface of the Sony A580 compared to its predecessor. The noticeably larger and slightly more angled front control wheel of the A580 is easier to find and operate, and is distanced far enough away from the on/off switch for almost no accidental tripping. Kudos, Sony.

Top left of the Sony A580, the Mode dial improvements also help handling. The dial is higher off the body, has a springier action, and has a bit more tension to resist accidental mode changes. It is better organized for the enthusiast photographer, too: All of the Scene modes but Sweep Panorama have been organized under the SCN setting. Quick and easy.

And rounding things out, the addition of the Depth-of-Field Preview button on the right front side of the Sony A580, a dedicated movie button, larger and raised EV (-/+) and AEL buttons, and smoother sliding AF/MF and Live View/OVF switches round out the improvements and handling changes to the exterior of the A580. All of these changes do make a quantifiable difference.

Sometimes it’s the little things in life that make us most happy, and I am pleased with how the Sony A580 handles, all of the small improvements come together in concert with one another. In a way operating a camera is like using a musical instrument: you play better with it if everything you need is within easy reach and is second nature to control. I give the Sony A580 a high score in this department.

Look and Feel. Although the exterior finish of a DSLR has little impact on the overall handling, the more durable finish of the Sony A580 means less worry about fine scratches plaguing your investment and lets you think more about shooting instead; plus it just looks a lot nicer. I prefer the all-black, more durable and professional looking finish of the Sony A580, and worried much less about scratching this model while shooting than I did with the A550.

The Sony A580’s grip is mid-sized with a slight bias towards smaller hands. No doubt this is to appeal to a wider range of buyers. Supple and curvaceous are words that describe the A580’s grip best, yet there’s a nice large indentation for the middle finger to keep the camera extra secure. In fact, only two digits are really needed to hold the A580 securely: the thumb and middle finger. This frees the forefinger to actuate things like the Control wheel and Power switch on the front without having to reposition your grip in the process. It’s a nice layout that’s easy to use.

Build Quality. The Sony A580 is very similar in build to the A500 and A550, with the main difference being the finish, yet there are some small refinements in other areas worth noting as well. For example, the doors that house the Mic/Remote/USB and HDMI ports are easier to open and close and seem to snap shut more securely. Buttons and switches seem to operate more smoothly, and with more refined tolerances that have reduced wiggling, and they’re a bit snappier as well. There is less rattling inside the camera than I experienced with the A500/550 DSLRs, which were likely caused by Sony’s Quick Auto Focus Live View mechanisms.

I did find one small issue worth mentioning that has to do with the grip. The slim sensor cover on the front of the grip causes some creaking when you squeeze the grip. It took me some time to isolate where the creak was coming from. I don’t recall hearing any creaking in the grip with the A500/550 DSLRs, so I don’t know what Sony changed, but nevertheless it is worth reporting.

Optical Viewfinder. The Sony A580’s viewfinder is similar in size to the viewfinder we saw in the A100 DSLR, but falls slightly behind a couple of its competitors on the market in terms of magnification. The viewing area is 95% accurate (the lab measured closer to 94%) with a 0.80x magnification ratio. The LCD overlay that highlights each individual autofocus point was a nice touch. When set to the wide AF setting, often a cluster of autofocus points will light up inside letting the photographer know where the Sony A580 is focusing. If you set the Sony A580 to Spot or Local autofocusing, the center or autofocus point you select will light up red when focus is achieved. If you choose AF area focusing, only one of the 11 autofocus points shows at all, that being the one you select manually. It’s a nice little system to use once you get the swing of it, mainly because you can remove many of the autofocus points with a settings change.

Keep in mind, though, that the LCD overlay system requires power, so as soon as you remove the battery, the viewfinder will go dim and details will go soft. This is normal, and part of the tradeoff of having the LCD overlay. So if you want to practice framing without having the camera on, be sure to keep a charged battery loaded, preferably with a spare on hand.

Auto Focus. Sony’s A580 has a peppy and eager autofocus system. I find the in-body autofocus motor to be slightly quicker to focus than the SAM system on the kit lens, and it’s also slightly quieter, depending on the lens you use. Continuous AF mode in good light does pretty well at keeping up with the action, very similar to the A700’s performance in speed, tracking, and hit rates when using the three more sensitive center double-cross sensors. The outer autofocus sensors aren’t as reliable.

Focus Check Live View. This mode replaces Manual Focus Check Live View and now allows two focusing options: Contrast-detect autofocus with SAM and SSM branded lenses (that includes third party makers such as Sigma and Tamron), and phase-detection autofocus. Pressing the Display button cycles through four display options, including one with a live luminance histogram, and another with the leveling display, and makes Focus Check Live View a much, much better tool than the old mode. This is a huge addition to the Sony A580’s functionality. The Sony A580 is now a very powerful photographic live view tool that exceeds any of the competition’s live view experience.

Sony also slightly improved the magnification of the image in this mode, which now sports 7.5x and 15x magnification for hyper-accurate manual focusing. Getting accurate exposure, framing, and focus has never been easier in any Sony DSLR before it. Macro shooting is simply a blast in this mode. I found contrast-detect autofocus to be a tad slow, but it’s very accurate.

HD Video. The A580 is Sony’s first traditional DSLR to have full HD video capture. Granted, this comes without autofocus capability, but I still find it very useful. I’ve never been a big video guy–I’m more of a family-designated videographer; however, I find the ability to get big, high quality video files from my DSLR a nice touch. In use I wasn’t bothered much by the lack of real-time autofocus. I guess I just don’t miss the loud distracting sounds other DSLRs with video make during autofocusing.

Full HD Video. An inbound train coming in at the stop in at the San Juan Capistrano Train Station (translated to M4V by Handbrake; 129MB). Download the 00002.MTS file (43.6MB).

I found the Sony A580’s video implementation in Playback mode simple to operate and navigate. The built-in speaker doesn’t really turn up loud enough during playback, but this is pretty much par for the course on DSLRs I’ve used in the past. I didn’t have to read the manual to figure out how to fast forward/rewind, adjust the volume, or change folders back to still images after I was through watching the video. Pretty simple stuff. Note, though, that there are no in-camera editing tools for video.

Sweep Panorama. Here’s a mode I had particular difficulty with. I find that it takes practice if you intend to get a clean image free of stitching or auto-aligning errors. Some scenes were just impossible to get with a perfectly clean final image and I gave up entirely. Either the camera cut off the last portion of the image leaving a section entirely black, or portions of the scene had stitching errors. Other scenes I could manage a clean shot eventually. I found that doing a practice sweep of my scene keeping the camera level and at a proper speed prior to making the final exposure helped matters greatly.

Panorama. I managed to get one good nearly error-free panorama here (at least I couldn’t find
any errors).

Multi-Frame Noise Reduction. Multi-Frame Noise Reduction is an ISO setting (it’s not a Scene mode). The camera will automatically micro-align 6 stacked exposures accounting for some small hand shake movement. It is beneficial for static subjects only as a result. This is the trade off relative to the rather wonderful advantage of low noise images you gain at every single ISO setting (yes even ISO 100 benefits as you’ll soon see). I’m simply enamored by it. The fact that it also allows for some amount of handshake (due to auto-aligning of all six images during processing) means that I can handhold the camera and capture low noise high ISO images that would be throwaway images otherwise.

Sony claims a two-stop advantage in lower noise at any given ISO setting. Getting keeper photographs up to ISO 12,800 is indeed quite possible. ISO 3,200 images look as nice as ISO 400 single-exposure images in my opinion, noise and detail-wise.

Handheld Twilight. Although this Scene mode is largely automatic, I find it does exactly as its name advertises, and does quite a good job at that. My only quibble with it is that it defaults to selecting a very low aperture value (as low as it can go) to compensate for low light, instead of raising ISO values higher to compensate for light loss. It only seems to raise the ISO value if it needs too.

Niggles aside, the mode works quite well and is great for a quickie capture when you don’t have time to think or adjust settings that much. I actually ended up liking it the more I used it — it’s convenient for a quick grab. If I have time to make adjustments, it’s time to use the superior (in just about every way) Multi-Frame Noise Reduction ISO setting. The samples clearly show the benefits.

Advanced DRO. Sony’s Advanced DRO calculates about 4,000 different areas of the scene in order to make single-exposure images look as natural as possible. It is adjustable in five steps. Advanced DRO is best used at lower ISOs because shadow areas end up suffering more noise as you raise the ISO value and strength setting of DRO+. Auto DRO is much like the A100’s version, nearly useless in comparison, but it does make some slightly noticeable differences to the scene with a bias towards preserving highlight detail. Its main advantage is that it can be used with moving subjects, unlike the two previous modes I just discussed. It’s a handy tool.

Auto-HDR. This is your tool for extreme lighting circumstances, and quite a powerful tool it is. Considerably more powerful than Advanced DRO. I found it best used when you use multi-segment metering to avoid biasing toward highlights or shadows when making an exposure reading. Instead try to lock your exposure with fairly even metering of highlights and shadows (a centered histogram reading in other words). Rarely have I found a scene that requires the full six-stop setting to compensate for lighting extremes. Its like having six graduated ND filters built right into the camera. Pretty cool and nearly flawless, except that anything moving in the frame will have odd edges and ghost-like patterns as a result of the stacking. Lowered noise is another benefit of Auto-HDR.

Speed Priority Shooting. With the Sony A580’s deeper buffer and seven frames per second Speed Priority shooting, it’s quite the sports shooting camera as long as you aren’t tracking a single object at high speeds. The Sony A580 can take quite a few more photographs in succession than the A560. If you want constant focusing and metering the A580 will still do five frames per second which is still just as fast as Sony’s highest end DSLR, the A900, and plenty for most circumstances.

Resolution. 16.2 megapixels is quite a bit of resolution for a DSLR no matter how you slice it, but if the lens doesn’t match the sensor, all those pixels go to waste. So I wanted to show a demonstration of the fine detail you gain when you upgrade from the decent Sony 18-55mm SAM kit lens. I used Sony’s own 50mm f/1.4 standard prime lens to test against this lens at the corresponding focal length. Two things you’ll see: the capability of both lenses, as well the capability of the wonderful sensor in the A580 to capture incredibly fine details. The camera was set on a tripod with image stabilization turned off, and I used Focus Check Live View at the 15x magnification setting so I could get the sharpest focus possible. Both lenses were shot using ISO 100 at f/8.

Exposure. Sony’s 40 Segment Metering (in OVF mode) has gone unchanged since it first appeared in the A100 back in 2006. It has been used every DSLR since then (less the SLT models of course), and therefore I am intimately familiar with it. The Sony A580 exhibits the same tendencies as all the other Alpha cameras do. You can count on Multi-Segment metering to slightly underexpose with evenly divided lighting by about -0.3EV, and to slightly overexpose when a scene is dominated by shadows by about 0.3-0.6EV, and underexpose scenes dominated by highlights by about 0.7-1.0 EV. Overall it is a pretty accurate and consistent metering system in my experience.

White Balance. Auto White Balance on Sony DSLRs first received refined treatment on the A230/330 and A380 DSLRs. In my experience with the Sony A580 I found it will do a very good job outdoors with a slight bias towards cooler temperatures, while indoors it has more trouble emphasizing a much warmer temperature than it should. As long as you use the presets in the correct conditions, these settings are more reliable than Auto White Balance, in this respect Sony has done a good job here. Use Focus Check Live View to dial in your white balance instead of Quick Auto Focus Live View and you’ll get a more accurate color reading as you change your white balance settings to match your scene.

Battery Life. Does it ever die? That’s a question I’ve yet to answer. Seriously, though, the Sony A580 is the most efficient DSLR that Sony has made yet, hands down. Even without restricting my use of Live View, the Sony A580 seems to never run out of power. If you are the type to strictly use only the optical viewfinder you’ll get even better performance. Sony’s–rather CIPA’s–rating of 1,050 shots seems conservative when using the camera in real life. Suffice it to say that one good charge should last for a full weekend of shooting with minimal power management.

Sony A580 Image Quality

Most digital SLRs will produce a reasonable ISO 100 shot, so we like to push them and see what they can do at ISO 1,600, at their default noise reduction settings. Recent advances in sensor technology have made ISO 1,600 look a lot more like ISO 100, but there are still cameras whose quality starts to fall apart at this setting. I also choose 1,600 because I like to be able to shoot at or above this level when indoors and at night. We also explore ISO 3,200, and look at the high-contrast detail of ISO 100 vs 3,200 and 6,400. Be sure to check our Thumbnails page for more image quality samples.

Sony A580 versus A560 at ISO 1,600

Sony A580 at ISO 1,600	Sony A560 at ISO 1,600
Image quality looks pretty similar between the 14-megapixel A560 and the Sony A580, there’s just more resolution. On both, we think the processor does too much blurring in the shadows and low-contrast areas, creating the illusion of significant blur in the bottle and background, while the label in the yellow bottle above fairly pops. The mosaic pattern has slightly less detail in the A580, but the exposure difference might account for that. And the red leaf pattern is a little closer to reality than the A560 produces, but again the exposure difference might have something to do with it. At any rate, they’re quite similar.

Sony A580 versus Canon T3i at ISO 1,600

Sony A580 at ISO 1,600	Canon T3i at ISO 1,600
Up against the 18-megapixel Canon T3i, the 16-megapixel Sony A580 does quite well, especially considering the resolution difference. Sony’s noise suppression efforts do a lot more smoothing in the low-contrast areas, and as a result, the Canon T3i retains a little more detail. In the red leaf swatch, however, the Canon loses the sense of the cloth’s true appearance.

Sony A580 versus Nikon D5100 at ISO 1,600

Sony A580 at ISO 1,600	Nikon D5100 at ISO 1,600
Both the Sony A580 and Nikon D5100 use the same sensor, but their image processing are different, with the Sony’s noise suppression smoothing away some of the fine detail in the mosaic pattern as well as the red leaf swatch. The Nikons tend to play fewer tricks with the noise suppression, resulting in a more even overall treatment to all areas, and they’re the best at rendering the red leaf swatch, while the white label above doesn’t exhibit the oversharpening and contrast changes that we see in the Sony image.

Sony A580 versus Pentax K-5 at ISO 1,600

Sony A580 at ISO 1,600	Pentax K-5 at ISO 1,600
The Sony A580 and Pentax K-5 also use the same sensor, but handle the scene differently. The Pentax K5 maintains more grain in the background, while still doing a good job on the mosaic label. The Red leaf swatch shows a very different strategy for dealing with low-contrast detail, maintaining a shadow of the red leaf outlines, but dimming the contrast significantly.

Sony A580 versus Panasonic GH2 at ISO 1,600

Sony A580 at ISO 1,600	Panasonic GH2 at ISO 1,600
The Panasonic GH2 is quite a bit more expensive than the Sony A580, but it also offers a 16-megapixel sensor, so it’s worth comparing. Note the tendency toward green in the GH2’s files, which is unfortunate. The A580 looks quite a bit better than the GH2’s files, with better color and detail.

Today’s ISO 3,200 is yesterday’s ISO 1,600 (well, almost), so below are the same crops at ISO 3,200.

Sony A580 versus A560 at ISO 3,200

Sony A580 at ISO 3,200	Sony A560 at ISO 3,200
Resolution and exposure seem to be the main differences between the A580 and A560, which means owners of both cameras can at least expect relative consistency.

Sony A580 versus Canon T3i at ISO 3,200

Sony A580 at ISO 3,200	Canon T3i at ISO 3,200
The Canon T3i’s noise suppression kicks up a notch, softening detail a little more than the Sony A580. The red leaf swatch is just a blur on the T3i, while it still looks a little closer to reality on the A580.

Sony A580 versus Nikon D5100 at ISO 3,200

Sony A580 at ISO 3,200	Nikon D5100 at ISO 3,200
The Nikon D5100 gains a bit more on the Sony A580, which uses stronger noise suppression in the shadowed background, and more sharpening on the letters in the top crop. Meanwhile, the Nikon D5100’s more even-handed approach creates an image that’s more detailed, but a bit noisier.

Sony A580 versus Pentax K-5 at ISO 3,200

Sony A580 at ISO 3,200	Pentax K-5 at ISO 3,200
The Sony A580 now does a little better overall than the K-5, especially when you consider the red leaf swatch, which has almost no hint of detail. The mosaic is a little crisper on the K-5, but the Sony image still offers enough resolution for a large print.

Sony A580 versus Panasonic GH2 at ISO 3,200

Sony A580 at ISO 3,200	Panasonic GH2 at ISO 3,200
The Sony A580/Panasonic GH2 comparison speaks for itself.

Detail: Sony A580 vs. Sony A560, Canon T3i, Nikon D5100, Pentax K-5, and Panasonic GH2

Sony A580 ISO 100 ISO 3,200 ISO 6,400	Sony A560 ISO 100 ISO 3,200 ISO 6,400	Canon T3i ISO 100 ISO 3,200 ISO 6,400	Nikon D5100 ISO 100 ISO 3,200 ISO 6,400	Pentax K-5 ISO 100 ISO 3,200 ISO 6,400	Panasonic GH2 ISO 160 ISO 3,200 ISO 6,400
Detail comparison. High-contrast details are often sharper as ISO rises, so they’re worth a look as well. All of these cameras do pretty well in this series. We usually look at the lines between the Pure Brewed Lager letters, but all of these cameras show at least a hint of their presence. More interesting in this case is what the cameras do with the italic word “brewed” at the bottom of the crop area. Where it’s sharp at ISO 100, there’s a very strong sharpening halo on the Sony A580’s image, and it’s also strong on the A560 and Canon T3i image, not as dramatically so on the others. The GH2, which didn’t do as well in the low-contrast areas of the image does quite well here (though its image area seems larger because of the 4:3 aspect ratio versus the 3:2 aspect ratio on the others). At 6,400, the Pentax K-5 is the only camera that has trouble with the red text at the top of the crop, rendering the bottom of it as gray rather than red. And again, the Canon T3i’s noise suppression softens detail more than the others, especially at ISO 6,400.

Sony Alpha A580 Print Quality

ISO 100 shots look great at 20×30, with good detail. We can’t say that it’s tack sharp, because it’s very slightly soft, but a quick unsharp mask operation would fix that.

ISO 200 shots also look great at 20×30, little different from ISO 100.

ISO 400 images look quite good in most areas at 20×30, though detail in some reds starts to soften.

ISO 800 is where 20×30 starts to look a little hazy and soft across all detail. Slight luminance noise appears in the shadows. Reducing the image size to 16×24 improves detail noticeably.

ISO 1,600 still looks pretty good at 16×24 inches, with good detail, though shadows look a little snowy with luminance noise.

ISO 3,200 images don’t look good at 16×24, but come back together at 13×19 inches, with good detail and only minor luminance noise in the shadows.

ISO 6,400 sees image detail drop fairly dramatically, especially among reds. Shadow noise is strong. Reduction to 11×14 brings most of the image back into the realm of acceptable, but the image’s increased saturation and contrast still show.

ISO 12,800 images are usable, but rough at 11×14. Reduction to 8×10 brings them back to good, but with noisy shadows. Reduction to 5×7, though, makes the image look quite good; sharp, even.

Overall, the Sony A580 looks very good at every ISO, performing similarly to other popular peer SLRs on the market, even ones with higher resolution. An excellent performance, able to produce a usable print above 4×6 at every ISO setting.

In the Box

• Sony Alpha A580 body
• NP-FM500H battery pack
• BC-VM10 charger
• AC cord
• USB cord
• Camera strap
• Eyepiece cover
• Body cap
• Manual

Recommended Accessories

• Extra battery pack for extended outings
• Large capacity Memory Stick Duo PRO or SDHC/SDXC memory card. These days, 4-16GB cards are inexpensive.
• Camera case for outdoor and in-bag protection

Sony A580 Conclusion

The 16.2-megapixel Sony Alpha A580 comes with many refinements that make it a far more usable camera than its predecessors, making it a more significant contender in the market for mid-range digital SLRs. Starting with its heft and improved controls, the Sony A580 is a pleasure to use, feeling like a well-crafted musical instrument, making operation fluid and easy. We also find relative heft to be an aid for more stable pictures when it matters. We’re split on the grip and overall thickness of the camera, with some of us thinking the A580 too thick, while others have no problem with it. The Depth-of-field-preview button is also an important inclusion, heretofore conspicuously absent from the A200, A300, and A500 Alpha models, and its return is welcome for both video and still shooters.

