Best Mid-Range dSLR

There’s simply nothing else that comes close to the Sony A55. If you’re willing to drop the conventional optical viewfinder of a dSLR and use a very good electronic viewfinder, the A55 provides performance far beyond its price bracket. The SLT design means that the camera doesn’t direct light away from the autofocus sensor at any time, resulting in continuous autofocus while firing 10 frames per second bursts and shooting 1080p video. Compare that to the 3.7fps and 4fps bursts found on Canon’s T3i and Nikon D5100, respectively. All the models in this category have articulating screens but the A55 is the only one, due to the electronic viewfinder, to feature 100 percent viewfinder coverage. The A55’s 16 megapixel sensor is up there with the best: Resolution and noise characteristics are competitive throughout the range. The closest competition comes from Sony’s own A580, a dSLR that trades the SLT and resulting autofocus tricks for a much better battery life and true optical viewfinder. Oh yeah, the A55 can also use that 10fps to automatically overlay photos for HDR, reducing noise, or crafting in-camera panoramas. Beast mode