Specifications#
- Brand
- Sony
- Model
- Alpha 900
- Also known as
- DSLR-A900, Sony DSLR-A900
- Camera type
- DSLR
- Released
- 2008-01-01
- Lens mount
- Sony / Minolta A-mount
- Sensor size
- 35.9 × 24.0 mm (Full frame (35 mm))
- Crop factor
- 1.00×
- Resolution
- 24.6 MP (6,066 × 4,055 px)
- ISO range
- 100 – 6,400
- Continuous shooting
- 5 fps
- Weight
- 850 g (30.0 oz)
- Sensor
- 35.9 mm × 24.0 mm Exmor CMOS sensor
- Storage
- Memory Stick: Memory Stick Duo, Memory Stick PRO Duo, Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo Compact Flash Type I, Type II (Microdrive), UDMA (Mode5) compliant
- Viewfinder
- Fixed eye-level system with optical glass type pentaprism, approximately 100%, 0.74x Magnification
- AF points / area
- TTL CCD line sensors (9-points, center dual cross types + 10 assist sensors)
- Metering
- TTL metering Cell: 40-segment honeycomb-pattern SPC Range: 0 EV to 20 EV (+2 EV to +20 EV with Spot metering) (at ISO 100 equivalent with F1.4 lens)
- Exposure modes
- Mode: Auto, Program Auto (P, with program shift), Aperture priority (A), Shutter priority (S), Manual (M)
- Shutter
- Electronically controlled, vertical-traverse, focal-plane type
- Battery
- NP-FM500H Lithium-Ion rechargeable battery (1650 mAh)
- Lens
- Sony mount; compatible with Minolta A-type bayonet mount.
- Drive
- 5fps
Specifications merged from Wikipedia, Wikidata, Lensfun and openMVG. Spot an error? Tell us.
Sensor size compared#
Focal length equivalents & field of view#
Multiply any focal length by 1.00 to get the full-frame field of view. Angles are for a rectilinear lens focused at infinity.
| Lens on this camera | Full-frame equivalent | Horizontal | Vertical | Diagonal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 mm | 10 mm | 121.8° | 100.4° | 130.3° |
| 12 mm | 12 mm | 112.5° | 90.0° | 121.9° |
| 14 mm | 14 mm | 104.1° | 81.2° | 114.1° |
| 16 mm | 16 mm | 96.6° | 73.7° | 106.9° |
| 18 mm | 18 mm | 89.8° | 67.4° | 100.4° |
| 20 mm | 20 mm | 83.8° | 61.9° | 94.4° |
| 24 mm | 24 mm | 73.6° | 53.1° | 84.0° |
| 28 mm | 28 mm | 65.3° | 46.4° | 75.3° |
| 35 mm | 35 mm | 54.3° | 37.8° | 63.3° |
| 40 mm | 40 mm | 48.3° | 33.4° | 56.7° |
| 50 mm | 50 mm | 39.5° | 27.0° | 46.7° |
| 56 mm | 56 mm | 35.5° | 24.2° | 42.2° |
| 70 mm | 70 mm | 28.8° | 19.5° | 34.3° |
| 85 mm | 85 mm | 23.8° | 16.1° | 28.5° |
| 100 mm | 100 mm | 20.4° | 13.7° | 24.4° |
| 135 mm | 135 mm | 15.1° | 10.2° | 18.2° |
| 200 mm | 200 mm | 10.3° | 6.9° | 12.3° |
| 300 mm | 301 mm | 6.8° | 4.6° | 8.2° |
| 400 mm | 401 mm | 5.1° | 3.4° | 6.2° |
| 600 mm | 601 mm | 3.4° | 2.3° | 4.1° |
| 800 mm | 802 mm | 2.6° | 1.7° | 3.1° |
Depth of field table#
Total depth of field at each subject distance, using a circle of confusion of 29.9 µm (the 0.030 mm full-frame standard scaled by the crop factor). Detailed tables: 24 mm f/1.8, 24 mm f/2.8, 35 mm f/1.8, 35 mm f/2.8, 50 mm f/1.8, 50 mm f/2.8.