Excellent for low or high-angle shooting, the Sony A580’s articulating LCD is sharp and vibrant, and the Quick AF Live View mode makes these shots considerably faster than the competition, thanks to the use of phase-detect autofocus. Focus Check Live View gives you back the advantage that the competition had with their sensor-based autofocus, as you can now either automatically or manually focus the lens, complete with magnification options. We really like how focus pops in these zoomed modes, especially.

Then there’s a whole list of Sony magic that’s added to the mix, including Multi-frame Noise reduction, Multi-frame High Dynamic Range shooting, Sweep Panorama mode, and of course 1080i HD movie capture. It’s difficult to know how valuable some of these modes are unless you use them, and see the camera capture images that you’d never get otherwise. We were most impressed with Multi-frame Noise Reduction mode, which allows you to shoot handheld, merging and micro-aligning six separate images into one, very clean image. It’s only usable for static scenes, but the method makes ISO 3,200 look like ISO 400 much of the time.

Like most digital SLRs, the Sony A580 doesn’t offer autofocus during video capture, but it does offer control of aperture, which can be valuable when shooting to isolate your subject from the background, for example.

The only major fault we’d bring to the fore is the over-aggressive noise suppression in JPEG images, which strangely get worse in the red channel when you switch to Weak Noise Reduction mode. But there’s no arguing with our printed results, which show the Sony A580 able to produce good quality 20×30-inch prints from Large Fine JPEG images from ISO 100 to 400, and even the highest setting of 12,800 produces a good quality 5×7-inch print. Impressive! Shooting RAW is the obvious workaround, and doing so allows you to tweak the noise suppression yourself for much better results. To see crops from our RAW captures processed through dcraw, go to our High ISO RAW comparison page.

Overall, the Sony A580 is a very competent camera with excellent image quality, great dynamic range, and several special modes that allow you to capture scenes other SLRs couldn’t. Add that to its already impressive Quick Live View mode, which exhibits faster live view autofocus than any of its competitors, and you have an able photographic tool, one that we’re happy to give a Dave’s Pick.

Sony Alpha A580 Design

Roll-over the various controls and features with your mouse for a brief description. Note: Rollovers are best viewed with the latest versions Firefox, Safari, or Opera browsers, or Internet Explorer 6 or earlier.

Sony A580 Front. Only a few controls are to be found on the front of the Sony A580. These include the Control dial at the top of the handgrip, the Lens Release button just to the right of the lens mount, and the Depth of Field Preview button at the lower left of the lens mount. The short vertical plastic strip in the handgrip hides a self-timer lamp at its upper end, and also conceals the infrared receiver for use with an optional remote control.

Sony A580 Left Side. This side includes a button to raise the built-in flash strobe, a focus mode selector switch that’s only functional when the lens attached to the camera doesn’t have its own duplicate switch, the left-hand microphone on top of the viewfinder / flash housing, a small three-hole speaker grille, and two compartment doors behind which the microphone jack, wired remote, HDMI, and USB connectors can be found.

Sony A580 Right Side. From this angle, the Sony A580 is free of controls, with the only notable features being the right-hand microphone on the viewfinder / flash housing, and compartment covers for the DC input and storage media slots. You can also see the diopter adjustment dial, tucked just inside the bottom of the viewfinder eyecup.

Sony A580 Top. Many of the A580’s controls are to be found on its top panel. These include the power switch, shutter button, and mode dial, as well as the Live View / OVF switch (which enables or disables live view using a dedicated, secondary image sensor), Focus Check LV button (which iniates live view using the primary image sensor), D-Range button (which accesses dynamic range expansion and high dynamic range-mode options), Drive mode button, and ISO button. Angled for good visibility either from above or behind the camera are five more buttons — the Menu, Display, Movie shutter, Exposure Compensation, and Auto Exposure Lock buttons, respectively.

Sony A580 Back. The rear panel of the Sony A580 is dominated by a 3.0-inch, 921,600 dot LCD display mounted on a mechanism that allows it to be tilted downwards 90 degrees, and upwards a little beyond 90 degrees. Controls on the camera’s rear include a four-way controller with central OK button, serving double duty as an AF button. There are also dedicated Function, Playback, and Delete buttons. The Function button calls up a Function menu, providing quick access to adjust common exposure variables, and also rotates images in playback mode.

Sony A580 Bottom. There’s not a lot to see on the base of the Sony A580, beyond the metal tripod mount, and the battery compartment door. The tripod mount is centered on the lens’ axis, helpful for shooting panoramas, although it’s a little in front of the sensor plane.

Sony A580 Operation

The Sony A580 relies on a large, color LCD screen for all user interaction, with its compact size not leaving room for the small LCD info displays that are common on many full-sized SLRs. The user interface is for the most part clear and straightforward, although the A580 does feature the same playback-mode design that we’ve seen in several of Sony’s other recent SLR and SLD models, which separates movie and still image playback — a confusing design with the potential to cause panic if you’re not familiar with the camera. More on that in a minute. One user interface feature of the A580 that we do very much like is the infrared proximity sensor, which can optionally switch off the LCD screen and trigger autofocus operation when you hold the viewfinder up to your eye.

Menus can be navigated by using the four way arrow pad, and the button in the center of the four-way arrow pad makes selections, although there is no marking on the central button to indicate this function. The control dial can also be used to navigate menus, although its main purpose is to adjust exposure compensation, shutter speed, or aperture, as applicable in the current exposure mode. Since there’s only one control dial and two variables to adjust when in Manual mode, the Exposure Compensation button is held in to switch between the two variables. An autoexposure lock (AEL) button fixes the curent exposure level while held down, allowing a metering reading to be taken, and then the subject reframed as desired. Dedicated Drive Mode, ISO Sensitivity and D-Range buttons respectively call up dialogs allowing each variable to be adjusted without delving in the menu system. A dedicated Movie button is used to start and stop video recording, separate from the still image Shutter button. A Depth of Field Preview button adjacent to the lens mount will stop the lens down to the selected aperture while held in, allowing depth of field to be confirmed visually.

An OVF / Live View switch adjacent to the pentamirror / flash housing is used to switch between shooting through the optical viewfinder, and courtesy of a live view feed on the rear panel LCD display. Unusually, this feed comes from a secondary image sensor located in the pentamirror assembly, allowing use of the A580’s phase detection autofocusing system during live view. For a higher quality live view feed, the A580 also offers what Sony refers to as Focus Check LV, which is accessed from another dedicated button, and dervies its data from the main image sensor in the same style as most live view-capable DSLRs.

Sony A580 Record Mode

Like Sony’s other recent DSLRs, the A580 offers an optional information display in record mode when shooting with the optical viewfinder, which can be accessed by pressing the Display button. (A similar selection of information overlays are available in live view shooting, and are described on the Live View page of this review.) Two information display layouts are available: standard or graphic. The standard mode provides the maximum possible information in program, priority, or manual modes, and a subset of this information when in Auto or Scene modes, including
the exposure mode, storage type, number of available images, resolution for still images and movies, compression for still images and movies, aspect ratio, battery status, flash mode, drive mode, focus mode, focus area, white balance mode, DRO / HDR modes, creative style mode, ISO sensitivity setting, metering mode, exposure and flash compensation, shutter speed and aperture settings, exposure level, autoexposure lock, and SteadyShot mode, etc. See the illustration below (courtesy of Sony America) for information callouts in record mode.

Sony A580 Record Mode Displays
Section 1
	Exposure mode		Image size of movies
	Memory card		Remaining battery
	Remaining number of recordable images		Overheating warning
	Image size of still images / Aspect ratio of still images		Database file full / database file error
	Image quality of still images		No audio recording of movies
Section 2
	Shutter speed indicator		Aperture indicator
	Exposure compensation / Metered Manual		Flash compensation
	EV scale		Drive mode
	Flash mode / red-eye reduction		Focus mode
	ISO sensitivity		D-Range optimizer / auto HDR
	AF area		White balance (auto, preset, custom, color temperature, color filter)
	Creative style		Metering mode
Section 3
	Shutter speed		Aperture
	Exposure		AE lock
	SteadyShot

Playback Mode Displays

Information Screens
In Playback mode, the default image display shows the most recently captured image or movie. Pressing the Display button cycles through the main display (with no information), a simplified display with basic information overlay, and a detailed thumbnail display with RGBY histogram, shooting info and blinking highlight/shadow display (overexposed areas are shown in black, underexposed in white). The most recent display type will be stored and shown the next time by default. Pressing the Right or Left arrow button or turning the Control dial displays the next or previous image (if currently viewing a still image) or movie (if currently viewing a movie). Curiously, there’s no direct way to switch between viewing movies and still images. Instead, you must either go to the Index view (described below), then select the Movie or Still Image tabs at the left of the screen, or enter the Playback menu, then select the relevant type in the Still / Movie Select option. It’s easy enough to switch when you’re used to it, but if you frequently want to go from reviewing movies to stills or vice versa, the button-mashing can become a little tedious. If you’re new to the camera, the design is prone to causing panic until you read the manual when you shoot a movie and then can’t find your entire still image library, or vice versa.

Index View
Pressing the Exposure Compensation (Zoom Out) button switches to an Index view of either still images or movies — but not both at the same time. You can view either four or nine thumbnails on screen at once in Index view. The Left, Right, Up, and Down arrow buttons move between the image thumbnails, and rolling the Control dial has the same effect. The OK key at the center of the four-way controller selects an image or movie for viewing. The Delete key deletes an image or movie. Two tabs at screen left are used to change between viewing still images, or viewing movies, since the A580 can’t display both types at the same time. Note that when using the HDMI cable to review images and movies on a high-definition display, the A580 will automatically change its aspect ratio to fit the display.

Magnified View
Pressing the AEL (Magnify) button while viewing a single still image in Playback mode switches to the magnified view. Unless viewing a panoramic image, once in this view, you can press the Magnify and Zoom Out buttons to zoom in or out as much as 11.8x,
while pressing the arrow buttons pans around the image. The Playback button exits magnified view, and the Delete button deletes the magnified image (after a confirmation screen), then returns you to full image view. For panoramic images, the first press of the AF (OK) button scales the panorama to fit the screen on its shorter side, then pans the length of the panorama automatically once, before returning you to full image view. Pressing the OK button while the panorama is panning will pause the display, at which point you can enter magnified view by pressing the Magnify button. This then allows you to pan and zoom exactly as you would with any other still image.

Movie Playback
Pressing the OK button while viewing a single movie in Playback mode launches movie playback. A second press will pause movie playback, and a third press will resume it. While the movie is playing, rotating the Control dial will cue forwards or backwards through the movie. Pressing the Down arrow button while paused brings up a volume adjustment control, allowing the volume to be adjusted within a seven step range, or the video muted altogether, by either turning the Control wheel or using the vertical arrow buttons. The Delete button deletes the magnified video (after a confirmation screen).

Sony A580 Optics

The Sony A580 features a bayonet lens mount, which accommodates a range of Sony and Konica Minolta lenses. The Sony A580 comes bundled with a Sony 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 SAM kit lens, tested in our A560 review. The lens features a built-in focus motor for fast, quiet autofocus, and is designed to be used with subframe Sony SLRs. For additional test results, see our review of this lens on SLRgear.com.

A small button on the front of the camera releases the lens from its mount, so it can be turned and removed. The A580’s CMOS image sensor is smaller than a frame of 35mm film, so the angle of view at any given focal length will not be the same as on a 35mm camera. To find the approximate 35mm equivalent focal length, multiply the focal length of the lens by 1.5. (Thus, a 50mm lens will provide about the same view as a 75mm lens on a 35mm camera.)

Alpha lens mount. The Sony A580’s Alpha lens mount is compatible with the full array of Alpha lenses, both screw-drive and electronic autofocus models.

The Sony A580 provides both manual and automatic focus control modes, set by the Focus Mode switch on the left side of the camera body, unless the lens itself has a Focus Mode switch. If there’s a duplicate switch on the lens, it takes over this function, and the one on the body serves no purpose. With whichever switch is applicable, you can select between Auto and Manual focus modes. The Function button provides access to additional AF modes and AF Area options. The Autofocus Mode option under the Function menu offers Single-shot AF, Automatic AF and Continuous AF settings. Single-shot sets focus with each half-press of the Shutter button, while Continuous mode is constantly adjusting the focus, whether the Shutter button is pressed or not. The Automatic setting will lock focus on a still subject or continually adjust focus on a moving subject, for as long as the Shutter button is halfway pressed.

Autofocus Area also has three options available through the Function menu: Wide, Spot, and Flexible Spot (manual setting). The default option is a 15-point Wide Focus area, indicated by an array of square focus areas whose locations are indicated by small squares visible through the optical viewfinder. Note that of the 15 AF points, only three utilize a cross-type sensor sensitive to detail in both the horizontal and vertical axis, with the other 12 line-type sensors being sensitive to detail in one direction only. Wide AF bases its focus on the most prominent subject detail in the portion of the image that falls within the AF brackets, and the A580 can indicate which individual AF points achieved a focus lock by highlighting only those points in the optical viewfinder while the shutter button is half-pressed.

In Spot mode, the A580 uses only the centermost AF point, and only this point is indicated by a square target box in the center of the viewfinder. Finally, Flexible Spot mode is Sony’s terminology for a manual AF area selection, and lets you manually set the main AF point by using the Multi-controller to highlight one of eleven AF points. (The remaining four points are considered to be assist points — available for selection by the camera in Wide mode, but not for manual selection. The active AF area is briefly illuminated in the viewfinder upon focus lock as a visual reminder of which point was manually selected.

The Sony A580 also offers a Live View mode, although its manner of operation differs from those of most competing DSLRs. The A580 includes a secondary, low-resolution image sensor in its viewfinder housing, which allows it to use the same phase-detection AF sensor that’s employed when framing images through the optical viewfinder, resulting in live view autofocus speeds that are just as fast. That’s because the secondary sensor negates the need for the additional mirror flips required for phase detection AF in most other Live View implementations. The majority of competing DSLRs must either drop the mirror, focus with the phase detection sensor, and then raise the mirror again before taking a shot in Live View mode, or they must employ a slower contrast-detect autofocus method using data from the main image sensor. Since the image sensor feeding the A580’s live preview is located above the mirror, the mirror stays down until the final exposure, exactly as it does in optical viewfinder mode. The downside, though, is less accuracy in framing images, since the secondary sensor only offers around 92% frame coverage. Also, because the optical path for focusing is different than that for capture, there can be issues with front- or back-focusing, just like when using the optical viewfinder.

An alternative to the standard Live View mode is Focus Check Live View mode, which derives its image from the main sensor. Unlike earlier Sony DSLRs, this now allows use of either phase detection or contrast detection autofocus, rather than being limited solely to manual focusing. This mode hence now operates in much the same manner as the live view functionality of most competing DSLRs, as described previously — and with all the mirror flipping that implies, when using phase detection AF. The preview image in this mode can be magnified by 7.5x or 15x for critical manual focusing, and unlike the standard Live View mode, frame coverage is 100%.

Both standard and Focus Check LV modes offer an advantage over shooting with the optical viewfinder when using the Wide area autofocus mode. Unlike the optical viewfinder, which simply indicates the location of all AF points at all times, the live view modes show which individual phase detection AF points achieved a focus lock, while the shutter button is half-pressed. This is indicated with a green highlight for these AF points, and is a great way to quickly confirm that the camera focused on the subject of your choice.

A couple of the more unusual features of the Sony A580 are its Face Detection and Smile Shutter functions. The former is available both in the standard Live View mode, and when using Focus Check LV, so long as phase detection AF is the type in use. (Perhaps due to the processing power requirements of both features, face detection isn’t available with contrast detect AF.). Face Detection can detect up to eight faces, and adjusts focus, exposure, image processing, and flash output. Detected faces are indicated with white frames, and the dominant face with an orange frame. When focus lock is achieved, the camera indicates which faces it feels were correctly focused with a green frame — but of course, since the phase detection sensor is being used, only faces that fall under an AF point can be focused upon (or their degree of focus judged by the camera). When no faces fell under a phase detection sensor, the A580 reverts back to showing the AF points that achieved a lock, instead. Smile Shutter, meanwhile, functions only in the standard Live View mode, and can be used to trip the shutter automatically when a smile is detected. You can adjust the “sensitivity” of Smile Shutter to either “Slight”, “Normal”, or “Big” smile, and a gauge at the left of the screen shows the degree of smile that the A580 is currently detecting, along with a mark indicating the point at which the shutter would be triggered.

A depth-of-field preview button can be found adjacent to the grip, at the base of the lens mount. When held in, the A580 stops down its aperture to the selected value, allowing preview of the depth of field available in the scene. Depth of field preview is only available when using the optical viewfinder, or in Focus Check LV mode, but not in the standard live view mode. As with any SLR, the view through the optical viewfinder will dim while the aperture is stopped down. In Focus Check LV mode, though, the A580 adjusts preview sensitivity to attempt to show the image with correct brightness, making it easier to gauge depth of field with small apertures (but perhaps making the preview image grainy in low light conditions).

Sony A580 AF Assist

The Sony A580 uses its built-in flash head as a very bright AF-assist light for better focusing in dim lighting. This has the advantage that the light from the flash is very bright, but the downside is that you can only get AF assist when the flash head is raised. This is a real limitation for available-light photography, as the camera can expose at light levels well below those it can focus at. (Although its low-light focusing ability is much better than average.) If the camera is fixed on a tripod, you can work around this limitation, but it’s somewhat awkward. With the flash head up, you must half-press the shutter button to make the camera focus, then switch the focus mode to manual focus, being careful not to touch the focus ring on the lens. Stow the flash head, and you can then take your picture. (But don’t forget to switch back to AF mode for the rest of your shooting!)

Sony A580 Anti-Shake

The Sony A580 also employs Sony’s SteadyShot Inside anti-shake technology, which uses a highly sensitive accelerometer, and a moveable platter on which the CMOS sensor assembly is mounted. Together, these allow the A580 to counteract camera movement with movements of the image sensor, rather than the more common approach of moving an optical element inside the lens.

Sony claims that the SteadyShot Inside anti-shake system in the A580 provides a 2.5 to 4-stop reduction in the blurring produced by camera shake. Translating that into real-world shutter speeds, a two-stop improvement means that a shutter speed of 1/30 second would give you the same resistance to blur from camera shake that a speed of 1/120 would without anti-shake. A 4-stop improvement would mean you could shoot as slow as 1/8 second and get the same results (blur-wise) as when shooting at 1/120 second unaided. Even the lower end of the specified range of effectiveness means a pretty significant improvement in one’s ability to hand-hold long exposures.

When SteadyShot Inside is activated, the SteadyShot scale on the right side of the viewfinder display indicates the degree of stabilization. A downside to Sony’s body-based SteadyShot approach is that while you can see the results of stabilization on competing lens-based designs, you have only this scale to tell you how the A580’s SteadyShot mechanism is doing, at least while using the optical viewfinder. When using live view, the result of the Steadyshot system is shown in the live view feed, just as it would be with a lens-based system. The upside, though, is that the SteadyShot scale does give you a very good idea of how hard the SteadyShot mechanism is working, so you can choose a moment when the camera is moving less to snap the shutter, thus maximizing your chances for a sharp image.

Sony A580 Anti-Dust Technology

To help combat dust particles on the CMOS sensor from changing lenses, Sony has included both an anti-static coating on the low-pass filter and anti-dust vibrations to automatically shake the sensor with the anti-shake mechanism each time the camera is shut off. There is also a manual cleaning mode, where the camera first triggers a longer burst of sensor shift shaking, then lifts the mirror and opens the shutter, allowing access to the sensor for use with a blower or other cleaning device. We’ve generally found dust-removal systems based on cameras’ anti-shake systems less effective than those that use an vibrate the sensor ultrasonically, but it bears noting that no dust removal system completely eliminates the need for occasional manual sensor cleaning. Copper Hill Images is an advertiser of ours, but we’d recommend their wet/dry cleaning system even if they weren’t (it’s what we use in our own lab): See the Copper Hill website for details.

