The Sony Alpha 380 – review
Tidy thinking
The Alpha 380 body has features you may positively want, like the higher pop up flash position and new rear LCD. The pop-up flash has no button, and works automatically, but many modes disable this (others force it). It is a versatile flash unit, far exceeding the specification of some rival entry level DSLRs – its modes include Flash Off (available in ALL modes and persistent if you change – set Flash Off in ‘Green Auto’ mode, change to Portrait, Landscape, Sports or whatever and the Off setting is not automatically over-ridden – top marks!). In the preset modes or Green Auto, Auto Flash then appears as a selectable revert option, and once set, will be Auto in all modes except P, A, S, M unless you recently set any of these modes to Flash Off in which case that setting will persist for them.
If you set Fill-in Flash mode (the normal flash symbol) this persists across all settings, Scene or Creative. If you set Slow Sync or Rear Curtain sync, it persists for Creative (PASM) and is replaced by individual settings for the presets – flash off for sports and landscape, for example, and Auto flash for those modes where flash is used. If you set Wireless, the built-in flash works as a Controller (1 group only, no Ratio Control) and the setting determines the WL mode intelligently. P and A use normal WL, S and M use WL HSS (High Speed Burst Mode) enabling shutter speeds to 1/4000th to be used. This can not be done with the onboard flash alone. Wireless Flash is not available in the Scene modes or Green Auto.
Overall, this intelligent ‘remembered setting’ of the built-in flash and its many modes is a first-rate firmware implementation, retaining the old ‘Flash Off’ position of the A200-350 dial, and augmenting it with the neat ability to have Fill In Flash or Flash Off in every single Scene or Creative mode position of the dial including Green Auto. Also, the four-way controller’s Flash setting uses one less button press (or more than one) compared to the Fn and Navigate method of the A200-350.
You can also use the HVL-F58AM flash as a wireless controller but the inexpensive HVL-F20AM does not function as a controller on the A230-380 series, or any other bodies except the Alpha 900 and 850.
It has an even smaller profile than the A200, A350 or any other previous Alpha mount DSLR. It is Dynax 5 sized with some hidden extra thickness to the body. A clever design feature makes this appear like a wrap round a slimmer core, the illusion created by the different colour of the top plate. For all who complain about the loss of dedicated buttons, take it from me – that four way controller with its new dedicated function positions is MUCH faster to use than the ‘Slow Navi’ features of the A200-350. In fact, it’s often faster to use than the Quick Navi of the Alpha 700. You still get the Fn button to access Autofocus Area, Autofocus Mode, Metering Mode, D-Range Optimizer, White Balance and Creative Style but the super-fast, easily identified access to Drive Mode, Display Mode (including the option to use the excellent graphic indicator mode shown above), ISO setting and Flash Mode makes the A230-380 series much slicker to use than the A200-350.
The shape of the right hand grip has changed completely. It is now designed for a delicate finger-hold, not a curled fist. Needless to say this was immediately liked by women not just because of the size, but because it promotes a more elegant hand position. Even this bloke felt that it encouraged a sense of precision, the same way the Minolta CLE used to. You have to hold it carefully, so you also tend to use it carefully. My fingers end up underneath the camera, sometimes pinky, sometimes even two fingers – sometimes none. The plus-minus over-ride button is the only survivor of the old button-per-function regime and it is not ideally placed, perhaps to prevent accidental use.
All the button presses, whether top plate or dedicated, only work if the camera is awake. Unless the shutter button is pressed first to activate the camera and bring the rear screen to life, they have no effect. There is almost zero chance of accidentally screwing up your settings. When the camera is awake, each button press has persistence until you press AF (=OK) or allow the camera to sleep again. Both front wheel and rear controller act as navigation once into an adjustment mode, including plus-minus. You do not have to remember which one to use, they both have the same function except in adjustments like Drive where secondary options exist. For these, the front wheel and vertical (top/bottom) pads mirror each other, but the horizontal (left and right) pads change secondary parameters like 0.3 or 0.7 stop bracketing.
There are no ‘hold and press’ functions or dual-button press functions at all. Every single one is sequential – press the button, and the state for adjustment is entered, persisting once the button is released. Adjust, and confirm with OK. Single-handed operation is possible for adjustments. The same principle applies to Menu settings. All in all, the interface of the A230-380 series is one of the more carefully thought out I’ve seen. At first, it seems basic. Start working with the camera, and you realise it is fast and foolproof.
