I guess some of you are still having some doubts if you should buy the [shoplink 8461]A77[/shoplink] or not. Some of you will wait for the new firmware update which fixes the first A77 firmware issues, or because of the new rumored A7x(?) camera. But looking at how impressed the reviewers are you really shouldn’t have big doubts anymore. Days ago Popphoto (Click here) wrote that “The [shoplink 8461]A77[/shoplink] now reigns supreme over APS-C format DSLRs. Neither Canon’s EOS 7D nor Nikon’s D300s can match the A77’s AF speed or resolution. While the Canon 7D does beat the A77 in its noise performance and holds more resolution at the highest ISOs, the A77 ultimately beats it for the overall package, including the video-shooting experience and the versatility of the articulated LCD.”
Now one of my readers sent me a copy of the latest Amateur Magazine which rated the A77 with an “Excellent” score of 90/100. The verdict says that “Sony has set the bar in several areas” and beats the Canon 7D and Pentax K5.
And now even the german reviewers from Photoscala (Click here to read the google translation) posted a full (and very positive) A77 review. The camera gets “highly recommended!”.
As you see reviewers are quite enthusuastic about the A77. THis is really the new king of the APS-C camera world! Get the A77 at [shopcountry 8461]!
All other new Sony cameras and lenses links:
A65 at [shopcountry 8459].
Sony NEX-7 [shopcountry 8454].
Sony NEX-5n [shopcountry 8452].
Zeiss 24mm f/1.8 [shopcountry 8450].
Sony 50mm f/1.8 [shopcountry 8448].
Sony 55-210mm [shopcountry 8444].
NEX-5n viewfinder [shopcountry 9110].
78 Responses
And, more to come… 🙂
And I wait for NEX 7 reviews :s
jury is still out.. I have not seen any shots with the new FW , I think it will be a good camera but time will tell whether or not it is great. Now the Nex-7 that could be the real deal.. again time will tell…
http://www.flickr.com/photos/zedthedragon/sets/72157627846975544/with/6221290936/
Now… if i could only get one here in the US… waiting…
+1
Ofc it’s a good camera compared to 3 years old 7D.
It would be a disaster if it wasn’t.
Now, where is my 750$ A75?
Don’t stray too far into dreamland
All my dreams became true 🙂 Just a question of time
2012 Dec 21st 😀 lol
+1
People and their unrealistic expectation.
/shrug
Actually the Canon 7D is less than 2 years old and won 2010 TIPA Best D-SLR expert Award.
Terryfried, Ah true, exactly 2 years, 50D was 3 years , I messed up.
Too bad there is no rival at the moment, we need to wait to compare. Good for Sony then! Canikon’s sleep made them the best.
This camera is really getting some respect from guys that work in camera stores that are usually Canikon fans.
Today 5 stars article from French magazine “Chasseurs d’images” the title is “We tested the sensor of tomorrow”
As great as all the reviews have been, the A77 is still being compared to DSLRs that are one to two years old. We all know how rapidly technologies change. The A77 ‘should’ be an excellent camera, but odds are, the next installment of Canon, Nikon, Pentax, etc. should be just (if not more) impressive in the same categories. Congrats to Sony for the A77, NEX-5n, and NEX-7. Enjoy your new camera presence on what some are calling the top. It will be short lived, as the next installment of competitor cameras surpass the A77’s specs… Then a year later, we start the cycle all over again.
Camera bodies come and go (in DSLR-land), buy good glass!
You still need something to put the glass on. and of coarse A77 is compared to cameras from the last 2 years its not possible to compare it to next years cameras. but its already cheaper and better than most of these and the new ones may be as good or better but knowing Canik they will be even dearer. and the A99 will compete with them.
Bought good glass, check.
A77 looks like a great camera with lots of great features and great specs. But I was and am waiting for “great” on the higher ISOs. I’m not expecting a lot from the NEX-7 in that regard, but who knows? And the full frames are coming in 2012! I’m hoping great higher ISOs is a feature.
Nice.