Lens Test Results

18-55mm Zoom
Good performance with the 18-55mm kit lens.

18mm @ f/8	55mm @ f/8

The Sony Alpha DSLR-A580 is available bundled with the Sony 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 DT SAM lens, with a 35mm equivalent focal range of about 27-83mm. Results were good at 18mm, with strong detail across most of the frame and only minor softness in the corners (at f/8). Coma distortion in the trees was low, though a small to moderate amount of chromatic aberration was visible along high contrast elements near the edges of the image. Results were also good at the 55mm setting, with very good sharpness across the frame and minimal chromatic aberration in the highest contrast areas.

Macro
About average-size macro area with the kit lens, good flash performance.

Macro with18-55mm kit lens 55mm@f/5.6	Macro with Flash 55mm@f/5.6

As with zoom performance, the Sony A580’s macro performance will depend entirely on the lens in use. With the 18-55mm kit lens set to 55mm, the DSLR-A580 captured a minimum area measuring 2.34 x 1.55 inches (59 x 39 millimeters), which is about average for an SLR kit lens. The shot with ambient light only (left) was underexposed, but resolution was quite good in the center despite appearing slightly soft, though there was some strong blurring in the corners. (Most lenses have some softening in the corners at macro distances.) The A580’s flash throttles down pretty well for the macro area, and overall exposure is actually more even and much brighter.

Geometric Distortion
Strong distortion at 18mm, though virtually none at 55mm.

Strong barrel distortion at 18mm, ~1.0 percent

Less than a pixel of distortion at 55mm

The Sony A580’s 18-55mm kit lens produced higher than average barrel distortion at wide-angle, at about 1.0 percent, which is quite noticeable in some shots. At the telephoto end, there’s not even a full pixel of distortion. This is the tendency
for the lens to bend straight lines outward (like a barrel — usually at
wide-angle) or inward (like a pincushion — usually at telephoto).

Chromatic Aberration and Corner Sharpness
Moderate chromatic aberration at wide-angle; lower levels at full telephoto. The lens produced some soft corners at maximum aperture, especially at wide-angle.

18mm@f/3.5: Upper right C.A.: Moderate and bright Softness: Strong blurring	18mm@f/3.5: Center C.A.: Low Softness: Sharp
55mm@f/5.6: Lower right C.A.: Moderate but dull Softness: Noticeable blurring	55mm@f/5.6: Center C.A.: Very low Softness: Slightly soft

Chromatic Aberration. Chromatic aberration in the corners with the Sony Alpha DSLR-A580’s 18-55mm kit lens at wide-angle (18mm) is moderate in terms of the number of pixels, but those pixels are fairly bright. At full telephoto (55mm), C.A. is low to moderate but dull, so it’s not as noticeable.

Corner Softness. The Alpha A580’s 18-55mm kit lens produced very soft corners in a few shots at maximum aperture. At full wide-angle, the right-side corners were noticeably softer than the left, with the upper right corner softest overall, though noticeable blurring was also present in the other corners. Softness extended far into the frame from the right, though the left side was only soft in the extreme corners. The center of the image was sharp with good contrast. At full telephoto, the corners were slightly soft with lower contrast than wide-angle, though sharpness and contrast at the center were a hint lower as well. A slightly below average performance overall for a kit lens here. (Note that the lens was “wide-open” for these shots, and corner sharpness generally improves when a lens is “stopped-down” a couple of f-stops below full aperture.)

The Sony A580 doesn’t appear to be applying any chromatic aberration in its JPEGs, as uncorrected RAWÂ files show similar amounts.

The images above were taken from our standardized test shots. For a
collection of more pictorial photos, see our
Sony Alpha DSLR-A580 Photo Gallery
.

Sony Alpha A580 Exposure Options

The Sony A580 offers all the same exposure options you’d expect in a mid-range SLR camera, plus a few Sony-specific options. Available exposure modes include Program AE, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, and Manual modes, with shutter speeds from 1/4,000 to 30 seconds, as well as a Bulb setting available in Manual mode only, for longer exposures. The x-sync speed for flash photography is 1/160 second. A fully automatic mode places the camera in control of almost all functions, to try to deliver optimum results under a wide range of conditions. Basic options such as exposure compensation aren’t available to the photographer in this mode, but the A580 will still allow you to select from a subset of drive modes and flash modes, lock exposure with the AEL button, focus manually or automatically, and enable or disable the face detection and smile shutter functions. The Sony A580 also offers a number of Scene modes, including Portrait, Sports Action, Macro, Landscape, Sunset, Night View, Hand-held Twilight, and Night Portrait, all accessed from a shared Scene (SCN) position on the Mode dial. There’s also a separate Flash Off mode which merits its own position on the dial, as does a Sweep Panorama mode that captures and stitches a multi-image panorama with a single press of the shutter button. A Multi Frame NR function likewise captures multiple images with a single shutter press, but then merges these into a single exposure with reduced noise. See the Modes and Menus page for more details.

When framing using the Live View or Focus Check LV modes, the Sony A580 offers an optional live histogram function in all operating modes. Located near the bottom right corner of the LCD panel, it’s rather small, and offers only a luminance readout rather than a full RGBY histogram, but it’s still very useful for ensuring your exposures are correct. Another feature that’s rather more common, but still very welcome, is the exposure display, visible both on the LCD for Live View shooting, and in the optical viewfinder’s info display, when the camera is in Manual exposure mode. This shows the amount the camera thinks an image will be over- or underexposed within a range of +/-2.0EV, based on the settings you have selected, to help you find the best exposure for the subject. (Beyond the 2.0EV range, arrows on either end of the scale blink to emphasise that the metering system’s limit has been reached.) Together, the live histogram and exposure display make it relatively easy to get suitable exposures even when shooting manually.

Sony A580 Face Detection
The Sony A580 includes Face Detection capability, capable of locating up to eight faces in the scene simultaneously. This information is taken into account when determining several exposure variables — focus, exposure, flash and white balance. The A580 doesn’t go as far as some cameras that try to recognize specific individuals, nor is it able to differentiate between adult and child faces. It does, however, includes a related feature that is now pretty common in point-and-shoot cameras, but relatively unknown in large-sensor cameras. Dubbed “Smile Shutter”, this allows the A580 to automatically trigger the shutter, capturing photographs by itself when a smiling face is detected within the image frame. The A580’s implementation is perhaps best suited to portraits of individuals, since the shutter is tripped when only one face within a group is smiling. There’s a three-step control over the degree to which a subject must smile before the shutter is tripped. and when Smile Shutter is enabled, the A580 also provides a graph at the left of the screen that indicates how close a particular expression has come to passing the required threshold for the shutter to be tripped. In our testing we found the feature a little hit-and-miss, however, consistently spiking to the top of the scale and tripping the shutter for some individuals with barely the slightest smile, even when set to require a big smile. We also noticed that it locked up altogether a couple of times, and stopped detecting smiles until we removed the battery from the camera and reseated it.

Sony A580 ISO Range
ISO sensitivity ranges from 100 to 12,800, a wider range than that offered by many recent SLRs. The ISO sensitivity is adjusted in Program, Priority, and Manual modes by pressing the dedicated ISO button on the A580’s top panel, or through the ISO option in the Function menu, and adjustments can be made in one-stop increments.

In Program and Priority modes, but not in Manual mode, an Auto ISOÂ mode is available, and in Auto, Scene, Flash Off, and Sweep Panorama modes, it’s the only option. The function is limited to a maximum of ISO 1,600 in all modes.

In addition, the Sony A580 offers a Multi-Frame NR function, which combines multiple shots into a single output image, in a similar manner to the Hand-held Twilight mode. The difference between the two functions is that Multi-Frame NR allows direct control over ISO sensitivity. Multi-Frame NR is available only in the Program, Priority, and Manual modes, and is accessed from the ISO sensitivity dialog. When using Multi-Frame NR, the maximum ISO sensitivity limit is expanded to ISO 25,600 equivalent.

Sony A580 Noise Reduction
The Sony A580 gives you only two choices for High ISO noise reduction, neither of which allows the function to be completely disabled. The default is to leave High ISO NR entirely in the camera’s control, but if the maximum image detail is desired (or you prefer to do your noise filtering in post processing), a “Weak” option is also available in Program, Priority, and Manual modes.

A separate Long Shutter noise reduction On / Off setting is available in Program, Priority, and Manual modes, for dark frame subtraction when shooting exposures of one second or longer. If enabled, this approximately doubles the exposure time for each shot, allowing the second dark frame exposure to be captured with the shutter closed.

Sony A580 White Balance Options
White balance modes on the Sony A580 include Auto, Daylight, Shade, Cloudy, Incandescent, Fluorescent, and Flash. A direct Kelvin temperature setting is also available, ranging from 2,500K to 9,900K, as is a Custom white balance setting, for setting white balance from a white or grey card. The A580’s popup flash strobe can be used when determining a custom white balance, and unusually, the camera also provides a Kelvin readout of the measured color temperature — a great feature which lets you subsequently dial the temperature in directly if you’re shooting in familiar conditions. The effect of changes in white balance settings is shown in real-time on the LCD monitor.

In all of the preset white balance modes, you can fine-tune the color by pressing the left / right arrow keys on the four-way controller while in the White Balance menu. Blue / red adjustment is possible within a range of -3 to +3 arbitrary units for all but the fluorescent mode, which offers only a -1 to +2 unit range. In Kelvin white balance mode, there’s also a color filter function which offers a magenta – green filter within a fairly wide range of -9 to +9 arbitrary units.

Custom white balance is set by selecting Custom Setup from the white balance menu, and pointing the camera at a neutral white or grey card under the lighting you’ll be shooting in, filling a frame in the center of the display with the reference target, then pressing the Shutter button.

In addition, the Sony A580 can bracket white balance using the White Balance Bracketing (BRK WB) option in the Drive Mode menu. For each shutter release, the A580 records three separate image files, varying only the white balance between each image. Two step sizes are available — 10 mireds when using the BRK WB Lo setting, and 20 mired steps with the BRK WB Hi setting.

Sony A580 Metering Options
The Sony Alpha A580 offers three metering modes, selected via the Metering Mode option in the Function menu: Multi-pattern, Center-Weighted, and Spot. All three modes operate on data from the camera’s CMOS image sensor. When using the optical viewfinder, the default Multi-segment metering mode divides the image into 40 segments, and compares these to determine exposure. For Live View or Focus Check LV exposures, a much finer-grained 1,200 segment metering zones are evaluated in Multi-segment mode. Center-Weighted gives precedence to the center of the image while reading the whole frame. Spot metering is useful for high-contrast subjects, as it bases the exposure reading on the very center of the image, letting you set the exposure based on a small portion of your subject. When the camera is operating in Auto or Scene modes, the metering mode is fixed to Multi-pattern, and cannot be changed.

By default, you can lock an exposure reading separately from autofocus lock by pressing and holding the AEL button. Alternatively, the AEL button behaviour can be changed so that pressing and releasing the button will set and release the autoexposure lock on subsequent presses.

Sony A580 Exposure Compensation & Bracketing
The Sony A580’s Exposure Compensation adjustment increases or reduces the overall exposure from -2 to +2 exposure values (EV) in one-third stop increments, and like White Balance, the effect of Exposure Compensation is simulated on the preview if framing your scene using Live View or Focus Check LV. In addition, the A580 offers -2 to +2 EV of flash exposure compensation, in 1/3 EV increments, set through the Function menu. A Continuous Bracketing feature captures multiple shots with different exposures. See the Drive Mode section on Continuous Bracketing below for more details.

Sony A580 DRO / HDR
The Sony A580 offers two different functions aimed at handling high-contrast scenes, each functioning in a rather different manner. The Dynamic Range Optimization (DRO) function adjusts the tone curve of captured images, bringing out shadow detail without adversely affecting highlights. As well as an Auto DRO mode, there are also five different levels of DRO available. Alternatively, Sony has included a high dynamic range (HDR) mode, which captures three separate images with varied exposures, and then combines the images in-camera, creating a single image with significantly increased dynamic range. The A580 can either automatically select the exposure variation, or a value can be selected manually in 1EV steps within a range of 1EV to 6EV.

The DRO and HDR modes can’t be used together, and each brings its own set of advantages and disadvantages. Since DRO only works from a single shot, it must operate entirely within the dynamic range available from the image sensor, where the HDR mode is able to capture a significantly greater dynamic range than is possible in one shot. Since DRO is effectively amplifying the signal in shadow areas of the image, it also brings increased noise (or increased noise reduction) in the shadows. HDR mode, meanwhile, is suitable only for relatively static subjects, given that it requires multiple exposures. Thanks to microalignment capability, Sony’s HDR mode is at least able to deal with the slight changes in framing caused by shooting handheld, but subject motion or camera shake will likely cause unacceptable artifacts in HDR images.

Both DRO and HDR can be disabled altogether if desired, although the default on the A580 is for DRO Auto mode to be left enabled.

Sony A580 Hand-held Twilight
Another function which the Sony A580 has inherited from the company’s point-and-shoot camera line is its Hand-held Twilight mode, which is accessed from the Scene (SCN) position on the Mode dial. Hand-held Twilight mode shoots a burst of six images with a single press of the shutter button, using as high sensitivity as is necessary to offer hand-holdable shutter speeds. The A580 then combines all six source images into one image with reduced noise in static areas, as compared to a single shot taken with the same exposure settings. Cleverly, Hand-held Twilight mode is able to deal with moving subjects, by making the assumption that the first frame includes your intended subject. Areas of subsequent images which match up with the first image are factored into the final result, but areas that don’t match — either due to subject or camera motion — aren’t used in creating the final image. This does, however, mean that the moving subject doesn’t benefit from the same degree of noise reduction as the rest of the image.

The Sony A580’s implementation of Hand-held Twilight does have one important difference from the similar mode found on its point-and-shoot siblings. Where the existing cameras have been able to use an electronic shutter to capture the source images, the A580 must instead rely on its physical shutter. The A580’s mirror slap isn’t the quietest we’ve heard, and with six frames captured in a rapid burst, its Hand-held Twilight mode can have bystanders turning around in expectation of seeing a paparazzo in their midst. 😉

Sony A580 Multi-Frame NR
Another function that’s closely related to Hand-held Twilight is Sony’s Multi-Frame NR mode. Also available in Sony’s SLT-series cameras, Multi-Frame NR has several important differences from Hand-held Twilight. Most significantly, it functions in the A580’s Program, Aperture- or Shutter-Priority, and Manual modes. In all but Manual mode, it offers the ability to let the camera choose the sensitivity automatically, but unlike Hand-held Twilight it also allows manual selection of ISO sensitivity (and indeed, for Manual exposure shooting, that’s the only option given.) One further difference of note is that in Multi-frame NR mode, the maximum ISO sensitivity limit of the Sony A580 is raised from its standard ISO 12,800 equivalent, to an impressively high 25,600 equivalent.

Sony A580 Sweep Panorama
The final mode inherited from Sony’s Cyber-shot point-and-shoot lineup is the A580’s Sweep Panorama function, with which it can automatically capture a burst of images, and stitch them into a single panoramic image in-camera. Both 2D and 3D modes are offered, with the latter cleverly comparing the relative positions of subjects as they pass the left and right sides of the lens, and using this information to create a 3D image consisting of separate 2D views, stored in a Multi Picture Object file.

Again, since there’s no electronic shutter to rely on, the mirror slap noise means you won’t be catching anybody by surprise, That said, the feature functions pretty well if you’ve a reasonably steady hand, and your subject matter isn’t too close to the camera. If your subject matter is too close to the camera, or your panning isn’t smooth and straight, the seams between separate images can become fairly noticeable. Focus and exposure are locked from the first frame of the panorama, so you’ll want to pick your starting point carefully. From there, you can pan left, right, up, or down, simply sweeping the camera across your subject matter after pressing the shutter button.

Two panorama sizes are available — standard, or wide. Standard horizontal panoramas are limited to 15 megapixels, and vertical panoramas to 8.4 megapixels. In Wide mode, horizontal panoramas are 23 megapixels, and vertical panoramas are 12 megapixels. For 3D mode, only horizontal panoramas are possible, with the standard size providing 5.3 megapixel resolution, and the wide size offering 7.7 megapixels. There’s also a 1,920 x 1,080 pixel mode designed to match the resolution of a Full HD display, available only for 3D panoramas.

A darkened mask over the left third of the LCD display shows an area of the frame that won’t be included in the final output image, and an on-screen message warns you if the Alpha A580 wasn’t able to track your panning, prompting you to recapture the panorama. (Depending on how much was captured, the A580 sometimes retains a partial panorama with the uncaptured portion of the image left as a flat grey.)

Sony A580 Drive Modes
The Sony A580 offers a variety of shooting modes, accessed via a dedicated Drive Mode button on the camera’s top deck, or through the Drive Mode option under the Function menu. Available in all shooting modes except Sweep Panorama, and Hand-held Twilight, drive options vary depending on the shooting mode, but include Single Shot Advance, two Continuous Advance modes, Speed Priority Continuous, two Self Timer modes, Continuous Bracket, White Balance Bracket, and Remote Commander. Single-shot, as you’d expect, captures a single image with each press of the shutter button. When using the optical viewfinder, Continuous Advance captures images at either five frames per second in Hi mode, or three frames per second in Lo mode, while the shutter button is held down. With Focus Check Live View, only the five frames per second rate is available, while the standard Live View mode offers only a three frames per second rate. As many as 22 Raw, 20 Raw+JPEG, or 44 Large / Fine JPEG shots can be captured in a burst, adjusting focus and exposure between shots as necessary.

In Speed Priority Continuous mode, the Sony A580 boosts its frame rate even further, to a generous seven frames per second, but with an important proviso. Both autofocus and autoexposure are fixed from the first shot in the burst — so this mode is only useful for subjects under relatively even illumination, and whose distance from the photographer remains within the available depth of field, unless you’ve the skill required to pull focus manually.

The Self-timer modes offers a choice of either two or ten second timers. Continuous Bracket mode lets you take a sequence of three shots with either 0.3 EV or 0.7 EV exposure variation steps, with the sequence order being to shoot the metered exposure first, followed by the underexposed and overexposed frames. White Balance Bracket captures three images with varied white balance settings, as describe in the white balance section of this page. Finally, Remote Commander mode configures the A580 to capture images as directed by the optional RMT-DSLR1 wireless remote control, which communicates with the camera via an infrared receiver hidden behind a shiny plastic trim piece in the top of the hand grip’s front surface.

Sony A580 Creative Styles
Finally, the Creative Style option on the Function menu allows photographers to set the A580’s color mode. Six preset options are available — Standard, Vivid, Portrait, Landscape, Sunset, and B/W. For all six choices, Contrast and Sharpness levels may be adjusted in seven steps. In addition, all but the black and white mode offer seven-step control over saturation. A separate Color Space option under Screen 3 of the Record menu lets you choose between sRGB and AdobeRGB color spaces, with sRGB being best for viewing images on a computer, and Adobe RGB the best choice for printing images.

The images above were taken from our standardized test shots. For a
collection of more pictorial photos, see our
Sony Alpha DSLR-A580 Photo Gallery
.

Not sure which camera to buy? Let your eyes be the ultimate judge!
Visit our Comparometer(tm)
to compare images from the Sony Alpha DSLR-A580 with those from other
cameras you may be considering. The proof is in the pictures, so let
your own eyes decide which you like best!

Sony A580 Performance

Sony A580 Image Quality

Color

Saturation & Hue Accuracy
Bright color and good color overall, though some minor oversaturation and hue shifts.

In the diagram above, the squares show the original color, and the circles show the color that the camera captured. More saturated colors are located toward the periphery of the graph. Hue changes as you travel around the center. Thus, hue-accurate, highly saturated colors appear as lines radiating from the center. Click for a larger image.

