Sony a290 Review

The Alpha 290 currently represents the cheapest way to enter Sony’s SLR class. For the price of a very good compact camera, the Alpha 290 offers an APS-C size sensor with an impressive 14 megapixel resolution. Sony has, however, economized on the equipment: LiveView doesn’t know the Alpha 290, it can’t record videos. Our test clarifies whether the Alpha 290 has what it takes to be a purist entry-level camera or has already been overtaken by the passage of time.

Brief assessment

Pros

• Ergonomically well formed housing (but cheap material appearance)
• Image stabilizer via Sensor-Shift
• Easy to use even for beginners
• Decent image quality (but annoying color noise from ISO 800 on)

Cons

• Low serial frame rate
• Slightly limited range of functions (e.g. no depth-of-field preview)
• Set lens does not exploit the full potential of the camera
• No LiveView, no video recording

Ergonomics and Workmanship

Like so many DSLRs from Sony, the Alpha 290 is a member of a whole family. We recently tested its bigger sister, the Alpha 390 (see link). The Alpha 290 differs from it above all in the absence of the LiveView option. With the smallest DSLR from the Sony range, you can compose your photos in the classic way by looking through the viewfinder. On the other hand, the Alpha 290 is around EUR 150 cheaper than its bigger sister, making it one of the cheapest digital SLR cameras around. And it offers an optical viewfinder that still lives up to this name. Although the inexpensive pentangle mirror construction produces only a moderately bright viewfinder image, it is still large enough (95 percent viewfinder field coverage, 0.83x magnification) that even people wearing glasses can cope with it to some extent. The exit pupil also offers a dioptre correction, so the glasses do not necessarily have to be put on for the image to be taken.

The case of the Alpha 290 sits well in the hand. While Sony had dispensed with a pronounced handle on the previous Alpha 230 model, the current Alpha 290 once again shows the familiar hump on the right-hand side. The plastic housing does not look very valuable, but on the other hand it does not respond to bold grabs with crackling or creaking sounds. The fact that metal has been largely dispensed with also makes the Alpha 290’s housing pleasantly light – not even 500 grams presses it onto the scale ready for operation (but without the lens). After all: bayonet and tripod thread are made of solid stainless steel and promise a long life. Obviously, the Sony engineers have placed the on/off switch in a ring around the shutter release, following more fashion considerations than ergonomic aspects. This means that the main switch is too close to the front dial, increasing the risk of operating errors. At the top left of the camera body is a neat mode dial that can be used to quickly change the configuration of the Alpha 290.

The Sony engineers have hidden all the important connections and the slots for the memory cards in an easily accessible position on the left side of the case under a large “sliding door” – which is practical. On the back, on the other hand, there is only plain fare: The display is not exactly lavishly dimensioned with a diagonal of 2.7 inches (6.9 cm), the resolution of 230,400 pixels is modest by today’s standards. The Alpha 290’s monitor is always happy to provide information: on request, it displays a brief explanation and example picture of the currently selected setting. If you want, you can also use the “Display” button to show a small graphic showing the selected time/aperture combination – beginners to DSLR photography will quickly learn to appreciate this support.

Typical for cameras from Sony, the menu is quite clearly arranged. This may also be due to the fact that the Alpha 290, as an entry-level camera, is a little tight on settings. Thanks to the practical Fn button on the back of the Alpha 290, trips to the menu are rarely necessary anyway: Important basic functions, such as white balance or the choice of exposure metering method, can be called up quickly with their help. Less practical, however, is that individual AF fields can also be selected using this Fn button only. The Alpha 290 offers a dedicated button for exposure compensation only. Therefore, Sony has placed the battery bay in a decent distance to the tripod thread. The NP-FH50 energy dispenser can therefore be easily replaced even with the quick-release plate attached. With an output of 6.1 Wh, the battery is sufficient for a good 500 shots.

Equipment And Features

The fact that the Sony Alpha 290 doesn’t want to be a professional camera is already revealed by its exterior, which is only sparsely equipped with buttons and switches. Rather, the camera is primarily aimed at photographers who want to get good-looking pictures quickly without extensive adjustment orgies. The Alpha 290 does most of the work for you with the green “Auto” program. Here she chooses independently the settings that suit the subject and the lighting conditions. If you would like to have it more detailed, select one of the seven scene mode programs (such as “Portrait” or “Landscape”). Creative and experienced photographers will also find the usual semi-automatic exposure programs (aperture or time preselection) on the Alpha 290, and the camera can even be controlled fully manually. The flash system leaves hardly anything to be desired: The Alpha 290 masters flashes to the second curtain as well as synchronizing with a slow shutter speed. A small flash (guide number 10) is on board, it can also serve as a control unit for an unleashed system flash. If the light is not sufficient for autofocus, the small flash illuminates the scene with a stroboscopic salvo.

