Leaked images of the A77...

[OldClicker]

Couple more days.

More Sony Alpha a77 leaks | Photo Rumors

Terry

[PWhite214]

Looks good, I wonder if I will be able to afford it

Phil

[Anbesol]

I'm psyched. I really hope they improved the control dial problem though. That has been a growing problem with my A700, and its migrated to my front control wheel as well. Hopefully the 'weather seal' improves that issue (i think its a result of moisture in the control wheel).

I wonder when imaging-resource and dxo will have their lab work done.

[Anbesol]

interesting, rumor had it that the a77 would play well with CF, MS pro duo AND SD, but the memory card door doesn't look big enough to handle CF here.... I hope it does stick with CF as well, but at the very least, I really hope it does MS Pro Duo plus SD, as in, not either/or, but BOTH at once.

[petecam]

Thanks for the welcome Terry.
I must admit I did not know that My lenses would fit the Sony bodies what a pleasant surprise . Backward compatible how refreshing in this day & age . I keep looking at the various models & reviews but I know the A77 is coming out how much better will it be over the A55 or A580 . ? Then of course is the extra price . I don't take as many photos as I used to .The 35 mm costs do seem to be escalating lately . What do you think I should do Regards Peter

[Anbesol]

The big difference is and will be in the pro level design of the A77, the one and only APS Pro body of Sony's yet made was the A700 which was released 5 years ago. Versus the A55/A580 the A77 will have a more sophisticated and faster AF with more cross points, a much better LCD in the EVF, as well as the best articulating LCD device yet, rugged weather sealed body, 1/8000th second shutter speed, better manual controls built into interface, more megapixels, etc etc. The list goes on, it will be a significant difference and a major upgrade, even from what we know pre-announcement. Wait some 4 or 5 hours and we should hear official announcement.

[Photo-John]

Tons of camera announcements in the past two days. I'm working my way through them all with the Sony stuff coming up shortly. I'll post some thoughts and links to my articles here once I get a chance to digest it all

[Anbesol]

Awesome.

I'm a bit bummed about the $1400 price tag. That may put off the purchase for some time. IF in fact thats the price it ends up GOING for. Canon placed the 60D at the same price point but its been going for $1k - $1.1k

[Greg McCary]

Well I kind of figured as much. The Nex 7 will be priced just as high. But I won't be ready for a move for a few more weeks anyway. I'll let others test drive them first.

[petecam]

The price of the A77 body in the UK is £1179 at todays exchange rate I got today is $1944 US$. I have always noticed Sony products in the UK are constantly a lot dearer than is the US it does grieve me . Perhaps a Sony spokesman can tell me why . Not give us a political round the houses answer . It means I will have to wait a while until the price drops

Regards Peter

[OldClicker]

The price of the A77 body in the UK is £1179 at todays exchange rate I got today is $1944 US$. I have always noticed Sony products in the UK are constantly a lot dearer than is the US it does grieve me . Perhaps a Sony spokesman can tell me why . Not give us a political round the houses answer . It means I will have to wait a while until the price drops

Regards Peter

A big part of it is VAT (sales tax is not shown in the US prices) and the cost of the EU mandated warrantee. – Terry

[OldClicker]

Awesome.

I'm a bit bummed about the $1400 price tag. That may put off the purchase for some time. IF in fact thats the price it ends up GOING for. Canon placed the 60D at the same price point but its been going for $1k - $1.1k

I agree - it's a little steep for what you get for a still-only phoptographer. - Terry

[OldClicker]

Other than the price higher than expected, it's pretty much as rumored. We'll see how it turns out. For the monent, I'm still looking for a deal on an A580. - Terry

[Anbesol]

I'm not saying the price is steep, but I was hoping the rumor was correct. A700's were at $1500 MSRP but going $1100 on the market by spring, when I picked up mine. Looks also like the rumored USB 3.0 and Compact Flash compatibility was incorrect as well..

Where is the SSS button? Is it in menu, or is it just constantly engaged?

[petecam]

In 1987 I scrimped & saved for the Minolta 9000 body .I had a 5000 maxum US camera again a lot cheaper than the UK camera got a good price for the 5000 though . Little did we know then the digital revolution to come My beloved 9000 will stay with me for ever.Still got the box & all the paperwork I did ask some techos if it could be converted to digital. I got some funny looks I can tell you .Some people have not got a sense of humour I come from an age you don't throw away good gear . So when I found out I could reuse my lenses it was a most pleasant surprise . As I am nearing the twilight of my life I will have to lower my expectations . Like you Terry perhaps the the 580 will come down quite a lot .

Regards Peter

[OldClicker]

I'm not saying the price is steep, but I was hoping the rumor was correct. A700's were at $1500 MSRP but going $1100 on the market by spring, when I picked up mine. Looks also like the rumored USB 3.0 and Compact Flash compatibility was incorrect as well..

Where is the SSS button? Is it in menu, or is it just constantly engaged?

I believe that tha A700 was also $1400 (at least on the DPR review)??? Lets hope that the A77 doesn't drop in price like the A700 because we know what that meant - they couldn't sell them. When I got mine, right near the end, they were selling for $700-800.

I notice the "USB 2.0" also. CF cards were doubtful, but I was surprised that there is only one slot. I really like the second back up card. It's saved me a few times.

No SSS button. I don't know if one of the other buttons can be programmed to SSS.

Overall, I think this camera (as well as the new NEXi) is a very positive thing for Sony's future. Things look bright.