Saturation. The Sony Alpha DSLR-A580 produces images with vibrant color using the standard, default settings. The camera pushes bright reds and blues, darker greens and some oranges. Default saturation is 111.5% (11.5% oversaturated) which is pretty typical these days, though you can of course tweak saturation to your liking. Most consumer
digital cameras produce color that’s more highly saturated (more intense)
than found in the original subjects. This is simply because most people
like their color a bit brighter than life.

Skin tones. Here, when adjusted for the correct white balance, the Sony Alpha DSLR-A580 did well on lighter skin tones, which were only slightly on the pinkish side conveying a healthy looking glow. Darker skin tones, however, showed a shift toward orange. Where
oversaturation is most problematic is on Caucasian skin tones, as it’s very
easy for these “memory colors” to be seen as too bright, too pink,
too yellow, etc.

Hue. The Alpha 580 showed only a few small color shifts relative to the mathematically precise translation of colors in its subjects, but had pretty good accuracy overall. Most noticeable were shifts in reds toward orange, orange toward yellow, cyan toward blue, as well as some smaller shifts in yellow and purples. (The cyan to blue shift is very common among the digital cameras we test; we think it’s a deliberate choice by camera engineers to produce better-looking sky colors.) Hue is “what color” the
color is.

Creative Style
The Sony A580 offers six preset “Creative Style” options. You can adjust contrast, saturation, and sharpness for any of the settings.

Creative Style Options
Standard	B&W	Landscape
Portrait	Sunset	Vivid

Mouse over the links above to see the effect of the presets on our Still Life target. Click on a link to load the full resolution image.

Saturation Adjustment
The Sony A580 has a total of seven saturation settings available, three above and three below the default saturation. This covers a pretty wide range of saturation levels, about as wide a range as you’re likely to find photographically relevant, apart from special effects that are arguably better achieved in software. The fine steps between settings mean you can program the camera to just the level of saturation you prefer, a feature we look for in cameras.

Saturation Adjustment Examples
-3	-1	0	+1	+3

The table above shows results with several saturation settings including the default and both limits. See the Thumbnails index page for more (look for the files named A580OUTBSATx.JPG). Click on any thumbnail above to see the full-sized image.

See full set of test images with explanations See thumbnails of all test and gallery images

Sensor

Exposure and White Balance

Indoors, incandescent lighting
Auto white balance was very warm, but good results with Incandescent and Manual settings. Average amount of positive exposure compensation required.

Auto White Balance +0.3 EV	Incandescent White Balance +0.3 EV
Manual White Balance +0.3 EV	2,600 Kelvin +0.3 EV

Indoors, under typical incandescent lighting, color balance was quite warm using the Auto setting, with a fairly strong orange cast. Incandescent white balance mode was pretty good, just slightly warmer than technically accurate, but it kept some of the mood of the lighting. The Manual white balance setting was the most accurate and neutral, while the 2,600 Kelvin temperature setting produced slightly cool results with a touch too much blue and green. The Sony Alpha DSLR-A580 required an average amount of positive exposure compensation here, at +0.3 EV. Our test lighting for this shot is a mixture of 60 and 100 watt household incandescent bulbs, a pretty yellow light source, but a very common one in typical home settings here in the U.S.

Outdoors, daylight
Good color though slightly warm, with high default contrast but surprisingly good dynamic range. About average exposure accuracy.

Auto White Balance, +0.7 EV	Auto White Balance, Auto Exposure

Outdoors, the Sony Alpha DSLR-A580 produced slightly warm color, though results still looked quite natural. The Sony A580 required +0.7 EV exposure compensation adjustment to get fairly bright facial tones on the model, which is about average for this shot. Despite the hot-looking highlights and high contrast, very few highlights were actually blown. Some specular highlights in the pendant and white balance card clip where blown, as well as the red channel in some of the flowers, but that’s to be expected. There were hardly any blown highlights in her white shirt, which is very good for this harsh lighting, especially considering we had DRO turned off for these shots. Had DRO been left at Auto, shadows would have been lighter, with better overall exposure (see the Extremes: Sunlit section below). The Sony A580 underexposed the Far-field House shot leading to some dark midtones and shadows while it held onto most bright highlights in the white trim, though that’s in part due to DROÂ being turned off. With DRO set to Auto, the camera did a a great job holding onto highlights while opening up the shadows (again, see the Extremes: Sunlit section below).

See full set of test images with explanations
See thumbnails of all test and gallery images

Resolution
Very high resolution, 1,950 ~ 2,100 lines of strong detail from JPEGs, slightly more from RAW.

Strong detail to 2,100 lines horizontal Camera JPEG	Strong detail to 1,950 lines vertical Camera JPEG
Strong detail to 2,200 lines horizontal Camera JPEG	Strong detail to 2,050 lines vertical Camera JPEG

Our laboratory resolution chart revealed sharp, distinct line patterns down to about 2,100 lines per picture height in the horizontal direction, and about 1,950 in the vertical direction. Complete extinction didn’t occur until around 3,000 lines in both the horizontal and vertical directions. Adobe Camera Raw was able to extract a bit more detail, and extended complete extinction to about 3,400 lines in the horizontal direction, and to about 3,200 lines in the vertical direction. Use these numbers to compare with other cameras of similar resolution, or use them to see just what higher resolution can mean in terms of potential detail.

See full set of test images with explanations
See thumbnails of all test and gallery images

Sharpness & Detail
Pretty good sharpness overall, though contrast is high and minor edge-enhancement artifacts appear around some high-contrast subjects. Mild to moderate noise suppression is visible in the shadows at base ISO.

Good definition of high-contrast elements, with only minor evidence of edge enhancement.	Subtle detail: Hair Noise suppression tends to blur detail in areas of subtle contrast, though detail remains strong in the darker parts of the model’s hair here.

Sharpness. The Sony Alpha DSLR-A580 captures fairly sharp images overall, though some minor edge enhancement artifacts are visible on high-contrast subjects such as the thicker branches, roof and trim in the crop above left. (Most noticeable on edges of white trim against the brick; note the light halo there.) Fine detail such as the smaller branches and twigs show very little edge enhancement. Edge enhancement creates the illusion of sharpness by enhancing colors and tones right at the edge of a rapid transition in color or tone.

Detail. The crop above right shows low to moderate noise suppression, as the darker areas of the model’s hair still show a fair amount of detail. Individual strands do merge together when local contrast is low, and as shadows deepen, though. Still, a good performance here, especially considering the high resolution. Noise-suppression
systems in digital cameras tend to flatten-out detail in areas of subtle
contrast. The effects can often be seen in shots of human hair, where the
individual strands are lost and an almost “watercolor” look appears.

RAW vs In-Camera JPEGs
As noted above, the Sony A580 produces fairly sharp JPEG images with very good detail at default settings. However, more detail can usually be obtained from carefully processing RAW files, without introducing additional sharpening artifacts. Take a look below, to see what we mean:

Camera JPEG (Fine)	RAW via Sony IDC (Default settings)	RAW via Sony IDC (Sharpening = 100)	RAW via ACR

In the table above, mousing over a link at the bottom will load the corresponding crop in the area above, and clicking on the link will load the full resolution image. Examples include (from left to right): an in-camera Fine JPEG, RAW file processed through Sony’s Image Data Converter SR version 3.2 software at default settings, another processed with IDC’s sharpening turned up to +100, and one processed in Adobe Camera RAW 6.3, and sharpened in Photoshop using unsharp mask of 300% with radius 0.3 pixels.

As you can see, the Sony IDC version at default settings is somewhat softer than the in-camera JPEG. (Color rendering is also slightly different, which is a bit of a surprise.) Increasing the sharpness helped, but the resulting image doesn’t really show much any additional detail. There is also an odd green coloration along some of the white trim on the house that’s not present in the camera JPEGs. Adobe Camera RAW was able to extract more fine detail, especially noticeable in the pine needles, but it also shows a bit more noise at default noise reduction settings. Of course, you can always adjust the amount of noise reduction and decide for yourself what trade-off in detail you’d prefer when processing your own images. That’s one of the advantages of shooting RAW.

ISO & Noise Performance
Very strong detail up to ISOÂ 800, though higher noise and stronger blurring at higher ISOs.

Default High ISOÂ Noise Reduction
ISO 100	ISO 200	ISO 400
ISO 800	ISO 1,600	ISO 3,200
ISO 6,400	ISO 12,800

The Sony Alpha DSLR-A580’s images are quite clean at ISO 100 and 200, and really fairly clean even at ISO 400. Detail remains fairly strong at ISO 800, with only faint smudging becoming noticeable in the moderate shadows. Beginning at ISO 1,600, there is a noticeable increase in noise suppression efforts, as well as more visible chroma noise in the shadows. As expected, both noise suppression and noise pixels gain intensity as the sensitivity increases, reducing fine detail along the way. Still, ISO 3,200 and 6,400 have a fair amount of detail left, though ISO 12,800 is very soft with lots of chroma noise. Noise performance is however very good for a 16-megapixel APS-C sensor, but we do wish noise suppression was a bit lighter, or that Sony provided more control over noise reduction. We’re pixel-peeping to the extreme here though, which isn’t always representative of what you see in prints. As always, see the Print Quality section below for maximum recommended print sizes at each ISO.

A note about focus for this shot: We shoot this image at f/4, usually using one of three very sharp reference lenses (70mm Sigma f/2.8 macro for most cameras, 60mm f/2.8 Nikkor macro for Nikon bodies without a drive motor, and Olympus Zuiko 50mm f/2.0 for Four Thirds and Micro Four Thirds bodies). To insure that the hair detail we use for making critical judgements about camera noise processing and detail rendering is in sharp focus at the relatively wide aperture we’re shooting at, the focus target at the center of the scene is on a movable stand. This lets us compensate for front- or back-focus by different camera bodies, even those that lack micro-focus adjustments. This does mean, though, that the focus target itself may appear soft or slightly out of focus for bodies that front- or back-focused with the reference lens. We know this; if you click to view the full-size image for one of these shots and notice that the focus target is fuzzy, you don’t need to email and tell us. 🙂 The focus target position will have been adjusted to insure that the rest of the scene is focused properly.

ISO 1,600 High ISOÂ NR = Auto	ISO 1,600 High ISOÂ NR = Weak

Noise Reduction Oddity. The “Weak” high ISOÂ NR setting smudges the red leaf pattern in our Still Life target setting more than the “Auto” setting at higher ISOs. The Auto setting does reduce chroma noise compared to the Weak setting though (lower crops), and we confirmed the filenames are correct. We saw similar behavior with other recent Sony SLR and CSC models.

Extremes: Sunlit and low light tests
Very high resolution with very good overall detail. High default contrast, but excellent highlight and shadow retention. Good low-light performance.

+0.3 EV	+0.7 EV	+1.0 EV

Sunlight.
As mention previously, the Sony Alpha DSLR-A580 performed well with the deliberately harsh lighting of this test; much better than average. Despite the apparent brightness in the model’s shirt, very few highlights were actually clipped, indicating a nice, gradual rolloff to the top of the tone curve. Shadow detail is very good as well, with low levels of noise. We preferred the +0.7 EV exposure overall, because the exposure at +1.0 EV was a bit too bright on the shirt and face, and the +0.3 EVÂ exposure was somewhat dark in the face. Bottom line, the DSLR-A580 performed very well in harsh lighting, holding on to most highlights and providing very good shadow detail. See below for details on how the Sony A580’s contrast, DRO and HDR settings worked in difficult lighting like this. To see how the Sony A580’s dynamic range compares to other cameras when shooting a Stouffer 4110 density step target, see the Imatest Dynamic Range Analysis page.

Because digital cameras are more like slide film than negative film (in that they tend to have a more limited tonal range), we test them in the harshest situations to see how they handle scenes with bright highlights and dark shadows, as well as what kind of sensitivity they have in low light. The shot above is designed to mimic the very harsh, contrasty effect of direct noonday sunlight, a very tough challenge for most digital cameras. (You can read details of this test here.)

Contrast Adjustment
The camera’s contrast adjustment worked mostly on the shadows in this harsh lighting.

Minimum Contrast
Contrast set to lowest, Auto Exposure	Contrast set to lowest, Auto Exposure

When compared to the default contrast at the same default (Auto) exposure, we can see that the Sony A580’s contrast adjust works mostly on the shadows and midtones, brightening up the face and background on the “Sunlit” Portrait shot. On the Far-field House shot, both shadow and highlight detail improved.

Contrast Adjustment Examples
-3	-1	0	+1	+3

The series of shots above shows results with several different contrast adjustment settings, showing the minimum step size around the default, as well as both extremes. While you can see the extremes, it’s hard to really evaluate contrast on small thumbnails like these, click on any thumbnail to go to the full-size image.

One very nice feature of Sony’s contrast adjustment is that it has very little effect on color saturation. Contrast and saturation are actually fairly closely coupled, it’s a good trick to be able to vary one with out the other changing as well. As usual, Sony did a good job here.

Outdoor Portrait DRO Comparison
	DRO Setting: Auto (Default) Off Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5

Dynamic Range Optimization is Sony’s name for their dynamic range enhancement technology. DRO divides the image into small areas, analyzes the range of brightness of each area, and adjusts the camera’s image processing parameters accordingly to make the best use of the available dynamic range. Auto DRO is enabled by default on the Sony A580. You can also set the level manually, from 1 (“weak”) to 5 (“strong”), or turn it off. As one would expect, DRO is only available for JPEG files.

The above thumbnails and histograms show the effects of the various levels of DRO on our “Sunlit” Portrait shot with +0.3 EV exposure compensation. Mouse over the links to load the associated thumbnail and histogram, and click on the links to visit the full resolution image. As you can see from the thumbnails and associated histograms, DROÂ had only a slight effect on the highlights in this shot, with higher levels clipping just slightly more highlights. The bulk of the difference between different levels of DRO is found in the shadows and darker midtones. The stronger the DROÂ level, the more boost is applied to darker areas. That usually results in more visible noise in boosted areas of the image, but the A580 produces images with pretty low shadow noise, so increased noise wasn’t really an issue even at the highest DROÂ levels. The default Auto DROÂ setting did a pretty good job here, choosing somewhere between level 1 and level 2, though we probably would have selected a slightly higher manual level for this shot.

Far-field House DRO Comparison
Auto (default)	Off	Level 1	Level 2
Level 3	Level 4	Level 5

Above, you can see the effect of DRO settings on our Far-field House shot. The default Auto setting produced a good exposure overall, despite the harsh lighting.

Outdoor Portrait HDR Comparison
	HDR Setting: Off (Default) Auto 1 EV 2 EV 3 EV 4 EV 5 EV 6 EV

High Dynamic Range. The Sony A580’s HDRÂ mode takes three images in rapid succession, one nominally exposed , one underexposed, and one overexposed, then combines them into one high dynamic range JPEG automatically. Lighter areas from the underexposed image are combined in-camera with darker areas from the overexposed image to produce an image with increased dynamic range. The camera then saves a single composite image, as well as the nominally exposed image. The overlaid images are micro-aligned by the camera, but it can only correct for so much movement. If it can’t micro-align successfully, an icon indicating HDR capture failed will appear. For best results, the subject should not move or blink, so it’s not really intended for portraits. There is also a manual mode where you can select 1 EVÂ (“weak”) to 6 EV (“strong”) difference in exposures.

Mouse over the links to load the associated thumbnail and histogram, and click on the links to visit the full resolution image. As you can see, the Auto setting produced an image that looked flat and unnatural with this scene, similar to the 6 EV setting. The higher the setting, the more highlights were toned-down, and shadows opened up. The middle manual settings did a pretty good job at boosting shadows while reducing highlights, though there weren’t many clipped highlights to begin with, so higher exposure compensation would have likely produced better results. (The above shots were taken with +0.3 EVÂ exposure compensation.)

Far-field House HDR Comparison
Off	Auto	1 EV	2 EV
3 EV	4 EV	5 EV	6 EV

Above, you can see the effect of HDR settings on our Far-field House shot. Here, the Auto setting produced a shot with very good highlight and shadow retention that wasn’t too flat looking. (No exposure compensation was used here.)

Face Detection
Aperture Priority 0 EV	Full Auto Mode 0 EV	Face Detection On 0 EV

Face Detection
The Sony Alpha DSLR-A580 has the ability to detect faces, and adjust exposure and focus accordingly. As you can see above, the image with face detection enabled is much better exposed for the face without having to use exposure compensation. While the face is just slightly overexposed, and highlights in the shirt and flowers are a little hot, the exposure is much better than when no exposure compensation was used. Auto exposure mode also did a better job than Aperture Priority.

Â	1 fc 11 lux	1 fc MFÂ NR	1/2 fc 5.5 lux	1/4 fc 2.7 lux	1/8 fc 1.3 lux	1/16 fc 0.67 lux	1/16 fc No NR	1/16 fc MF NR
ISO 100	2 s f2.8	2 s f2.8	4 s f2.8	8 s f2.8	15 s f2.8	30 s f2.8	30 s f2.8	30 s f2.8
ISO 200	1 s f2.8	1 s f2.8	2 s f2.8	4 s f2.8	8 s f2.8	15 s f2.8	15 s f2.8	15 s f2.8
ISO 400	0.5 s f2.8	0.5 s f2.8	1 s f2.8	2 s f2.8	4 s f2.8	8 s f2.8	8 s f2.8	8 s f2.8
ISO 800	1/4 s f2.8	1/4 s f2.8	0.5 s f2.8	1 s f2.8	2 s f2.8	4 s f2.8	4 s f2.8	4 s f2.8
ISO 1600	1/8 s f2.8	1/8 s f2.8	1/4 s f2.8	0.5 s f2.8	1 s f2.8	2 s f2.8	2 s f2.8	2 s f2.8
ISO 3200	1/15 s f2.8	1/15 s f2.8	1/8 s f2.8	1/4 s f2.8	0.5 s f2.8	1 s f2.8	1 s f2.8	1 s f2.8
ISO 6400	1/30 s f2.8	1/30 s f2.8	1/15 s f2.8	1/8 s f2.8	1/4 s f2.8	0.5 s f2.8	0.5 s f2.8	0.5 s f2.8
ISO 12800	1/60 s f2.8	1/60 s f2.8	1/30 s f2.8	1/15 s f2.8	1/8 s f2.8	1/4 s f2.8	1/4 s f2.8	1/4 s f2.8
ISO 25600	n/a	1/125 s f2.8	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	1/8 s f2.8

Low Light. The Sony A580 was able to capture bright images at the lowest light level with the lowest sensitivity setting (ISO 100), but required the use of manual exposure mode. The A580’s auto exposure (metering) did not work well at all at lower light levels, resulting in very underexposed images. Noise is quite low up to ISOÂ 800, and at higher ISOs noise grain is pretty fine, but chroma noise gets a little blotchy at the highest ISOs. There’s no sign of any banding issues or uncorrected hot pixels. Color balance looked good with the Auto white balance setting, though chroma noise impacts the color of darker midtones and shadows at higher ISOs.

The the second and last columns show the results with Multi-frame NR mode enabled, which takes and combines multiple images in-camera to reduce noise. It works really well at reducing noise compared to a single frame, and allows ISO sensitivity to be expanded to 25,600 equivalent. (See below for more details.)

The camera’s phase-detect autofocus system was able to focus on the subject down to below the 1/16 foot-candle light level unassisted, which is excellent. The Sony A580 was able to focus in complete darkness with the AF assist enabled. Keep in mind that the longer shutter speeds here demand the use of a tripod to prevent any blurring from camera movement, Sony’s SteadyShot not withstanding. (A useful trick is to just prop the camera on a convenient surface, and use its self-timer to release the shutter. This avoids any jiggling from your finger pressing the shutter button, and can work quite well when you don’t have a tripod handy.)

How bright is this? The one foot-candle light level
that this test begins at roughly corresponds to the brightness of typical
city street-lighting at night. Cameras performing well at that level should
be able to snap good-looking photos of street-lit scenes.

