Sony Alpha 390

The Alpha 390 is a Sony DSLR from 2010 built around a 14.2 megapixel APS-C CCD sensor. It is a stills camera in the strict sense: there is no video recording of any kind.

It frames shots two ways. You can use the optical viewfinder at eye level or live view on the tilting LCD for overhead and waist-level angles, and the stabilisation built into the body steadies handheld work with any Sony DT lens.

At 549 g and 128 x 97 x 86 mm it is a camera for a bag rather than a pocket. Its 2.5 fps burst and an ISO range that tops out at 3200 suit considered photography over fast action.

The sensor is an APS-C CCD unit with a Bionz processor handling the captured data. The ISO range runs from 100 to 3200, so dim scenes call for steadier handheld technique or flash rather than a higher sensitivity setting.

Stabilisation sits in the body rather than the lens, so it reduces camera shake with every Sony DT lens you attach, including those with no stabilisation of their own. That lets you handhold at slower shutter speeds than you otherwise could, though it cannot stop a moving subject.

Burst shooting tops out at 2.5 frames per second, a maximum better suited to patient subjects than to fast action. Autofocus offers nine points to choose among, so focus-and-reframe is a useful habit for off-centre compositions.

Framing is through a pentamirror optical viewfinder, which shows the scene directly with no display lag, and the shutter reaches 1/4000s, which helps when you want wide apertures in bright light.

The Alpha 390 does not record video. There is no movie mode at any resolution or frame rate, so any moment that needs motion has to be captured as stills or filmed with a separate device.

There is no built-in interval timer either, so time-lapse work would mean firing each frame by hand or using other equipment, with the pacing left to you rather than the camera.

For a photographer shooting stills only, this is simple to live with. Cards hold photos and nothing else, there are no recording settings, formats or frame rates to learn, and no video files to sort or edit afterwards. The tilting LCD and live view remain useful for composing stills at awkward angles.

The Features score of 34/100 is limited, and the Alpha 390 sits in the bottom 15% of cameras in our database for Features. Points come mainly from live view and the screen; a touchscreen, GPS, Bluetooth and weather sealing earn nothing.

What is here is practical. The 2.7-inch LCD tilts for waist-level and overhead shooting, and live view uses it for composing away from the viewfinder. At 230,400 dots the screen earns few of the points available for display detail, so it suits framing better than precise focus checks.

The built-in flash handles occasional indoor light, and a hot shoe lets you add a stronger external flash when you outgrow it. There is no weather sealing, so keep the camera out of rain and dust.

Storage & Battery scores 13/100, limited, and the numbers explain why. The NP-FH50 battery is rated for 230 shots per charge, so a charged spare is worth having for longer sessions.

That 230-shot figure is a rating, not a promise of real-world endurance, and how long a charge lasts can depend on how much you use the LCD and live view. Charging over USB is not supported, so you cannot top the battery up over a cable between shoots.

There is a single card slot, so no in-camera backup recording. It accepts both SD/SDHC cards and Memory Stick Pro Duo or Pro-HG Duo media, which mainly matters if you already own one of those formats.