As we promised you in our photography column, we will report you regularly on new cameras and take them for you through their paces in practical situations.

As the IAA Frankfurt show is of course not to be missed for any car enthusiast, we will take the occasion to test for you the new Sony Alpha 500 Digital Reflex camera here.

Hans Knol ten Bensel

We will use the new Sony Alpha 500 digital reflex for photos on the IAA Frankfurt motor show... 

Of course we will also give you a full report on the Frankfurt Show, together with some interviews.

But now back to the camera. As available light shooting is very important on these indoor car show occasions, we will find out for you how the new Sony Alpha 500 Digital Reflex performs in these situations. This camera boasts a new 12,3 megapixel CMOS Exmor sensor and BIONZ image processor for improved image quality with sensitivity up to 12800 ISO.

We recently made our first acquaintance with the camera on Sony Belgium’s’ new product presentation and the camera handled very well. We immediately liked very much the large 3 inch (7.62 cm) LCD screen which articulates up or down by 90 degrees.

The most notable feature of the new camera, however, is the inclusion of a second live view mode. There is in the viewfinder a small secondary sensor to provide live view with fast face-detection AF.  (Quick AF Live view)

Of course you can also use the slower but higher-resolution main-sensor live view system which is used by all other manufacturers.

The camera has two live view sensors...

There is a specific ‘live view’ switch on the camera body makes clear that live view is seen as a mode in which you might choose to operate the camera, rather than a function you might occasionally enable.

The A500 has slots for both SD cards and Sony's own Memory Stick format. It will also accept the higher capacity SDHC and Memory Stick HG Duo cards and has a small switch to select which slot you wish to write to.

The A500 is a camera with stamina: it uses the FM500H battery that appears in the A100, A200, A300 and A350, and manages 1000 shot battery life when using the optical view finder, some 520 shots in ‘Live View’ mode.

The camera has also a HDR (High Dynamic Range) mode, on which we will also show you the results in practice, so more to read and see soon on this site!  

Hans Knol ten Bensel