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Continually updated: Sony announces the A77 NEX-7 and lots of other cameras and lenses!

This page gets continually updated! Keep checking for news (latest added news on top of each category). But please to not hit the reload button every minute because it will make crash the server. Feel free to send me links to more interesting news at sonyalpharumors@gmail.com!

Preorder now!

All new Sony cameras and lenses are available for preorder at Amazon US (Click here).

Previews and Reviews

NEX-7 hands on at lense.fr (french).
NEX-7 preview at Dpreview
A77 camera porn at DC.watch 🙂
Image of the wheatersealed design at Sonystyle.
Hands-on at Luminous Landscape.
HOT!Full A77 review at Imaging Resource. Including full size images and ISO test!
The Zeiss 24mm MTF graph at Sony Japan (japanese)
A77 and A65 preview at Alphamountworld.
NEX-7 preview at Alphamountworld.
A77 preview at Hardwarezone.
HOT! Sony NEX-7 preview with video on Engadget.
A good preview summary at Noisycamera.
Sony NEX-5N video preview by Engadget.
HOT!Sony A77 hands-on preview and video on Engadget.
First VG-20 video preview on youtube.
HOT! Sony NEX 5N preview at ThePhoBlographer.
HOT! Very first Sony A77 preview on Dpreview (Click here).
Sony NEX-5N preview at Dpreview.
Sony A77 preview at videoacademy (german).
Sony A65 preview at Dpreview.
HOT!!! You can see an A77 video here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/mpd/permalink/mL6KZXE96MW1/!!!
HOT!!! And here is the NEX-7 video: http://www.amazon.com/gp/mpd/permalink/m6QSS5UVQ2CB2/
See the A77 specs graph via Amazon (Click here).

Image samples

First Zeiss 24mm image smaples at ePhotozine.
Fullsize image samples at Imaging Resource (scroll down to see them).
A77 full size(!) image sample at videoacademy.
Dpreview A77 image gallery.

Youtube-Vimeo

12 fps af test of a77 on youtube.
Sony A77 Promo Video on youtube.
Sony Alpha SLT A77 Hands on Video on youtube (german).
First videos taken with the A77 on Engadget!
First VG-20 video preview on youtube.
Sony Alpha 77- First look review by swissvideoacademy on youtube.
Sony A77 presentation on youtube.

Highlights

Engadget says: “We love the 24.3 megapixel sensor, but the camera’s OLED viewfinder is the star of the show.”

Links to Press release

A77 and A65 at Quesbaesde (spanish)
NEX-7 at Quesabesde (spanish).
Heise (german)
Digitalkamera (german)
NEX-7 press release form Sony Europe.
A77 and A65 press release from Sony Europe.
Sony NEX cameras and lenses at Systemkamerablog (german).
Techradar (with UK pricing)
PCworld.
Alphanumerique (french)
DSLRmagazine (spanish).
A beautiful NEX-7 site made by Sony Japan (in japanese only!).
Sony Japan (japanese).
A77 at Focus Numerique (french)
NEX-7 at Focus Numerique (french)
NEX-5N and A65 at Focus Numerique (french)
A77 and A65 at the suisee magazine fotointern (german)
Sony announcement at Digitalcamerainfo.
A65 and A77 at Digitalcamerareview.
Sony NEX-7 at Dpreview.
Sony NEX-5N at Dpreview.
The new Sony A and E-mount lenses at Dpreview.
Sony A77 announced on Dpreview!
A picture of the press release on US Today (Click here).

Social Media (and reactions)

Live Sony event tweets by JVS on Twitter.
SAR group on Google+ and Facebook

Preorder the new stuff!

Sony A77 with 16-50mm lens at Amazon (Click here).
Sony A77 body only at Amazon (Click here).
Sony A65 with 18-55mm lens at Amazon (Click here).
Sony A65 body only at Amazon (Click here).
Sony NEX-7 body only at Amazon (Click here).
Sony NEX-5N with 18-55mm lens at Amazon (Click here).
Sony NEX-5N at Amazon (Click here).
Sony 16-50mm A-mount at Amazon (Click here).
Zeiss 24mm f/1.8 E-mount at Amazon (Click here).
Sony 50mm f/1.8 E-mount at Amazon (Click here).
Sony 55-210mm E-mount at Amazon (Click here).

Poll

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309 Responses

    2. I have to give credit where credit is due. I think Sony has knocked the ball out of the court on this one. It is truly a worthy successor to the A700 and I want to thank SAR for providing the cutting edge coverage so far.

      Reply

  9. Now all I need is sample video footage from the A77 and I can go to bed. I have an exam in a few hours. Help me out Admin:)

    Reply

  11. According to dpreview, $1399 is the price of the A77 with the 18-55 kit lens. So factor that out of the equation, and I believe we ARE looking at a body-only price of $1199.

    Reply

    1. I’m starting to not trust USA Today if they have that many typos. And yes, as much as dpreview do not usually favor Sony, I’d believe them more for camera news. I don’t think it’s as low as $1199 though because 18-55 doesn’t go for that much right?

      EDIT: The youtube video by sonyelectronics says that it’s $1400 for body only 🙁 I guess that’s unavoidable.. I was hoping for a $1600-$1700 body+16-50 :

      Reply

  17. DPreview about Full time phase detect auto focus on A77:

    As with the implementation in previous SLT models, there are some limitations placed on the amount of exposure control you can take with the A77 if AF is to be maintained in the 12fps and video modes. For instance, although the A77 now offers aperture-priority, shutter-priority and manual exposure modes for video recording, these are only available once manual focus has been selected.

    Thats sad! 🙁

    Reply

  19. I am going to be pennyless but happy. Unless someone wants to “donate” these equipment to a good cause (me), I’m afraid that I’m going to go to some measures to obtain these tools. Great introductory videos! Where’s the VG20 stuff though?

    Amazing, if it all works as specified. Sony was an innovator. It seems that the genes have been propagated in their camera division. I hope it works well.

    Reply

      1. Nice work. I will be doing the same. I just have to see some samples first. I know they are gonna be awesome though.

        Reply

        1. Yeah, I was kind of debating if I should hold off for some reviews first. Thing is, I have been waiting for this camera for over a year, checking the news and rumor sites daily for ANY updates. I couldn’t wait a second longer. Also, since it is through Amazon, I am protected by their AMAZING return policy. If there are any major problems, which I highly doubt, back it goes.

          Reply

  21. Seems there a more new picture effects added:

    Picture Effect • Posterization (Color, B/W),
    • Pop Color
    • Retro Photo
    • Partial Color (R,G,B,Y)
    • High Contrast Monochrome
    • Toy Camera
    • Soft High-key
    • Soft Focus
    • HDR Painting
    • Rich-tone Monochrome
    • Miniature

    Reply

  26. Lovely. Finally. Got some tears running. Can’t believe that this is really true. So much looking forward to the final release!

    Reply

      1. Thanks again. You’ve been amazing, and your Rumour filtering has been perfectly accurate. My expectations were met 100% because of you.

        Go get some rest

        Reply

  30. The price of the new Nex 5 isn’t that bad. If only the Nex had some affordable, decent quality, compact lenses- things like the 30mm f2 Samsung pancake. I doubt the upcoming Samsung NX200 will be as good as the Nex 5N. But the Samsung lens lineup is so much more appealing- not to mention affordable.

    Reply

    1. Of course it’s not that bad, it’s the SAME price as the original NEX-5 package.

      The NEX-7 however T_T I weep.

      Reply

      1. HaHa! You and me both Linh. For those who have the money, the Nex 7 and Zeiss make a very attractive combination. But I could probably make do with the 5N if they had lenses that I wanted. I really hope Samsung introduces a camera that is at least competitive with the 5N- and offers full manual control over video. We’ll see. But I have my doubts. The 5N looks to be a fantastic camera. But those Nex lenses- arrrrggggghhhhh!

        Reply

  32. On a separate note, I hope NEX7 is not overshadowed by A77! Look at that 24.3 label on a mini camera..

    Meanwhile, I’ll need to check my finances first before I can vote – what am I actually going to buy..

    Reply

    1. I’m in sticker shock over not only the A77 but especially the Nex 7. Yes, it looks like an incredible camera but the only Nex lens worthy of it is the Zeiss. If you get the Nex 7 and the Zeiss you’re looking at well over $2,000. That’s crazy. You can get a decent used car for that much money. smh

      Reply

  33. I am going to dring a cppuccino. Will be back in 20 minutes. And than agin update the post. I have been told that first field reviews and image samples will be posted on wbesited in 4-5 hours!