Andrea, you should ask your trusted sources about this A75 rumor.
I believe (and many others) that the top APS-C is A77, and above
you will only find FF cameras. But for sure Sony will sooner or later
add new SLT cameras, that is no surprise.
Andrea another question to ask your sources.
Could you ask if Sony has an “advanced compact camera” in the roadmap?
Sony has talk about this, said they know about the need for such a camera.
Something like a Canon G12, Nikon 7100 etc.
I would love a “advanced compact” with a EVF, “big” compact sensor,
more buttons and wheels for control and tilting LCD.
But would Sony dear to release such a camera, it would only “eat” of
the NEX, SLT sales market? Time will tell.
A P&S for prosumers would be nice.
I agree, comparing to Canon 7D and Nikon D300s which will have a replacement soon. A new sensor from both will destroy A77 in terms of noise, it is already behind now. And yes, I am a pixelpeeper and i don’t like noise, it’s that simple.
Magazines just want to make nice headlines and praise the 24MP sensor for its high resolution etc …
The only thing that stands out is the AF speed, which is the fastest of them all.
Having used a850 professionally for a year with great glass and light I can say that it delivers Quality color and resolution to the highest standards. Noise is gone with great lighting even at 3200 and 4500 iso.
+1
I am also a pixelpeeper too. The most bothering thing of A77 is the image quality only good when it is not 100% enlarge. You may find the JPEG is grainy or blurry when look into it too close. I am not sure what is the reason behind. However, I always hear a lot of the people don’t like Sony’s JPEG engine because the compress rate is not optimized at all (just about 10 out of 12 in Photoshop’s standard). Sometimes, even RAW shows not much improvement when you look closer to the edge of the object or large area of single color. You may still find coarse pattern on it. I just wonder should Sony remove the low pass filter and then replace a IR cut like what Ricoh does for the GXR M moudle. If a camera is naturally good, why does Sony need to upgrade firmware frequently for this model? Sony seems can’t handle it well enough, I believe. I prefer it use a 16MP or 20MP sensor, 24MP is a way to dangerous. And of course, a much better resolving power of lens is a must.
Have you ever made a print where it mattered?
People looking at your images don’t look at 100% crops. Only geeks worry about it when comparing penis size on the internet.
Your real viewing audience doesn’t know what ISO noise means, never mind how to spot it. They will be viewing your images on un-calibrated crappy monitors at MUCH reduced image size.
The A77 gives you 50% more pixels while keeping the ISO around the same as a 16mpix sensor, that is quite an achievement and people need to get a life and start taking photographs.
Hi SonyA77, your explanations just answer my anxiety. Beginner won’t throw money on top model just for two reasons, 1st is the budget, 2nd is as what you mentioned – they can’t find different as they seldom enlarge it to 100%. But the professional will do! That’s why a lot of professional photographers get Nikon D3S and D3X at the same time. Sharpness is vital to the final output on printing and usually sharpening is a must do in the procedure. What I find from the sample is when sharpening is done, the coarse pattern just getting too obvious and ruin the photos quite a lot. The professional would stay away from trouble and get what they trust for. I am not anti-Sony at all. I used NEX-3, even consider to upgrade to NEX-5N. But I should said 24MP on APS-C is really really going too far.
Don’t worry, just wait until one come out and test one.
Another option is to rent it. I’ve never had A55 but I did rent it online. I’m still debating whether to jump on A77 or rent and see 🙂
It’s hard to judge based on ‘experts’ because all they care is hits to their blogs/sites to generate revenue for their ads. Try it yourself.
This is another reason why Sony cameras are always shunned. Critics look at online reviews. The owners, well, just try it out themselves.
Mochapaulo, this is not a professional camera, it is for “advanced amateurs”, so I fail to see your point about what professionals need.
You are comparing cameras that are thousands difference in price.
I’m sure both Nikon and Canon will announce new cameras soon.
Now that Sony has shown its hand with the a77 the competition knows what they need to do.
