The Sony Alpha 58 ($599.99 direct with 18-55mm lens)?is the current entry-level D-SLR in the company's catalog. The 20-megapixel camera offers a few modest upgrades over the previous-generation Alpha 57, including an OLED viewfinder, but takes a step backwards in terms of burst shooting speed. If you're in the market for a D-SLR with an EVF, we think the Alpha 65 is a better buy, though it is a bit more money. Traditionalists who prefer an optical finder are better off with our Editors' Choice, the Nikon D5200.
Design and Features
The Alpha 58 is pretty typical in size for an entry-level D-SLR. It measures just 3.9 by 5.1 by 3.1 inches (HWD) and weighs 1.3 pounds without a lens. The Canon EOS Rebel T5i is about the same size (3.9 by 5.2 by 3.1 inches), but a bit lighter at 1.1 pounds. Like other Sony D-SLRs, the viewfinder is an EVF rather than an optical design. The camera still has a mirror, but it's semi-transparent and doesn't move. Most of the light hits the image sensor, but some is directed down to a dedicated phase detect autofocus sensor. This provides a seamless transition between the EVF and the rear LCD, and fast, accurate focus for both stills and video.
The EVF is an OLED design with a 1,440k-dot resolution. It's a step up in quality from the LCD found in the Alpha 57, but it's not the equal of the 2,336k-dot OLED viewfinder that Sony packs into its Alpha 65 and Alpha 77 cameras. That EVF is noticeably sharper, giving you a better idea of what you're shooting. The rear LCD on the Alpha 58 is a little lacking as well; it's a 2.7-inch panel with a hinged design so that it can tilt up or down. The resolution is 460k-dots, which is only half that of others in this class like the Pentax K-50.
The small LCD does leave a bit of extra room on the body for controls. On the rear you'll find buttons to record movies, activate exposure lock, and adjust exposure compensation. Below those, directly to the right of the LCD, you'll find the Fn button, which lets you control shooting settings via an on-screen menu, and a four-way control pad with directional buttons to adjust the information displayed over the live view feed, change the drive mode and activate the self-timer, adjust white balance, and control color output. The center AF button enables tracking focus, and there are also the standard image playback and delete buttons. The latter doubles as an on-screen guide that contains tips for the best settings for different types of photos. The menu button is located above the LCD, to the left of the EVF's eyecup.
Up top there's a mode dial, which has a few additional options beyond the standard settings. There's one for scene modes, which set the camera to correct settings to capture different types of photos, as well as a special telephoto crop extends the reach of your lens and increases the maximum burst shooting speed, but reduces photo resolution to 5 megapixels. To the right of the EVF are the power switch, shutter release, ISO control, a toggle to change between the rear LCD and EVF (there is an eye-sensor if you'd like that to be automatic), and a button marked Zoom. This enables Sony's Clear Image Zoom (for JPG shots only), which lets you enable as much as 2x digital zoom to extend the reach of your lens; images are saved at the full 20-megapixel resolution when using this function.
There's a single control dial on the front of the handgrip. Most cameras in this class only offer a single control dial (which changes function based on the mode you're in). Of the sub-$1,000 D-SLRs, only the Pentax K-50 (and it's non-weather-sealed sibling, the K-500) offer front and rear control dials. That's a feature that comes in handy when shooting in manual mode, but is also useful in other situations, including shooting manual with automatic ISO so that you can control shutter speed and depth of field without having to worry about calculating exposure. The Alpha 58 does support that function; to adjust the shutter speed in manual mode you simply use the front dial, and if you hold down the exposure compensation button the front dial function changes to control aperture.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/5aPtz1uujmk/0,2817,2423169,00.asp
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