Sony DSLR-A290 Performance

Very good to below average speed for a consumer digital SLR.

Startup time was about average for an SLR, but shutdown was a little slow (probably due to sensor cleaning). Buffer clearing time depends on the image size and quality, burst length and how fast the card can be written to. Clearing times were pretty good for an entry-level SLR.

Mode switching was pretty fast for a consumer SLR, though switching from Record to Play immediately after capture was a bit on the slow side.

Looking at the Sony A290's ability to determine that it's properly focused when shooting the same target multiple times, its speed was somewhat faster than average for a consumer SLR. The A290 required about 0.198 second for full AF using the center focus point. This increased slightly to 0.200 second in wide-area AF mode. Enabling the flash raised the lag to 0.215 second, still quite fast. Continuous autofocus mode lag time was 0.200 second and manual focus was only slightly faster at about 0.182 second. When prefocused, shutter lag dropped to 0.107 second.

To minimize the effect of different lens' focusing speed, we test AF-active shutter lag with the lens already set to the correct focal distance. We also use the same Sigma 70mm f/2.8 macro with every camera (on all platforms except Four Thirds/Micro Four Thirds and Nikon consumer models lacking an in-body focus motor), to further reduce variation, and because our tests showed that focus-determination time with this lens was close to the fastest, across multiple camera bodies from different manufacturers. Being an older design with a non-ultrasonic motor, it wouldn't be the fastest at slewing from one focus setting to another, but that's exactly the reason we measure focus determination speed, which is primarily a function of the camera body, vs focus adjustment speed, which is primarily a function of the lens.

Shot-to-shot cycle times were about average for a consumer SLR at 0.50 seconds per frame for large/fine JPEGs and 0.46 second for RAW frames, but slow for RAW + JPEG frames at 1.09 seconds. Continuous mode speeds were a little slow for an SLR these days, ranging from about 2.3 to 2.4 frames-per-second depending on the image quality. Buffer depths were about average for an entry-level model at 18 JPEG frames, 7 RAW frames and 4 RAW + JPEG frames. The flash took 3.7 seconds to recharge after a full-power shot, which is also about average.

Connected to a computer or printer with USB 2.0, download speeds were quite fast.

Bottom line, the Alpha 290 is a very responsive camera when it comes to autofocus and mode switching, but slower than average in continuous mode. It should be fine for most family shots, but you're very likely to notice the slower shooting speed with sports subjects.

Battery
Slightly below average battery life for a lithium-ion design.

The Sony Alpha 290 uses a custom rechargeable lithium-ion battery for power, and ships with a charger. Since its battery life is a bit below average even when using the optical viewfinder (though not bad for a compact, entry-level model), we recommend you pick up a spare battery and keep it freshly charged and on-hand for extended outings.

The table above shows the number of shots the camera is capable of (on either a fresh set of disposable batteries or a fully-charged rechargeable battery as appropriate), based on CIPA battery-life and/or manufacturer standard test conditions.

(Interested readers can find an English translation of the CIPA DC-002 standards document here. (180K PDF document))

Storage
The Sony Alpha A290 accepts SD/SDHC or Memory Stick Duo memory cards, and no card is included with the camera.

We strongly recommend buying either a large capacity SDHC, or a large capacity Memory Stick Pro Duo card, at least a 2GB card, preferably a 4-8GB one, to give yourself extra space for extended outings. (Check the shopping link above, cards are really cheap these days, so no reason to skimp.)