SONY’S α500 is a 12.3 megapixel Digital SLR camera with a 3-inch extra fine LCD display that tilts, up or down 90°, to help you compose shots regardless of high or low angles.

Eye-Start Autofocus begins focusing as soon as you raise the camera to your eye. Accurate focusing is achieved using nine auto focus points with centre cross. The “crop-frame”-sized APS-C Sony Exmor CMOS image sensor combines with Sony’s BIONZ processor to enable high ISO of 12,800 for low-light pictures with lower noise and better retention of picture detail.

The α500 adjusts for optimised exposures in response to six creative style settings and six scene modes. You can compose shots in the LCD monitor using Sony’s Quick Auto Focus Live View, which relies on the same “phase detection” technology as the optical viewfinder.

This Live View mode also allows you to extend the range of your zoom lenses. It does this digitally: one touch zooms in 1.4x, a second touch zooms to 2x. Picture quality is not degraded because the pixels are reproduced on a 1:1 basis.

Manual Focus Check Live View allows for critical focus in macro and tripod shooting with the α500. While the 1x view shows 100% framing in the LCD, you can focus on fine detail viewing at 7x and 14x zoom.

Sony’s Face Detection technology further enhances the Live View system by recognising faces and applying proper white balance, focus, and exposure to produce better shots consistently.

Smile Shutter Technology works with Quick Auto Focus Live View to capture spontaneous moments by enabling the α500 to automatically trigger the shot when your subject smiles.

The α500 can save images, separately or in tandem, in RAW or JPEG. Dual media slots can write to Memory Stick PRO Duo/Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo and SD/SDHC media cards (all sold separately).

The camera will shoot up to five frames a second (with optical viewfinder) and  up to four frames a second with Quick Auto Focus Live View.

The α500’s Auto HDR provides built-in High Dynamic Range (HDR) photography, blending two exposures into one shot to create more depth of colour and definition and to better handle severe backlighting and other high-contrast scenes.

The camera’s Dynamic Range Optimizer helps recover detail hidden in shadows as well as improving results with backlit subjects. Normal DRO improves details shot to shot using standard gamma curves. For greater accuracy, Advanced DRO adjusts dynamic range area by area.

SteadyShot INSIDE image stabilisation is built into the camera itself to compensate for camera shake and help you take blur-free shots.

The α500 comes supplied with Image Data Converter SR, Image Data Lightbox SR, and Picture Motion Browser software for your computer.

And powerful as this camera is, the α500’s on-screen Help Guide and graphic display provide ready reference to advanced camera functions. You can hook the camera to a compatible HDTV and play back your images in high definition. If you have a compatible Sony BRAVIA HDTV, you can even control camera playback using the tv remote.

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SPECIFICATIONS

Resolution
12.3MP

Sensor
APS-C size Exmor CMOS sensor (23.5 X 15.6mm)

Processor
BIONZ image processor

File Formats
RAW
RAW+JPEG
JPEG Fine
JPEG Standard

File Size
Still Actual 16:9 :
L (10M): 4272 X 2400
M (5.4M): 3104 X 1744
S (2.5M): 2128 X 1192
Still Actual 3:2 :
L (12M): 4272 X 2848
M (6.4M): 3104 X 2072
S (3.0M): 2128 X 1416

Colour Filter
RGB primary colour filters

Image Stabilization
SteadyShot INSIDE stabilization

Focusing Area
Wide (Up to 9 active focus points), Spot, Local (9 local areas selectable)

Focus Type
TTL phase detection system

ISO
Auto, 200 to 12800

Focusing Sensitivity Range
EV0 – 18 (ISO100)

Focusing Modes
Manual Focus, Check Live View, Predictive Control, Focus Lock, Eye-Start AF, AF Illuminator

Modes
AF modes : Single-Shot AF, Automatic AF, Continuous AF, (AF/MF selectable)
Drive Mode : Single-Shot, Continuous, Speed Priority, Self-Timer, Bracketing; Cont./ WB, Remote Commander