| Focal | Aperture | 50.0 cm | 1.00 m | 2.00 m | 3.00 m | 5.00 m | 10.0 m | Hyperfocal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22 mm | f/1.8 | 5.3 cm | 22.0 cm | 92.6 cm | 2.24 m | 8.00 m | ∞ | 9.00 m |
| 22 mm | f/2.8 | 8.3 cm | 34.9 cm | 1.55 m | 4.22 m | 33.6 m | ∞ | 5.80 m |
| 22 mm | f/4 | 12.0 cm | 51.4 cm | 2.57 m | 9.68 m | ∞ | ∞ | 4.06 m |
| 22 mm | f/8 | 25.1 cm | 1.26 m | 94.0 m | ∞ | ∞ | ∞ | 2.04 m |
| 43 mm | f/1.8 | 1.3 cm | 5.6 cm | 22.9 cm | 52.1 cm | 1.48 m | 6.34 m | 34.3 m |
| 43 mm | f/2.8 | 2.1 cm | 8.7 cm | 35.8 cm | 81.9 cm | 2.37 m | 11.3 m | 22.1 m |
| 43 mm | f/4 | 3.0 cm | 12.4 cm | 51.5 cm | 1.19 m | 3.58 m | 22.1 m | 15.5 m |
| 43 mm | f/8 | 5.9 cm | 25.2 cm | 1.08 m | 2.69 m | 10.9 m | ∞ | 7.76 m |
| 73 mm | f/1.8 | 0.4 cm | 1.9 cm | 7.8 cm | 17.8 cm | 50.0 cm | 2.03 m | 98.9 m |
| 73 mm | f/2.8 | 0.7 cm | 2.9 cm | 12.1 cm | 27.7 cm | 78.0 cm | 3.20 m | 63.6 m |
| 73 mm | f/4 | 1.0 cm | 4.2 cm | 17.4 cm | 39.6 cm | 1.12 m | 4.70 m | 44.6 m |
| 73 mm | f/8 | 1.9 cm | 8.3 cm | 34.9 cm | 80.3 cm | 2.33 m | 11.1 m | 22.3 m |
| 120 mm | f/1.8 | 0.1 cm | 0.7 cm | 2.8 cm | 6.5 cm | 18.3 cm | 74.1 cm | 267 m |
| 120 mm | f/2.8 | 0.2 cm | 1.0 cm | 4.4 cm | 10.1 cm | 28.4 cm | 1.15 m | 172 m |
| 120 mm | f/4 | 0.3 cm | 1.5 cm | 6.3 cm | 14.4 cm | 40.7 cm | 1.65 m | 120 m |
| 120 mm | f/8 | 0.6 cm | 2.9 cm | 12.5 cm | 28.8 cm | 81.7 cm | 3.38 m | 60.2 m |
Equivalent aperture#
Exposure is identical at the same f-number on any format; equivalence only describes depth of field and total light.
Diffraction & pixel pitch#
With 5.92 µm pixels, diffraction starts to soften pixel-level detail around f/8.8. For maximum sharpness keep landscapes between f/4.9 and f/9; stopping down further trades detail for depth of field.
| Aperture | Airy disk diameter | Spread over | At 100% view |
|---|---|---|---|
| f/2.8 | 3.8 µm | 0.6 px | sharp |
| f/4 | 5.4 µm | 0.9 px | sharp |
| f/5.6 | 7.5 µm | 1.3 px | sharp |
| f/8 | 10.7 µm | 1.8 px | sharp |
| f/11 | 14.8 µm | 2.5 px | slight softening |
| f/16 | 21.5 µm | 3.6 px | visibly soft |
| f/22 | 29.5 µm | 5.0 px | visibly soft |
Maximum print sizes#
At 24.6 MP the Sony Alpha 900 produces 6,066 × 4,055 pixel images. See the 24 megapixel guide or the print size calculator.
| Resolution | Typical use | Inches | Centimetres |
|---|---|---|---|
| 300 DPI | Photo-lab quality | 20.2 × 13.5 in | 51 × 34 cm |
| 240 DPI | Fine-art inkjet | 25.3 × 16.9 in | 64 × 43 cm |
| 200 DPI | Wall print | 30.3 × 20.3 in | 77 × 51 cm |
| 150 DPI | Poster, viewed from 1 m+ | 40.4 × 27.0 in | 103 × 69 cm |
Night-sky exposure limits#
Longest exposure before stars trail. The NPF rule accounts for pixel pitch and is stricter than the classic 500 rule — use it for pin-sharp stars on high-resolution sensors.
| Focal length | 500 rule | NPF f/1.8 | NPF f/2.8 | NPF f/4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 mm (14 mm eq.) | 35.6 s | 17.2 s | 19.7 s | 22.7 s |
| 20 mm (20 mm eq.) | 25.0 s | 12.0 s | 13.8 s | 15.9 s |
| 24 mm (24 mm eq.) | 20.8 s | 10.0 s | 11.5 s | 13.2 s |
| 35 mm (35 mm eq.) | 14.3 s | 6.9 s | 7.9 s | 9.1 s |
| 50 mm (50 mm eq.) | 10.0 s | 4.8 s | 5.5 s | 6.4 s |
Handheld shutter speed guide#
The reciprocal rule uses the equivalent focal length. High-resolution sensors may need one stop faster than this for pixel-sharp results.
| Focal length | No stabilisation (1/equiv. focal) | With 3-stop IS | With 5-stop IBIS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 24 mm | 1/25 s | 0.3 s | 1.3 s |
| 50 mm | 1/50 s | 1/6 s | 0.6 s |
| 100 mm | 1/100 s | 1/13 s | 0.3 s |
| 200 mm | 1/200 s | 1/25 s | 1/6 s |
Lenses for the Sony Alpha 900#
Native Sony / Minolta A-mount lenses in our database (129 total). Also adaptable: T-mount (T2), M42 screw mount, Deckel (DKL), Tamron Adaptall, M39 / LTM (Leica thread).