Please correct me if I’m wrong
As I remember, Sony shipped its a900 at about $2,600 and shortly after that Canon came out with its 5D that included video at about the same price, Sony then needed to release the a850 at $2,000 which as we know was basically the same camera as the a900 just to be relevant.
And so it goes….
We can expect, and even hope for the industry in general that Nikon and Canon, both will still make fine cameras.
The A900 was actually more expensive at $2999 when new, but it did have a better viewfinder and better low to mid ISO image quality. However, both price and video spelled success for Canon.
maybe they’ll announce cameras soon, but they haven’t yet. There will always be “cameras announced soon”, what matters is what I can go out and buy today, right now. With regards to the A900, Canon bought out the 5D MK2, yes it had video and was a bit better in lower lighting (subjective), but in every other photographic aspect the A900 blew it away. It resolves more detail, it has better weather proofing, it has far far better AF, it has a better burst speed, the best viewfinder on ANY DSLR(!) and so on and so on. The A900 is a purists camera. Dont get me wrong the 5D MK2 is a very very fine camera but purely photographically is some way behind the A900. What carried the 5D Mk2 was the addition of full frame video (and the publicity surrounding it) and its ideal use as a second body for 1Ds owners not to mention Canon users upgrading to FF, thats a big market to draw on. The A900 was mainly bought by the comparatively small number of existing Sony/Minolta users.
I think Nikon has an APS-C on their pipeline that everyone’s been anticipating, and in nikonrumors twice the date has been predicted for this quarter – and twice it was wrong. Haven’t heard from Canon.
More on my A77 first experiences…
I went out last night for my first shoot of any length. Caught a nice sunset and managed to have a good play with the camera.
I used my Zeiss 16-80 and throughout the zoom range the images are really pin sharp and crystal clear. A real step up from my A33.
Next, a comment about noise – with the A33 and any kind of ND filter, images at f/16 and smaller apertures were VERY noisy and needed 100% recovery in ACR. Not so with the A77 – even with stacked ND400 and ND grad, the images at f/22 and f/25 were almost noise free and ACR recovery just introduced peaking into the image.
Later, I tried some night shots (it was a full moon) and both at ISO 50 with very long exposures and at ISO 1600 short exposures the images were useable with very little editing. I really am impressed as I was expecting a high ISO disaster – just goes to show that you shouldn’t believe all you read e.g. A7x 😉
In summary, this camera is going to result in me spending much less time in the digital darkroom which is very pleasing. I’ve been out with it twice but already I love it!!
A few pics from last night at http://www.500px.com/davercox
Cheers!!
Thanks a lot Dave.
Now i don’t know, should i buy a77 or wait for nex7 ???
argh….
pictures look great !
how do you find evf ?
hahahah me too XD
but nex 7 really tempting me now while i can wait for a99 😀
Thanks Sergey,
As an OVF devotee it took me a while to warm to the EVF but now I can’t live without it! When I go out with Canikon users and there are struggling with composition in low light they are amazed at my crystal clear EVF. Plus the ability to put the camera in places where your head can’t fit when using LiveView is so valuable for me. No more bad backs and/or lying on the ground 🙂
Cheers!
That is exactly the point I make about the EVF to people who can only see negatives (and have never used an EVF anyway). On my A700 OVF I really struggle to see a damn thing in low light.
It’s nice when EVF doesn’t exist though 😉
The OVF in A700 is still good compared to the P&S LCD 😛 I can’t see a damn thing sometimes.
Dave
Wonderful pictures – nice to see what the camera is capable of.
For anyone wanting to see the A77 in real action – the first three images on Dave’s site are taken with it.
You sir have a lot of talent.
Your site is going into my bookmarks..
And good to hear about the less time in digital darkroom.
I’m an amateur photographer who never post processes his photos, so it’s nice to hear 🙂
Thanks very much 🙂
wow, great photos Dave! Do you know if your Sigma 10-20 works with the a77? (I heard about compatibility issues?)
No, SS. Sigma 10-20 doesn’t work with A77. It’s going into the dealer tomorrow for firmware update. Fingers crossed!!
