A55 vs A580 What Do?

[Biomech]

I'm after a new body to use with Eye-Fi cards. I pretty much settled on the Sony A55 SLT. But I touched them both in the naughty place today and I really like the A580 :/

The 55 uses W series batteries and will set me back £630+ a spare battery so around £660.
The 580 uses M batteries the same as my a200, I have 4 already. 580 cost is around £660

Both come with the 18-55 kit lens that I'd probably sell.

What do you think? I'll be using it for public events and static location event shoots with backdrops (hence the eyefi).

[jml79]

I thought I would love the A55 but after handling both my preference is for the A580. Most of the same features but with a real optical viewfinder and a much better size for me. I found the A55 was just to small. I don't consider the loss of fps as a big deal either.

I am waiting for the A700 replacement which should be announced this quarter before considering a replacement of my A100.

[Biomech]

What do win

So as I mentioned the a580 was £660. For some reason I was on the jessops site at 1.30 this morning and it had (typo or not) dropped to £579 - so I bought it, picked it up instore today Looks awesome, I can't wait to get home!

It's funny though, the a580 (with 18-55) costs £662 trade price (as a dealer direct from Sony). Retail price is RRP ~£750 .....not that I'm complaining of course

[thaiphotos]

I've got an a55. The relatively small size isn't a problem for me as I've got relatively small hands

[SwissJon]

I've had an A55 since they came out in October last year.. I'm incredibly happy with it. I bought an Eye Fi Pro x2 last week, my only issue with that is the battery runs down quicker than normal, and the battery doesn't last as long as my old A200.

Jessops seems pretty good at price drops.. I was in there last time I was in the UK, and found a couple of batteries for my A55 for 50p each.. Yep, you heard that right.. 2 batteries for a £1!!! Needless to say there weren't any left when I left

[Kasch]

I've been looking over the a580 and comparing it to the a55 and a560 cameras
I selected the a580 over all the others. I should have it in my hands by Wednesday.

I eliminated the a55 because:
1. It does not have a vertical grip option. That's a problem (to me) because of the short battery life.
2. It's size. The body of the a55 is smaller and weighs less than the a580. It just didn't feel like "enough" camera when I held it.

The a55 is a bit faster than the a580 but not enough for me to choose the a55 over the a580.
a55: (Continuous (up to 6fps) Speed Priority (10fps)
a580: (Continuous (up to 5fps(OVF), up to 3fps (Live View)) Speed Priority (7fps)

Number of still images: (The a55 takes a different battery than the a580.)
a55: Approx. 330 images with viewfinder, 380 images with LCD monitor (CIPA standard)
a580:Approx. 1050 images with viewfinder, 560 images with LCD monitor (CIPA standard)

The a560 is almost a twin to the a580 but costs $150.00 less.
The only difference is that the a560 has a smaller still image size.

* DSLR-A580: Pixel Gross : Approx. 16.6 megapixels
L: 4912 x 2760 (14M) M: 3568 x 2000 (7.1M) S: 2448 x 1376 (3.4M)

DSLR-A560: Pixel Gross :Approx. 14.6 megapixels
L size: 4592 x 2576 (12M) M size: 3344 x 1872 (6.3M) S size: 2288 x 1280 (2.9M)

Here's a quick view of the three compared side by side:
Compare


Hope this helps the next person...