 

Even though the Alpha 290 is the smallest DSLR in the range, Sony has given it the SteadyShot. This anti-shake feature uses sensor movement to compensate for the shaking of an excessively unsteady photographer’s hand. Advantage of this system (as it is similarly used by Pentax and Olympus): The anti-shake feature works with any lens. In practice, this anti-shake allows an extension of the exposure time by about three steps. On the other hand, Sony is extremely economical with the Alpha 290 in terms of “ISO auto”: the camera stubbornly selects a sensitivity between ISO 100 and ISO 400, but manual settings can be made up to ISO 3,200. The Alpha 290 can tame overly strong contrasts in the scene with the “Optimize dynamic range” (DRO) function. If it is switched on, the dark parts of the image are automatically brightened. This works well, but is by far not as effective as a real HDR function, where several differently exposed images are offset against each other. With semi-automatic or manual exposure control, the Alpha 290 also allows you to adjust the contrast, sharpness and saturation of the images to suit your personal requirements. Additionally, there are some image styles as defaults, for example for “landscape”, “black and white” or “evening scene”.

 

The autofocus of the Alpha 290 is based on nine measuring fields. This means the camera needs between 0.3 and 0.6 seconds to focus on the subject. Although these are not peak values, they are still okay. Pre-focused, the Alpha 290 reacts quite firmly, and a picture is in the box about a tenth of a second after the shutter release button is pressed. We determined these values with the Sony DT F3.5-5.6/18-55mm SAM set lens. This lens does not fully exploit the potential of the Alpha 290, especially a rather high drop in resolution towards the edges of the image is its decisive weakness. After all, Sony has given the set lens an autofocus drive via micro motor, which shifts the lens groups quite quietly. This is especially important for video recording, a feature that the Alpha 290 lacks. In return, it still has the mechanical autofocus drive inherited from Minolta. So all AF lenses introduced by Minolta since 1983 can be used on the Sony Alpha 290 without restrictions.

 

Image quality

At the heart of the Alpha 290 is a CCD sensor with a resolution of around 14 megapixels. In the meantime, CCD technology has gone a little out of fashion for DSLRs, CMOS sensors simply make much less noise at higher sensitivity. In addition, the somewhat aged CCD sensors cannot be read out as quickly as their CMOS cousins, resulting in lower serial frame rates. On the other hand, CCD technology is said to have clear advantages in detail reproduction at lower sensitivities. And indeed, the Alpha 290 at ISO 200 impresses with its clear reproduction of fine details and appealing micro contrasts. Sony can easily do without aggressive processing of the image sharpness, and the Alpha 290’s restrained sharpness is convincing all along the line. The Alpha 290, on the other hand, has less control over image noise: the camera’s noise curve already increases significantly from ISO 400. Above all, the red canal in particular is moving upwards in a hurry. And so, even at low ISO sensitivities, spotty, often red-tinged color disturbances appear. With increasing sensitivity, these interferences grow cloudy. The Alpha 290 has a much better grip on brightness noise: it only becomes slightly noticeable from ISO 1,600 upwards, but does not interfere with the printout.

The tonal value curve of the Alpha 290 is rather crisply tuned, with strong contrasts in the lowlights and highlights. In principle, such a crisp tone curve is well suited for photos that are to be output on paper without further image processing. However, this is countered by the fact that the Alpha 290 (like so many cameras) records a black level that is too high – black tends to be reproduced as a very dark grey, which makes the images appear flatter than necessary. The input dynamic range of the Alpha 290, on the other hand, is decent: up to ISO 800, it processes a contrast difference of around eight aperture stops (EV); only at the highest sensitivity of ISO 3,200 does the dynamic range drop to a still acceptable 7.3 EV. Sony has also done nothing wrong with the compression levels of the JPEG files: although the Alpha 290 only offers a choice between “Standard” and “Fine”, both levels are well matched to their respective purpose (file size or image quality). Those who do not want to rely on the Alpha 290’s internal image processing also have the option of recording their photos in RAW format and then developing them on the PC screen using the “Sony Image Data Converter SR” software included in the scope of delivery, just as they wish.

Conclusion

The Sony Alpha 290 does not shine either with impressive picture quality or with an exuberant wealth of features. But measured by the price, the puristic concept of the camera may well appeal. For those who can do without video recording and LiveView, the Alpha 290 is a camera that offers much more than a compact camera in the same price range, especially in terms of “image quality”. Most importantly, the Alpha 290 fits seamlessly into Sony’s DSLR system, providing a decent basis – even for AF lenses from the Minolta heritage. Also worth mentioning is the image stabilizer via sensor shift, which stabilizes practically any lens. Typical for an entry-level DSLR, however, professional features such as mirror lock-up or a dimming button are missing. The operation is a bit menu-heavy, but hardly gives up any puzzles. It’s just a pity that the Alpha 290 reacts somewhat sluggishly to input and that the sensor is no longer able to introduce contemporary color noise into the images beyond ISO 800.

Sony Alpha 290 Datasheet