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One of the best cameras ever made, IMHO. Great 16.2 MP sensor has been used by many other camera companies. In-camera Panorama feature is very handy and easy to use. Vertical flipping LCD provides versatility for extremely low and high shots. Availability of hundreds of Minolta "A" Mount lenses, at very good prices, is a big plus. The Optical View Finder is a big plus. Sony's free "Image Data Converter" RAW processing program is everything you need for RAW processing. The Focus Check Live View was way ahead it's time. The size is manageable as is the weight. The addition of a battery grip adds to the flexibility of the camera. I like the a580 so much I bought a second one!
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
This is my 4th in the Sony family of cameras. I also have a Sony Alpha 100, Alpha 350, Alpha 700, and now Sony Alpha 580. The accessories and lenses are compatable with all of these cameras. Even the newer batteries will work with the older cameras. Sony just keeps stepping up to the plate ond knocks it out of the park. Features on this camers are not found on Canons or Nikons costing several thousand dollors more. The menues and built in help menues are very easy to use if you need to find out how to setup and use a feature. The only thing I did't like was the SD card because all of my other cameras are compact flash and the Sony card slot. All cameras are going to the SD card and my laptop has a built in reader. The card that came with my package was 32 GB... 8 times the size of my max card for my previous cameras... and the card transfer was also much faster too. The battery life using the optical view finder is also improved. I can shoot over 1000 jpeg and raw without changing the card or battery. The ISO max is 12,500 or inturplated up to 25,000. This means 3200 and 6400 are an easy reach. The D-MAX gives you great detail in the shadows and for night shooting it is great. With the built in steady shot you can get better results than a starlight scope. The focus is very quick even in very dim light with the phase focus system. High speed continous shooting and pre-programed modes cover just about anything you want to shoot. You can creat custom settings to your liking including custom white balance. Panaramas are always a project unless you have a decated camera, a tripod with a motorised head to do the 30% overlap and the software to put it together. The Sony Alpha 580 does that for you. You go to the pan menue and select what direction you want to pan, left or right, up for buildings... or down for something else. Start to pan and when your finished it will tell you if your too fast or not fast enough. If you got it you can review it and even magnify it in your review. My film cameras had a depth of field / focus preview button. The 580 brought that back so you can preview your focus, even magnify it in live view, before you shoot. The 3" LCD Live View tilt screen is great for getting angles that would be difficult otherwise. I can shoot uncompressed 1028 HD or shoot up to 5 hrs of MP-4 HD movies with sound. A external mike is required for stereo. A shoe mounted shotgun mike is available. My Alpha 700 was my work horse and favoriate camera. I also have a Nikon 200 and several older Nikon and Cannon cameras. This camera surpasses allof them. This camera is a joy to work with. I have been using it for all kinds of shooting and the performance is out standing. John R. Gildroy 5 hrsRead full review
Now, FullFrame-SLT-A99 is announced. It have no optical view finder. That's why, this camera DSLR-A580 is final DSLR of Sony who have optical view finder. And I guess, after DSLR-A580, picture quality of Sony's DSLR(including NEX) is not improved so. This indicates that this camera is only one selection for OVF fan of Sony.(I guess he have DSLR-A900 too. Of course, I have) Tiltable LCD is very useful for shooting with low/high angle. It makes photography more free! Unfortunately, this camera is placed at entry-level DSLR. Entry-level DSLR of Sony have no AF/MF button for auto focusing in MF mode. And body size is bit smaller to handle with my hand.
excellent picture and video quality, Best camera you can get for the money you spend. good battery life. cons: No auto focus on video.
Love that it takes videos and panorama pictures! easy to use and it takes great pictures too! I have been watching these cameras for quite awhile.