I was one of the early adopters of the A55 in November of 2010, it being the first Sony Alpha that I have found both affordable enough and interesting enough to own. I'm not going to review it, or even write much about the now well-known things that make it - and the other SLT models - so revolutionary. Instead, I want to write about several aspects of the camera that Sony has not publicized, and that are only being documented now by users like myself.

Here's a typical scene from a tourist destination, usually somewhere in the southern US: an older guy wearing sandals, dress socks and a guayaberas shirt, carrying around a Nikon or Leica camera outfit and taking snapshots at high noon.  After every few shots, he takes out his handkerchief or lens tissue and cleans the front element of his lens, removing all dust and any possible smudges.  Sound right?  Take a hard look next time if you don't know what I'm talking about!!  But more importantly, does this do any good?  Will dirt and dust really show up in pictures?  Is it necessary to clean minor dust and fingerprint smudges from the camera lens?
 
I've spent many sleepless nights contemplating just the thoughts above.  Now, thanks to some unscientific testing and serious abuse, I've been able to sleep better at nights with my new found knowledge.

The cameras used for a documentary on polar bears were designed to be as unobtrusive and resilient as possible.

Polar Bear: Spy on The Ice used hi-tech "spy cams" to get as close as possible to the bears during summer in the Arctic islands of Svalbard.

But while they were built to withstand temperatures as low as -40C, in the end most could not cope with the curiosity displayed by their subjects.