    Reply

  34. For what it’s worth, Russian Sony site mentiones that NEX-7 and NEX-5N double kit will be out “end of November”, while NEX-5N body-only and with standard zoom – “mid-September”

    Reply

  37. What a disappointment.

    The A65 may be cheap but no Micro-AF tuning, unlike previous rumors. The A77: no ISO 50. Both: no CDAF.

    The EVF: 1024×768 instead of 800×600. Doesn’t seem like a major improvement, either.

    Reply

  38. Ahem, am I the only one not falling in love? I desperately wanted to, but the image quality simply doesn’t look good to me. The dpreview gallery is still broken, but imaging-resource has ISO100 pictures that are just plain in semi open shadow BAD (although they say it was a preproduction camera). What do you think?

    http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/AA77/FULLRES/YDSC00307.HTM ISO100 !!
    And this one is in very bright light, still ISO100 http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/AA77/FULLRES/YDSC00231.HTM much better but look at the shadows on the little girl’s legs.

    Then there’s the preview itself: ISO 1600 looks absolutely unusable to me.

    Did I have my hope set too high? DO you think the production units will be better?

    Reply

    2. I checked it out against the Nikon D7000 and it is no contest. The D7000 does a MUCH better job with the still life scene if you look at the swatches. Frankly, I am terribly disappointed in what I am seeing from the a77. I have been holding on to my a700 waiting for this camera to see what it could do. Unless there is some magical firmware update to fix this (or turn the noise reduction completely off) I doubt I will be buying the new camera.

      Reply

  40. i am very excited i want one now!!! I’ve pre-ordered at AMZ. So anymore news? is it done or what? can somebody direct me to the site where it is being announced, i mean the real sony site of announcement if there is?

    Thanks.

    Reply

    1. As @acolyte says, “nothing’s” perfect. To get 24Mpix in a ‘small’ sensor, the pixels had to be pretty small, so noise was to be expected, but I wasn’t expecting as much, particularly at base ISO in bright light. I honestly don’t see much more information in those files than in NEX-C3 or Olympus EP3 files. They aren’t particularly sharp and they are noisy.

      But wait, dpreview’s gallery is now working. And the first files I’ve seen look a lot better there 🙂

      Reply

  44. Just pre-ordered a Nex-7!!! Amazon is killing me with no published shipping date!

    Can’t wait for what I’m hoping is going to be my baby M9!

    Sooooooooo HAPPY!

    Reply

  45. Looking at dpeview.com the A77 continues buffer is bad….@ 12fps it only last little over 1 second..

    Continuous buffer

    • 13 JPEG Extra Fine images
    • 18 JPEG Fine images
    • 18 JPEG Std images
    • 13 RAW images
    • 11 RAW+JPEG images

    Reply

    1. Someone called on jello effect?

      Though I know that I promised not to discuss image quality in this pre-production review, I have to mention one thing that I noticed while shooting some test video. There is much less visible rolling shutter with this camera than I’ve seen before. If this holds true with a full production camera then DSLR video makers are going to be all over this camera like a kid with a bowel of strawberry jello.

      Also, the lens is called 16-50mm f/2.8 DT SST. What’s SST?

      Reply

  48. What a GREAT day!!!! Waited long enough, but worth it I believe 🙂

    => A77 will be released October 14, 2011 (Japan)
    That’s my birthday! Would be a nice present . . . 😉

    Reply

  51. Everything looked incredible until the Imaging Resource ISO test came in. Maybe it’s beacuse it’s JPEG nad the firmware is preproduction, but somehow I doubt it.
    I wrote an A580 vs 600D review a few months ago and the Sony won because they finally made a camera with great features but without the usual one or two huge flaws they tend to have.
    Looking at this, the A77 seems to be incredible, but the high ISO could (again) be zhe achilles heel… :/
    And to think they could have just put in an 18 or something mpx sensor…

    Reply

    2. I also was wondering what could have come out with a 18mpix or 21mpix sensor… I’d even lower the mpix count on upcoming FF model, if I was in Sony execs..

      Reply

  53. Btw, Andrea, the Luminous Landscape link leads to Imaging Resource (which has crashed as I can see, are we guilty for that? 😉 ).
    Take anouther capuccino, or better yet take the well deserved nap, great work. 😉

    Reply

  54. Also what a sad news about the price of the NEX-7 appear to be 1200 $ and focus-numerique says it will be 1200 € FOR EUROPE !!
    WHAT KIND OF RATE ARE THEY USING !!

    for me it’s BYE BYE nex-7 ! really a CRAZY price !!

    Reply

  56. It looks like the NEX-7 lacks the touchscreen that the NEX-5N has. Too bad, I would have liked to use that for AF point selection.

    Was this a mistake, or are they saving this feature to entice us to upgrade to the NEX-7N in 8 months?

    Reply

  57. Why didn’t they put other framing options like 4:3 and 1:1 into the software?

    I understand, there is no IBIS, but these options should have been included!

    How will I shoot with vigneting c-mount and m4/3 lenses now ? :<

    Reply

  60. Well, so far reading the first reviews carefully I’m a bit disappointed in the image quality performance of the a77.

    Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s the best APC-S body curently on the market and for video, it’s a hands down winner.

    But I’m about still photography and not video and image quality is where it’s at for me, and I realy expected that this new sensor would just kick butt and clearly beat the now three-year-old full frames from Canon, Nikon and Sony, and not only be sharper but I really believed the rumor that ISO performance was going to be incredible.

    Not so incredible as I hoped

    I thought this camera would make me sell my two a850’s or at least one of them, but no.
    I guess that’s okay, as I now don’t feel the need to spend big dollars, but I’m just a little said that this one camera isn’t the game-changer and the boost for my beloved A-mount I had hoped.

    My plan was and still is to replace my a850’s with the a900 replacement with it or they come to market.

    Reply

          1. yes but a 400 € difference !!
            with the difference i can go by plane in new-york, buying a nex-7 and come back, for the 1200 € price in Europe !! lol

  63. Almost everything looks great so far. Saying that, I am worried about the high ISO performance although the main comparisons I’ve seen are comparing the A77 to more expensive full frame cameras.

    I’d be interested to see high ISO comparisons between the A580 and A77. I think I was being naive in thinking/hoping the A77 high ISO (ISO800+) would be on a par with the A580! 🙁

    Anyway, I wouldn’t be buying straight away anyway. Hopefully some early firmware will improve things by the time I buy.

    Reply

    1. Yes, they compared to way more expensive ff-s, but those are all cameras not very known for their hihg ISO.
      The A850 is worse than the A580 at high ISO, and it looks as though A77 is even worse, that’s what worries me.
      Only exscuse can be the fact that Imaging Resource used JPEGs without the final firmware, that’s a big no-no. 🙂

      Reply

      1. Are you sure the A77 is worse than the A850/A900? I hope that’s not the case but so far the high ISO photos don’t look as good as they should be in 2011.

        Reply

        1. Have a look at Imaging Resource, A77 is a little bit better at the first crops but significantly worse at their red fabric shich is the usual landmark.

          Reply

        2. From the samples I’ve seen, there’s a HUGE loss in detail with the A77 compared to the A850. These were taken with the new SSM kit lens as well! 🙁

          The A580 body is available for £479 in the UK now. Would I spend double that on the A77 body which has worse high ISO performance? I don’t actually think I would.

          The image quality is the ‘be all and end all’ for me (as it should be with everyone really!).

          Reply

    2. Your naivety is to compare noise per pixel rather than at an image level. For a given print size the A77 noise levels will be as good or better than the A580.

      Reply

  65. Argh! They did it. I was hoping against hope, but they did it…
    US:60p/24p EU:50p/25p
    WHY, SONY? WHYYYY?
    It’d just be an option more in the fw… 🙁

    Reply

    2. Yepp,
      leaves me questioning as well.
      Gonna wait and see… maybe they’ll update that option if I refuse to buy the A77 until then… mwahaha 🙂

      Reply

  66. Logging off and going to bed. Just wanted to say thanks, Andrea, for all your incredible work and endurance in keeping us all informed. I hope you can sleep in tomorrow!

