Review
Here’s a few Landscape images I took over at the Basha Kill Wildlife Preserve. One of my favorite places to go shooting at dusk or dawn 
Sony Alpha 580, 16-50mm f/2.8 SSM Lens @ f/8, 1/1000sec, 50mm, ISO 800
Sony Alpha 580, 16-50mm f/2.8 SSM Lens @ f/8, 1/1000sec, 50mm, ISO 800 – 100% Crop
Sony Alpha 580, 16-50mm f/2.8 SSM Lens @ f/6.3, 1/1000sec
Sony Alpha 580, 16-50mm f/2.8 SSM Lens @ f/6.3, 1/1000sec – 100% Crop
Sony Alpha 580, 16-50mm f/2.8 SSM Lens @ f/8, 1/1000sec, 16mm, ISO 800
The last of the fall foliage seen here on the ground. I love the way the Sony A580 renders colors!!
Sony Alpha 580, 16-50mm f/2.8 SSM Lens @ f/8, 1/100sec, 50mm, ISO 800
Sony Alpha 580, 16-50mm f/2.8 SSM Lens @ f/8, 1/100sec, 50mm, ISO 800 – 100% Crop
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As an a580 owner i agree to almost all points in your review. But how do you mean this camera “won’t be able to handle serious outdoor elements”? What kind of outdoor elements?
Thanks for your comments Jeroon
What I meant was Rain and snow. It’s not fully weather sealed like a Pro Camera is all I was getting at with that sentence.
Best,
Jay
@Jay: Well, with the Sony 16-50 lens on board and a raincoat the a580 is weather sealed.
I can’t argue with that my Jeroon
I like using a umbrella personally and attaching it to my tri-pod. This way I can move everything as 1 unit a little easier. It helps sometimes, but causes problems other times. (wind) I try not to let any of my equipment ever get wet though, even if it is weather sealed!!
Thanks again for your comments/ question,
Jay
“I try not to let any of my equipment ever get wet though, even if it is weather sealed!!”
That is the best solution, so the a580 actually is a five star camera, haha.
Thank you for the review.
same comments that for your alpha 35 test
difficult for me to make a choice between A35 and A580
the video is not really a priority for me, then… maybe the A580
I like your real life photos
best regards
marco
Thank you very much Marco for your comments and kind words
The real life photos are all that matter in the end my friend. Good luck with your decision, and feel free to ask any questions should you have them. It is a really tuff call between those 2 cameras!
Best,
Jay
As I wrote these are the kind of reviews we need. Unfortunately SONY shose not to release this wonderful camera (as gathered from many A580 users in Dynax Digital Forum) in the Middle East and Singapore. Importing from say the US we do not get the warranty.
Jay I can get a A77 or A55 in Dubai (where I reside) or these two and A65 from Singapore with ME warranty. Which one would be a better bet? Mainly for vacation snaps, school functions of my daughter or some birds and animals etc.
OR A580 would be better? Ordering from BH Photo with a Sagemax warranty.
Forgot to add that I have a A200 with CZ1680 and SAL70300G. My Flickr here http://www.flickr.com/photos/64618899@N04/
I’m really sorry Subromaniam for missing your comments!! I don’t know how that happened, but my bad.
In any event, if your still in the market I would wait for the new A57 or get the a580as its the best bang for the buck image quality wise for an slr.
Hope that helps,
Jay
Thanks for posting this review.
I just purchased an a580 and also a SAL16-50mm f/2.8 lens.
I eagerly await their arrival.
However, i would like to make a comment about my experience with the a560 model. With the a560 i suffered from terrible back-focusing with my Minolta 50mm prime , which was spot-on when used with my a100.
Also with the kit lens, I also noticed the auto focus being erratic.
Just wondering if you experienced any of these problems while you were using your a580?
Thank you
OldNoob
Hi OldNoob and thanks for the Comments/ Question!!
It just so happens I did have an issue with the Zeiss 85mm f/1.4. I only noticed it at minimum focus distance for the most part, but I tend to shoot a lot like that so… In any event the A580 did not have the the micro adjustment focus feature, so there was nothing I could do. I had the A77 at the same time though and it happened on that camera as well. I though it was the lens in the end, but I really didn’t do crazy testing one way or the other. I did adjust for the lens on the A77 using the Micro adjustment feature and it fixed the issue, hence confirming it was the lens. I’m still not 100% sure though as I used a tape measure to calibrate it etc…
I hope that helps in some way or another
The A580 takes an excellent frame and I would happily use it for my Professional work! You made a wise investment my friend!!
