Sony A560 14.2 Megapixels

Crutchfield is offering a slick bundle offer, in addition to some great savings on this Powerful Sony Alpha DSLR Camera! Noise reduction is a standard for all photos taken, as is the ability to snap into action with blazing fast shutter speeds and the ability to snap photos at 7 frames per second right when you need to.

Sony A560 14.2 Megapixels It takes great pictures and has enough manual controls for the serious hobbyist. Controlling noise under low light is second to none. Sony did put a great deal into controlling noise level under low light. Even if the sun is behind your subject, Sony's DRO kicks in perfectly to give your subject's face a perfect exposure without fill flash. Panoramic shots is also the best.

The Sony A560 14.2 Megapixels which simply cropped the image when shooting at lower resolutions, has been abandoned in favor of a new dedicated Movie button.
Sony has also made some useful tweaks to the A560's body design. The Drive Mode and ISO buttons have both been moved nearer to the Shutter release button, making them easier to reach without having to change your grip on the camera. Sweep Panorama has appeared in Sony's Cyber-shot and NEX-series cameras previously, and is now making its debut in an Alpha DSLR. The function, which offers 2D and 3D modes.

automatically captures numerous images as the A560 is panned across the scene, and then stitches the result in-camera to create a single seamless image.

The AF550's alternative MF Check LV mode,which raises the mirror and exposes the imaging sensor like the live view modes on most other DSLRs, has been renamed and greatly improved. Like that of the A550, the Sony A560's grip is a little odd. The Alpha a550's MF Check LV button, which puts the camera in Live View mode from the main imaging sensor, has been renamed Focus Check LV for the Sony A560.

Also visible is the reworked Mode dial, which adds a Sweep Panorama position, and consolidates all of the Scene modes into a single shared position. This allows the movie function to be accessed in any operating mode, although ISO sensitivity, shutter speed and aperture for movie shooting remain under automatic control regardless of the mode currently selected. As in the A550, the  A560's Function menu, allowing quick settings changes for common exposure variables. A small sensor on the lower right of the Sony A560's LCD can be set to dim or brighten the LCD's backlight automatically when needed.

Image Sensor : At the heart of the Sony A560 is a Sony Exmore APS HD CMOS image sensor with dimensions of 23.4 x 15.6mm, roughly equivalent to a frame of APS-C film.

The Sony A560's sensor has an effective resolution of 14.2 megapixels, and yields 3:2 aspect ratio images with dimensions of up to 4,592 x 3,056 pixels. In addition to two lower-resolution 3:2 modes of 3,344 x 2,224 and 2,288 x 1,520 pixels, the Sony A560 offers three modes that crop the sensor's output to a 16:9 aspect ratio, suitable for viewing on wide-screen HDTVs. The Sony A560's 16:9 image modes are 4,592 x 2,576, 3,344 x 1,872, and 2,288 x 1,280 pixels respectively.

The imager is mounted on a movable platter, allowing for Sony's Steady Shot INSIDE image stabilization with all compatible lenses. Output from the image sensor is handled by Sony's proprietary BIONZ image processor.

Multi-Frame NR : The Sony A560 also includes a new Multi-frame NR function, which captures six images in sequence, and then combines them in-camera into a single image with reduced noise levels. The function is similar to Sony's Handheld Twilight mode -- which the A560 also offers, but differs in allowing the desired ISO sensitivity to be selected manually, so it can function even at lower sensitivities.

Autofocus : The Sony Alpha A560 offers an overhauled TTL phase detection auto focusing system, which now provides 15 AF points, six more than in the A550. Thanks to a secondary image sensor in the A560's prism assembly, Sony is able to continue using the standard phase-detection AF system while displaying a Live View image on the camera's LCD display.

For example : in Quick AF Live View mode, the Sony A560 is able to offer face detection when focusing with the phase-detection sensor. The Sony A560's face detection system also allows a Smile Shutter function, which can automatically trigger the camera's shutter immediately when your subject smiles. The animation at right, courtesy of Sony Electronics, is from our A550 review.

Focus Check LV : Alternatively, the Sony A560's Live View can function in Focus Check live view mode, accessed via a dedicated button on the camera's top panel. Unlike the equivalent mode in the A550, either contrast detection or phase detection auto focusing is now possible in this mode, as well as manual focusing. The autofocus mode is locked to single whenever Focus Check live view is active.
Movies. Sony has provided three choices for movie resolution, recorded in one of two formats.

