I just got a new Sony a55, it was my first brand new DSLR/SLT camera. Up till this point all my cameras, even the point and shoot ones, where all hand me downs or ebay cameras. From the begining I had Olympus PS and Pentax PS. I then got a used Olympus E500 off of ebay, then A E510. From the Olympus brand I took a stab at the Nikon D50 as acquired from doing some side work for a friend. In an angry rage I sold all my cameras so as to save up a pile of money for a Nikon D7000, well that just never happened. Kid needed braces car broke down and the well pump went out. After all that i spent some time looking on the internet for camera reviews and brand options. I really wanted to stay out of the main stream Nikon vs Canon thing. Watching Greg on here I took notice of his Sony equipment. I did a lot of research on line and bought a Sony a100 off of ebay for practically nothing. Again I acquired a Sony 1650 sam 16-50 2.8 DT lens, I have to tell you it is a fine piece of glass by the way. I used it for several months and liked it. So began my interest in Sony cameras.
The a100 is a capable camera if you are into basic functions but it is not a real big high tech thing. Now I have a a55 with the SLT label. It has the translucent mirror and a flippy tilty screen, in camera HDR and panorama. HD movie ability. All the controls are very useful and well placed easy to use. I never even opened the manual and was able to do all the fancy functions. It is built real small so I will have to get the battery grip asap as I have huge hands.It is a 16 mp sensor, not the markets best but darn good for sure. I took a hand held night shot at 2.8 1600 iso and it was real clean. I will be posting some new photos and adding to this post over the next week.
All in all the a55 with the 16-50 2.8 lens mounted on it is a bad machine for sure. It is a very capable camera for all situations and I am looking forward to stepping up my photography beyond the basics with it.