The Sony Alpha 380 is a bit of a refresh for the Alpha 350 that was beginning to show its age. The most notable change from the older model is the styling of the Sony Alpha 380, with its two-tone finish and slightly unusual handgrip design. The grip is quite a narrow, pointy affair, and doesn’t actually offer a very good hold – you find yourself arching your index finger back to press the shutter button. The rubberised finish on the grip is good though, but the rest of the body has a smooth, plasticky feel to it.
Like the A350, the Sony Alpha 380 houses a 14.2Mp sensor with an ISO range of 100-3200, with no ability to extend the range if you wish. There’s been no improvement in the frame rate, either, sticking at a slow 2.5fps, and there are still 9 AF points, with just the central point being cross-type.
The Sony Alpha 380 supports Live View, which uses the camera’s nine AF points to focus, but there is no HD video support. The rear 2.7in screen can be pulled outwards and angled downwards, but it’s not terribly versatile.
The Sony Alpha 380 features a built-in anti-shake device, known as SteadyShot INSIDE, and this will work with any Sony Alpha mount lens. There’s a dual card slot, which is placed rather unusually on the left of the camera – the opposite to where you’d normally expect to find it – and the slots will accept both SD/SDHC cards or Sony’s Memory Stick Duo cards.
The rear screen displays the shooting info very clearly, but it’s not possible to toggle through and adjust the settings displayed. There are some quick access buttons, though, including ISO, Drive, Flash and WB on the D-Pad.
One major annoyance is the AF point selection – it’s a frustrating process and there’s no quick way to change the AF point. Instead, you have to hit the Fn button, select AF Area, select the Local mode and then move left to right through the AF points (don’t try to move up and down as you’ll change the AF area, not the AF point).
It’s just not that intuitive to use, and the AF itself is a little sluggish, taking its time to lock on to the subject.
SpecificationStreet price (with kit lens): £589
Resolution: 14.2Mp (4592x3056 pixels)
Lens mount: Sony Alpha
Focal length multiplication: 1.5x
Focusing: 9-point selectable
Burst rate: 2.5fps (12 RAW & Unlimited JPEG)
Write times: 2secs (RAW), 1.5sec (JPEG)
ISO range: 100-3200
Shutter range: 60secs-1/4000sec, Bulb
Monitor: 2.7in, 230K dot VGA
Live View: Yes
Video: NO
Storage: SD/SDHC & Memory Stick options
Weight: 490g
Dimensions: 128x97x71mm
Visit: www.sony.co.uk