The advent of the Sony Alpha A100 was signalled well in advance with a torrent of chatter in the tech press. Then it was shown to Australian journalists both in Japan and North Queensland; however, it was some weeks before production models began to do the rounds.

Sony realises that buying the A100 camera body is only the first step: there is a very large after-market for lenses and accessories – and has catered for it, with much more promised!

At first sight, the A100 looks like an SLR. Pick it up and it feels like one, with most of the controls where you’d expect them but ardent fans of film SLR cameras will be dismayed to find it doesn’t always work like an SLR!

The camera is solid, with a magnesium-alloy front cover panel and bottom plate mounted onto a diecast magnesium front chassis. With battery and memory card loaded and with the f3.5-5.6/18-70mm Sony lens attached to the A100, the scales register 790 grams, so carrying it on a trip would not be a great burden.