My a77 review

[Greg McCary]

I try not to write reviews to early and I let the wow factor die down. But I tried to think of some negative things about the a77 but couldn't come up with any. So here is a link to my review.
My vote for camera of the year unless someone else comes out with a Sony killer.
Sony Alpha A77 Reviews

Also a picture of one of my favorite subjects.


Bridge with new a77 by Cosmonaut's, on Flickr

[Tyson L. Sparks]

Very nice, I want one

[DennisT]

Thanks for the review - interesting reading and sustenance for temptation aplenty!!!

Just two queries: -
Noise - have you tested it for noise - this is the one issue that I have with my Sonys at higher iso (A700 & A900 & A55). Am really interested in this one.

Lenses - My experience is that there are no long lenses readily available from Sony that are suitable for wild life photography - so much so that I went to Nikon D700 with a 200-400 f4 to get what I needed? The D700 with 200-400 and 1.4x converter at 3200 iso returns no discernible noise.

[Greg McCary]

I will try and get you a couple of high ISO shots posted. I was looking at this lens for a zoom.
SAL70300G Sony 70 - 300mm f/4.5 - 5.6 Telephoto Digital SLR 0.25x Zoom Lens with Super Sonic Wave Motor
The shutter is much quiter than my E5, much like a Canon 1d. I am not sure how quite other Sonys are?

[Greg McCary]

Ok, Shot in RAW, exported in Lightroom but no NR added. I saw little point in going below 800iso

800

1600

3200

6400

12800

160000

[Greg McCary]

One thing I have noticed, when shooting under street lights, mercury and sodium the white balance can get way off. Green tint......

[Anbesol]

I've never seen sony do an outstanding job with white balance below 3500k, especially with strange tint. The custom WB is easy enough in those situations.

Pretty impressive ISO samples. Looks like 3200 and 6400 both are pretty usable. Much better than 3200 on the A700, I think the A700's usable stopped at 2000. Maybe higher only for 4x6. The a700s 3200 looked like this 12800. I'm getting pretty psyched for this body. If they can achieve that good ISO at 12800, then maybe the 24MPix is well justified.

Gary, have you ever felt that you'd like any smaller resolution, or are you really digging the full 24MPix?

The 70-300G has an excellent performance, best in class 70-300 4-5.6 by MTF and CA. Great resolution, SSM, I think its probably the best pairing for the A77. Then, the 200mm f/2.8 APO HS would likely be my choice, I suppose that depends on your own priorities for optics.

Thanks for the explanation and samples. Glad to hear you're taking such a liking to it.

*edit - actually, the A700's noise looked much worse than it does now, in its v 1.0 firmware (and subsequent firmware updates through 1.3), it wasn't until 1.4 that they made a major algorithm update that did major noise improvements. Then, getting such firmware updates is the exception, not the norm.

[NoKnees]

Good review... Glad that you like it! So far, the biggest complaints are from those that haven't even spent much time with it. Sure, high ISO noise could always be better, but for most people, I think Sony manages just fine...

Can't wait to get some "hands-on" time with this camera myself...

I look forward to hearing more about your experience with this camera as time goes on... More photos are always welcome too.. ;) (says the guy who hasn't posted up a photo hear in many moons)

[Greg McCary]

I am enjoying the 24mpix. Its hard to describe I couldn't say sharper or even more detailed but certainly a more pleasing, finer, look. I still like Olympus colors better and no one can touch the quality of Olympus glass.
I will be able to judge more when I get an image that I really like and print it large.

[NoKnees]

Olympus definitely seems to have been doing a great job on the 4/3 glass.... As for the colors, is there any way you can quantify how you like theirs better, or is it just a "feel"? I totally understand the later. It seems all manufacturers of lenses and cameras have a slightly different "palette" of colors, not always good or bad, just different. Much like different films had their own personalities...

You have tried any of the older Minolta a-mount glass yet? Many of those lenses have a distinc personality, very different than the newer Sony lenses. The colors seem deeper and the images feel like they have a little less contrast, but it a way that smoothed them out nicely rather than making them look flat...

Anyway, looks like the world has almost sold out of all a77's already due to the manufacturing issues caused by the flooding in Thailand. No thanks to the weather, you have a highly sought after "limited edition" camera now.

[Greg McCary]

Olympus definitely seems to have been doing a great job on the 4/3 glass.... As for the colors, is there any way you can quantify how you like theirs better, or is it just a "feel"? I totally understand the later. It seems all manufacturers of lenses and cameras have a slightly different "palette" of colors, not always good or bad, just different. Much like different films had their own personalities...

You have tried any of the older Minolta a-mount glass yet? Many of those lenses have a distinc personality, very different than the newer Sony lenses. The colors seem deeper and the images feel like they have a little less contrast, but it a way that smoothed them out nicely rather than making them look flat...

Anyway, looks like the world has almost sold out of all a77's already due to the manufacturing issues caused by the flooding in Thailand. No thanks to the weather, you have a highly sought after "limited edition" camera now.

I would say Sony colors seem a bit warmer. Olympus seems cooler and slightly richer. I have tried to correct the Sony colors to be more like what I am use to but just haven't got it yet. Maybe I just need to get use to the Sony colors and quit trying to turn it into an Olympus.
It just where I have always been. To me the Sony looks less digital and the 24mpix looks more like a real fine grain film the a digital image. A big plus in my book.
No I haven't tried any Minolta glass but it's on my list. I love lenses with character.
I am really enjoying the lens I have. The 16-50 DT is a real sharp lens.