Sony A580L

A runner-up in the advanced-beginner digital SLR category, the Sony A580L does an overall good job in tests but not quite as well as the top-rated Nikon D5100 (*Est. $850 with kit lens). Still, if you're interested in unique shooting modes such as Sweep Panorama or the best live view available, experts say this could be the camera for you.

The Sony A580L shares the same 16.2-megapixel image sensor as the Nikon D5100, so testers (not surprisingly) report very good image quality. However, more than one notes that the Sony camera has more trouble with noise (graininess) in very dim light, over-smoothing the image and sacrificing detail to get rid of the graininess. Some also report that when they leave the Sony's auto white balance to its own devices, it leaves photos overly warm or doesn't render colors correctly.

The A580L has an optical viewfinder, but if you prefer framing your shots on the tilting 3-inch LCD screen, the camera offers a choice of two live view modes -- a fast-autofocus version (that makes use of a built-in secondary sensor) or a more precise, normal live view. Autofocus isn't available while shooting 1080p full-HD video clips, though. Testers have fun with the A580L's unique shooting modes, including the superb Auto HDR (which shoots the same shot at various exposures and blends them together to beat bad-lighting problems) and Sweep Panorama, in which you pan from one side to the other and the camera stitches the images together to create a wide panoramic shot.