The Sony SLT-A77 Digital SLR – Great Camera

The new Sony SLT-A77 digital SLR was recently released, and it’s already almost sold out. The video quality on digital SLRs like the A77 have skyrocketed the past few years, partly due to the Canon EOS 5D Mark II. DSLRs have image sensors about 20 times the size of those found in most video cameras and this makes for a huge difference in quality.

The camera produces an almost cinematic video, including blurry backgrounds and extremely sharp images. Though there are a couple of problems. Focusing a camera is usually done manually, and it’s hard to maintain sharpness while shooting. The Sony A77 could be the first SLR to boast both auto focus while shooting and image composition via the viewfinder or LCD.

Camera’s Top Feature

The best feature of all: When you begin to compose on the LCD and bring the camera up to your eye, the camera senses your face and goes from the LCD view to viewfinder.

Sony manages this with its translucent mirror technology, which overpowers the typical camera mirror that’s used to help compose images and show the photographer a real view of the scene. The A77 makes use of an electronic OLED viewfinder that copies what you see.

On the Canon DSLRs, video clips can only last up to 12 minutes. Obviously, it would be a bit difficult to use these cameras at say, a graduation or wedding since you would have to be watching the camera to switch it back on.

The A77 can last for 29 minutes per clip. Not to mention it produces some pretty good-looking video. Sony claims that the battery can last for three whole hours of continuous video shooting.

Now for the issues with the camera:

• Its light sensitivity goes up to 16,000 ISO for still shots, allowing good pictures in pretty dark environments. But its limit is only 1,600 for video.

• The camera’s autofocus only functions in video if you shoot in automatic mode. If you like manually setting exposure you can’t do it.

The camera boasts 24.3 megapixels and 12 frames per second for still shots. Since it has a great 19-point focus system, it’ll work well for sports and other events that require a lot of moving.

Out of Stock

If you’re looking to buy one then you’ll have a tough time finding it. The first shipment has already sold out at most retailers. Sony notes that the recent floods in Thailand, where the A77 was manufactured, slowed production. The company has moved production to another facility and says that more cameras should arrive soon.

The lens plus the body of the camera brings its total to $2,000. If you want to pinch a few pennies then you could buy a cheaper Sony lens, like the $199 18-55mm medium-wide to medium-telephoto zoom lens. But this lens doesn’t work very well indoors. If you’re serious about your photography and/or video then you should probably just go ahead and buy it.

USAToday Photo by : SONY