Sony DSLT-A77 and 16-50 f/2.8 SSM hands-on review
- Thread starter Rashkae
- Start date
You need to read up a bit more on how DSLR and SLT actually use light for AF - On an DSLR, about 1/3 stop of light passes through the mirror and is reflected downwards to the AF module. On a DSLT, about 1/3 stop of light is reflected upwards to the AF module - in other words, the same amount of light.
What you are thinking of would apply to CDAF, which the SLT cameras do not use.
ageha
Senior Member
Well, after almost a week of functional bliss, my a77 decided to join its dysfunctional brothers.
It started yesterday during an extended outing, when the shutter at first intermittently refused to fire with the flash open after I mounted a third-party MF lens via adapter. Eventually it cooperated fairly well. Everything else worked fine.
Worked perfectly today for a few shots with a Sony lens and SAL14TC. Powered it down for a while--without change of battery, lens, or memory card--and when I powered it back up, it started to behave just as I've read that its unruly siblings do. Display items missing, parts of the menu missing, FN, EV, & WB buttons don't work. After a few minutes, playback stopped working. And the LCD stayed dimly lit even after I powered it down, until I removed the battery.
Looks like my (less noisy) a35 is back on full-time duty until firmware v. 1.03 becomes available to us commoners . . . :hung:
It started yesterday during an extended outing, when the shutter at first intermittently refused to fire with the flash open after I mounted a third-party MF lens via adapter. Eventually it cooperated fairly well. Everything else worked fine.
Worked perfectly today for a few shots with a Sony lens and SAL14TC. Powered it down for a while--without change of battery, lens, or memory card--and when I powered it back up, it started to behave just as I've read that its unruly siblings do. Display items missing, parts of the menu missing, FN, EV, & WB buttons don't work. After a few minutes, playback stopped working. And the LCD stayed dimly lit even after I powered it down, until I removed the battery.
Looks like my (less noisy) a35 is back on full-time duty until firmware v. 1.03 becomes available to us commoners . . . :hung:
digitalpimp
Senior Member
Thanks, saw that on another site and tried it already, made absolutely no difference. This copy'll be quarantined in the dry cabinet until "vaccine" 1.03 is available.
digitalpimp
Senior Member
Wow that's a shame. Hope you get to kickstart it soon.
Just found another post about how to reset here:
http://www.dyxum.com/dforum/my-new-a77-died-after-30-minutes_topic80040_page8.html
It worked . . . my a77 is back to normal at the moment. Even my custom settings have reappeared.
http://www.dyxum.com/dforum/my-new-a77-died-after-30-minutes_topic80040_page8.html
It worked . . . my a77 is back to normal at the moment. Even my custom settings have reappeared.
albertri
Senior Member
vincentloh
Member
Worked for me too! Thank you so much!
Waiting for 1.03....
Waiting for 1.03....
Firmware 1.03 is here .
http://www.sonyalpharumors.com/sony-a77-1-03-firmware-available-at-sony-asia/
cheers =)
http://www.sonyalpharumors.com/sony-a77-1-03-firmware-available-at-sony-asia/
cheers =)
albertri
Senior Member
woot!!
albertri
Senior Member
Another Review this was recent (Oct 4th) so suspect the FW could be the latest
The lens used was 1650 and 70200 f2.8
Sony Alpha A77 review - What Digital Camera tests Sony's latest SLT-A77 | Digital SLR camera reviews, tests and specs | What Digital Camera
here's a portion of the verdict looks and sound very fair review
"The image quality delivered by the A77's 24.3MP APS-C type CMOS sensor is excellent. It probably can't quite match the Nikon D7000 or Canon EOS 7D at the higher end of the ISO spectrum, but it's fairly close, and excels when it comes to detail and tonal range over its rivals.
Sony's uncompromising approach to the Alpha A77 has produced a camera that not only matches some excellent competition, but beats them in a number of areas too."
Looking at the few sample photos one thing I like the colors love the blue shade also =)
The lens used was 1650 and 70200 f2.8
Sony Alpha A77 review - What Digital Camera tests Sony's latest SLT-A77 | Digital SLR camera reviews, tests and specs | What Digital Camera
here's a portion of the verdict looks and sound very fair review
"The image quality delivered by the A77's 24.3MP APS-C type CMOS sensor is excellent. It probably can't quite match the Nikon D7000 or Canon EOS 7D at the higher end of the ISO spectrum, but it's fairly close, and excels when it comes to detail and tonal range over its rivals.
Sony's uncompromising approach to the Alpha A77 has produced a camera that not only matches some excellent competition, but beats them in a number of areas too."
Looking at the few sample photos one thing I like the colors love the blue shade also =)
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After doing a reset on firmware 1.02 the glitches didn't return for the next couple of days, after which 1.03 became available.
It's nice not having to guess now which dial is for shutter speed and which is for aperture when shooting in manual mode! Response time to changing those settings is now as fast as it was on my D700. Dunno if it's an intended benefit or just a corollary effect from the new firmware, but I'm also getting significantly improved battery life.
The one glitch that didn't go away is that the shutter will not fire after an adapted lens is mounted, not even when "Release w/o Lens" is enabled, and not on any focus setting. As with 1.02, shutting off the camera, removing and replacing the battery, and restarting the camera fixes this. Not a big issue for me, though, as the 3rd-party lens in question won't be in my arsenal much longer.