- Samyang 8mm f/3.5 Fish-Eye CS 8 mm
- Samyang 10mm f/2.8 ED AS NCS CS 10 mm
- Laowa 12mm f/2.8 Zero-D 12 mm
- Samyang 14mm f/2.8 AE ED AS IF UMC 14 mm
- Laowa 15mm F/4 Wide Angle Macro 15 mm
- Samyang 16mm f/2.0 ED AS UMC CS 16 mm
- Samyang 20mm f/1.8 ED AS UMC 20 mm
- Samyang 24mm f/1.4 ED AS IF UMC 24 mm
- Samyang T-S 24mm f/3.5 ED AS UMC 24 mm
- Laowa 60mm f/2.8 2X Ultra-Macro 60 mm
- Samyang 85mm f/1.4 IF UMC Aspherical 85 mm
- Samyang 135mm f/2 ED UMC 135 mm
- Sigma 4.5mm f/2.8 EX DC HSM circular fisheye 4.5 mm
- Sigma 8-16mm f/4.5-5.6 DC HSM 8–16 mm
- Sigma 10-20mm f/3.5 EX DC HSM 10–20 mm
- Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 EX DC 10–20 mm
- Sigma 10mm f/2.8 EX DC Fisheye HSM 10 mm
- Tamron SP AF 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5 Di II LD Aspherical (IF) 10–24 mm
- Tamron SP AF 11-18mm f/4.5-5.6 Di-II LD Aspherical (IF) 11–18 mm
- Tokina AF 11-16mm f/2.8 AT-X Pro DX 11–16 mm
- Tokina AT-X 116 PRO DX II (11-16mm f/2.8) 11–16 mm
- Sigma 12-24mm F4.5-5.6 II DG HSM 12–24 mm
- Sigma 14mm f/2.8 EX 14 mm
- Sigma 14mm f/2.8 EX Aspherical HSM 14 mm
- Sigma 14mm f/3.5 EX 14 mm
- Sigma 15-30mm f/3.5-4.5 EX DG Aspherical 15–30 mm
- Sigma 15mm f/2.8 EX DG Diagonal Fisheye 15 mm
- Tamron SP 15-30mm f/2.8 Di VC USD 15–30 mm
- Sony AF DT 16-105mm f/3.5-5.6 16–105 mm
- Sony DT 16-50mm f/2.8 SSM 16–50 mm
- Sony Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* 16-35mm f/2.8 ZA SSM II 16–35 mm
- Tamron 16-300mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD Macro B016 16–300 mm
- Sigma 17-35mm F2.8-4 EX DG Aspherical HSM 17–35 mm
- Sigma 17-35mm f/2.8-4 EX DG 17–35 mm
- Sigma 17-50mm f/2.8 EX DC OS HSM 17–50 mm
- Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4 DC Macro OS HSM | Contemporary 013 17–70 mm
Similar cameras#
Other Full frame (35 mm) cameras from around the same time.
Frequently asked questions#
What is the crop factor of the Sony Alpha 900?
The Sony Alpha 900 has a crop factor of 1.00× relative to 35 mm full frame (diagonal 43.2 mm vs 43.3 mm).
What size is the Sony Alpha 900 sensor?
35.9 × 24.0 mm (Full frame (35 mm)), an area of 862 mm² — 100% of full frame.
Is the Sony Alpha 900 full frame?
Yes — its sensor is the same 36 × 24 mm size as 35 mm film.
How many megapixels does the Sony Alpha 900 have?
24.6 megapixels (6,066 × 4,055 pixels), enough for a 20 × 14 inch print at 300 DPI.
What lens mount does the Sony Alpha 900 use?
The Sony Alpha 900 uses the Sony / Minolta A-mount (flange distance 44.50 mm).
How long can I expose the night sky with the Sony Alpha 900?
With a 20 mm lens (20 mm equivalent) the 500 rule gives 25 s and the stricter NPF rule at f/2.8 gives 14 s.
Sources & licences#
- Wikipedia: Sony Alpha 900 — CC BY-SA 4.0
- Wikidata Q1328050 — CC0
- Lensfun camera database — CC BY-SA 3.0
- openMVG sensor width database — MPL-2.0
Last updated October 03, 2026 · How we calculate · Sources