The shutter release position changes compared to all previous Alpha models. It is in a standard position found on cameras for over 80 years – on the top! Unlike a front-grip mounted release, it CAN be worked with the thumb when holding the camera in Live View arm’s length position. This is a common way of holding compact cameras. The On/Off switch is now round the shutter release, Nikon-style (switched clockwise instead of anti). I like the old left hand power switch inherited from Minolta, but I can live with this change.
The control wheel moves to the front above the grip, instead of on top. This takes more getting used to, but it is just as intuitive once you learn the position. Most A380 (or 230, or 330) buyers will be coming from non-DSLR digicams and it does not have to match other Alpha models.
Loads of buttons appear to be missing, and the rear four-way controller pad has their functions instead. I found this worked pretty well. Selecting or moving the focus point is now moved into a menu option. This might seem clumsy, but accidental shifting of the focus point by the controller pad has been a problem for me since the Dynax 7D. I tend to use centre spot focus all the time, and this camera for once did not over-ride me because of some brief contact with the wrong bit of a control pad. It remained firmly set to centre spot.
All is not perfect. The right hand press of the pad invokes the flash options menu. My thumb kept pressing this and bringing up flash options without my wanting them. This led to one situation where the flash got itself set to ‘on’ and popped up in broad daylight, forcing the shutter speed to an incorrect setting and ruining a shot. There is no provision to lock the control pad and prevent such accidents, but it only happened once and seems to have been a freak of chance.
I found the menu-based settings just as quick to use as the Alpha 350’s slightly more button-biased ergonomics. It’s a little frustrating that you can not navigate through various options, and have to confirm each one before accessing another. Also, the on-screen instructions consistently ask you to press ‘OK’ when there is no button on the camera marked ‘OK’ – it is the central ‘AF’ button of the pad controller. This may confuse! Left hand not knowing what right hand was doing…
The inset main mode control dial is a neat feature, well designed and just as easy to use as one which sticks up higher. All in all, the multipurpose function use of the pad controller – which loses its original function for directly controlling AF point – is similar to many point and shoot digicams. For a while I had a Konica Minolta G600 which had a similar set of functions on its four-way pad.
Every main function or adjustment you can make on an A350 is also available on the A380, at the worst you need an extra button push, at the best you need fewer pushes and less navigation. The big exception is selection of any of the nine focus points (with an improved screen marking to show them) which takes many presses to achieve as this is now buried in a menu accessed via the Fn button. If you have set Local focus area, then adjust it (Fn>’OK’>navigate modes>Local) then the next time you press Fn, you go straight to Local anyway and the four-way controller immediately works to move the Local focus to any of the nine points. So if you habitually work this way, it’s fast enough. On the A350, in contrast, you need exactly the same sequence to select Local and then press OK/AF. The four-way controller is then permanently active, moving the focus point if touched, and you can see the effect in the viewfinder as the selected point lights up with an audio beep. Since touching the controller on the A350 is very easy indeed, I never used the local point mode as it was constantly being changed by accident.
They have swapped a fast deliberate control mode with the risk of accidental operation for a slower control mode (unsuited to live use). There is no viewfinder preview of the selected point until you take first pressure on the shutter, and if you are careless enough to forget the new method and try pushing the four-way controller to move the focus point you enter a realm of chaos. You will change the drive mode, ISO or flash settings all too easily instead of moving the focus point!
David,
First of all, thank you for a most detailed and informative reply. I very much appreciate the time and consideration you put into it. I am also impressed by your knowledge and respectfulness to your patrons — the level of which is not always shared by your peers when dealing with Joe public snapshot artists 😉
You make a good point about cost/price influencing the level of QC and reliability and of parts and production that is more intertwined and interdependent than can be observed from outside the industry.
I do still believe that there is a difference in the level of QC between mfr. branded lenses and third party alternatives (Sigma being the worst offender), although it becomes more understandable when i consider that the prices of the 3rd party lenses are significantly lower than the mfr. lenses (designing to a price point, as you put it). Afer all, if the 3rd party alternative is a couple hundred dollars cheaper and the optical performance is engineered to be relatively close, something has to give… and sometimes, it seems to be QC.
I’ve tested or owned all the lenses you mentione except the Tokina 12-24mm. You are right, of course the 70-200mm Tamron has a motor for Nikon. I tested this in Canon and Nikon fits (never in Sony) and it was equally slow in both. I thought the 17-50mm was screw drive for Nikon but maybe not, and must be updated now anyway as Nikon’s system demands micromotor lenses for the entry level models.