Having the semi-programmable buttons makes adjusting on the fly almost 100% one-handed. My one wish is that peaking color could be one of the programmable options.
While the measurebators have been discussing, dissecting, whining, and pounding their keyboards about noise at high ISO, I've been in the field shooting at the other end of the spectrum--ISO 50--nuking my tiny subjects whenever I need to. There, the image texture beats even the much-vaunted D700. And with a good chunk of glass mounted, detail is at least as good as, maybe better than, what I've seen from a couple of MF sensors.
As I said in an earlier post in this thread, whether gear is good or not is--in one sense--subjective, depending on whether it's good at what one wants to use it for. Maybe the a77 isn't the best camera on the market for the folks who spend all day doing 100% crops of test patterns shot at ISO16000. But for a real-world bug-and-flower shooter like me, it's the best camera I've ever had my hands on, even better than my beloved D700, which I shot for almost two years.
The pundits and pipsqueaks can keep on bitching about the few things they think the a77 can't do; I'll be enjoying all the great things it can do.
It's nice not having to guess now which dial is for shutter speed and which is for aperture when shooting in manual mode! Response time to changing those settings is now as fast as it was on my D700. Dunno if it's an intended benefit or just a corollary effect from the new firmware, but I'm also getting significantly improved battery life.
The one glitch that didn't go away is that the shutter will not fire after an adapted lens is mounted, not even when "Release w/o Lens" is enabled, and not on any focus setting. As with 1.02, shutting off the camera, removing and replacing the battery, and restarting the camera fixes this. Not a big issue for me, though, as the 3rd-party lens in question won't be in my arsenal much longer.
Having the semi-programmable buttons makes adjusting on the fly almost 100% one-handed. My one wish is that peaking color could be one of the programmable options.
While the measurebators have been discussing, dissecting, whining, and pounding their keyboards about noise at high ISO, I've been in the field shooting at the other end of the spectrum--ISO 50--nuking my tiny subjects whenever I need to. There, the image texture beats even the much-vaunted D700. And with a good chunk of glass mounted, detail is at least as good as, maybe better than, what I've seen from a couple of MF sensors.
As I said in an earlier post in this thread, whether gear is good or not is--in one sense--subjective, depending on whether it's good at what one wants to use it for. Maybe the a77 isn't the best camera on the market for the folks who spend all day doing 100% crops of test patterns shot at ISO16000. But for a real-world bug-and-flower shooter like me, it's the best camera I've ever had my hands on, even better than my beloved D700, which I shot for almost two years.
The pundits and pipsqueaks can keep on bitching about the few things they think the a77 can't do; I'll be enjoying all the great things it can do.
Just had a brief hands-on before the new battery drains off.
I tried shooting in same scenerios and lighting condition like i always did whenever i have new cameras.
Initially impression, focus is fast and mostly dead-on, even with outer most focus points.
Colors are nice and saturated while remains natural.
Handling of camera is fantastic, just like A700 but feels lighter. The kit lens is quite heavy though but very solidly built, almost feels like younger bro of cz2470.
Shutter lag or lackof is great. I dun even know i have taken a shot. Shutter sound is also very quiet and discrete.
Here's comes the best part -iso noise which many are interested in and have seen many bashing on many forums.
With my unprofessional eyes, i would say that images are clean till iso1600 and a bit noisy at iso3200. In my experience with other cameras, its performance is quite on par with 60D for noise but certainly retains more details. It is not as good as A580/D7000 from iso3200 onwards but definitely improvement from A33/55.
In summary, its low light performance is slightly below the current 16mp sensors in the market but better or equals to canon 18mp ones.
Btw this new kit lens is damn sharp, even at f2.8. I took some closeups of my son and the details of his eyes are astonishing! Even at iso1600 i still can see almost all his eye lashes in crisp details. So i must say this new kit lens is a must buy for all alpha crop body owners!
More to come after my battery is recharged.
I tried shooting in same scenerios and lighting condition like i always did whenever i have new cameras.
Initially impression, focus is fast and mostly dead-on, even with outer most focus points.
Colors are nice and saturated while remains natural.
Handling of camera is fantastic, just like A700 but feels lighter. The kit lens is quite heavy though but very solidly built, almost feels like younger bro of cz2470.
Shutter lag or lackof is great. I dun even know i have taken a shot. Shutter sound is also very quiet and discrete.
Here's comes the best part -iso noise which many are interested in and have seen many bashing on many forums.
With my unprofessional eyes, i would say that images are clean till iso1600 and a bit noisy at iso3200. In my experience with other cameras, its performance is quite on par with 60D for noise but certainly retains more details. It is not as good as A580/D7000 from iso3200 onwards but definitely improvement from A33/55.
In summary, its low light performance is slightly below the current 16mp sensors in the market but better or equals to canon 18mp ones.
Btw this new kit lens is damn sharp, even at f2.8. I took some closeups of my son and the details of his eyes are astonishing! Even at iso1600 i still can see almost all his eye lashes in crisp details. So i must say this new kit lens is a must buy for all alpha crop body owners!
More to come after my battery is recharged.
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deadlytoad
Deregistered
I got my A77 with kit Len too. Total agree, ISO at 3200 is really lose to my D7000. Batt drain fast too. Must at least get 2 batt for a whole day shot
kei1309
Senior Member
what multi selector?
think he referring to the focusing point.... it can be hard for 70 plus people to see where the points are
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