    Reply

  67. Sorry to say, but after looking at the images in DP I can note that Sony’s picture quality falls short of Canon and Nikon, as usual?????
    So much has been said about this “new” camera, that it would have ISO performance that would completely outclass their competitors! And what do we see??? Bad results, as usual, why can not Sony perform the same or better images than the Nikon (Sony CMOS sensor) or Canon for me is a mystery when you constantly brag about it is the world’s largest electronics manufacturers (read sensors). You who always gives us the time consumers have high expectations for Sony camera products, stop doing this until you have seen the results. A77 is just like the NEX 5 was a big disappointment!
    I had lofty expectations for this camera, A77, and looked forward to a new “revolution” in the high ISO performance, and you get to see this ????? If you can not develop a better sensor for four years, then Sony can shut down the entire camera division

    Regards Peter

    Reply

    2. Why Sony A77 can not perform the same quality as Nikon or Canon? because of 30% less light through SLT perhaps? If someone need ultimative quality – just take a normal DSLR, if you wanna have more comfort like OLED+phasing+live view+speed etc. etc. than you should count with less quality. Pity but still true – you can not get both. To tell the truth I hoped as well for better proportions of quality/comfort and for better prices as well. but to be honestly, everybody new, that 30% less light on the sensor is a physical phenomena which can not just disappear or be balanced with some “digital magic”… and to add 24 megapixel with the same sensor size to this problem is just arrogant and stupid…

      Reply

    1. I agree with you Peter!

      Every four years I put myself through this when it time to update my platform
      Last time, I continued with Sony and purchased a850’s, mainly because of my investment in A-mount optics.

      I’m not due to replace them till next year so I can still wait to decide if it’s time to give up on Sony.

      I’m going to budget money not just to replace the two full-frame cameras but a few lenses also and a flash or two, and if Sony is not there for me, I just hope that this time I have the guts to pull that trigger if the a99 or whatever it’s called not the right tool for me.

      Its only money
      I see the a77 as a big disappointment

      I’m sure that Canon and Nikon both will announce cameras equal or better for me, a still photographer…How could they not, seeing the image and ISO performance in the a77 reviews.

      Reply

    2. the french review says
      Le 1er rideau électronique permet un temps de réponse de 0,02 secondes…
      and … Et un déclenchement plus silencieux

      From the google translation it says electric shutter with 20ms lag time and quieter shutter….

      Possible that it is true or that it is even silent?

      I saw the sony new promo video that had a close up shot of the trigger it had no sound… but the engagdget video of 10fps was loud… sigh

      Wish it has a quite shot fn!

      Reply

  69. Haha, and the funniest thing is that there wont be any good response from either Canon or Nikon.. They will just keep on walking with their eyes on the ground with a stupid content smile on their faces.. That Canon and Nikon have missed the boat is an understatement as Sony comes running past them at full speed, lifts of the ground, aiming for the sky and beyond.

    Reply

    1. Ditto. 🙂

      And look at the visitors we got here today! All are commenting on images which were taken with a pre-production model a77 without the firmware updates!

      Reply

    2. JPEG with NR on. I think we have to wait for a better RAW process, or better NR implementation. Otherwise, I’m quite disappointed myself to see the mushy detail at ISO 1600. My A900 is much better than that.

      Reply

      1. @hiepphotog
        Why are you disappointed? Your a900 *should* still be better with about 2x the area. Anyway let’s wait till there is a proper RAW converter and DxO and others test this camera properly.

        Reply

  73. Bad Iso, low buffer, EVF not perfect, unusable on a studio with flash lights because of the evf that comes to black… a perfect piece of crap!!! professionals leave sony in less than 3 months, non future for us…

    Reply

    2. Dude, the A77 works perfectly fine in studios. You can turn of the “effects” setting in the menu, then the EVF acts like an OVF.

      Reply

        1. Mike: I don’t fully understand it but I have another issue with the EVF so: does this also work in the field: turn of the LCD and have a continously working EVF?

          Reply

          1. Yeah of course. As a shortcut, just invert the LCD screen. Then it’s protected from scratches too.

      2. Mike
        if you’re the mike I was conversing with on another post re: the Eye start sensor(there are many mikes here), you are safe from ridicule and at present I am chewing my way through a nice slice of humble pie 🙂 So, you seem to have played with one but if it were your own money, would you buy an A77?

        Reply

  74. OMG… NEX-7 €1200.00 just for the camera? This means it will be over £1000.00, no no no Sony.

    Sad news for me. 🙁

    Reply

    1. Yes, and the A77 is actually 400€ more than a Nikon D7000!! THat would be OK with a perfect camera, but dpreview’s gallery shows that even ISO800 is a joke (though really great pictures at low ISO)

      So disappointing

      Reply

      1. Seriously, look at the comparative features. Also remember that the D7000 has been out for a while and like all cameras the prices drop over time. Bangs for the buck, even at the launch price, there’s not a camera on the market can touch this. Unless of course you expected it all for free perhaps????

        Reply

      2. The best camera is a Nikon with a Sony sensor and Zeiss lenses 😉
        Now that sony made a good camera and lenses, they must focus on firmware and JPEG processing, in a DSLR we except a race car engine, not a compact one.

        Reply

    2. I will hold out judgement until DXO marks and a few other ISO comparisons are out. What gets me is the price $1500 (cdn) body only $2150 with kit. A lot more money than the D7000…I thought dropping the pentaprism was supposed to save money not cost more. I’m going to wait and have a hands on, hopefully we know more about the D400 by then and I can decide if I’m switching up?

      Reply

    1. For me the reason is missing CDAF. Even the A580 has it, so this is actually a step backwards.

      Price of A77 is slightly too high. A65’s price is ok but it has been deliberately dumbed down, so it’s no alternative.

      Reply

      1. I think the A65 is a great alternative. “Dumbed down?” It does have fewer features, for $500 cheaper, it is now looking better than when the news was that there would be a $150 difference in price. It doesn’t have features like 12 fps and the ISO is not as high (or low), etc., etc., but for a camera that is aimed at the “mid level” photographer, these “flaws” can be lived with. For instance 10 fps, this still far outdistances the $5000 cameras. The A65 doesn’t have a sepia tone special effect and the A77 does. I thought that was what Lightroom and Photoshop were for. The more I look at the A65, the better it gets.

        Reply

        1. It lacks AF fine-tuning. This is a software-only feature that would have cost Sony nothing if added to the A65.

          But their marketing department obviously thinks: who wants AF fine-tuning must buy the A77 instead of the A65.

          Now I’ll buy neither…

          Reply

  76. Whats with the crazy exchange rate. Why are the prices same in USD and EUR? NEX 7 is 1199$ and 1199€. This is really lame on part of all camera manufacturers. Or is it because of the import duties in EU?

    Reply

      2. No, its import duties, taxes, VAT, increased regulation, etc. All of which drives up prices compared to the USA.

        Reply

    2. camera just been announced a few hours ago UK time. wait till people wake up from different parts of the globe and read up on the Sony announcements.

      I definitely cant wait to get my hands on the a77

      Reply

    3. I think it’s about duties for EU. I’m in NL and bought an Oppo DVD player from the US, paid actually a higher amount expressed in Eur than the US price in Dollars 🙁 !!

      Reply

  77. So much stupidity right now:

    1) The a77 is TWENTY FOUR megapixels. If you’re going to make noise comparisons to a d7000, resize the image first. Looking at 100% crops is ridiculous when one is much larger than the other.

    2) We all know that the in-camera noise reduction sucks. The red swatches on imagine-resource are killed by noise REDUCTION removing detail. Turn that OFF and use lightroom instead.

    3) These prices are *NOT* what the item will actually cost. Look on the Sony website and EVERYTHING has too high a price. Retailers will sell it for less. They always do, and there’s no point panicking about this.

    Reply

    1. Agreed. Noise should only be measured at a whole image level. The pixel peeping muppets are confusing noise detail with noise level.

      Reply

      1. As someone who uses an a850 works only in RAW and uses Photoshop to control noise it is a dispointment.
        I do a lot of big prints and I’ve was looking only for one thing from the a77 was a much lower noise floor to help me in low-light street photography.
        I expected better that’s all

        Reply

        1. If you are using a FF camera and only want lower noise why are you even looking at a APS-C camera? Wait for the Low noise FF camera which will be out next year. FF is not for everbody but if its what you need then stick with it and gofor the low noise version as aposed to the high res version. Sony are folowing Nikon(actuly probably leading as they will suply nex gen nikon sensors)by having 2 FFs one high res and one low noise. I suspect the 3rd FF may be Nex-9 or some other compact FF.