NOTE: This low light test is conducted with a stationary subject, and the camera mounted on a sturdy tripod. Most digital cameras will fail miserably when faced with a moving subject in dim lighting. (For example, a child’s ballet recital or a holiday pageant in a gymnasium.) Thanks to their phase-detect AF systems, digital SLRs like the Sony A580 tend to do much better than point & shoots, but you still shouldn’t expect a quick autofocus lock with moving subjects. (A useful trick is to just prop the camera on a convenient surface, and use its self-timer to release the shutter. This avoids any jiggling from your finger pressing the shutter button, and can work quite well when you don’t have a tripod handy.)

Low Light Hand-Held Twilight
Manual, 1/30s, ISO 6400	Hand-Held Twilight, 1/40s, ISOÂ 6400
Detail
Noise

Hand-Held Twilight. A feature inherited from Sony’s Cyber-shot point-and-shoot cameras, Hand-held Twilight mode shoots a burst of six images with a single press of the shutter button, using high enough sensitivity to hand-hold the camera in fairly low light. The Sony A580 then combines all six source images into one image with reduced noise in static areas, as compared to a single shot taken with the equivalent exposure settings. In the example above right, Hand-Held Twilight mode chose ISO 6,400 at a shutter speed of 1/40s. Compare that to a standard shot at the same light level and ISO on the left. As you can see, the Sony A580 managed to get an image with similar sharpness but less noise while being hand-held (with image stabilization on) than manual exposure mode on a sturdy tripod. Impressive.

Low Light Multi-frame NR
Manual, 1/4s, ISO 12,800	Multi-frame NR, 1/4s, ISOÂ 12,800
Detail
Noise

Multi-frame Noise Reduction. This feature is similar to Sony’s Hand-held Twilight mode however, unlike Hand-held Twilight, Multi-frame Noise Reduction gives you control over the ISO used, so you may still need to use a tripod depending on the exposure. (We frankly don’t see the value to this mode when using a tripod, as selecting a lower ISO and longer shutter speed will produce a clean image as well.) It also functions in the A580’s Program, Aperture- or Shutter-Priority, and Manual modes, as opposed to being a fully automatic scene mode like Hand-held Twilight. As you can see above, the image captured with Multi-frame Noise Reduction (right)Â is cleaner than the standard image (left) despite both being shot at ISO 12,800 at the same light level. An added bonus is that ISOÂ 25,600 equivalent is available with MF NR.

Output Quality

Print Quality

Excellent 20×30-inch prints from ISO 100 to 400; ISO 800 and 1,600 look good at 16×24; ISO 12,800 prints look great at 5×7.

ISO 100 shots look great at 20×30, with good detail. We can’t say that it’s tack sharp, because it’s very slightly soft, but a quick unsharp mask operation would fix that.

ISO 200 shots also look great at 20×30, little different from ISO 100.

ISO 400 images look quite good in most areas at 20×30, though detail in some reds starts to soften.

ISO 800 is where 20×30 starts to look a little hazy and soft across all detail. Slight luminance noise appears in the shadows. Reducing the image size to 16×24 improves detail noticeably.

ISO 1,600 still looks pretty good at 16×24 inches, with good detail, though shadows look a little snowy with luminance noise.

ISO 3,200 images don’t look good at 16×24, but come back together at 13×19 inches, with good detail and only minor luminance noise in the shadows.

ISO 6,400 sees image detail drop fairly dramatically, especially among reds. Shadow noise is strong. Reduction to 11×14 brings most of the image back into the realm of acceptable, but the image’s increased saturation and contrast still show.

ISO 12,800 images are usable, but rough at 11×14. Reduction to 8×10 brings them back to good, but with noisy shadows. Reduction to 5×7, though, makes the image look quite good; sharp, even.

Overall, the Sony A580 looks very good at every ISO, performing similarly to other popular peer SLRs on the market, even ones with higher resolution. An excellent performance, able to produce a usable print above 4×6 at every ISO setting.

Testing hundreds of digital cameras, we’ve found that you can only tell just so much about a camera’s image quality by viewing its images on-screen. Ultimately, there’s no substitute for printing a lot of images and examining them closely. For this reason, we now routinely print sample images from the cameras we test on our Canon Pro9000 Mark II studio printer, and the Canon Pixma MP610 here in the office. (See the Canon Pixma Pro9000 Mark II review for details on that model.)

Sony A580 Viewfinder

The Sony A580 features a digital SLR design, so the optical viewfinder offers a true, through-the-lens (TTL) display. A dioptric adjustment dial to the right of the eyepiece accommodates eyeglass wearers, letting them adjust the viewfinder optics between -2.5 to +1.0 diopters. The viewfinder eyepiece has a fairly typical eyepoint, specified at 19mm from the eyepiece, or 15mm from the eyepiece frame. Magnification is fairly low at only 0.80x for a 50mm lens and -1 diopter of dioptric correction. This is likely due to the room needed for the Live View sensor. Coverage is specified at 95%, typical for non-pro SLRs.

Like the Sony A550, the A580’s viewfinder uses a pentamirror design. The advantage of a pentamirror is it’s lighter and less expensive; however an all-glass pentaprism design delivers more light to the viewfinder eyepiece, thanks to its more efficient internal reflection. A solid pentaprism isn’t compatible with Sony’s tilting-mirror Live View mechanism, though. A pair of horizontal infrared sensors just below the viewfinder detect your eye as it approaches the viewfinder, and deactivates the LCD information display if you have the Auto Off w/ VF option enabled in the Custom menu. You can also set these sensors to initiate autofocus whenever your eye is in range of the eyepiece (Eye-Start AF), which makes the A580’s autofocus seem more responsive.

Sony A580 Viewfinder Callouts
	AF area		Spot metering area
	Shooting area for aspect ratio 16:9		Flash compensation
	Flash charging		Wireless flash
	High-speed sync		Manual focus
	Focus		Shutter speed
	Aperture		EV scale
	AE lock		“Shooting unavailable” warning
	Camera shake warning		SteadyShot scale
	Aspect ratio 16:9

The Sony A580’s extensive information display features a series of focus target marks in the center of the view that highlight briefly when the AF system is activated. Against uniform, light backgrounds, extremely fine lines can be seen leading up to each active target mark from the left or right sides of the frame, but these aren’t in the least obtrusive. Note that, while the autofocus sensor has fifteen individual focusing points, only eleven of these are manually addressable, and only these points’ locations are shown in the optical viewfinder. For those familiar with older Sony SLRs, it’s also worth noting that while the AF point displays are now all boxes, only three AF sensors at the center of the frame are cross types, with the remainder being line-type sensors.

Camera information appears beneath the image area in a small strip, and reports all of the major camera settings, such as shutter speed, aperture, flash mode, EV compensation, etc. To the far right side of the strip is the Super SteadyShot (anti-shake) scale, indicating the degree of stabilization whenever anti-shake mode is activated. The information readout in the viewfinder activates whenever you half-press the Shutter button, and remains active for a few seconds afterward.

Viewfinder Test Results

Accuracy
Fair accuracy from the optical viewfinder, and Quick AF Live View mode was even less accurate. Focus Check Live View mode was very accurate, though.

Optical Viewfinder	LCD (Quick AF Live View)
LCD (Focus Check Live View)

The Sony Alpha 580’s optical viewfinder showed about 94 percent coverage accuracy with our Sigma 70mm f/2.8 prime lens, almost matching Sony’s 95% specification. That’s lower than average even for a consumer SLR. The image also appears slightly tilted and shifted vertically relative to the imaging sensor, which we’re unfortunately seeing more and more frequently in consumer SLRs these days. The amount of tilt and shift on the Sony A580’s finder isn’t as bad as many we’ve seen, though.

Quick AF Live View mode had slightly less coverage at about 91%, but was also tilted and shifted relative to the sensor image. We’re used to seeing close to 100% coverage from cameras’ LCDs in Live View mode, but Sony’s approach of using a secondary image sensor for Quick AF Live View rather than the main imager means that lower coverage and minor misalignments like this can occur. (The upside, of course, is much faster shutter response than most Live-View SLRs that use the main image sensor for the Live View viewfinder display.)

Coverage in Focus Check Live View mode, which displays an image derived from the main imaging sensor, is just over 100%. Excellent results here.

Sony A580 Live View

Like most SLRs these days, the Sony A580 offers the ability to frame images not only through its optical viewfinder, but when in live view mode, also on its rear-panel LCD monitor. As in several of Sony’s past models, the live view functionality of the Alpha A580 is unusual in that it offers two operating methods. The default live view mode in the A580 derives its image from a secondary sensor in the viewfinder assembly, an uncommon technique that allows the camera’s phase detection autofocus system to operate without interrupting the live view feed. This method also has the advantage of not warming the main image sensor during live view operation, which could raise noise levels in the final image — especially during long exposures. The approach has a couple of drawbacks, though. Because the secondary sensor is relatively small compared to the primary image sensor, the live view feed can be noisy in low light. A combination of the secondary sensor’s low resolution and difficulties in precisely matching the point of focus between main and secondary sensors also conspire to make it relatively less useful for manual focus adjustment, unless you’ve a generous depth of field to work with. It also has rather looser frame coverage, as detailed on the Optics tab.

For that reason, Sony offers a secondary live view mode, dubbed Focus Check LV, which uses the more traditional live view method found in most DSLRs, with the live view feed derived from the main image sensor. This mode offers much higher resolution, and since the primary image sensor is being used to frame the image, you can confirm the point of focus with confidence. (To make things even easier, the A580 provides a focus assist zoom function that allows any area of the image frame to be enlarged by 7.5x or 15x, making it really easy to confirm the precise point of focus — at least, if your subject isn’t moving too much.) As with most DSLRs offering live view, the A580 doesn’t allow phase detection autofocusing in Focus Check LV mode without a brief interruption to the live view feed, during which time the reflex mirror is dropped to allow light to reach the dedicated AF sensor, then raised again to resume the live view feed. Unlike in past Sony cameras, this mode now also offers contrast detection autofocus capability, which is slower than phase detection autofocus, but doesn’t interrupt the live view feed, and can potentially offer greater accuracy (as well as the ability to focus anywhere within the image frame) when shooting relatively static subjects.

In both the traditional and Focus Check live view modes, the Sony A580 also offers a face detection function, capable of identifying the locations of up to eight faces in the image frame. Detected faces are identified with a white frame, which turns orange when the camera determines that it can attempt to focus on a particular face. When focus is locked, the frame turns green, letting you see which subjects were given priority by the camera, when setting focus and exposure. Curiously, when in Focus Check LV mode, the face detection function is only available when using phase detection autofocusing, but not with contrast detection. This of course means that the A580 can only focus on detected faces if they fall under one of the fixed points on the autofocus sensor, perhaps robbing the function of a little versatility. (Some competing cameras offer face detection with contrast detect autofocus, allowing the camera to handle focusing on subjects located anywhere within the image frame.)

As you change exposure variables in either mode, the Sony A580 updates its preview display to reflect what the captured image will look like, also known as “exposure simulation.” In addition, the Focus Check LV mode allows preview of depth of field and exposure simultaneously, as the camera stops down its lens aperture to the selected value while a dedicated button is held in on the front panel. The Live View / OVF switch on the A580’s top deck is used to enable or disable Live View mode, while Focus Check LV mode is activated with an adjacent, dedicated button. The camera needn’t be placed into Live View mode before Focus Check LV can be initiated, as the button also functions when the camera is currently in OVF mode. Live view is available in all shooting modes.

The Sony A580’s live view mode feature set is comprehensive, and the display offers a lot of information such as current settings, exposure, and composition aids (shown in the illustration below, courtesy of Sony USA). Allowing quick access to camera settings, the Sony A580’s Function Menu is available in live view shooting, with the live view image shown in the background of the menu so that you can keep tabs on your subject. Text in the menu is in white with a fine black outline, ensuring it remains readable against both light and dark backgrounds. The selection of options in the Function menu is identical to that for non-live view shooting, and is detailed on the Modes & Menus page.

Sony A580 Record Mode Displays
Section 1
	Exposure mode		Image quality of still images
	Memory card		Image size of movies
	Remaining number of recordable images		Remaining battery
	Image size of still images / Aspect ratio of still images / Image size of Sweep Shooting		Overheating warning
	Database file full / database file error		No audio recording of movies
Section 2
	Spot metering area		AF area
	Shutter speed indicator		Aperture indicator
	Focus check Live View		Recording time of the movie
Section 3
	Focus		EV scale
	Shutter speed		AE lock
	Aperture		Camera shake warning
	SteadyShot scale
Section 4
	Drive mode		AF area
	Flash mode / red-eye reduction		Face detection
	Focus mode		Smile shutter
	Smile detection sensitivity indicator
Section 5
	ISO sensitivity		Metering
	Flash compensation		White balance (auto, preset, custom, color temperature, color filter)
	D-Range optimizer / Auto HDR		Creative style

You can enable one of three different overlays, each of which applies only when framing images in Focus Check LV mode, and/or when automatically reviewing images after capture. The three grids all include four marks that show the outer corners of the area that will be captured in movie mode, along with one of three grid overlay types. Rule of 3rds Grid overlays a 3×3 grid which matches the rule of thirds layout, with the other columns being wider than the central one. Square Grid overlays a 6×4 grid, and oddly, the grid isn’t comprised of squares, but of rectangles that are taller than they are wide. Finally, Diag. + Square Grid overlays a 4×4 grid whose elements are indeed square, except for the leftmost and rightmost columns, which are rather wider than they are tall. This overlay also includes two 45-degree lines crossing at image center, and not quite reaching as far as the sides of the image frame where they cross the top and bottom.

A nice feature of Sony’s implementation for both live view and Focus Check LV is that the camera doesn’t immediately stop the live view feed when you enter the camera’s menu system, or switch between operating modes. Some rival cameras will immediately terminate the live view stream and drop the camera’s mirror in either instance, causing unnecessary wear and tear on the mirror and shutter mechanisms if you were intending to immediately continue live view shooting. You can display either the live view or Focus Check LV image on a TV via the optionally available HDMI cable. The Sony A580Â comes equipped with a temperature sensor, and if the internal temperature exceeds an undisclosed threshold, Live View will be disabled to protect internal circuitry from overheating. A high temperature icon is displayed on the LCDÂ monitor to warn the user that image degradation may be occurring, and that the camera may disable Live View until normal operating temperature is restored.

Like a larger version of the optical viewfinder display, the Live View display reports the exposure information along the bottom of the screen. Additional settings and info can be overlaid on top of the live view feed along the left, right, and top of the image. The locations of focus area(s) are indicated in light gray until a lock is achieved, and then the area(s) which locked focus are outlined in green. The amount of information displayed can be varied by pressing the INFOÂ button, toggling through four display modes — image plus basic exposure information, image plus basic info and either a graphic display or a luminance histogram, and image plus detailed exposure information. The unusual graphic display option allows you to see both shutter speed and aperture represented on gauges, showing their current position relative to the available range for each exposure variable. In Focus Check LV mode, one additional option is added: image plus a dual-axis tilt display reminiscent of an aircraft attitude indicator. Markings on the indicator illuminate in green to show when the camera is level in one or both axes.

Sony A580 Live View options
The Sony A580 offers four different display overlays in Focus Check LV mode. The standard live view mode offers the same displays, with the exception of the dual-axis level. In both modes, the luminance histogram can be replaced with two gauges showing the shutter speed and aperture values.	Two sets of marks on the dual-axis level turn green when centered, helping confirm precise alignment.
The few options relating to live view can be found in Record Menu 2 (AF method) and Custom Menu 2 (Grid Line and Histogram).	A Rule of 3rds Grid, Square Grid, or Diag. + Square Grid can be overlaid to aid composition or alignment.
There’s also a live histogram function.

Sony A580 Video Recording

Video capability. There is no separate video recording mode on the Sony A580: Video can be initiated from any still-capture mode by pressing the video Movie button on the angled rear face of the body.

Over the last couple of years, high-definition video capture has become a fairly common feature for interchangeable-lens cameras, available in many single-lens reflex and single-lens direct view cameras at all price points. The various implementations to date have spanned the gamut from models that keep control entirely in the camera’s own domain, to those which offer significant creative possibilities, and here the Sony A580 falls in the middle ground. Some manual control is possible: metering mode, white balance mode, and creative style can all be defined prior to movie recording, and exposure compensation and lock are available at all times. As well as a stereo internal microphone, connectivity is available for an external microphone. The A580 doesn’t offer full manual control, however, and nor is autofocus possible during video capture. As in many DSLRs to date, you’re instead restricted solely to pulling focus manually during video capture, a notoriously difficult skill to master.

Let’s look at the Sony A580’s video capabilities in a bit more detail:

Sony A580 Basic Video Specs

• 1080i (1,920 x 1,080), 59.94i (interlaced) fields/second, 17 Mbps HD recording (50i in European versions) in AVCHD format (MPEG-4 AVC / H.264 w/ Dolby Digital audio)
• HDV 1080i (1,440 x 1,080 rectangular pixels), 29.97 fps, 12 Mbps, HD recording (25 fps in European versions) in MPEG-4 format
• VGA (640 x 480), 29.97 fps, 3Mbps standard-definition recording (25 fps in European versions) in MPEG-4 format
• Maximum clip length is 2GB or 29 minutes
• Automatic exposure only, but aperture adjustment possible before movie capture
• Manual focus only during video capture
• Exposure compensation available both before and during movie capture
• SteadyShot image stabilization, white balance, creative style, and metering mode can be set before movie capture begins
• Maximum clip length is slashed to just 14 minutes, if SteadyShot is enabled
• Stereo audio recording via built-in microphones or via a standard 3.5mm external mic jack
• Audio recording can be disabled altogether
• Video is cropped slightly from sensor data, with optional crop marks available in Focus Check live view mode only

Sony A580 Video: Image Size, Frame Rate, and Encoding

The Sony A580 records at three different video resolutions, and can record high-definition movies in either AVCHD or MPEG-4 formats. Audio is encoded during movie recording in Dolby Digital (AC-3) for AVCHD and AAC-LC for MPEG-4. No spec is provided for the sampling rate of the audio tracks, though video players report 48 kHz at 256 kbps for AVCHD and 48 kHz at 128 kbps for MPEG-4.

The table below shows the specs for various video recording options.

As noted above, the Sony A580 offers two video recording formats, either the HD-only AVCHD format or the less space-efficient but more computer-friendly MPEG-4. The MPEG-4 file format is a bit less efficient in its use of memory card space for a given image quality level, but is more widely supported, and seems to be a bit easier for older computers to read. AVCHD is the best choice if your primary output is going to be directly to a HD television, but MPEG-4 probably a better choice for your computer, particularly if it’s more than a year or two old.

In AVCHD mode, the pixel resolution is 1,920 x 1,080, and the data stream on our test sample seemed to be recorded at an average rate of 2.1 MB/second, the maximum rate according to the “Main Profile” spec for AVCHD. No options are offered for lower bit rates, but in our experience, there wouldn’t be much point to them: We’ve generally found lower AVCHD bit rates to result in poor detail and excessive artifacts, especially in higher-resolution and higher frame-rate cameras. At ~17 Mbits/second, file sizes are modest enough that we see little or no benefit in greater compression. (You’ll definitely want to buy a really big memory card for use with your A580, though: Even with AVCHD compression, video files take up a lot of card space.)

With a frame rate of 60 fields-per-second (interlaced), the Sony A580 produces smooth motion, though not as smooth as could be possible with a sensor running natively at 60i. The A580’s sensor is read at 30 frames-per-second (progressive) and video is interlaced to 60i by extracting alternate field pairs of each 30p frame. (The AVCHD standard does not define 1,920 x 1,080 at 30p, so providing 60i from a 30p sensor makes perfect sense.) While this is not true 60i from the sensor, it does have the advantage of making de-interlacing much easier, though sophisticated de-interlacers can certainly produce more fluid looking motion from true 60i video.

MPEG-4 mode offers a choice of two resolutions both recorded at 30 frames/second (progressive), with data rates and compression ratios as detailed in the table above. The MPEG-4 formats on the Sony A580 actually use slightly less memory card space than does its AVCHD format. This may in part be due to their lower frame rate, but also reflects the reduced resolution and significant compression that the A580 applies to these files.