The Sony SAM lenses are not all Tamron, or made by Tamron. The 11-18mm is not SAM, it is screw drive (and definitely a Tamron). Konica Minolta made specific changes to Tamron lenses, such as reversing the direction of focus or zoom rings to match older Minolta standards where possible – Tamron always made their lenses to work the same way as Nikon, which is the reverse to Minolta. It was not always possible and the 28-75mm (pre-SAM) for example works exactly the same as the Tamron.
The 18-200mm and 18-250mm lenses are also Tamron in origin, and not SAM, just screw drive. The 17-35mm (discontinued) was Tamron. The original 55-200mm was definitely Tamron, I am not sure about the SAM variant.
Tamron, Tokina, Cosina and Sigma should never be thought of as second-tier lens companies. They certainly all make, or have made, budget priced lenses; that’s where the market lies. All have also made lenses which everyone thinks of as being from the camera manufacturer; in some cases they held the patents, and developed the design. Hoya-Tokina, for example, created the Minolta APO 100-400mm and 100-300mm APO designs. Sigma produced the Leica R 24mm which replaced the Leitz-Minolta period 24mm.
Minolta used to sell most ‘end of life’ lens plant to Shanghai Optical (Seagull) in China. Shortly before the Sony takeover of the Alpha line, KM set up a joint venture for a new optical plant with Shanghai. That plant produced the Sony 50mm f/1.4. Sony was also involved in setting up yet another plant in China, with Carl Zeiss help; in the meantime, Tamron was contracting some lens production to a Chinese plant, or was/is a partner in one.
Sony/Zeiss established a plant in Japan. Sony took over the Sakai (Minolta G) plant and initially closed it down, moving the equipment and engineers. It seems that unit has now been relocated to a single Japanese facility which combines the Sony/Zeiss and Sony/Minolta G teams. The SAM lenses are not made there (so far) but come from Tamron (Japan or China) and one of the various Chinese units – looking at the design and construction of the 30mm f/2.8 macro and 50mm f/1.8 SAM, I don’t think it’s Shanghai Optical, but probably the same plant which made the pilot run of the 16-80mm Carl Zeiss which was a failure (and was transferred permanently to Japan).
In every case, no single plant makes everything. The optical units of the Carl Zeiss lenses are produced in the Sony/CZ factory and subjected to benchtest quality control. They are then shipped to the Sony (non-CZ) assembly plant where they are mated with barrels to produce the complete lens. This is why Sony/CZ lenses have two serial numbers, one of the optical assembly and one for the barrel.
This is not an unusual process. Tamron specialises in the production of hybrid aspheric (glass/plastic sandwich) elements, a technology originally developed by Minolta and licensed by Tamron. It’s likely that Tamron actually makes most, possibly all, of the hybrid aspheric elements used by all makers. Sigma developed moulded glass aspheric technology after a period of working with Carl Zeiss. As far as I know, they are the source for most moulded/pressed glass aspheric elements and supply Zeiss and others (the original glass comes from yet another source).
In short – you can’t untangle all this and class the third party makers as inferior, because a lot of the time, they are also making for the big names. As for QC, or design down to a price, that’s another matter. You get what you pay for. I don’t know who made my Nikon 18-105mm VR for example, but it’s no better than any Tamron or Sigma and also didn’t cost any more!
David
From what i have heard, Sony SAM lenses are just Tamron lenses with a built-in motor (the same micro-motor that Tamron uses for the lenses that they have updated to include built-in motors). Besides the 28-75, i consider the 55-200 SAM as being a rebadged Tamron 55-200, and the Tamron/Sony/KM 11-18 to be identical as well. Do i have proof for these claims? No, unfortunately not. But if you look at the optical design and specs for those lenses, they sure *look* identical.
My impression of Tamron is that they are a second tier lens company like Sigma and Tokina. Their lenses all have some good designs and good characteristics, but they also seem to fall short on one aspect or another whether it be QC, reliability, or AF performance / accuracy. This is mostly due to my experience with 3rd party lenses on the Nikon mount*, so it would be in comparison to Nikon lenses.
* – which includes the Sigma 10-20, 15-30, 24-60, 24/1.8, 30/1.4, 50/2.8, and 50-150, Tamron 17-50 (with & without AF motor), 28-75, and 70-200, and Tokina 12-24.
[I understand that listing 12 third-party lenses doesn’t necessarily establish my credibility (especially as I am basically seen popping in out of nowhere and commenting on one of your reviews (which was excellent, btw)), so i will enlist the help of a more objective and credible source:
http://www.lensplay.com/lenses/lens_defect_results.php ]
Regarding my specific experience with the two Tamrons with built-in motor, the two i tried were the 17-50 and 70-200 — both about a year and a half ago.
