To counter this tricky lighting, the A55 offers D-Range Optimization that compresses tones to preserve detail in both shadows and highlights.

This feature is not unique to the A55; Canon offers a similar feature which it calls Auto Lighting Optimizer and Nikon uses the moniker Active D-Lighting.

However, the A55 offers five levels of D-Range optimization. To use it, press the dedicated D-Range button on the top of the camera to reveal the DRO menu item and toggle between Auto, Lv 1, Lv 2, LV3, Lv 4 and Lv 5.

In the high contrast winter photos below, you can see that the D-Range reveals much more shadow detail at Lv 5.

For the last few years, HDR has been popularized by using software to combine multiple images within the computer. The A55 is one of the first to offer it easily and automatically in-camera.

While it may not produce acceptable results in all situations, I’ve been happy with many of the A55’s HDR images that I’ve captured.

Note that HDR is not available unless the A55 is set to capture JPG only images (not RAW).

When set to use this feature, the A55 captures six successive images and merges them to produce a single image with lower noise.

Once again, it’s simple to use. Press the ISO button and set the topmost item (labeled ISO) between Auto and 25600. Press the shutter release to capture the scene and a short time later after it is processed, the image is written to the SDHC card.

Above, you can clearly see that the noise level of the rightmost image is significantly less than the leftmost image even though it was captured at a higher ISO setting. I experienced an equally reduced noise level in several other images that I shot in low lighting conditions. So I find multi frame noise reduction to be a very useful yet unexpected feature.

Note that multi frame noise reduction is not available unless the A55 is set to capture JPG only images (not RAW).

With the A55, you can create a panorama automatically. First, you set the mode dial for panoramas. From the shooting menu, you can select either 2D or 3D panoramas.

For 2D panoramas, you choose a direction for panning: left to right, right to left, up to down or down to up direction and a format: standard or wide.

For 3D panoramas, you choose a direction for panning: left to right or right to left and a format: 16:9, standard or wide.

As its name suggests, to capture a scene you press and hold the shutter while slowly sweeping (panning) the camera in the chosen direction. After a specified number of images are captured, shooting ends and the A55 stitches together the separate images to create the panorama and writes a single one to the SDHC card.

It’s as simple as that. You’ll want to take a few test shots to determine the speed at which you should sweep the camera. To guide you, the A55 displays helpful text messages in the viewfinder with shooting suggestions.

The 3D panorama will appear as a 2D panorama if you do not use a 3D television nor special eyewear.

I really enjoy the ease at which I can capture a landscape using the Sweep Panorama.

Consequently, most of my photos of birds are from quite a distance using a long telephoto lens.

On my last outing, I snapped several bird photos which drew complimentary comments from several viewers. While I’d like to think that the photos were the result of my great skills as a nature photographer, in this case it’s not true.

Last week, I was doing a little winter hiking in Bryce Canyon NP and stumbled upon this colorful Stellar’s jay.

This photo was taken with long telephoto lens from about 50 feet away. I hesitated to approach the jay any closer for fear that he’d take off.

I can only surmise that in the cold wintery weather he was acting differently than he would if I encountered him in warmer weather.

My telephoto lens has two settings: one to accommodate close focusing (2 meters) and one for more distant focusing (8 meters). So as not to disturb the bird, I very slowly changed the lens setting for close focusing and snapped.

Bingo. Here’s the closeup that I ended up with of the Stellar’s jay.

I can definitely say that this photo was more a matter of luck than skill. Anyway, for me this photograph is a definite keeper.

As I was hiking along the hard packed, snow covered trail that descended into one of the canyons, I heard a screech overhead. I gazed upwards and saw a large, majestic set of wings in the sky.

I hurriedly changed lenses to my long telephoto and looked up again. But during the minute that I spent changing lenses, the predator had climbed higher and farther away.