Like many video-capable DSLRs, the Sony A560 provides no direct manual control over video exposure, with the ISO sensitivity, shutter speed and aperture all selected automatically, regardless of the operating mode currently selected on the Mode dial.

Modes : The Sony A560 includes Auto, Program, Aperture- and Shutter-priority, and Manual shooting modes plus Sweep Panorama, Scene, and Flash Off modes. The Sweep Panorama mode is has appeared in Sony's Cyber-shot and NEX-series cameras previously, and is now making its debut in an Alpha DSLR.

Previously seen in Sony's NEX and Cyber-shot series cameras, the Hand-held Twilight mode captures multiple shots at high sensitivity, and then combines them in-camera to create a single image with reduced blur from camera shake. Available shutter speeds from the Sony A560's electronically controlled, vertical travel focal plane shutter range from 1/4,000 to 30 seconds, plus a bulb mode, and flash sync is available at 1/160 second.

The Sony A560 uses a 40-segment honeycomb-patterned SPC sensor to determine exposures in all modes except for Quick AF Live View and Focus Check Live View modes, where the secondary image sensor can be used to provide for more accurate 1,200-zone evaluative metering.

Metering modes available in the Sony A560 include Multi-segment, Center-weighted, and Spot. 2.0 EV of exposure compensation is available in 1/3 EV steps, and the Sony A560 also allows for three-shot bracketed exposures in 0.3 or 0.7 EV steps.

The Sony A560 retains Sony's excellent menu system largely unchanged, except for the addition of two new tabs, covering storage and clock settings, respectively. The Sony A560 also retains the A550's Function menu, with simple icons that line the screen left and right. The A560's Playback mode adopts the newer design from Sony's NEX-series single-lens direct view cameras, which is peculiar in that you can't review both images and videos at the same time. To see movies, you have to switch to Movie mode and shoot a quick movie.

Sony's user-friendly Help Guide Display is active by default, and shows a brief explanation as the Mode dial is turned, or when the active menu selection is changed.

 Flash : The Sony A560's built-in popup flash has a guide number of 12 meters at ISO 100, and 18mm coverage. Flash modes include Auto, Fill, Slow-sync, and Rear-sync, and 2.0 EV of flash exposure compensation is available in 0.3 EV steps.
Auto HDR. Like the A550 before it, the Sony A560 includes an unusual HDR mode. Animation courtesy of Sony Electronics USA.

Sony's HDR mode captures two shots with anywhere from 1 to 6 EV between the exposures, set in 1 EV increments -- double the overall range of the A550, but with half the granularity, plus a third image at nominal exposure.

An Auto HDR mode selects the appropriate range and step size automatically, depending on the range of brightness detected within the scene. The Sony A560 also includes Sony's optional D-Range Optimizer function, which works from a single shot and hence isn't limited to static subjects. The Sony A560's Creative Style function offers six pre-defined creative image styles, which adjust image tonality, saturation, and contrast. Continuous shooting.

 A Speed Priority burst mode locks exposure and focus from the first frame, which allows an impressive seven frames per second when using either the viewfinder or Live View mode.

Hardest hit is the Large / Standard JPEG mode, where burst depth is slashed from 116 images to just 47. Interestingly, when shooting in  mode, burst depth is unchanged at seven frames.

The Sony A560 includes an HDMI Type-C mini connector which allows display of images on high-definition displays (though no cable is included), as well as USB 2.0 High-Speed computer connectivity. Power.

Both cameras were focusing soft when using phase detection autofocus at wide-angle. I confirmed by switching to contrast detect autofocus during focus check live view with each camera and got sharper results.
Handling. Kudos, Sony. Top left of the A560, the Mode dial improvements also help handling.

The Sony A560's grip is mid-sized with a slight bias towards smaller hands.
Optical Viewfinder. If you set the Sony A560 to Spot or Local auto focusing, the center or autofocus point you select will light up red when focus is achieved.
Autofocus. Sony's A560 has a peppy and eager autofocus system.

Focus Check Live View : This mode replaces Manual Focus Check Live view and now allows two focusing options: Contrast-detect autofocus with SAM and SSM branded lenses (that includes third party makers such as Sigma and Tampon), and phase-detection autofocus.

Getting accurate exposure, framing, and focus is quite easy with the A560's layout. Macro shooting is a blast in this mode. HD Video. The Alpha A560 is Sony's first traditional DSLR to have full HD video capture.