          Reply

          1. I agree Terryfried. If you are going to do large prints, maybe you shouldn’t even being using a FF but should move up to a medium format camera. Again, this is a “mid-level” camera.

      2. The IR website’s review says that there are three levels of noise reduction that can be applied, low, medium and high, plus the examples are JPEG and not RAW. We need to look at full production examples at high ISO including RAW images.

        Reply

    2. David, counting myself as one of the stupids, I hope you are correct about the ISO. The imaging resource files do not worry me so much as the dpreview ones. There is an ISO 800 view of a lake and hills. There is absolutely no way any LightRoom magic would make that even remotely acceptable for printing (except if Sony’s jpeg are abysmally poor). Trust me, LightRoom is my best friend.

      As for the price, you are probably correct, they will be lower on the street. But the 1$ to 1€ still hurts when you know the official conversion rate is 1.44 today. It’s not as if the camera was made in the us and shipped to europe from there … It will definitely hurt sales for Sony if the A77 is much more than the D7000.

      Reply

    3. THANK YOU! The lone voice of reason in a sea of stupidity, I can hardly believe some of these comments. You basically took the words out of my mouth but I feel the need to reiterate for some of the more thick-skulled visitors here:

      1) Wait for RAW support. If you’re looking at a 24MP semi-pro camera costing $1,400 you probably care about image-quality. Why would you bother with JPEGs, or jump to conclusion based on JPEG samples, *especially* in the case of Sony who are not exactly known for great JPEG engines in their cameras?

      2) If you’re comparing overall sensor noise you should do it in a context that makes sense. What is the largest you’re likely to show your images online? Lets say, 2 megapixels. Resize high-ISO images from the current 16.2MP sensor and the new 24.3MP sensor to 2MP and I’m willing to bet the 24.3MP image will ultimately show the same or lower noise.

      Reply

    4. And all those pictures were taken with a pre-production a77 with no firmware update. The production models got a new firmware update which are going to be in market in October.

      Reply

      1. Yes, imaging-resource mentioned that they were using prototype unit running firmware v0.58.

        Let’s not trust any firmware below 1.0!

        Reply

    5. If there was an option to turn off NR I sure Imaging Resources would have shot samples with it that way. All I saw in the menu on DPReview was “Low, Normal, High” for High ISO shooting & “On/Off” for Long Exposure. No where did it have a NR Off option for regular or High ISO shooting. Maybe this is something they will correct in a future firmware release. However, as it stand now, if I had to go buy a new camera today I would not choose the a77 because of this & the available samples on the internet. Don’t get me started on the buffer…
      * I just went a downloaded the JPEG still life shoot for the a77 from IR and downsized it to the same size as the D7000. It still didn’t help it come close to the image quality of the Nikon.

      Reply

    1. none, actually its an improvement all round. Basically it means that there should be no pre-exposure vibration other than that from your hand pressing the button. As you know the SLTs have no moving mirror, hence no mirror slap, therefore the only remaining pre-exposure vibration sourced from within the camera used to be the first curtain shutter. Now this vibration is also gone and if you shoot using a remote control (IR or wired) you shouldn’t really (in theory at least) need to ever use the 2s or 10s delay. Additionally it may have some effect in reducing the rolling shutter effect in video.

      Reply

      1. I mean there is an option in menu to turn on or off the electronic front shutter curtain. If it is a totally positive improvement, then why Sony give you an option to turn it off.

        Reply

        1. that I cant say, maybe Mike or someone who’s got the camera can enlighten us, but I’m not sure why you’d want to switch it off.

          Reply

  79. ****EVERYBODY****

    The bad high ISO performance you are seeing is because:
    1) In-camera noise REDUCTION sucks. It kills the details and makes everything smudgy. This is the same on every alpha camera.

    2) The software won’t be optimised for a77 yet. Lightroom, ACR etc need to be updated first.

    I looked at high ISO samples on dpreview and they look good to me. The NOISE isn’t bad. But the smudginess is bad. Any alpha owner will know this is EXACTLY what the high-iso noise reduction does. Turn if OFF and use lightroom.

    ****STOP PANICKING****

    Reply

    1. additionally remember that ALL OF THESE SAMPLES ARE TAKEN WITH PRE-PRODUCTION FIRMWARE!!!! All of the sites tell you that quite clearly…read it! Back in the original days of the 700 we thought the high iso was bad, then finally the RAW converters actually caught up and did their job properly and suddenly we found out it was actually quite good.

      Lastly remember that all of these sites do their ISO testing WRONG! The only person who I’ve seen do it correctly is EOSHD. In order to do the test correctly you need to drop the available light level by a stop when you increase the iso by a stop. Under these more realistic circumstances the game changes completely (remember we raise the iso to counter insufficient available light). Cameras which previously performed well under the artifical/unrealistic test, fall apart at the seams. Some of those which only performed moderately suddenly shine very brightly indeed. FYI..In the EOSHD tests the NEX easily beat the other reviewed cameras.

      Reply

      1. Unfortunately, that is incorrect and very basic. You should not drop the light level. By dropping the light level when increasing iso causes the exposure time to be the same. The concept of high iso is to be able to use a faster shutter and use less light. This is a concept known to all film users back in the days. I have not seen the EOSHD test, but if this is what they’re claiming, it doesn’t make sense. In the real world, you can tell the Sun, the Moon, or street lights to drop their light level because you want to use high iso. I have a feeling you never shot with film.

        Reply

        1. simply wrong. Firstly, to get one thing out of the way, I shot film for years thanks, still own five film bodies. Now back to the subject.

          Photography 101: The key factors in taking a photograph beyond simple composition are shutter speed and aperture. The shutter speed should at least meet the shorter of two criteria (artistic whims excepted)
          1) <1/(focal length) seconds to eliminate camera shake if used handheld or unstabilized – irrespective of light level
          2) be sufficient to freeze the motion of the subject. – irrespective of light level

          So, if you're using a 50mm lens on a full frame camera to shoot something oscillating at 50Hz you MUST have a shutter time of <1/50s…. irrespective of light level

          The aperture should be set such it provides desired depth of field… irrespective of the light level

          The ISO should therefore be used to facilitate compensation for insufficient available light such that the above can be acheived. The reducing light test follows this correct model. I do not go out on a bright sunny day with no wind and choose to shoot landscapes with a shutter speed of 1/6400 of a second at iso6400 F16..its pointless and produces substandard results.

          Additionally, like the reciprocity issues we saw in film, digital sensor characteristics are not truely linear or in some cases, where intended, strictly logarithmic as thermal effects over time change the noise levels (something we all know).

          Simply, we are most likely to up the ISO when encountering reduced light,insufficient to achieve the base criteria explained above if using our sensors base (logically best quality) ISO setting. So keeping the light level the same and merely shortening the exposure time doesn't provide much useful info in the real world as it doesn't account for changes in sensor characteristics due to thermal or other effects and actually puts the lower ISOs at a disadvantage as due to the extended exposure time, they'll suffer more than the high ISOs, giving a distorted test result.

          Reply

          3. Ok, I see what you’re saying now. When I read your first post, I interpreted what you said differently. You’re basically saying to test high iso, you really need to test in low light due to sensor thermal characteristics, but none of the other sites are doing so. You could have come out and said this in the first place.

      2. To David: according to some (p)reviews NR can’t be turned off. The best setting available is “NR: Low”. Agreed, RAW should help here but lost of detail is disappointing. How a850 managed to keep so much more details? You think they’ve disabled NR on a850 and set NR to max on a77?

        Reply

    2. Agree! Weren’t the first A700 results disappointing too? Too much noise filtering (even in RAW). In newer FW this was much improved (filtering could be set to Off).
      Let’s wait for first RAW photos, with NR Off and ACR/Lightroom post-processing.

      Reply

  80. Samsung will have to do a very good work if they dont want me to jump to the NEX7.. I’m very interested in the video capabilities of the sony camera!

    Reply

    1. We’re not panicking, just being realistic …

      Check out DSC00414 in the dpreview gallery (low light view of the lake). It would take some effort to make a good print out of that. It’s only ISO800. A landscape photographer would shoot it at ISO50 with a longer exposure, mitigating the problem, but the fact remains that low light photography doesn’t look very promising with these new cameras.