Sony recommends use of a Memory Stick PRO Duo Mark 2, Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo, or SD / SDHC / SDXC Class 4 rated memory cards for movie recording, to ensure that card write speed isn’t a limiting factor in clip length. (Slower cards will likely still work to some degree, but with a reduction in clip length, especially in AVCHD mode.)

Here are some examples of video shot with our sample of the Sony A580:

Sony A580 Video Samples
AVCHD, 1,920 x 1,080, 60fps interlaced View on Vimeo | Download Original (11 seconds, 22.8 MB)
MP4, 1,440 x 1,080, 30fps progressive View on Vimeo | Download Original (10.5 seconds, 15.2 MB)	MP4, 640 x 480, 30fps progressive View on Vimeo | Download Original (11.5 seconds, 4.3 MB)
MP4, 1,440 x 1,080, 30fps progressive View on Vimeo | Download Original (11.5 seconds, 16.6 MB)

Sony A580 Video-Mode Focusing

Prior to recording, you can let the camera set focus either using phase detection if framing your subject through the optical viewfinder or in the standard live view mode (and with a brief interruption to the live view feed when in Focus Check LV mode), or using contrast detection (available only in Focus Check LV mode). Once video capture has started, though, autofocus is no longer available, and you’re restricted solely to adjusting focus manually.

The lack of autofocus during movie recording with the Sony A580 is something that may give many potential owners pause, as focus is so critical in still photography, and dealing with moving subjects would seem to make it even more so. In practice, we were surprised to find it not nearly the issue we expected it to be. This may be because the lower resolution in video mode greatly increases the effective depth of field: Subjects that would be well out of focus when shot at the A580’s maximum still-image resolution of 16 megapixels often looked just fine when viewed at even the maximum video resolution of 1,920 x 1,080. Lower resolutions only increase this effect. And it’s not just the resolution, either, the video compression introduces quite a bit of softness on a frame-by-frame basis, further masking softness due to defocusing.

Still, the Sony A580’s manual-only focusing in movie mode means that a whole new generation of non-professionals will now learn what it means to “pull focus” while recording movies, as the point of interest move from one subject to another, or if the subject moves significantly closer to or further from the camera during a segment. “Focus pulling” is a cinematic technique often performed by someone other than the camera operator, who is usually too busy framing the image to attend to focus as well. But millions of Sony A580 owners will be able to try a technique that few camcorder owners can.

In our own experience playing with the Sony A580 (and many other DSLRs which lack live video AF), we’ve found pulling focus during a recording to be a skill that requires some learning, particularly if there are things going on in the scene that need paying attention to. If we knew the approximate locations where the subject would be at the start and end of a clip (think of a video of a Little Leaguer sliding into home), we could check the corresponding positions of the focus ring and then try to repeat them while the action was taking place. This is a little hard to do with only a ring to grab onto, though, as the tactile reference for the different focus positions is pretty weak.

If you don’t know in advance how the subject is going to move, you can try to judge focus from the image on the A580’s rear-panel LCD and adjust accordingly. The high resolution and sharpness of the LCD makes this more practical than it might sound. Once again, some practice (and inherently good reflexes) are required, but given enough practice, it can work reasonably well.

Sony A580 Video Exposure Control

Sony A580: Aperture control
Aperture-priority, f/4.5 set before movie capture
MP4, 1,440 x 1,080, 30fps progressive View on Vimeo | Download Original (4.0 seconds, 5.8 MB)
Aperture-priority, f/29 set before movie capture
MP4, 1,440 x 1,080, 30fps progressive View on Vimeo | Download Original (4.5 seconds, 6.5 MB)

While the Sony A580 lets you record movies directly from any of its still-image exposure modes, including aperture-priority, shutter-priority, and full manual exposure modes, exposure is controlled automatically in all but aperture-priority mode, which allows semi-automatic control. Regardless of mode dial position, the camera always retains control of the shutter speed and ISO settings, as well as the aperture in any mode except aperture-priority. This is an important difference (and step upwards from) the Sony A560, however, as although the user manual states that aperture control is possible in aperture-priority mode for both cameras, we found during our testing this is actually only true for the A580. The less expensive A560 model simply ignored the selected aperture once recording began, and selected its own. The ability to stop down the aperture is particularly useful since you can only focus manually during video recording, as it provides a means to increase depth of field (and hence, the chance that your chosen subject is in focus), so it’s a real bonus that the Sony A580 provides it.

Exposure compensation adjustments made in still-capture modes carry over into movie recording, provided that there’s enough light. (That is, if it’s too dark, boosting the EV adjustment won’t make your video any brighter.) It’s also possible to adjust exposure compensation during movie recording, unlike aperture adjustment. White balance settings also carry over to video mode, as do the metering modes and creative styles, but these can only be set prior to capture.

Shutter speed is one aspect of video exposure we’ve recently become more aware of. It turns out that slower shutter speeds tend to produce more natural-looking videos than faster ones: The motion blur associated with a slower shutter speed tends to smooth-out transitions between frames with rapidly-moving subjects: Cameras with 30fps recording, but shutter speeds 1/100 second or higher produce somewhat choppy, artificial-looking movie footage, while cameras with exposure curves biased toward shutter speeds in the 1/30 – 1/60 second range show a lot more motion blur, but the end result looks more natural to the eye. Unfortunately, there’s no way to directly adjust shutter speed during movie recording on the A580, although you can to some extent influence it in your desired direction via the availability of aperture-priority mode.

Sony A580 Movie-Mode Image Stabilization

Sony is unique among camera manufacturers, in having both body-based and lens-based image stabilization technology in their product lines. In the case of the A580, image stabilization happens in the body, and so it is available with all lenses. Sony claims that the SteadyShot anti-shake system in the A580 provides a 2.5 to 4-stop reduction in the blurring produced by camera shake. Translating that into real-world shutter speeds, a two-stop improvement means that a shutter speed of 1/30 second would give you the same resistance to blur from camera shake that a speed of 1/120 would without anti-shake. A 4-stop improvement would mean you could shoot as slow as 1/8 second and get the same results (blur-wise) as when shooting at 1/120 second unaided. Even the lower end of the specified range of effectiveness means a pretty significant improvement in one’s ability to hand-hold long exposures. Since the A580 uses sensor data to provide a live view feed on the LCD display during video capture, the effect of stabilization can be monitored. A SteadyShot scale on the right side of the viewfinder display further indicates the degree of stabilization.

One drawback of the Sony A580’s in-body image stabilization is that, when enabled, it somewhat reduces maximum clip length, and pretty drastically so, unlike in its A560 sibling. The greater reduction in the A580 is likely an indication not only of heat created by operation of the sensor shift mechanism, but also from the sensor itself, leading to the temperature threshold being reached more rapidly. When disabled, the Sony A580 can record clips as long as 29 minutes at an ambient temperature of 68F (20C), presuming the file size limit of two gigabytes isn’t reached first. With SteadyShot enabled, though, the clip length is reduced by half, to around 14 minutes — a full ten minutes less than in the A560. Of course, if you frame your movie in the Focus Check LV mode before capture starts, you’re already using the main image sensor and stabilization mechanism, and so this will further eat into your available capture time. That’s important to note, because Focus Check LV mode is the only one that provides any indication of the crop that will be applied during movie capture, so you’re presented with a choice of either being able to precisely frame the start of your movie, or of maximizing your clip length — but not both.

Sony A580 Video: Audio recording

External Mic. The Sony A580’s optional external stereo mic plugs into a standard 3.5mm jack under a rubber flap on the left side of the camera body.

Like most competing SLR cameras with video recording capability, the Sony A580 features a built-in microphone, but it goes some of its competitors one better, in that this actually consists of two internal microphones, located on either side of the flash / electronic viewfinder housing, providing stereo sound. It also provides for recording via an external stereo microphone, courtesy of a standard 3.5mm jack located under a rubber flap on the left side of the camera body. Sony’s only published spec for the A580’s audio recording capability simply says “Dolby Digital / MPEG-4 AAC-LC”, so we don’t officially know the sampling rate or number of bits of A/D resolution employed, although third-party MPEG players suggest a 48 KHz sample rate.

As with with most video-capable SLR and compact system cameras we’ve tested, the A580’s internal microphones are exquisitely sensitive to noise produced when operating the camera’s controls or even moving your hands on the body. Since the A580 doesn’t allow autofocus during video, and Alpha-mount lenses feature a direct mechanical coupling for manual focus, drive noise from AF motors isn’t an issue, but moving your hands on the camera body or operating controls such as the focusing mode switch (to enable manual focus) or exposure compensation are likely to leave noticeable noises on the recorded audio track.

As with most video-capable interchangeable lens cameras, the Sony A580 doesn’t have any provision for manual audio level control, whether working from the internal or optional external mic. Of course, this isn’t likely to be an issue for the A580’s primary target buyers.

Sony A580 Movie Recording/Playback User Interface

The Sony A580 makes movie recording very easy, as you can initiate it at any time, regardless of the mode-dial setting: Simply press the prominent Movie Record button with the red dot at its center on the camera’s top panel, and the camera will start recording video. The only slight hiccup is that only a portion of the sensor data makes it into the final movie — that is to say, the A580’s movie is cropped somewhat from the total sensor area. If you’re using the viewfinder to frame images, the area that will be cropped isn’t indicated, and nor is it shown by default in live view mode. If you enable one of the three grid displays in Custom Menu screen 2, small framing marks will be shown along with your selected grid when in Focus Check live view mode, mitigating the issue, but potentially reducing your video clip length, since this mode operates off data from (and hence warms) the main image sensor. It’s not possible to preview the crop area at all in standard live view mode. The cropping does also make truly wide-angle videography a little more difficult to achieve, although at the same time, it adds a slight boost at the telephoto end, where we’d wager it is likely of more use to many consumers anyway.

Normally, this is where we’d list the Movie-mode menu items, but the A580 has no separate movie menu. In fact, the only menu items exclusively related to video recording are the choice of file format (AVCHD or MPEG-4), the image size (1,920 x 1,080 for AVCHD; 1,440 x 1,080 or 640 x 480 for MPEG), and whether movies should be recorded with or without an audio track.

Playback mode on the Sony A580 is decidedly odd. The odd part is that the A580’s playback is an either/or proposition, relative to stills and videos: If you’ve just shot a video and press the playback button, you’ll see only movies that are stored on the card; not the still images. Likewise, if you’ve just shot a still image, you’ll only see other stills when you hit the playback button. To switch between the two modes, you have three options — either drop into thumbnail view and scroll over to the left, to select the correct tab on that screen, or visit the Playback menu and change the Still / Movie Select option, or simply grab a throwaway exposure of the type you want to view. We actually found it much more convenient to hit the Movie Record button twice (to record a brief video clip) than to navigate through the playback menu to change the playback mode. Sony introduced this playback mode in its NEX-series SLD cameras, where it caused us some consternation until we figured out what was going on. “Where’d all my movies/stills go?” RTM, as they say, but we can only imagine the dismay many users will experience (if only until they read the manual) when they think all their vacation photos disappeared after they’d finally shot a video. Since so few people actually do read manuals, we also suspect this is going to be the source of a lot of service calls to Sony’s support centers.

The likely reason for this odd either/or choice for movie/still playback reveals itself when you try to scroll through movies you’ve recorded, to find a particular one you want to play back: Scrolling through recorded movies is just ineffably slow. Well, perhaps not ineffably; it’s a matter of a couple of seconds per movie, but that’s slow enough that navigating through more than two or three movies can be seriously painful. Why so slow? The camera is lightning-quick scrolling through still images, and doesn’t it save a JPEG thumbnail of each movie, for just this purpose? This is another area in common with the NEX-series cameras that’s going to produce a lot of frustration with users.

While it pales beside the slow playback scrolling, we missed one other playback option that’s become increasingly common on both digicams and compact system cameras; namely the “trim” function. Whenever you record a short video clip, it’s inevitable that you’ll start earlier and keep recording longer than the action you’re interested in. (If you don’t do this, you’re almost certainly going to miss action you’re interested in.) While “padding” like this is important and necessary, we like to keep our videos concise by trimming away the extraneous material at the beginning or end of the clip after they’re recorded. Many cameras support doing this in-camera these days, but the A580 does not. You could certainly import the video clips to your computer and do the trimming there, but that’s awfully cumbersome. Far easier to simply trim and toss away the unwanted footage on the camera. (More grist for the mill, for the first firmware update to the A580… 😉

Rolling Shutter Artifacts

Sony A580: Rolling Shutter Artifacts
AVCHD, 1,920 x 1,080, 60fps interlaced View on Vimeo | Download Original (4 seconds, 8.8 MB)
MP4, 1,440 x 1,080, 30fps progressive View on Vimeo | Download Original (4.5 seconds, 6.5 MB)

Essentially every video capable digital SLR/SLD currently on the market exhibits some level of motion-related distortion called rolling shutter artifacts. These are caused because the image data is captured and then read off the chip sequentially by rows, rather than each frame’s data being captured all at once. In the case of the Sony A580, this means that image data for the last row of a given frame is captured and read out anywhere from 1/25th to 1/60th second after the data for the top row was captured. The effect on moving objects is like that of a focal plane shutter in an SLR, but more pronounced, because the video frame is read out much more slowly than the slit of a focal plane shutter moves across the sensor.

For a camera that scans video frames vertically (as all do that we’re aware of), rolling shutter artifacts will be most noticeable for subjects that are moving rapidly side to side, or when the camera itself is being panned horizontally. Verticals in the scene will appear tilted to the right or left, depending on the direction of camera motion. As an example, consider the case of a camera being panned from left to right, with a flagpole or other vertical object in the middle of the scene when recording for a particular frame begins: If the top of the object was centered horizontally when the first line of the video frame is acquired, by the time the last line of the frame has been captured, the bottom of the object will have shifted to somewhere left of center: As a result, the vertical object would appear to be leaning to the right.

Computer Requirements for Viewing HD Video

A typical computer these days has little trouble dealing with still images, but high-definition video can be another matter. Depending on the file format involved, it can take a pretty beefy computer to handle HD-resolution video playback without stuttering or dropping frames. The Sony A580 supports both AVCHD and MPEG-4 recording formats, although its highest-resolution video is only available in AVCHD format, and lower resolutions only in MPEG-4. The AVCHD format is slightly more space-efficient on the memory card relative to its quality level, and displays well on HD television sets, but is less widely supported by computer playback and editing software. If most of your video playback will be on a computer, you may find MPEG-4 to be more to your liking. On the other hand, if your computer supports AVCHD fine, that would be the preferred format, given its space efficiency.

Sony A580 Flash

The Sony A580 features a built-in, pop-up flash, which operates in either Auto, Fill-Flash, Slow-sync, Rear Sync, Wireless, and Flash-off modes. To release the flash from its compartment, press the button on the left side of the pentamirror housing. Close it again by pushing the flash head back down.

The Flash mode is changed from the Function menu. In Auto flash mode (available only in the camera’s Auto, Auto+ or Scene Selection modes), the camera automatically determines when to fire the flash based on lighting conditions, and will pop-up the flash automatically. In Fill-Flash mode, the flash fires with every exposure, regardless of ambient lighting. Slow-sync mode fires the flash for foreground fill exposure, while allowing the background to “burn in”. The Rear Flash Sync mode fires the flash at the end of the shutter time, rather than the beginning. If you have moving objects in the scene with lights, such as a car, this will produce a sharp image of your subject, with a “motion trail” following behind it when shooting at slower shutter speeds. The flash is off when Flash Off mode is selected, or when the flash is down in non Auto exposure mode.

A Flash control option in Record Menu 2 allows you to select between ADI and Pre-Flash TTL. The only difference between the two is that ADI takes into account focus distance information from the lens, which can make for more accurate flash exposures — especially with highly reflective subjects. A Red-Eye Reduction option is available through Custom Menu 1. When Red-Eye reduction is enabled, the camera will fire a few low-power flash pulses before it actually snaps the picture, to make the pupils of your subjects’ eyes contract.

Flash exposure compensation can be set via the Function menu, measuring two stops lower or greater, in 1/3-stop increments. This is in addition to standard exposure compensation.

The A580’s built-in flash has a Guide Number (GN) of 12 meters or 39.4 feet at ISO 100. That’s about average for the consumer SLRs we’ve tested. Maximum sync speed is 1/160s. High Speed Sync (HSS) shooting with shutter speeds up to 1/4,000s is available with Sony HVL-F58AM and HVL-F42AM external flash units.

The A580 also has a top-mounted hot shoe for attaching an external flash unit. The shoe design and contact arrangement are proprietary, set up for Sony’s own dedicated flash units. As is usually the case for consumer SLRs, no PC-sync terminal is provided.

The Wireless mode lets the Sony A580 work with compatible remote flash units with wireless capability, specifically the Sony HVL-F58AM and HVL-F42AM. Four separate control channels are available for wireless operation, to allow multiple photographers to work wirelessly in the same area without interfering with each other. You’re limited to a single external flash unit vs the 3 groups that you can control with Sony’s higher-end models, but it still opens a lot of creative possibilities, when the flash doesn’t have to be attached to your camera. Operating in Wireless mode with a compatible external flash unit, the Sony A580’s flash exposure compensation adjustment can adjust the intensity of the external flash remotely, once the camera and flash unit have been initially synced to each other.

Flash Test Results

Coverage and Range
Very good flash range with uneven coverage at wide-angle. Our standard shot required less than the average amount of exposure compensation.

18mm@f/3.5	55mm@f/5.6
Normal Flash +0.3 EV	Slow-Sync Flash 0 EV

Coverage. Flash coverage was uneven at wide-angle (18mm), but much more uniform at telephoto (55mm). Uneven coverage at wide-angle isn’t unusual, though, and some if it is due to shading by the lens itself (we measured about 2/3 EV of lens corner shading at 18mm at f/3.5).

Exposure. The Indoor Portrait test scene required +0.3 EV flash exposure compensation. (Most cameras we’ve tested required about +0.7 EV for this scene, so the Sony A580 performed better than average here.) The camera’s Slow-Sync flash mode produced bright, even results with no exposure compensation, though with a stronger pinkish-orange cast from the room lighting.

Flash Range: Wide Angle
6 ft	7 ft	8 ft	9 ft	10 ft	11 ft
1/60 sec f3.5 ISO 100	1/60 sec f3.5 ISO 100	1/60 sec f3.5 ISO 100	1/60 sec f3.5 ISO 100	1/60 sec f3.5 ISO 100	1/60 sec f3.5 ISO 100
12 ft	13 ft	14 ft	15 ft	16 ft
1/60 sec f3.5 ISO 100	1/60 sec f3.5 ISO 100	1/60 sec f3.5 ISO 100	1/60 sec f3.5 ISO 100	1/60 sec f3.5 ISO 100

Flash Range: Telephoto
6 ft	7 ft	8 ft	9 ft	10 ft	11 ft
1/100 sec f5.6 ISO 100	1/100 sec f5.6 ISO 100	1/100 sec f5.6 ISO 100	1/100 sec f5.6 ISO 100	1/100 sec f5.6 ISO 100	1/100 sec f5.6 ISO 100
12 ft	13 ft	14 ft	15 ft	16 ft
1/100 sec f5.6 ISO 100	1/100 sec f5.6 ISO 100	1/100 sec f5.6 ISO 100	1/100 sec f5.6 ISO 100	1/100 sec f5.6 ISO 100

ISO 100 Range. With the 18-55mm kit lens, flash exposure started out a bit dim at 6 feet at wide-angle but became quite bright at 7 feet and remained bright all the way out to 14 feet. Flash exposures were still usable all the way out to 16 feet, the limit of our test. At full telephoto, flash exposures started out bright at 6 feet and remained bright to 8 feet, then gradually became dimmer as distance increased. Good results here.

Manufacturer-Specified Flash Range
Wide Angle	Telephoto
11.2 feet ISO 100	7.0 feet ISO 100

Manufacturer Specified Flash Test. The Sony A580’s built in flash is rated with a Guide Number of 12m at ISO 100. That works out to about 11.2 feet at f/3.5 and 7.0 feet at f/5.6, the maximum apertures of the kit zoom lens. In the shots above, the Alpha 580 performs as Sony says it will, producing very good exposures at the rated distances. Our
standard test method for flash range uses a fixed setting of ISO 100, to
provide a fair basis of comparison between cameras. We’ve now also begun
shooting two shots using the manufacturer-specified camera settings, at
the range the company claims for the camera, to assess the validity of the
specific claims.

