PHOTO QUALITY. This 24-megapixel SLR camera captured images with good quality. Pictures were sharp, which means you can see most details and subtle patterns in the image. In low-light situations without a flash, pictures were sharp. We judged this model excellent for outdoor performance, such as shooting landscapes in the daytime; good for indoor performance, such as photographing a well-lit basketball game in a gym. And very good for low-light performance without a flash, such as capturing a birthday party. Photos taken in our low-light performance tests displayed little image noise; subjects retained most of their correct detail and color.
FLASH. The Alpha SLT-A68 w/ 18-55mm with the 18-55mm kit lens captured flash shots that were very good. In our distance test, we found the camera's flash could illuminate subjects very well, both near and far. The flash also has very good, even coverage.
LENS. This camera has a standard 3x optical zoom lens. The lens also has wide-angle (27mm) capability that's useful for landscapes and group portraits, although you may notice a bit of distortion when you're shooting faces up close, for instance.
IMAGE STABILIZATION. This is an important feature; taking hand-held shots at the telephoto end of the zoom range can generally blur or soften images due to the slight movement of your hands. Shooting telephoto in well-lit scenes, this model did a good job of minimizing the effects of camera shake. In low-light settings, it performed well but sometimes produced blurry photos. Overall, the shake reduction results from our tests were good.
SPEED. In terms of performance, the Sony Alpha SLT-A68 w/ 18-55mm powers up very quickly. It has a very short interval between shots, which can be important when shooting fast-moving or unpredictable subjects.
VIDEO. The Sony Alpha SLT-A68 w/ 18-55mm takes very good video. It captures full HD video at 1920 x 1080 60p. As for sound, it captures very good audio in stereo.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS. Like all SLRs, it also includes an electronic viewfinder, helpful when composing in bright light; this viewfinder has very good quality. It has a small 2.6-inch LCD, which has good quality that lets you compose your shots and has decent playback of photos and video.