      Reply

      1. Let’s wait for RAW photo results.
        Besides, this DSC00414 photo is not that bad. For my taste, the mountains are too dark, I would have set DRO to a higher level, but not much noise visible after lifting the low lights a bit. DRO is set to ‘Standard’ for this photo (EXIF data). When RAW, the photo could be made much better IMO.
        BTW, the SoftWare for this photo was ‘SLT-A77V v0.58’ So not fully developed I would say (Exif data). Let’s wait for v1.00 and RAW results.

        Reply

        1. . . . . actually now I’m more worried about photo DSC00661 (2 guys in bar). Look at the left guy’s hair: so fuzzy – strange! Must be JPEG compression artifact I guess (although from EXIF data I noticed JPEG setting is Xfine). But looking at two other pictures I found (forgot on which site), a little girl licking an ice-cream and a 2nd picture: a beaver I guess. These two are razor-sharp, but shot at ISO100 or ISO200 I believe. Hope these two photos are typical for the A77 picture quality. BR.

          Reply

  81. As Sony Europe stated, wireless flash is supported in NEX-7, but we trigger the wireless flash? using the built-in pop-up flash or have to buy a HVL-20AM?

    Reply

    1. I don’t know for the A5xx cameras, but the A700 (and A850/A900) could/can set low- and high-limit for ISO in Auto mode (ISO Auto Max & ISO Auto Min)!

      Reply

    1. I think it means, when you change any exposure setting or white balance setting or any other setting for that matter, you will see the effect real-time on the EVF or LCD which is not the case in optical viewfinders but usual in EVF and LCD.

      Reply

  84. Haha, can’t believe DPreviews preview! Saying that “The A77 is unusual amongst modern cameras in gaining a top-panel LCD. With its extensively articulated rear screen, we don’t really feel it’s neccesary, since you can show more information, more clearly on the bigger screen. Still, some people like them and they can be nice when working with tripods.”

    When sony, and more so by DPR, was criticized for not having a top LCD screen.

    Reply

  85. WHAT 1200 € NEX-7 BODY ONLY (focus-numérique said) !!
    that’s far more than expected !!
    talking before about 1200 $$$

    GOOD BYE NEX-7 !! so sad …

    Reply

  86. @Pascal

    Sony jpeg output is ALWAYS terrible! The noise reduction crushes all detail. They do it every single time! lol

    And not to mention that was a pre-release firmware

    I think we should patiently wait until we can download some a77 raw files and edit them ourselves, in our own way. THEN you will know the ISO performance.

    Looking at noise-reduced 100% crops on a website is a terrible gauge of performance.

    As for the price. I’m from the UK too, and yeah it sucks, but it’s always the case for almost everything. Camera equipment, laptops, ipods… they’re all cheaper in the US 🙁 Way of life, I’m afraid, and not exactly Sony’s fault.

    Though I agree that they should price it significantly higher than a d7000. Although the a77 looks to be a better-spec’ed camera.

    Reply

    1. I agree on two points:
      Better specs and performance are far more important to success than pricing.
      We should be patient.

      I guess the initial marketing ‘leaks’ had set high expectations, and reality is cacthing up. Still interested in the camera, though 🙂

      Thanks for the info on Sony jpeg. I’m totally new to this brand.

      Cheers

      Reply

  87. I’m quite sad: I shot a lot in the tropics EVF issue with bright light really turns me off. Price also on the high side, but will probably drop later. ISO performance also dissapointing (again).
    But could live with all that however not with the EVF issue.

    Reply

    1. which EVF issue you mean? I don’t really understand whats the problem with the EVF in bright light?!

      Reply

      1. Hi Alphafan2011

        Thanks for the question.

        There seem to be 2 issues:
        1) (see the dpreview) there is a time lag for the EVF to turn on (sensor driven) so first the EVf is black (apparently). Maybe this can be changed with a setting (could be easily fixed if not tyhere in firmware , e.g. no LCD on the always EVF on).
        2) in bright light the EVF is relatively dark causing the eye to have to adjust. Maybe this is connected to point 1 above. I do not know. But because I shoot mostly in the tropics in bright light (and have glasses) this is a big issue for me. Covering the eyepiece with a hand (as one of the reviews gives as a solution) limits shooting greatly. Try that handheld with a telelens e.g.
        I am really worried about this. I admit I haven’t tested it yet and will have to, because everything else seems ok (well the ISO issue is another but far less important to me and comparing the Alpha 77 with FF’s that are about 6 times it’s price… and still it can almost keep up!). Maybe a special eyepiece for people with glasses could help (simple piece of rubber) but it doesn’t exist yet I guess.

        Any remark is very welcome (of course any that would relieve my anxiety about these points most..).

        Oh. and then there’s the flash which also seems to be weather sealed if I understood correctly. This is a first as far as I know. So lots and lots of praise, just this EVF thing. (and the dust on the mirror cleaning maybe).

        Reply

        1. Hi ahhh-lpha100,

          thanks for your answer!

          But isnt the first problem the situation in most of the EVF’s in bridge cameras? I think there also the EVF turns on whey eye comes and turns off when eye leaves …

          but with the second you are right, especially in bright light (where you cant really see the nice back display) you want to use the EVF. so I hope that this can and will be fixed. I also wear glasses and thats why especially this cam with a SLT is very interesting, cause you dont have big disadvantages, when you shoot “only” with the display … the DSLR’s only let you use contrast-dectection AF. So its a nice thing for people with glasses. But yes, maybe there would be another eyepiece, maybe from other manufacturers as an additional piece, let’s see 😉

          Reply

          1. According to Mike (see higher up in the comment list) the EVF can be turned on permanently.
            So that would be great (and point 1 is then as good as gone).

            An eyepiece for people wearing glasses should not be too hard I think. And just to ahead of some others: I know you usually can adjust the glass of the view finder but walking down a street and then having to take off your glasses is also no option to me.
            So lets hope for a glasses dedicated eyepiece!

  88. Great news! But Sony we are lacking in A mount lenses for example;

    an affordable 16-50 F2.8 SAM
    300mm F4
    400mm F2.8 or F4
    600mm F4
    or maybe a 200-400mm F4

    Reply

    1. look on ebay under minolta. Additionaly we already know that a 500F4 is in the works. The true question is if they existed would you really buy them. Everyone wants them but few actually have the thousands of dollars/pounds/euros they cost.

      Reply

  89. Honestly, I think the a77 looks fantastic

    People are praising the build quality, which has been a Sony “issue” for years.

    The EVF sounds really good too – the imaging resource guy said he had reservations but after a few minutes he basically forgot it was an EVF.

    The video features are absolutely incredible

    ISO50 option. 1/8000 shutter. 1/250 flash sync. They’re FANTASTIC specifications.

    It’s comfortable to use. Incredibly fast and responsive.

    Plus all the other benefits which we alpha shooters have taken for granted.. in-built stabilising for instance. It’s incredible and it works with EVERY lens.

    Everyone should stop being so negative over some noise in a 100% jpeg, noise-reduced crop from pre-release firmware!

    Reply

    1. QUOTE: „The video features are absolutely incredible”

      Are you sure?

      1, the camera, based on the specs, doesn’t seem to support „take a (preferably high-res, but even a 2M one would be OK) snapshot while taking a video” functionality. No word on continuous GPS recording either (which is a really nice feature in the Pana TZ10/TZ20). And no mention of compass either – which has been hinted on here at SAR some days ago – was the rumor false?

      2, 29min threshold (BAD MOVE!) and European models hard-wired to 50i/50p instead of the better / more useful 60i/60p. I hope the latter can be fixed by simply flashing to the US firmware, unlike with the Pana GH1/GH2, but the former seems to be carved into stone, as opposed to the Pana GH and TZ/ZS series. (I may need to stick with the latter for recording my family life / my lectures…)

      3, the worst of all: it, unlike(!) the Pana GH1/GH2, doesn’t make use of the entire (horizontal) CMOS surface (with pixel binning) not to crop the video. I would cite DPReview if it weren’t down: they state there’s „brutal” (also horizontal) cropping (compared to photo mode) when engaging video mode. That’s certainly bad news. Is it an oversight on DPReview’s part or were Sony’s engineers indeed THIS bad? I need to take UWA videos, this is why I’ve been waiting for the 16-50 lens (24mm on APS-C) and will just skip A77 (A65) if it doesn’t make use of the 24mm but crops it to 28-35-40-whatever mm’s.