Tripod Mount
Yes, 1/4″-20

Conveniences
Anti-dust function: Charge protection coating on low pass filter and image-sensor shift mechanism
BRAVIA Sync: Via HDMI with compatible BRAVIA HDTV
Creative Style: Standard, Vivid, Portrait, Landscape, Sunset, B/W Setting Adjustment for: Contrast, Saturation, Sharpness
Dynamic Range Optimizer: DRO; off, Auto/Level (Lv1-5) Auto HDR, Off, Auto Exposure (up to 3EV between 1.0-3.0EV in 0.5EV steps)
Live View : Quick Auto Focus, Live View Manual, Focus Check Live View
Scene Mode(s): Flash Off, Portrait, Landscape, Macro, Sports Action, Sunset, Night portrait
User Interface: Easy-to-understand Graphic Display and on-screen Help Guide, user-friendly function menu

Lens Mount
Sony Alpha lens, Minolta and Konica Minolta AF lens

Shutter Speeds
Auto, Program Auto (P), Aperture Priority (A), Shutter Priority (S), Manual (M)

Metering
TTL metering w/ 40-segment honeycomb-pattern SPC

Exposure Modes
Flash Off, Portrait, Landscape, Macro, Sports Action, Sunset, Night Portrait

Scene Modes
Flash Off, Portrait, Landscape, Macro, Sports Action, Sunset, Night Portrait

White Balance
Auto, Daylight, Shade, Cloudy, Incandescent, Fluorescent, Flash, Color Temperature, Color Filter, Custom

Mirror Lock-Up
No

Burst Capability
Up to 7 fps

Remote Control
RMS1AM – Sold Separately

Effective Flash Range
18mm in focal-length of lens attached

External Flash Connection
Optional:
HVL-F58AM External Flash
HVL-F42AM External Flash
HVL-F20AM External Flash

Dedicated Flash System
ADI flash (automatic change for Pre-flash TTL)

Flash Exposure Compensation
±2EV (in 1/3 EV-stop increments)

Guide Number
12 (in metres at ISO100)

Recycling Time
Approx. 4 sec

Memory Card Type
Memory Stick PRO Duo media
SD and SDHC memory card

Viewfinder Type
Fixed eye-level, penta-Dach-mirror

Viewfinder Display
Spherical Acute Matte Screen

Viewfinder Coverage
Field of View : 95%

Viewfinder Magnification
0.80x (with 50mm lens at infinity)

Viewfinder Info
Diopter Adjustment : -2.5 – +1.0m-1
Eye relief : Approx. 19 mm from the eyepiece
Approx. 15 mm from the eyepiece frame at -1 diopter

Display
3″ TFT Clear Photo Plus LCD (921,600 pixels)

Display Area
Coverage: 100% (Playback), 90% (Live View)

LCD Information
Angle Adjustment: Yes (upward by up to 90°, downward by up to 90°)
Brightness Control: Auto Brightness Control (Auto setting in 2 steps
Manual setting in 5 steps)

OS Compatibility
Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional Windows XP SP2
Windows Vista
Mac OS X (v10.1.3) or later

Software Included:
PMB (Picture Motion Browser) 4.3.01
Image Data Converter SR 3.1
Image Data Lightbox SR

Ports
USB2.0 Hi-Speed (mass-storage, PTP)

Operating/Storage Temperature
Operating Temperature : 32 – 104° F (0 – 40 ° C)

Battery Type
Battery Type : NP-FM500H InfoLITHIUM Rechargeable
Approx. 1000 images with viewfinder, 520 images in live view mode

Base Dimensions (WxHxD)
5.39 x 4.09 x 3.31″ (137 X 104 X 84mm) (excluding protrusions)

Weight
Approx. 20.42 oz (597g) (without battery, memory card, accessories )

What’s Included
* Sony Alpha DSLR-A500 Camera Body
* NP-FM500H InfoLithium Rechargeable Battery
* BC-VM10 Battery Charger
* USB Cable
* Shoulder Strap
* Eyepiece Cap
* Body Cap
* Accessory Shoe Cap
* Software CD-ROM
* User Guide
* 1 Year Australian Warranty

Popularity: 4%

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