Sony A580 High ISO Noise Reduction

The Sony A580 offers only two high ISO noise reduction settings: Auto and Weak, with Auto being the default. We’ve also included crops from the new Multi-frame Noise Reduction mode, which shoots a burst of six images with a single press of the shutter button and combines them in-camera to average out a lot of noise.

See for yourself how the noise reduction works under daylight-balanced lighting at high ISOs. Click on any of the crops below to see the corresponding full-sized image.

High ISO Noise Reduction Comparison Daylight-balanced illumination
	Weak	Standard	Multi Frame
I S O 8 0 0
	Weak	Standard	Multi Frame
I S O 1 6 0 0
	Weak	Standard	Multi Frame
I S O 3 2 0 0
	Weak	Standard	Multi Frame
I S O 6 4 0 0
	Weak	Standard	Multi Frame
I S O 1 2 8 0 0
	Weak	Standard	Multi Frame
I S O 2 5 6 0 0	N/A	N/A
	N/A	N/A
	N/A	N/A

The above crops show the effects of the Sony A580’s two high ISO noise reduction settings, plus Multi-frame Noise Reduction under our studio HMI lighting we use to simulate daylight. As you can see, the “Weak” setting does result in more chroma noise than the Auto, but it also smudges detail in the red leaf fabric at higher ISOs more than Auto. (You can really see a difference at ISO 1,600 and above.) It would have been nice if Sony gave us more flexibility in NR settings or at least a truly “Weak” setting.

The new Multi-frame Noise Reduction mode takes a burst of 6 shots and combines them to average out noise. This mode is similar to Hand-held Twilight, but gives you control over ISO and exposure mode (PASM). It produces some very clean, detailed images and also extends the available ISO settings to 25,600, but still requires the use of a tripod at slower shutter speeds, so similar results can be obtained by simply shooting at a lower ISO with longer exposures if you’re already using a tripod.

 

How do the Sony A580’s JPEGs compare to state-of-the-art APS-C models with similar resolution at high ISOs? See the following table which compares at the default noise reduction setting.

High ISO Comparison with Canon 60D, Nikon D7000 and Pentax K-5 (All default noise reduction) Daylight-balanced illumination
	Sony A580	Canon 60D	Nikon D7000	Pentax K-5
I S O 8 0 0
	Sony A580	Canon 60D	Nikon D7000	Pentax K-5
I S O 1 6 0 0
	Sony A580	Canon 60D	Nikon D7000	Pentax K-5
I S O 3 2 0 0
	Sony A580	Canon 60D	Nikon D7000	Pentax K-5
I S O 6 4 0 0
	Sony A580	Canon 60D	Nikon D7000	Pentax K-5
I S O 1 2 8 0 0
	Sony A580	Canon 60D	Nikon D7000	Pentax K-5
I S O 2 5 6 0 0	N/A ISO 25,600 Not Supported in Single Image Mode	N/A ISO 25,600 Not Supported
	N/A ISO 25,600 Not Supported in Single Image Mode	N/A ISO 25,600 Not Supported
	N/A ISO 25,600 Not Supported in Single Image Mode	N/A ISO 25,600 Not Supported
	Sony A580	Canon 60D	Nikon D7000	Pentax K-5
I S O 5 1 2 0 0	N/A ISO 51,200 Not Supported	N/A ISO 51,200 Not Supported	N/A ISO 51,200 Not Supported
	N/A ISO 51,200 Not Supported	N/A ISO 51,200 Not Supported	N/A ISO 51,200 Not Supported
	N/A ISO 51,200 Not Supported	N/A ISO 51,200 Not Supported	N/A ISO 51,200 Not Supported

All four cameras in this group show similar levels of noise at ISO 800 with the Canon 60D and Sony A580 showing a touch less, but both are starting to blur tone-on-tone detail in the red leaf fabric more than the others. At higher ISOs, the Nikon D7000 starts to pull away from the pack in terms of low contrast detail in reds, with the others applying stronger chroma noise reduction. However, the K-5 and 60D both do a slightly better job at keeping higher-contrast detail more clearly defined. It’s also no surprise that the 18-megapxel Canon 60D outresolves the other three which all have 16-megapixel sensors.

In general, the Sony A580 applies stronger default noise reduction than the others. Still, the Sony A580’s performance is competitive compared to its peers, but we do wish it offered more control over noise reduction. The good news is you can always shoot RAW for the ultimate control over noise reduction, as the Sony A580 does not apply NR to its RAW files.

Sony A580 High ISO RAW Image Quality

We look at RAW files converted with dcraw, an excellent freeware raw converter. dcraw usually offers timely support for the latest cameras, but more importantly, it does not apply any noise-reduction, sharpening or other corrections such as geometric distortion correction to the output files as some other converters do. There will always be differences between RAW converters, in terms of the sort of demosaicing algorithms they use (the processes by which they convert the separate Red, Green, and Blue data sets to an array of full-color RGB pixels), but dcraw seems to use a fairly generic algorithm that delivers good sharpness with relatively few artifacts, and can be counted on to not apply any noise reduction if you don’t want it to.

See for yourself how the Sony A580’s high ISO RAW files compare to those from other recent APS-C size sensor models: the Canon 60D, Nikon D7000 and Pentax K-5. Click on any of the crops below to see the corresponding full-sized image.

High ISO RAW Comparison with Canon 60D, Nikon D7000 and Pentax K-5 Daylight-balanced illumination
	Sony A580	Canon 60D	Nikon D7000	Pentax K-5
I S O 8 0 0
	Sony A580	Canon 60D	Nikon D7000	Pentax K-5
I S O 1 6 0 0
	Sony A580	Canon 60D	Nikon D7000	Pentax K-5
I S O 3 2 0 0
	Sony A580	Canon 60D	Nikon D7000	Pentax K-5
I S O 6 4 0 0
	Sony A580	Canon 60D	Nikon D7000	Pentax K-5
I S O 1 2 8 0 0
	Sony A580	Canon 60D	Nikon D7000	Pentax K-5
I S O 2 5 6 0 0	N/A ISO 25,600 Not Supported	N/A ISO 25,600 Not Supported
	N/A ISO 25,600 Not Supported	N/A ISO 25,600 Not Supported
	N/A ISO 25,600 Not Supported	N/A ISO 25,600 Not Supported
	Sony A580	Canon 60D	Nikon D7000	Pentax K-5
I S O 5 1 2 0 0	N/A ISO 51,200 Not Supported	N/A ISO 51,200 Not Supported	N/A ISO 51,200 Not Supported
	N/A ISO 51,200 Not Supported	N/A ISO 51,200 Not Supported	N/A ISO 51,200 Not Supported
	N/A ISO 51,200 Not Supported	N/A ISO 51,200 Not Supported	N/A ISO 51,200 Not Supported

Here, we can see that the Sony A580’s RAW files contain similar amounts of noise compared to the Canon 60D and Nikon D7000 at all ISOs shown, and moderately higher levels than the Pentax K-5. The Pentax K-5 applies some subtle noise reduction to its RAW files above ISO 1,600, though, so it’s no surprise the Pentax performs better than the rest of the group in terms of noise at ISO 3,200 and above, however the K-5 is still slightly cleaner at ISO 800 and 1,600. (The other cameras in this group do not apply NR to their RAW files, as far as we can tell.) Some of the differences may be due to exposure, though, as we adjust exposure and lighting for these images so that middle gray on the MacBeth chart is very close to the correct RGB value in the JPEGs. That means differences in tone curves and actual ISO sensitivity can impact actual exposure, making RAW noise comparison more difficult. Keeping this in mind, we’d say the Sony A580 performs competitively compared to the other cameras in this group when it comes to noise in high ISO RAW files.

Sony Alpha A580 Modes and Menus

When powered on, the Sony A580 is automatically placed into Record mode. The Mode dial on the left side of the A580’s top panel lets you select various exposure modes. The Mode dial offers the following selection of shooting modes:

Auto: Proceeding around the Sony A580’s Mode Dial in a clockwise direction, the first option is the Auto mode, which gives the camera control over most exposure variables, including shutter speed, aperture, and ISO sensitivity. The user can still adjust image resolution / compression, aspect ratio, image stabilizer, flash metering, AF illuminator, color space, drive mode, flash mode (off, auto, or on). You can also control a number of live view and movie related options, including movie file format, size, and audio recording, AF method, face detection, and smile shutter.

Program AE: In its Program AE mode, the Sony A580 controls both aperture and shutter speed automatically, and you have control over all other exposure variables, including exposure compensation. Unlike many SLRs, the A580 lacks a Program Shift function in its Program mode, however, so without switching to a Priority mode, you’re stuck with whichever balance of shutter speed vs. aperture that the camera selected.

Aperture-Priority AE: This mode allows you to manually set the lens aperture (with available apertures depending on the lens in use), while the Sony A580 selects the most appropriate shutter speed. You have control over all other exposure variables, including exposure compensation.

Shutter-Priority AE: The opposite of Aperture-Priority mode, Shutter-Priority AE allows you to set the shutter speed anywhere from 1/4,000 to 30 seconds, while the Sony A580 chooses the best corresponding aperture setting. Again, you have control over all other exposure variables, including exposure compensation. The Bulb setting that’s available in Manual Exposure mode isn’t available in Shutter-priority AE mode.

Manual Exposure: This mode provides full control of all exposure variables, including independent control of shutter speed, lens aperture, and ISO sensitivity, and hence there is no exposure compensation function. The Control dial adjusts shutter speed by default, and adjusts the aperture when turned while holding down the Exposure Compensation button. The shutter speed range also includes a Bulb setting, allowing long exposures for as long as you hold the Sony A580’s Shutter button down. A display in the viewfinder or on the rear panel in live view mode reports whether the Sony A580 thinks your settings will result in under, over, or correctly exposed photos.

Sweep Panorama: Captures multiple images in a burst for as long as the shutter button is held down, then automatically stitches them into either a 2D panorama, or a 3D panorama that’s saved as a multi-picture object file. Focus and exposure are locked from the first frame.

Scene: This mode provides access to the eight preset shooting modes via a Scene Selection menu. Scene modes available are: Portrait, Sports Action, Macro, Landscape, Sunset, Night View, Hand-held Twilight, and Night Portrait.

Flash Off: This mode functions identically to the standard Auto mode, but disables use of flash — perfect for shooting in situations where flash might prove objectionable, such as in museums.

Playback Mode
The Playback button on the rear panel accesses the A580’s Playback mode, which rather unusually allows you to review either captured still images, or movies — but not both side by side. The left and right arrow keys scroll forward and backward one image or movie at a time, and turning the Control dial has the same effect. The Display button cycles through the various display modes — image only, image plus basic information, and RGBY histogram with detailed information, of which only the first two modes are available in movie playback. Using the AEL (Enlarge) and Exposure Compensation (Reduce) buttons, you can enlarge captured still images by as much as 11.8x, while the arrow keys pan around the zoomed image. Panoramic images can be automatically scrolled across the screen by pressing the AF (OK) key, and paused with a second press. The same controls are used to play, pause, and cue through movie files. By pressing the Reduce key without playback zoom active, the A580 can also display images or movies in an index format for quick viewing, with either four or nine thumbnails per page. The index includes tabs on the left hand side with which to switch between still image or movie playback, and this can also be done through a Playback menu option. The A580 also remembers whether you captured a still image or movie most recently, and defaults to entering the Playback type relevant to the last image or movie capture performed.

 

Sony Alpha A580 Menu Details

Pressing the Menu button provides access to the camera’s main menu system, while the Function button calls up the separate Function menu when in Record mode. Below are Sony A580 menu options and their descriptions.

Record Menu 1:

Record Menu 2:

Record Menu 3:

Custom Menu 1:

Custom Menu 2:

Playback Menu 1:

Playback Menu 2:

Storage Menu 1:

Date and Time Menu 1:

Setup Menu 1:

Setup Menu 2:

Function Menu:

Sony A580 Hands-on Preview

Look and feel. At first glance, the Sony A580’s body is very close in design to that of its predecessor, the A550. Size and weight are unchanged, but on closer inspection, there are a number of relatively subtle changes made to accommodate new features, or improve accessibility of existing ones.

The duo-tone body of the previous design has been replaced with a more professional-looking all-black body, with a slightly more noticeable texture applied all over. It’s a change that you’ll only notice if you look really closely, and yet somehow it makes less obvious the fact that the A580’s body panels are plastic. The shiny black accent strip on the front of the grip, which conceals the infrared sensor and self-timer lamp, has also been given a matte finish along the lower half of its length. Just beneath and to the left of the lens mount in the picture below, you can see the new Depth of Field Preview button.

Like that of the A550, the Sony A580’s grip is a little odd. It’s rather slim left-to-right, and not really deep enough. This impression is increased by the unusual thickness of the body front-to-back. We really didn’t find it very comfortable for long hand-holding. Here you see the switch for Live View, in the same location as past models. The Alpha a550’s MF Check LV button, which puts the camera in Live View mode from the main imaging sensor, has been renamed Focus Check LV for the Sony A580. The name change hints at the fact that autofocus is now possible in this mode.

(Note: The picture above shows the Alpha A560, which is externally identical to the A580.) Dynamic Range, Drive mode, and ISO settings can also be adjusted on the top deck, and the latter two buttons have been moved closer to the shutter release, making them easier to reach when a quick adjustment is called for. Note the sloped area between the top and back, making operation a little easier from more angles. Also visible is the reworked Mode dial, which adds a Sweep Panorama position, and consolidates all of the Scene modes into a single shared position. The dial itself is a little taller and easier to grip, has a much stiffer detent, preventing accidental mode changes. The top of the dial has been changed from a smooth, screen-printed metal badge to a plastic one with raised, painted lettering. Also visible from this angle are the two four-hole grilles for the left and right channels of the new stereo microphone, located directly in front of the flash hot shoe.

The back view is nearly identical to the A350, except that the Smart Teleconverter function has been removed, and its button — now silver with a central red dot — acts as a Movie shutter button. This allows the movie function to be accessed in any operating mode, although ISO sensitivity and shutter speed for movie shooting remain under automatic control regardless of the mode currently selected. Aperture is however selectable in aperture-priority mode.

As in the A550, the Function (Fn) button calls up the Sony A580’s Function menu, allowing quick settings changes for common exposure variables. When comparing the Sony A580 to the A550 from this angle, you can just notice the slight increase to the height of the mode dial. The only other visible change that would tip you off as to which camera you’re looking at is the new Movie shutter button. Adopting the traditional design, in silver with a red dot, this button replaces the previous Smart Teleconverter button, and has the same shape and positioning.

The tilting LCD mechanism has the same generous angular mobility as that in the A550, able to tilt a full 90 degrees downward, and a little beyond 90 degrees upward. While it doesn’t allow for framing of self portraits, it’s very helpful when shooting overhead, or low to the ground. A small sensor on the lower right of the Sony A580’s LCD can be set to dim or brighten the LCD’s backlight automatically when needed. (The image at right is of the simultaneously announced Sony A560, which is essentially identical in terms of body design).

Looking at the left of the A580’s body, you can see the newly added three-hole speaker grille, directly above the forwardmost rubber compartment door. Behind the compartment door is the other notable change from this side of the camera — a new 3.5mm stereo mic jack, allowing use of external microphones with the A580. Connectivity options behind the other compartment door include high definition video output, and USB 2.0 High Speed data. The Sony A580, like its predecessor, conspicuously lacks any provision for standard definition video output.

Image Sensor. At the heart of the Sony A580 is a new Sony Exmor APS HD CMOS image sensor with dimensions of 23.5 x 15.6mm, roughly equivalent to a frame of APS-C film. The Sony A580’s sensor has an effective resolution of 16.2 megapixels, and yields 3:2 aspect ratio images with dimensions of up to 4,912 x 3,264 pixels. In addition to two lower-resolution 3:2 modes of 3,568 x 2,368 and 2,448 x 1,624 pixels, the Sony A580 offers three modes that crop the sensor’s output to a 16:9 aspect ratio, suitable for viewing on wide-screen HDTVs. The Sony A580’s 16:9 image modes are 4,912 x 2,760, 3,568 x 2,000, and 2,448 x 1,376 pixels respectively.

The imager is mounted on a movable platter, allowing for Sony’s SteadyShot INSIDE image stabilization with all compatible lenses. The system is unchanged since the A550, and is said to offer 2.5 to 4 stops of correction. The sensor-shift mechanism is also used to shake dust from the sensor, as part of Sony’s Anti-Dust system which also includes a charge protection coating on the low-pass filter. Output from the image sensor is handled by Sony’s proprietary BIONZ image processor.

Noise Reduction. The Sony A580 uses a combination of on-sensor noise reduction at each photocell location, plus a two-step noise reduction procedure which operates both before and after analog-to-digital conversion, processing chrominance and luminance noise separately. The result is an unusually wide sensitivity range, from a minimum of ISO 100 to a maximum of ISO 12,800 equivalents, in 1 EV steps. Settings from ISO 100 to 1,600 are available under automatic control.

High ISO noise reduction is applied at sensitivities of ISO 1,600 or above, with auto or weak strength options available, rather than the A550’s high or normal strength options. Long exposure noise reduction is also available at shutter speeds longer than one second, and can be disabled at the photographer’s option.

Multi-Frame NR. The Sony A580 also includes a new Multi-frame NR function, which captures six images in sequence, and then combines them in-camera into a single image with reduced noise levels. When enabled, sensitivities from ISO 100 to 25,600 equivalents, plus an Auto ISO function, can be selected. The function is similar to Sony’s Handheld Twilight mode — which the A580 also offers — but differs in allowing the desired ISO sensitivity to be selected manually, so it can function even at lower sensitivities. Of course, since it involves multiple exposures, it’s only of use with relatively static scenes.

Autofocus. The Sony Alpha A580 offers an overhauled TTL phase detection autofocusing system, which now provides 15 AF points, six more than in the A550. Of these 15 points, three are cross-type points, sensitive to both horizontal and vertical detail. Only 11 of the 15 points are available for manual selection, with the remaining four points not directly addressable, and used only when the camera is set to automatically select the AF point. The new AF sensor has a slightly wider sensitivity range of -1 EV to +18 EV at ISO 100 equivalent, versus the 0 to +18 EV range of the A550.

Like its predecessor, the Sony A580 includes an AF-assist lamp to help with focusing in low-light conditions. Thanks to a secondary image sensor in the A580’s prism assembly, Sony is able to continue using the standard phase-detection AF system while displaying a Live View image on the camera’s LCD display. Dubbed Quick AF Live View mode by Sony, this is reminiscent of a system that was used in Olympus’ EVOLT E-330 digital SLR, but with the addition of some current technologies.

For example, in Quick AF Live View mode, the Sony A580 is able to offer face detection when focusing with the phase-detection sensor. When a face is detected, the camera can automatically select the correct AF point, and adjust exposure, white balance, flash output, and other variables to ensure that your subject’s face is correctly rendered. The extra information from the face detection system also allows an improved AF tracking function. The Sony A580’s face detection system also allows a Smile Shutter function, which can automatically trigger the camera’s shutter immediately when your subject smiles. The animation at right, courtesy of Sony Electronics, is from our A550 review. The function works similarly on the A580.

Focus Check LV. Alternatively, the Sony A580’s Live View can function in Focus Check live view mode, accessed via a dedicated button on the camera’s top panel. Previously called MF Check LV in the A550, the new name hints at a feature change. Unlike the equivalent mode in the A550, either contrast detection or phase detection autofocusing is now possible in this mode, as well as manual focusing. (The AF type is selected through screen 2 of the Record menu.) When activated, the camera displays a full-frame view of the scene on the LCD display, using information streamed from the main image sensor, and with the signal boosted if necessary to see the subject in poor lighting. Holding in the AF button, or keeping the Shutter button half-pressed, will trigger either a phase detection AF cycle (with a brief interruption to the live view stream), or a contrast detection cycle. The latter is rather slower, and hence only suited to static subjects but can be more accurate, depending on the subject type. The autofocus mode is locked to single whenever Focus Check live view is active. Pressing the Enlarge button then cycles through 7.5x or 15x magnified views, useful for confirming accuracy of or adjusting manual focus. Grid lines can also be overlaid on the display to help in precise alignment of the scene. The sensitivity range for contrast detection autofocusing is -2 EV to 17 EV at ISO 100 equivalent, using an F1.4 lens.