      Reply

      1. Have you any experience with flashing Sony fw?
        If it had been done in the past, it might be possible with the a77 as well and I don’t have to cry too loud about Sony’s inability to put the 50p AND 60p in one firmware…
        I never heard about Sony fw being flashed from EU to US or vice-versa though…

        Reply

      3. the camera will take 2MP photo while doing video. In fact it’ll take 50/60 of them a second if you want, just grab a still frame, thats the beauty of progressive capture.

        The 29 minute threshold is nothing to do with the camera and everything to do with european tax law. Anything capable recording for 30 minutes or more is charged in a higher tax band. To be honest though if you’re recording individual segments more than 30 seconds long, you’re making one dull video. Unless you’re recording a police interrogation, a good video will be lots and lots of segments of 10 seconds or less from varying viewpoints, interspersed with B-roll video, so it shouldn’t be a problem and may actually encourage you to make better videos. Its more of a mental hurdle than a barrier to good films I assure you.

        As for your third point, I would be very surprised if this was the true. I can understand that the EVF image may appear cropped, perhaps they lose a bit off the sides to allow the middle to fill the vertical evf dimension or something. Certainly on the A55 there is no cropping issue of the actual video so I dont understand why there would be on the A77

        Reply

      4. Werner: there is NO crop in video except maybe from the top and bottom a bit to fit into your selected aspect ratio. I can be looking at the image in full wide angle and engage the video and the wide angle stays.

        Reply

        1. thought that would be the case, makes me wonder what DPreview were doing wrong to come to that conclusion, or maybe its just the wording that was misleading.

          Reply

  91. @Pascal again

    Ah right – I didn’t know you’re new to Sony.

    jpeg output has always been weaker than it should be

    Plus the in-camera noise reduction isn’t very good. It tends to “smudge” stuff together.. like those red swatches in the imaging resource review.

    Reply

    1. Thanks David. Coming from one who knows their cameras, this is heartwarming. Specs are great, build looks great and Michael Reichmann, a stickler for good ergonomics, seems pretty happy.

      If you tell me not to worry about IQ, my credit card is coming back out 🙂

      Reply

      1. Take your style of shooting into consideration first. If you don’t have a problem with spending hours in front of a pc, developing raw files…than there’s no reson to be worried.
        If you prefer JPEGS for direct, imediate usage and are prepared to invest quite a great deal into this level of camera and lenses than it would be ok to demand only the best quality in both JPEG and RAW files.

        There’s two things bothering me more than any other aspect right now, why on earth did they drop the metering switch and the quick acces by using the LCD to adjust any parameters…these are quite usefull features when you need to get the perfect composition fast and therefore adjust quicly without going into the menus.
        For a pro these look like downsides more than the suspicion of a less than perfect JPEG engine. I am already familiar with sqeezing the most out of RAWs but i do care for speed of operations in real life, where i rarely care for 12 fps, but i do care for quick acces and adjustments with a touch of button.
        Maybe at least the level of customization allows the assigment of a button for direct metering adjustment…

        Reply

    2. I’m quite excited about the a77 as we all are…Also, being used to the a850’s raw files and well acustomed to working with lightroom i found myself asking why are there problems with higher ISO on JPEGs anymore !? Sony took its time with the A77 and it shows in the specs list…
      Just have to wait and see if there will be an entire different story with RAW files.
      … looking forward to further reviews…

      Reply

  92. Another issue too that hasn’t been discussed is that of dynamic range. A lot of samples don’t look too good in this regard either. Though, perhaps again, it can just be attributed to Sony’s mediocre jpeg processing.

    Reply

    1. Ben, Luminous Landscape’s preview seems to indicate dynamic range is actually not bad at all.

      “I’ll put aside the question of image quality for the moment, since I am not commenting directly on this until I can test a full production A77. But I have no hesitation in saying that the A77’s three year newer sensor is bound to trump that of the A900 at higher ISOs, say above 800. At lower ISOs it may be a push, but based on some very informal first impressions I think that we’ll find that the A77’s sensor is capable of greater dynamic range as well as lower noise.”

      http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/cameras/sony_a77_first_impressions.shtml

      Reply

    2. well that would be really disappointing … cause first we get cut off the 60p feature and only get 50p and also we have to pay a lot more if you look at the exchange rate (1€=1.44$) 🙁

      maybe would be the best idea then to buy one from America, right? then there also will be the 60p in it and it will be cheaper 😮

      (or am i wrong with this thinking?)

      Reply

      1. if you go to amazon.com for example they wont ship to europe. If you go on holiday there or a friend sends you one as a present then yes cheeper and with 60p but of course most european pal TVs wont be hapy with NTSC 60P so some devices wont be compatible etc and you wont have 50P anymore.

        Reply

        1. well thats not so good, but seems that its the only way to get it relatively cheap, cause 1200 € would be too much.

          but your TV things i dont really understand, cause i would prefer 60p more than 50p for example also in terms of slow motion. its not fair, to cut off this “function” from the european models, which are also more expensive 😮

          Reply

  94. cool, so sony nex-7 has been announced, i can buy Fuji X100 now. was expecting more of a camera from sony no this gimmick of a ‘pro’. shame

    Reply

  95. Honestly speaking, I’m a bit annoyed with people jumping on the ‘OMGZ, TEH HIGH ISO SUXZ BECAZ TEH IMAGE IS SO SMALL AND TEH NOISE IS SEEPING THROUGH!!!11!!!’

    I looked at the high ISO images and they were fine, much better than my a33 at the same ISO. Even though it has been put through the in-camera reduction, it’ll still be acceptable to print up to probably A3. Plus, we’re looking at pre-production firmware so any bugs and as well as further image optimisations will mitigate that further.

    Overall, I see the a77 as a great platform to stand on as Sony does need this camera to capture back those that are looking to be high-end enthusiasts/amateur professionals.

    Reply

    1. I would DEFINITELY be worried if the A77 high ISO performance wasn’t better than the A33’s! 😐

      Stating that the A77 high ISO is ‘much better’ than the A33 (ranked 69 on DXO for low light ISO) isn’t saying much. I would EXPECT it to be MUCH better.

      I’d much rather compare the A77’s high ISO to something like the A55 or A580. If it’s worse than both of those, I won’t be buying. If it’s better than the A55 and slightly worse than the A580, I may still buy.

      We shall see though.

      Reply

      1. From the ‘cropped’ shots that DPReview put up, I’d have to say that the a77 is definitely better than the a33/a55 production shots. But this is my opinion and that’s probably not what you’re looking for anyway. 😛

        But this is definitely a must-buy for me. And given the detail from one of the full-scale shots really blew me away. Bring on the new line, Sony. 🙂

        Reply

  97. I’m surprised Sony allowed IR to post ISO reviews on pre-production units. Are they just trying to get a jump on the other review sites?

    Reply

  98. Anybody knows whether the A77 has Creative-Style boxes with Zone-Matching settings á la A700 (old Minolta feature)? I didn’t see it on one of the listed sites.
    And also, does a push on the center navigation button set to spot-metering?
    B.R.
    p.s. need to take a day off to read all stories, previews etc. 😉

    Reply

  100. soooo nobody realizing that there will be a black 18-55mm to go with the NEX-7 in a bundle and the hopefully awsome 24mm Zeiss is black too.
    But what about all the other lenses, is there going to be a black 50mm version aswell, sicne we want it to look good aswell ?

    strange…….. one would think the 50mm comes in black aswell not only the cheap standard kit-zoom.

    oh well, we’ll see.
    Any news about other lenses, like a roadmap for 2012 ?

    Reply

    1. Don’t forget that US online prices often don’t include the sales tax, and eve where it does, it’s a lot less than the UK’s 20% VAT. It doesn’t explain the entire difference, but it goes a long way.

      Reply

  102. Come on, why did Sony allow to publish such rubbish jpeg high ISO shots? The noise reduction filter creates an appalling photo quality (just like every other alpha). Without being able to have a look at converted RAW files reviews about image quality are meaningless.