Terry

[OldClicker]

In 1987 I scrimped & saved for the Minolta 9000 body .I had a 5000 maxum US camera again a lot cheaper than the UK camera got a good price for the 5000 though . Little did we know then the digital revolution to come My beloved 9000 will stay with me for ever.Still got the box & all the paperwork I did ask some techos if it could be converted to digital. I got some funny looks I can tell you .Some people have not got a sense of humour I come from an age you don't throw away good gear . So when I found out I could reuse my lenses it was a most pleasant surprise . As I am nearing the twilight of my life I will have to lower my expectations . Like you Terry perhaps the the 580 will come down quite a lot .

Regards Peter

What Maxxum lenses do you have? I really love my 70-210 f/4 'beercan'. The 'bokeh' is second to none. - Terry

[petecam]

Lenses are Minolta 35-105 f3.5
Minolta 100-300 f4.5
Sigma 28-70 f3.5
Sigma 75-200 f2.8
They seem to cover most of my requirements I now know on a digital camera the x50%
The only issue is does the Sigma's work on on the Sony body without rechipping ?

Regards Peter

[petecam]

Meant to say nice picky Terry Sorry

Regards Peter

[Franglais]

Nobody has mentioned so far that the A77 doesn't have an optical viewfinder. As far as I can make out you look through the viewfinder and you see an image on the OLED screen. The semi-transparent mirror is used send an image to the autofocus system. It's more like a bridge camera than a classic DSLR.

This is not a criticism. Sony are being original. Lets see how it works out in practice.

[Anbesol]

Nobody mentioned it because its all common sense now. The OLED screen is not a problem, its one of the main attractions.

[OldClicker]

Nobody has mentioned so far that the A77 doesn't have an optical viewfinder. As far as I can make out you look through the viewfinder and you see an image on the OLED screen. The semi-transparent mirror is used send an image to the autofocus system. It's more like a bridge camera than a classic DSLR.

This is not a criticism. Sony are being original. Lets see how it works out in practice.

Sorry, but that's been a given for at least a year. It's very unlikely that Sony will make another APS-C OVF and (my guess) 50/50 for an FF body. Next big step (I hope) is the fully electronic shutter - no more obnoxious noise!

Terry

[Anbesol]

It's more like a bridge camera than a classic DSLR.

Wait, not a bridge camera at all, at least not in the sense that you are saying. In order for it to be a bridge, there needs to be two different categories that it fits into, that it is bridging. The NEX and M43 cameras are "Bridge" cameras, bridging the smaller compact size and interface of point and shoots with DSLR function and image quality. The A77 is every bit and then some of a pro APS camera body. It fits quite well in the current category, when looking at function and features. What you are talking about is innovation, not bridging.

Look at imaging-resources first look at the A77 and the image results. They are comparing its images with the 5D, the A900, the D3X and even the pentax 645, all full frame (and MF) bodies. If the A77 is any kind of bridge camera, its the full frame / APS bridge. 24 megapixels is a ton of resolution.

Who knows how soon Sony will let Nikon get their hands on the sensor.

[NoKnees]

Like others, I'm a little bummed about the USD $ price that it's going to hit the market at initially, but even if it were $200 - $400 cheaper, I'm not quite in a position to jump on it yet anyway... I went out of my way to get the a700 just a couple months after it's release when it was about $1299, and never had any regrets. I'm sure the same will be true with the a77... I just think I'll have to wait until after Christmas this time around...

Anyway, it'll be interesting to see how the RAW files clean-up. There are a lot of folks being critical about the IQ of some of the sample a77 images already (mostly jpeg of course), but they are all from prototypes, and with basic lenses and some odd settings. Diffraction appears to set in earlier with this 24mp sensor based on some of the early samples... Folks are seeing loss in detail starting much earlier, around f8, compared to what we are used to... Dunno... Still looks pretty nice to me...

Now I have to keep my head in the sand and ignore all the normal jpeg and image quality bashing and complaints that everyone already has about the a77 before it even hits the streets...

For those concerned with the 24mp file sizes, I'd be really, really shocked if it didn't have an option for 12mp raws and images as well. The a900 has some options that make managing file sizes easier on you if you don't feel you need it all, all the time... Still, 24mp at 12fps... Impressive engine in that rig... Would love to see how long you could keep 12fps going if you only shot at 12mp... Really, really can't wait for some hands on testing...

Greg

[OldClicker]

Like others, I'm a little bummed about the USD $ price that it's going to hit the market at initially, but even if it were $200 - $400 cheaper, I'm not quite in a position to jump on it yet anyway... I went out of my way to get the a700 just a couple months after it's release when it was about $1299, and never had any regrets. I'm sure the same will be true with the a77... I just think I'll have to wait until after Christmas this time around...

Anyway, it'll be interesting to see how the RAW files clean-up. There are a lot of folks being critical about the IQ of some of the sample a77 images already (mostly jpeg of course), but they are all from prototypes, and with basic lenses and some odd settings. Diffraction appears to set in earlier with this 24mp sensor based on some of the early samples... Folks are seeing loss in detail starting much earlier, around f8, compared to what we are used to... Dunno... Still looks pretty nice to me...

Now I have to keep my head in the sand and ignore all the normal jpeg and image quality bashing and complaints that everyone already has about the a77 before it even hits the streets...

For those concerned with the 24mp file sizes, I'd be really, really shocked if it didn't have an option for 12mp raws and images as well. The a900 has some options that make managing file sizes easier on you if you don't feel you need it all, all the time... Still, 24mp at 12fps... Impressive engine in that rig... Would love to see how long you could keep 12fps going if you only shot at 12mp... Really, really can't wait for some hands on testing...

Greg

From what I can tell, there is no way to shoot RAW at less that 24mp.

"Diffraction appears to set in earlier with this 24mp sensor based on some of the early samples... Folks are seeing loss in detail starting much earlier, around f8, compared to what we are used to... "

You make that sound like a bad thing.

Terry