Movies. Also new to the Sony A580 is its movie recording capability, fast becoming a common function even among entry-level DSLRs, and an absolute must-have feature for an enthusiast camera. Sony has provided three choices for movie resolution, recorded in one of two formats. For high definition fans, there’s a 1,920 x 1,080 pixel, interlaced AVCHD mode, saved at 59.97 fields per second with a bitrate of 17Mbps — commonly known as Full HD or 1080i. Note, though, that the interlaced stream is actually constructed from sensor data clocked at 29.97 frames per second. There’s also a 1,440 x 1,080 pixel, progressive scan, 12 Mbps MP4 mode recorded at 29.97 frames per second, which qualifies as high definition, although it uses a non-standard pixel size. Finally, there’s a standard-def 640 x 480 pixel, 3Mbps MP4 mode which is also recorded at 29.97 frames per second. All these field/frame rates are applicable to cameras with NTSC video output. For PAL cameras, the 1080i mode uses 50 fields per second from sensor data clocked at 25 frames per second, and lower resolutions are also recorded at 25fps.

The A550’s Smart Teleconverter button, which simply cropped the image when shooting at lower resolutions, has been abandoned in favor of a new dedicated Movie button, which starts and stops recording with consecutive presses. Like many video-capable DSLRs, the Sony A580 provides no direct manual control over video exposure, with the ISO sensitivity and shutter speed selected automatically, regardless of the operating mode currently selected on the Mode dial, though aperture can be selected before recording in Aperture-priority mode. A degree of control is available during video capture through the auto exposure lock and exposure compensation functions, however, and variables such as white balance and creative styles can be set before video capture commences. It’s also not possible to use autofocus during movie recording, so use of a smaller aperture to increase depth of field is recommended, unless shooting static subjects, or you’re particularly adept at pulling focus manually.

Movie audio is recorded using a built-in stereo microphone, whose two tiny four-hole grilles can be found directly in front of the flash hot shoe, at the base of the popup flash. The A580 also accepts an external stereo microphone, thanks to a 3.5mm microphone input behind a rubber panel on the left side of the body. Directly above this is a three-hole grille for the A580’s internal, monaural speaker. It’s also possible to disable audio recording altogether, if desired.

Modes. The Sony A580 includes Auto, Program, Aperture- and Shutter-priority, and Manual shooting modes plus Sweep Panorama, Scene, and Flash Off modes. Unusually for a camera at this price point, the A580’s Program mode lacks a Program Shift function, which would allow selection of different shutter speed / aperture combinations while maintaining the metered exposure — an oversight shared with the previous A550 model.

The Sweep Panorama mode is has appeared in Sony’s Cyber-shot and NEX-series cameras previously, and is now making its debut in an Alpha DSLR. The function automatically captures numerous images as the A580 is panned across the scene, and then stitches the result in-camera to create a single seamless image. Both 2D and 3D modes are offered, with the latter mode separately considering the relative positions of subjects as they pass the left and right side of the frame, and then using this information to render separate images with left and right views. The result is saved as a multi picture object (MPO) file, containing both images with JPEG compression. This multi-picture file can be viewed in 3D displays such as Sony’s latest Bravia 3D HDTVs. 2D Sweep Panoramas can be created at resolutions up to 12,416 x 1,856 pixels horizontally, or 2,160 x 5,536 pixels vertically. 3D Sweep Panoramas can only be captured horizontally, and with a maximum resolution of 7,152 x 1,080 pixels.

The selection of Scene modes, which help beginners get the results they desire with a minimum of effort, are now all accessed from a single position on the Mode dial. A total of eight Scene modes are available — one more than in the previous A550 model — and these include Portrait, Sports Action, Macro, Landscape, Sunset, Night View, Hand-held Twilight, and Night Portrait. Previously seen in Sony’s NEX and Cyber-shot series cameras, the Hand-held Twilight mode captures multiple shots at high sensitivity, and then combines them in-camera to create a single image with reduced blur from camera shake. Available shutter speeds from the Sony A580’s electronically controlled, vertical travel focal plane shutter range from 1/4,000 to 30 seconds, plus a bulb mode, and flash sync is available at 1/160 second.

Metering. The Sony A580 uses a 40-segment honeycomb-patterned SPC sensor to determine exposures in all modes except for Quick AF Live View and Focus Check Live View modes, where the secondary image sensor can be used to provide for more accurate 1,200-zone evaluative metering.

Metering modes available in the Sony A580 include Multi-segment, Center-weighted, and Spot. 2.0 EV of exposure compensation is available in 1/3 EV steps, and the Sony A580 also allows for three-shot bracketed exposures in 0.3 or 0.7 EV steps. White balance modes include Auto, six presets (Daylight, Shade, Cloudy, Incandescent, Fluorescent, or Flash), and manual white balance — including the ability to specify a color temperature. Three-frame white balance bracketing is also available, with two strength levels possible.

User interface. The Sony A580 retains Sony’s excellent menu system largely unchanged, except for the addition of two new tabs, covering storage and clock settings, respectively. The Sony A580 also retains the A550’s Function menu, with simple icons that line the screen left and right. The A580’s Playback mode adopts the newer design from Sony’s NEX-series single-lens direct view cameras, which is peculiar in that you can’t review both images and videos at the same time. Playback confines the list of available items to whatever you shot last. That is, if you’ve been shooting stills and movies, and the last thing you shot was a still, when you press the Playback button you’ll only see still images. To see movies, you have to switch to Movie mode, or else shoot a quick movie. You can also hit the Menu button, select the Playback menu item, and scroll down to Still/Movie Select, press that menu item, then select between Still and Movie on a separate screen.

Sony’s user-friendly Help Guide Display is active by default, and shows a brief explanation as the Mode dial is turned, or when the active menu selection is changed. To reinforce the message for operating modes, Sony has added vivid example pictures that appear in the background of the A580’s operating mode Help Guide displays, indicating for example that Manual mode might be appropriate for fireworks photos, and shutter priority to blur motion in a waterfall. In menus, a short time after the current selection is changed, a brief explanation of the newly highlighted item fades into view. You press the center button to make your selection, and you’re taken to a submenu where the same basic help menu helps you understand the meaning of each item in plain text. When you’re sufficiently versed on the controls (or sufficiently annoyed with the Help Guide Display) you can turn it off in Settings menu 1.

Flash. The Sony A580’s built-in popup flash has a guide number of 12 meters at ISO 100, and 18mm coverage. Flash modes include Auto, Fill, Slow-sync, and Rear-sync, and 2.0 EV of flash exposure compensation is available in 0.3 EV steps. An intelligent hot shoe is compatible with Sony’s HVL-F36AM, HVL-F42AM, HVL-F56AM, and HVL-F58-AM strobes, and high-speed sync / wireless flash are available with these units. Flash metering modes include ADI (Advanced Distance Integration) and Pre-flash TTL, and the internal flash has a recycle time of four seconds.

Auto HDR. Like the A550 before it, the Sony A580 includes an unusual HDR mode. High Dynamic Range photos are created by combining three shots of varying exposure, allowing a greater dynamic range than can be captured in a single exposure.

The interactive animation above, from our Sony A550 preview, shows how Auto HDR works on the A550. Just click on the link to open the animation, then work the controls. Animation courtesy of Sony Electronics USA.

Sony’s HDR mode captures two shots with anywhere from 1 to 6 EV between the exposures, set in 1 EV increments — double the overall range of the A550, but with half the granularity, plus a third image at nominal exposure. An Auto HDR mode selects the appropriate range and step size automatically, depending on the range of brightness detected within the scene. The Sony A580 can also micro-align the source images in-camera, which means handheld HDR shooting is possible, and the stitching process requires only two seconds of processing per HDR image.

DRO. The Sony A580 also includes Sony’s optional D-Range Optimizer function, which works from a single shot and hence isn’t limited to static subjects. A function of Sony’s BIONZ processor, D-Range Optimizer can function automatically or in one of five manual strength levels, and adjusts the tone curve to avoid blown highlights and blocked shadows.

Creative Styles. The Sony A580’s Creative Style function offers six pre-defined creative image styles, which adjust image tonality, saturation, and contrast. Creative Style modes include Standard, Vivid, Portrait, Landscape, Sunset, and B&W, and these can be fine-tuned to the user’s preferences.

Continuous shooting. Burst shooting is possible at five frames per second when using the optical viewfinder. When in Live View mode, this is reduced to three frames per second — a full frame per second slower than in the A550. A Speed Priority burst mode locks exposure and focus from the first frame, which allows an impressive seven frames per second when using either the viewfinder or Live View mode.

Burst depth is also significantly changed since the A550. The Sony A580 is limited to approximately 22 Raw frames in a burst, eight more than the A550. The increase is even greater when shooting in Large / Fine JPEG mode, where the buffer depth climbs from 32 to 44 frames. Strangely, the Large / Standard JPEG mode, is the exception, though, with burst depth is slashed from 116 images to just 45. Finally, when shooting in Raw+JPEG mode, burst depth is nearly tripled to twenty frames.

Storage. The Sony A580 can store images as Sony ARW 2.2-format Raw or EXIF 2.3-compliant JPEG files, with both formats using newer versions of their respective specification than in the A550. The A580 is also able to save each image in both formats simultaneously. Both sRGB and Adobe RGB color spaces are available. Images are stored on Secure Digital cards including the higher-capacity SDHC and SDXC types, or on Sony’s own Memory Stick PRO Duo or PRO-HG Duo cards. A small switch is used to select the active card.

Ports. The Sony A580 includes an HDMI Type-C mini connector which allows display of images on high-definition displays (though no cable is included), as well as USB 2.0 High-Speed computer connectivity. One slight change here is that Sony seems to have dropped PictBridge support, which enabled earlier Alpha cameras to be connected directly to a PictBridge-compliant printer, allowing creation of prints without removing the memory card or using a computer. Composite video output is also not provided. There’s also a remote port for the optional RM-S1AM or RM-L1AM Remote Commanders, a 3.5mm jack for an external stereo microphone, and a DC input jack for use with an optional AC adapter.

Power. Power is supplied by the same proprietary Sony InfoLithium NP-FM500H lithium-ion rechargeable battery that was used in the A550, but battery life has improved noticeably. According to CIPA testing standards, the A580 is rated for 1,050 shots when using the optical viewfinder, or 560 shots in Live View mode — an additional 100 shots with the viewfinder, or 80 shots in Live View. The A580 also accepts the same portrait / battery grip as the A500 and A550, which is pictured at right.

SHOOTING FOR THE STARS: SONY BREAKS NEW GROUND AGAIN IN DSLR SPACE WITH NEW CAMERA, LENSES

Latest α (alpha) Offers Full HD Movie Capture, 3D Sweep Panorama and More

SAN DIEGO, Aug. 23, 2010 – Sony today introduced an α (alpha) DSLR camera (model SLR-a560) that leverages Sony’s Exmor ™ APS HD CMOS sensor to make it easier for active shooters to get the best shot without missing a moment. Along with the a33 and a55 cameras (also announced today), the α560 model is one of the only DSLR cameras with Multi-frame Noise Reduction, Sweep Panorama™ mode, 3D Sweep Panorama and Full HD 1920×1080 60i video capture.

This 14.2 megapixel α560 camera offers the same features of its predecessor, the innovative α550, which introduced Quick AF Live View, 7fps continuous shooting and Auto HDR to the step-up DSLR class.

Additionally, Sony is adding to its already strong line-up of more than 30 A-mount lenses with new models made for seasoned photographers and those new to the DSLR space. Today, Sony expands its A-Mount lens line-up for α DSLR cameras with three new lenses-a Carl Zeiss® Distagon T* 24mm F2 ZA SSM (model SAL24F20Z), a DT 35mm F1.8 SAM (model SAL35F18) and an 85mm F2.8 SAM (model SAL85F28).

“These new lenses and camera show our commitment to the DSLR market and that we will never stop innovating.” said Kristen Elder, director of the Digital Imaging business at Sony Electronics. “These products complement our overall Sony® Alpha™ lineup, which we are significantly expanding today. The camera offers a choice to those consumers who want to gain the benefits of professional level shooting speed as well as be able to capture video with in a traditional style DSLR.”

The α560 camera provides excellent picture quality, particularly in low-light scenarios. A new generation of Sony Exmor ™APS HD CMOS sensor employs low-noise processing for high-quality pictures. The BIONZ ® image processor has color-noise reduction that helps achieve low noise up to ISO 12800, without sacrificing fine detail. Multi-frame Noise Reduction stacks a high-speed burst of six frames, creating a single low-noise exposure that boosts effective sensitivity as high as ISO 25600.

Quick AF Live View
With Quick AF Live View, the α560 camera can focus just as quickly in Live View as when shooting through the eye-level viewfinder, which is unlike any other DSLR in its class.

Because composing shots on the LCD monitor is becoming increasingly important to DSLR users, Sony has equipped this camera with two Live View functions and a 3-inch (measured diagonally) LCD screen that tilts 90 degrees up or down. The α560 has a high resolution 921,600 pixel Xtra Fine LCD™ display.

Sony’s Quick AF Live View uses two sensors to maintain the same focusing speed as with the optical viewfinder. While the speed of Quick AF Live View is ideal for every day shooting, Focus Check Live View enables critical framing and magnification for setting precise focus in macro and tripod shooting.

Focus Check Live View mode simplifies critical assessment of the finest image details. A real-time ‘feed’ from the main sensor can be viewed on the LCD monitor, with switchable magnification allowing close-up confirmation of delicate manual focus adjustments. Contrast AF method is selectable in focus check Live View mode.

Temporary 7x and 14x zoom views enable you to focus on extremely fine detail while the 1x view shows 100 percent framing in the LCD.

Fast Shooting Speeds
With its unique sensor-processor combination, the α560 camera is a leader in its class with up to seven frames per second shooting speed for under $1,000. Using the optical viewfinder, you can shoot up to three frames with Quick AF Live View, which helps you capture the decisive moment when shooting fast moving subjects like in sports.

HD Movie Recording
The α560 α camera offers the extra convenience of high-definition video recording. This model also captures Full HD (1920 x 1080i) video in high-quality AVCHD™ files that can be easily enjoyed on a compatible HD television via the cameras built-in HDMI™ terminal (cable not included). The camera includes built-in stereo microphones for high-quality audio recording.

With multi-shot technology, the α560 camera’s high-speed sensor and processor rapidly captures and assembles many frames to realize unmatched low-noise, extended dynamic range, wide panoramas and 3D images.

The α560 offers versatile creative control even when shooting movies. Creativity is also enhanced by the ability to apply white balance and Creative Style settings, as well as Aperture Priority (A) mode aperture settings, to movies. What’s more, exposure compensation can be adjusted even while movie shooting is in progress.

Sweep Panorama Technology
Featuring Sweep Panorama technology, the α560 model captures breathtaking shots up to 180 degree horizontal or 126-degree vertical shots (18 mm focal length).

With 3D Sweep Panorama mode, the camera can shoot 3D panoramic still images with a single lens. The high-speed burst of frames is stitched together using innovative processing techniques to automatically create detail-packed 3D panoramas. These files can be enjoyed in stunning 3D on compatible 3D televisions (other accessories are required).

In-Camera High Dynamic Range
In-camera High Dynamic Range (HDR) has been further enhanced incorporating three shots. It can capture highlights, midtones and shadows. Unlike HDR features in other DSLR cameras, Sony’s unique positional interpolation technology can overcome slight changes in camera position and align individual shots so that a tripod is not required.

The feature handles severe backlighting and other high-contrast scenes like looking out a window into bright daylight. The in-camera auto HDR technology combines the highlight, midtone and shadow detail of three separate captures into one remarkably natural looking image. The α560 offers a maximum Auto HDR range of 6EV.

Multi Frame NR is a new function where, when the shutter is released, the camera automatically takes 6 frames at the currently selected shutter speed, aperture, and ISO setting, and then combines them into a single JPEG image with a reduction in noise at the selected aperture and shutter speed that is equivalent to approximately two ISO steps. In addition, ISO expansion achieves class-leading, ultra-high sensitivity equivalent to ISO25600, while accurate subject detection assures high-precision alignment of the 6 frames during compositing.

Accessories
The new camera accepts both Memory Stick PRO Duo™ (including Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo™) and SD (including both SDHC and SDXC formats) media (all sold separately). With a 30MB per second transfer rate, Sony’s Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo HX offers the best performance of all memory cards whether in continuous shooting mode or transferring data to other media.

Lenses for Active Shooters
Made for experienced and budding photographers alike, the Carl Zeiss Distagon T* 24mm F2 ZA SSM (model SAL24F20Z) functions as a wide-angle 24mm lens on full-frame cameras with 36mm (35mm equivalent) lens sensors, or as a 36mm equivalent lens ideal for general use on cameras with APS-C sensors. Jointly developed with Carl Zeiss, it features the highly-regarded Carl Zeiss Distagon designed for wide-angle lenses.

This lens is distinguished by its fast response focus and extremely quiet, very smooth operation thanks to its built-in SSM (Super Sonic wave Motor).

It offers a wide and therefore highly versatile focal range from 0.19m to infinity, and features a nine-blade circular aperture that along with the large F2 maximum aperture contributes to smooth, natural bokeh effects.

In keeping with traditional Carl Zeiss design, the all-metal lens barrel has been finished to a very high standard resulting in a visibly high-quality appearance.

Offering photographers at all levels great value and performance in a compact and lightweight design, the new DT 35mm F1.8 SAM (SAL35F18) weighs just 6 ounces. It can be added to a lens kit system and carried without noticeably increasing the weight of the bag.

With an approximately 50mm (35mm equivalent) focal length on an APS-C sensor, this lens is ideal for snapshots and portraits under a wide range of shooting conditions. The high-speed F1.8 maximum aperture is particularly advantageous for hand held shooting in low light.

At just 0.8 feet, the DT 35mm F1.8 SAM (SAL35F18) has the shortest minimum focus in its class, making it an excellent choice for dramatic close-ups too. Whatever the shot, the internal Smooth Autofocus Motor (SAM) drives the focusing group directly and ensures responsive and fluid autofocus operation.

The new 85mm F2.8 SAM (SAL85F28) lens is a full-frame lens in that offers performance and affordability. The 85mm focal length is a standard for portraiture because of the natural perspective that it provides. On an APS-C sensor camera the 85mm F2.8 SAM functions as a 127.5mm (35mm equivalent) telephoto lens – and features a Sonnar-type optical design that is considered ideal for mid-range telephoto lenses.

The lens is sharp center to corner, and features smooth defocusing thanks to its large F2.8 maximum aperture and circular aperture design. At two feet, the minimum focusing distance is the shortest in its class, and SAM motor technology ensures smooth autofocus operation.

The quality optical and mechanical features of the lens mean it is suitable for serious photography and should more than satisfy intermediate and advanced users alike.

Pricing and Availability
The α560 model with the camera body and 18-55mm kit lens will cost about $750 and will be available in October. With the body only, it will cost about $650. The Carl Zeiss Distagon T* 24mm F2 SSM (model SAL24F20Z), DT 35mm F1.8 SAM (model SAL35F18) and 85mm F2.8 SAM (model SAL85F28) lenses will be available in October for about $1,250, $200, $250 respectively.

The cameras, lens and a range of accessories will be available at Sony Style® retail stores (www.sonystyle.com/retail) and at authorized dealers nationwide.

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Editor’s Note: News releases and digital images with captions are available at www.sony.com/news. For information regarding the nearest Sony authorized dealer or service location, your readers can call 1-800-222-SONY.