    Reply

  103. See lot users feel sad, also see lot users happy with Orange77. Now we only can rely on depth review from EOSHD and DP to score the orange does it sweet as what we huu-har in early rumor 😀

    If this Orange fall, will aim Panasonic then, since their pancake smell good 😀 let wait for more depth review come out with production unit/firmware for orange77 ^^

    Reply

  104. Somebody mentioned before that the evf goes blank when you’re using flashes like live view does usually. Is there really no solution to this?
    It seems strange that Sony would make A77 and later full frame cameras that you cannot use in a studio which should be one of their primary applications.

    Reply

  107. @Nobody.
    a850 probably keeps more details because it is full frame. Even with the same megapixels, there is still a full frame advantage.

    And I don’t know why Sony jpg quality is rubbish. But shooting in RAW, then doing noise reduction in lightroom is the way to go.

    Wait for lightroom and ACR to catch up too. When I got my a580, that wasn’t fully supported at first. Then they released new codec/driver/whatever to support the raw files and WOW.

    Reply

  108. According to dpreview report on NEX-5N “the electronic viewfiner (the FDA-EV1S) … is the same display that we were so impressed by in the company’s flagship SLT A77.”

    Can it be true?

    Reply

  109. I post this here too as a separate comment so that I can get as much feedback as possible, (mostly) regarding the video mode.

    1, the camera, based on the specs, doesn’t seem to support „take a (preferably high-res, but even a 2M one would be OK) snapshot while taking a video” functionality. No word on continuous GPS recording either (which is a really nice feature in the Pana TZ10/TZ20). And no mention of compass either – which has been hinted on here at SAR some days ago – was the rumor false?

    2, 29min threshold (BAD MOVE!) and European models hard-wired to 50i/50p instead of the better / more useful 60i/60p. I hope the latter can be fixed by simply flashing to the US firmware, unlike with the Pana GH1/GH2, but the former seems to be carved into stone, as opposed to the Pana GH and (Full) HD-capable TZ/ZS series. (I may need to stick with the latter for recording my family life / my lectures… I, along with a lot of people, would prefer a camera with no restrictions on recording time.)

    3, the worst of all: it, unlike(!) the Pana GH1/GH2 and most UWA P&S cameras (Nikon P300, Pana TZ/ZS series with (Full) HD support etc.), doesn’t make use of the entire (horizontal) CMOS surface (with pixel binning) not to crop the video. I would cite DPReview if it weren’t down: they state there’s „brutal” (also horizontal) cropping (compared to photo mode) when engaging video mode. That’s certainly bad news. Is it an oversight on DPReview’s part or were Sony’s engineers indeed THIS bad? I need to take UWA videos, this is why I’ve been waiting for the 16-50 lens (24mm on APS-C) and will just skip A77 (A65) if it doesn’t make use of the 24mm but crops it to 28-35-40-whatever mm’s.

    Reply

    1. The 29 min limit is there to stop customs redefining it as a video camera and then slapping extra duty on it.

      Reply

      1. Sure I know – it has been discussed to death at, say, DVX user or Philip Bloom’s page (see vimeo.com/groups/gh2/forumthread:237068 and philipbloom.net/2009/06/03/the-lumix-30-minutes-eu-recording-issue/ ).

        With Pana’s models, you either hoped /waited for a firmware hack (which, after some 8-9 months, succeeded with the GH1/GH2/TZ10, see Vasili’s hacks) or imported your cameras from the US (which I did). Sony, unfortunately, doesn’t even seem to release two different camera versions with a removed 29 minute restriction for the areas outside the EU. It would have been very easy for them to release a version for the States without the restriction, I (and anyone needing continuous recording time without restrictions) would have imported my camera (body) from there…

        Reply

    2. Werner: If you don’t like the 29:59 single-clip recording limit (what the heck are you recording non-stop for that long anyway???) then go to the EU and ask them to change their regulations. If any manufacturer offers single-clip recording longer than 29:59 then the camera needs to be labeled and sold as a video camera.

      Reply

      1. 1. Unfortunately, my prev message where I’ve linked to, among other things, Philip Bloom’s petition, is still awaiting moderation, so I can only say google for „The Panasonic LUMIX GH1 30 minutes EU recording issue and firmware petition” – the first hit will be his article. He (a well-known videographer) will, supported by tons of other comments, explain why time restrictions suck and are a pain in many situations.

        2. Changing anything in the EU? Philip Bloom (and the videographer community) have been trying this for ages. In vain…

        Reply

        1. the less-than-30-minutes regulation seems a minor issue to me… unless you don’t want to shoot some extraordinary artistic uncut movie there seems to be no harm for me in having to press the record button again.

          The major issue for me is (cannot stress it often enough!) the 50p/60p difference in the firmware versions, which makes quite a difference if you want to shoot
          a) under artificial light in both the EU and US
          b) slow motion videos

          Damn, Sony, puuleeeeeaaaasee!!!

          Reply

          1. I would like to use the camera to record family events or my lectures by just putting it in a corner and forgetting it until the battery runs empty or the card fills in. In these cases (too), any time restriction is really annoying.

            Philip Bloom and other videographers may also name other, specific usage areas where they would need unrestricted recording times.

        2. its probably worth noting that 99% of the time Philip Bloom will actually film no more or less than a Director/Producer tells him to. Very few program segments require lengthy filming from a single camera. The only area where I could see this being an issue is for timelapse sequences etc, but if you need to do that its just as easy to buy a cheap interval trigger and compile the resulting stills into a video….its equally effective and commonly done in commercial filming. In truth it would also provide a better quality result due to the surfeit of detail and colour info available.

          Reply

  110. the exif of ir images reads different camera type then other sites !!

    dpreview has :
    Cameramodel: SLT-A77V

    while imaging resource and blog.videoacademy.ch reads :
    Cameramodel: SLT-A02

    Reply

    2. In dpreview samples, what’s the firmware mentioned in the EXIF?

      I still can’t view dpreview samples.

      IR’s firmware was just 0.58.

      Reply

    1. 24MP as it is a regular APS-C sensor!

      I assume you are referring to Canon’s irregular APS-C sensor size (1.6x crop) in which case the answer is about 22MP.

      Reply

      1. Well, isn’t some kind of triple layer cmos+ccd sony technology?
        I read something about producing the resolution equal to the one that comes of around 16mp on ordinary CMOS sensor.

        Reply

        1. You’re confusing Sony with Sigma. Sigma claimed their SD1 had 46MP but it was really 15.4MP (4800×3200). The Sony A77 is a true 24MP (6000×4000).

          Reply

  113. @Scott

    The IR camera is a pre-production model with old firmware.

    Look at the EXIF. It is different to dpreview. They even say in big red text that it is pre-production…

    And sony jpeg output has never been brilliant. Shoot raw and problem solved. Just wait for lightroom etc to catch up with the right drivers.

    Reply

  115. Congrats everyone! A77 is huge step for Sony but i didn’t saw crisp full sizes. Anyone can share? And where i can read about 16-50/2.8 separately?

    Reply

    1. there was nothing of the sort mentioned for NEX-C3, but the improvement is there, accoridng to user reports…

      Reply

  117. A77 looks so awesome. I have a question, why don’t they use optical viewfinders? Are they unable to because its a fixed mirror?

    Reply

    1. The a77 was designed from the outset to have a translucent mirror. Changing from a OLED EVF would have taken even more time and research to do. And to be honest, I can’t see Sony doing a OVF any more as they are clearly focusing on EVF. The a77 and the a65 is proof of that.

      And also, TMT is very dark if you use a OVF due to 2/3 of the light being diverted towards the sensor, 1/3 going to both the AF and the OVF. All you’re probably see in an OVF is just pitch black.

      Reply

      1. I don’t know…I’ll be waiting for the original file samples to REALLY see. But for now I haven’t seen anything good

        Reply

          1. To be honest, I’m more inclined to think that’s Youtube’s problem. Youtube always had a problem in regards to this. I’ve uploaded a couple of 720p films and there was moiré on some of the clips… 🙁

          2. Anybody using YouTube to assess native video format is clearly in need of some education. Any video on YouTube will have been messed around with for replay, and quite possibly on upload in order to reduce bandwidth requirements and standardise some features of presentation.

            You need the original files to make a meaningful assessment.

          3. I need some education?! that’s funny. I’m not commenting the quality from YT I’m commenting the result that will not be changed or created with encoders. The source video is in 1080p, the video has been encoded in YT in 1080p so no downscaling. Compression doesn’t create moiré and that kind of moiré (purple/green colors) cannot be created in downscaling (assuming the uploaded “messed around” with it) but only from the sensor processor.