In the case of the 17-50, my friend had just purchased a new D300 and asked me to check out the AF calibration with the 17-50. The thing backfocused all the time on both his body and mine, where my original version 17-50 w/o the built-in motor did not. The AF motor was also noticeably slower than the screw drive.
Regarding the 70-200, i was trying out all the 70-200/2.8 zooms to help me decide which one to get. Went to B+H with my D300 body and spent about 20-30 minutes specifically testing the AF behaviour of the Nikon 80-200, Sigma 70-200, and Tamron 70-200. The Tamron stood out for having by far the slowest AF. By far. While Sigma’s HSM was very fast, it wasn’t quite as reliable as either Nikon. It basically came down to the Nikon being the most reliable when it came to acquiring AF lock, so it was the “winner” of that test. However, in the end, i got the Nikon 70-200 over the 80-200 for the VR.
I don’t think the SAM motor will be more accurate, just that in the process of redesigning aspects of the AF system, including adaptation for better SSM/SAM performance, Sony has improved over older models.
Tamron does not make any SAM lens, or SSM, yet; they OEM the Sony 28-75mm and that’s all. All official SAM lenses apart from this are made in China, and the 28-75mm may be, as Tamron also uses the same plant. You can’t distinguish Tamron QC from Sony, as they are identical if the lens is identical (the 28-75mm Sony for example is not identical to any existing Tamron but may be to a future one). Tamron has made lenses for all the major camera brands over the years and is highly respected for professional video camera lenses; don’t know why you should think them poor.
Which Tamron lens with a built-in motor for Nikon mount have you tried? They only introduced the first this year, I think. All Tamrons for Nikon have been screw drive previously, causing them quite a problem with compatibility right now. I have used Tamrons with built-in motors for Canon; nothing special, but OK.
David
Interesting… So you suspect the SAM motor helps with the accuracy? Do you think it is just the Sony SAM lenses or would that extend to the Tamron branded versions of the same lens too? I have to say that I don’t have much faith in Tamrons with built-in Af motors from my experienc with them on Nikon mount. Slower and less accurate than screw drive from my limited experience.
I wonder if Sony specifies a higher level of QC or focus calibration with reference bodies before Tamron is allowed to ship Sony SAM lenses?
Thoughts?
In your A550 review, you mentioned that it had a vastly improved AF system compared to all of the older models up to the A350, and that all the newer Alphas, including the A380 had usably accurate AF.
However, you didn’t mention specifically if the A380’s AF system was just as good as the one in the A550 that you were so impressed with. Are there significant differences, and if so, how would you characterise them?
The AF system on basic level Alphas was improved or changed in algorithms (I suspect it is mainly software based improvement) with introduction of the A230, A330 and A380 along with the new SAM lenses. It is I guess partly down to individual experience, but from the A380 onwards I have experienced far more reliable accurate AF from these models and the A550 is no exception. I don’t think there is any real speed difference, if anything the newer 2/3 models could have a slower AF motor than the earlier 200-350 range. Accuracy, or calibration matching to lenses, is improved even over the Alpha 700.
So far I have not heard of anyone with major front or back focus problems with the A230-380 series or the A450-550 series. All my own lenses, old and new, work well. Conclusion: they got a lot of hassle from the A100 to the A700, maybe it is slightly better with the A350 but I am not sure of that since I did get some focus errors with that camera and my 18-250mm; they have managed to fix things well enough to avoid the hassle continuing. I still have the A350, and like it, but it shows front focus sometimes (worst with wide angles). The A550 doesn’t and nor did the A380 – especially with the SAM lenses, they are a bit crude but seem to hit the mark.
David
I have made some major updates to this review on August 5th, following a few enquiries about whether or not the flash operated in wireless mode, whether Live View could be connected to TV via HDMI – etc. The good news is that it all works, the Flash modes are actually a big all-round improvement on the A200-350 series (very clever firmware remembering your settings as you change modes and intelligently accepting or over-riding), the HDMI connection allows Live View tethered shooting. Had Sony been bright enough to include a wired remote socket, the A380 would have become the world’s best camera for aerial mast photography – 50 or 100ft is nothing to an HDMI cable (they are designed for long connections), and LV on a portable HDTV monitor with focus point confirmation would work well. A super-power infra red trigger would be needed to fire the shutter though!
David