Best,
Jay
Jay,
Great review, of a great camera. I just traded my A100 in for a hardly used A580. It came with the 18-55mm and I had some Minolta lenses from my A100 and it was such a difference from the A100, what an awesome Camera!!! I just by luck bought the A580 as I was going to buy the A500 but saw the A580 when it came in. I just picked up an 18-250mm Sony lens and I am totally amazed at the difference in sharpness/color/depth of this lens compared to the kit lens.
The A580 really shows Sony made a smart move buying Minolta’s Camera divison.
Do you have any recommendations of a prime lens to pair with the 18-250mm for Landscapes. I may be driving cross county next month and I don’t want to miss much
Thanks
Hey Vinny,
Thanks for the comments and kind words! I’m also glad to here you got a deal on the A580 as it’s the last optical Viewfinder Sony DSLR and should be worth a lot more than it is right now in my opinion.
As far as lenses go, pretty much any Zeiss product that I have used is awesome, but if you in the more budget friendly world I might look at some Tamron’s or Sigma’s.
For landscapes your going to want to go wide as you have all the other focal ranges covered. So that leaves you with several options, but depending on budget it can vary greatly. Before I do the re-search, do you have an approx budget, or do you just want to know what I would buy?
In the Meantime, one of favorite landscape lenses to date is the Sigma 10-20mm and Tokina also makes a very similar lens!! I would look at those first personally. If I had unlimited cash, I would look more at the Zeiss or other super high end glass.
Best,
Jay
Jay,
Thx for the info and advice, I appreciate it alot. My budget is flexible but I wanted to know what you would buy and a budget lens say $400-600$.
I’m going to be flying to LA and then driving back to North Carolina then to Washington DC then returning home to NJ by Acella Train. I’d like to take as little gear as possible just because I’d hate to lose it but I’d hate to lose the A580 too
Thanks
Vinnie
Vinnie,
I’ve seen several images over the past few years taken with the Tokina 11-16mm lens and I would not mind trying one out!!
Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 AT-X 116 Pro DX Lens
Sigma 10-20mm is a fantastic lens and can’t recommend it enough. I had it for my Rebel XTI and 40D years ago. BHPhoto >>
If you don’t mind Manual Focus Rokinon Makes a great lens for the money and it’s a Prime! They save money by going manual which you may or may not like.
Rokinon 14mm Ultra Wide-Angle f/2.8 IF ED UMC Lens
Based on the other Sony lenses I’ve tried, this is bound to be good. Reviews seem to confirm this.
Sony 11-18mm f/4.5-5.6 DT Lens
There really aren’t that many wide angle primes that I would get for the A-Mount APS-C sized sensor.
Hope this helps and have a great trip!!
Best,
Jay
Great review !!!
I agree that A580 is good value for money !
The A580 & the A560 may be a good value now but mark my word Sony is going to kick us to the side of the road in the support dept. I will bet right now that we will NEVER see a firmware update for these cameras.
There have all ready been updates for the Sony SLT’s.
If this in fact occurs this will be my last Sony camera. One only has to look no further then the better performance Nikon seems to squeeze out of the same Sony sensors. I’m tired of Sony’s Total Lack of Support for us DSLR users.
Hi Keith,
I understand your frustration and totally agree with you about Sony’s firmware release habits. I honestly thinks Sony is so big as a company that these types of things start to happen. Sony certainly operates differently than Nikon and Canon in that regard.
I do believe however, that Sony is heading in the right direction currently since the massive corporate restructuring last year, and the floods that shut-down multiple production factories. They learn from their mistakes and constantly refine and innovate like no other company does. The Nex cameras specifically are just incredible on all fronts from the perspective of a photographer like myself. The Rouge Pro
We shall see what happens Keith and remember that Lenses are investments!! Camera bodies these days are more like computers or something where we must upgrade to the latest every other year. Software and technologies advances are coming at us so quickly these days that you just can’t stop the innovation speed and frequency.
Not sure if that rambling makes any sense, but hopefully it does,
Jay
Hi Jay,
I understand what your saying. Except I’ve owned a Sony 40 in LCD for the last 18 months and it’s had over 10 firmware updates since I’ve owned it. I had owned a Sony mp3 player and during it’s time of ownership (3yrs +) I downloaded well over 5 firmware updates. The A350, which was a good camera, I owned for 4 years….. NOT ONE UPDATE. During that same time I saw the A900, A700, and a few SLT’s get tweaked. Sony seems to have tossed the mid-level Alpha owners aside. I may not own an A99 but my investment in the Sony Alpha line is significant to me and I’m not feeling any love from Sony.
Hi
is the autofocus point color green (like in alpha 77) or red?
Thank’s
Hi Andrew,
It’s green
Check out this video at about 5:50 for the Sony A580 Auto focus testing: http://sonyalphalab.com/2011/12/auto-focus-testing-comparison-sny-a77-sony-a580-canon-5d-mark-ii/
Jay