            You believe what you want to believe.

          4. @sandro

            Sorry, but there is downscaling AND upscaling and its well known too, seems like they downscale for storage and upscale messily for display. Here’s just one of the many discussions on the subject http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/youtube/thread?tid=002469a1a0b19f5d&hl=en

            What you’re seeing is not true 1080p so shouldn’t be used for quality assessments. Actually, nothing on a computer screen should. Despite what people think, they aren’t optimized for video, so even a files straight from the camera are better assessed on a good quality HDTV.

  119. Have they actually specified actual dates for release of the 55- 210mm and 50mm 1.8 lenses yet. I saw October but I am wondering if there is a date going with it.

    Reply

  120. Parabéns a Sony pelo lançamento da A77, um grande lançamento, lindo design, rápida e quanto aos testes feito com iso alto pelo que entendi foram realizados na mesma iluminação, apenas aumentando o iso e compensando em abertura e velocidade, no meu modo de ver estes testes deveriam ser realizados com iluminações na realidade, (ou seja com iluminação precária, na noite) pois só assim teriamos uma análise completa de sua performance.

    Reply

  122. Also, you can’t compare prices across borders.

    It seems “unfair” that we in Europe have to pay “more.”

    But we also earn more and the whole cost of living is proportionally different. The fact is that electronics etc are cheaper in the USA. They are a bigger buying power, and they have lower taxes. Their food is also amazingly cheap. Go to america and be amazed by big all the portions are and how little everything costs.

    But they are probably thinking how we have free medicines and university education etc etc. It’s all balanced out.

    Reply

  123. @Bart

    What you’re seeing is the in-camera jpeg noise reduction creating that smudginess and smoothing over of the details. My a580 and a850 look like that with straight-out-of-camera jpegs. Sony seems to apply crushing noise reduction.

    A processed raw file will be much more informative.

    Also, there’s a good hands-on report at popphoto with full size sample images.

    Reply

  125. Iso 6400 sample.

    Smudgy noise reduction, but a lot of detail still there
    http://www.popphoto.com/files/_images/201108/_dsc0333.jpg

    Turn that noise reduction OFF, and process the raw yourself. Add some sharpening to bring out details and resize it to sensible size (I mean really who need a 24mp shot at ISO6400 anyway?!) You’ll have a great image, no problem.

    After seeing this and knowing my a580 and a850, I’m very confident in the high ISO capability now.

    Reply

    1. See the previews. They all say no in regards to using the a77 grip with the a65. Plus, if you were paying any attention to the videos, they all said the a65 is smaller and hence, you cannot.

      Reply

  127. Probably a stupid question (and hopefully long solved since there are SLT bodies for quite some time already) but: how do you clean the mirror effectively. Now any dust on the mirror shows in your image. Just blowing some air over it might not be good enough and usually touching the mirror with anything is like blasphemy. And how big is the problem in real life? I gues bigger than with a DSLR because the mirror doesn’t move anymore.

    Anyone, please?

    Reply

    1. in reality you dont. Its a thin film rather than a solid mirror so will be distorted or scratched by cleaning. And go easy with the blowers too. Although this may seem a bit worrying, its not. firstly, the mirror is no dust magnet, generally what it accumulates is easily shifted with a light blow. Worst case scenario the replacement mirrors are cheap, and easy to self fit. there’s videos out the showing how to replace one in seconds. I’ve heard of virtually no problems with these by the way (apart from one guy who melted his with alcohol based cleaner) so it should not be classed as cause for concern.

      Reply

      1. Thanks for the reply!
        Will look into it some more and possibly stock one or two spares. If it’s not more difficult than cleaning the sensor (which I do regularly) it should not be a problem

        Another worry solved (at least mostly..)

        Reply

  128. So, after a long analysis I have finally made a decision to buy the A65 instead of the A77. “Why” you ask? Read on:

    1. Viewfinder: In the A65 segment, the view finders are small & dark. An OLED EVF equal in size to an A900 truly represents a breath of fresh air for the segment.

    2. Burst Rate: In the A65 price class, the standard burst rates of the competition are below 4fps. The A65 brings 8fps with full manual control & real time EVF updating. For comparison, I will ignore the 10fps mode completely because you will not have any control & only see a slideshow of the images in the EVF. Even the A77 only gets 8fps with full time control. I would have expected 10fps there. Unfortunately, the buffer size is indeed disappointing on both cameras. Mark my words, the buffer will be the biggest criticized aspect of both cameras.

    3. Sensor & Image Processor: The A65 gets the same sensor & processor as the $500 more expensive A77. Nice!

    4.Price: At $899, the value in this segment is just unbeatable. This is a premium offering with premium features.

    With the A77, I feel Sony fell a bit short in delivering in terms of features for its price class & could have done a bit better by increasing the buffer size & getting full control up till 10fps. However, with the A65, in spite of dumbing it down a bit, Sony have made a camera which offers a unbeatable value for its price class.

    Having said that though, professionals that work in the studio will still see the A77 as a good value. I am not saying that the A77 is bad. Just mean to say that the A77 is not as revolutionary for its price class as the A65 is for its price class.

    Reply

  130. Does anyone know, if the A77 will support both SD card and the Memory Stick simultaneously (e.g. mirroring or jpg/raw/video on seperate cards) ?
    Or at least have both mounted at the same time ?

    Reply

  131. This is why ‘The luminous Landscape” didn’t comment on image quality yet. None of these review sites have had the final production model to review. I’m not going to sweat it over dpreview or the imaging resource. The imaging resource for example, compared the image quality of a pre-production model a77, with full frame production models from canon and Nikon, and the medium format pentax 645. Those cameras cost between $8,000 – to $10,000, talk about a hit job. The a77 is going to be outstanding as well as the a65, once the final firmware is in the hands of everyday photographers. By the time it’s all said and done, the a65 will be able to be had for $800 body only, and the a77 for $1100 body only, once the marketplace stabilizes and some rebates and promotions come around. Sony kicked the competitions rear end all up and down the field I do believe. A77,A65,Constant aperture 2.8 kit lens, with ssm and excellent image quality, plus the Nex-7 at a decent price also. Sometimes I am amazed at what people can find to complain about.

    Reply

    1. verry unknown store looking for more visitors is all i can say , not really a player on the market here.

      Reply

  134. What a disappointment pricewise – at least for the European market. It’ll take months before the A77 reaches the magic 1000 € price limit – if it ever does!
    Regarding the promised high ISO: Let’s hope that the final firmware can do better than what we’ve seen so far. It’s like in the old we-have-the-most-mpix-era 🙁

    Reply

    1. yeah i got exactly the same feeling !! far too expensive for european market !! they will see lot of europeans turning with other solution !
      the difference between dollars and euros is to high !!
      that’s why i decided not bying the Nex-7 but bying a “big” camera like the D7000 (sad for my nex system…)
      not good to be a european in the camera market ..

      Reply

  135. Is Sony not going to release a batter grip for the A65, or is it only coming later ?
    Since the bottom of the A65 is different from all previous models and the A77, are there no plans to make a battery grip at all ?

    Sure, all pro photographers will choose the A77, but what about those that may want to upgrade later ?

    Reply

    1. It is possible but only if the demand for it is enough to compel them to do so. The biggest question though would be the battery compartment. Does it allow removal of the door in order to use a grip? If it is similar to the a55, then obviously no.

      Reply

  136. But David, why show a lot of pictures when that is not relevant?
    Is it not better to wait to post pictures from a “real” camera?
    Since you say that this happens “every time”, why not learn from this then?
    I bought an A900 when it came out (sorry, I’ll say now afterwards) and also that time it was said the same thing, “wait until the” real “camera is launched, then you will see that the noise is much better than these pre-series copy “BULLSHIT! So why should one believe in this now?
    Regards Peter

    Reply

  137. But David, why show a lot of pictures when that is not relevant?
    Is it not better to wait to post pictures from a “real” camera?
    Since you say that this happens “every time”, why not learn from this then?
    I bought an A900 when it came out (sorry, I’ll say now afterwards) and also that time it was said the same thing, “wait until the” real “camera is launched, then you will see that the noise is much better than these pre-series copy “BULLSHIT! So why should one believe in this now?
    Regards Peter

    Reply

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