Hi Dave – Fantastic pictures. Real world reviews like this are what I like to see right now – while I’m waiting for my A77! Which photos are from last night though? The link just takes me to your front page where it says A330 and SLT-33.
Cheers,
Nick
Thanks Nick. The A77 images are the latest 3.
Very nice Dave. The older a33 shots are pretty sharp as well.
Top Shelf Dave.
well first of all what a stunning bunch of shots they are, you must have an amazing camera…sorry, couldn’t resist it 🙂 Joking aside they are extremely good.
I havent had a chance to try my A77 in low light yet but look forward to doing so soon. Its interesting to hear your observations about its performance though and it reminds me of a high ISO test on EOSHDs site which was actually done properly, reducing the light level while increasing the ISO. All of the cameras behaved very differently to how they behave in a normal static light HIGH ISO test. Ones performing well in the conventional test absolutely fell apart in the reducing light test and some cameras not famed for their low light capabilities turned out to be much better than expected. Perhaps this is the case here. I read the Amateur photographer review this morning and by all accounts they were more impressed with the A77 than I’ve seen them be with any DSLR for many years and 90% from those guys is a stellar result for Sony.
Very remarkable conclusion by PopPhoto. Let me quote it again:
“Neither Canon’s EOS 7D nor Nikon’s D300s can match the A77′s AF speed or resolution. While the Canon 7D does beat the A77 in its noise performance and holds more resolution at the highest ISOs…”
What the …?
7D can’t match A77’s resolution, although 7D’s resolution is more at high ISO. RESOLUTION meaning what? Maybe it is the number of pixels of 7D that increases with ISO?
And why compare with only 2 year old D300s? There are far older models, which have much worse speed or resolution.
But even such silly marketing by PopPhoto cannot make A77 less attractive, because it IS really an outstanding camera, at least on the paper. Wish only Sony were choosing the editors more carefully before paying them.
“What the …?
7D can’t match A77′s resolution, although 7D’s resolution is more at high ISO. RESOLUTION meaning what? Maybe it is the number of pixels of 7D that increases with ISO?
And why compare with only 2 year old D300s? There are far older models, which have much worse speed or resolution.”
Measured resolution of the recorded image. They shoot a test chart and figure out how many line pairs per mm or line pairs per picture height are visible. As noise becomes more pronounced it will reduce the resolution of the recorded image some. The a77 starts out better than the 7D but as the noise increases at higher ISO it becomes slightly worse. That is to say the 7D’s image degrades more gracefully than the a77’s. It sounds like they compared the a77 to cameras that were similar in price and the latest models from Canon and Nikon. Sure Canon and Nikon are going to release new models that may out perform the a77, but they have not yet. Hard to compare released cameras to rumors.
I dunno what people are expecting, things like high ISO have come on very fast, but eventually they are going to slow if we continue to base sensors on the same technology. The next Canon and Nikon cameras will be better than the A77, that’s almost a certainty, the next A7X will be better than those. The differences overall are miniscule and to 99% of people, absolutely unnoticeable. Time to stop sweating over 3 points on a DxO comparison and take some photos!
OMG! I can NOT agree more!
Thanks for clarification!
Stop saying that it’s not fair to compare the a77 and d300s. When both of these cameras came out last time, they were also compared to a 2 year old a700. You may say that Sony has offered nothing in the previous times to match the 7d n d300.
So yeah that’s the same scenario now where canikon has NOTHIng to offer yet. So I don’t see the problem where reviewers compare the a77 with the others.
+1
+1
They’re a similar price point. Therefore it’s fair to compare them.
And remember the time when they actually compare A550 with Canon 7D etc? Because that time Sony have NOTHING to offer and A700 is like an uncle already. So now why cant the A77 compare with D300s, or even Canon 7D? Even thought you compare it with 60D or 7000D the A77 will still rocks hands down.
This will continue until Canikon response with a better gear, or should i say better “High ISO” gear for pixel peepers as there’s no translucent mirror blocking the lights?
What I see at least coming from shooting low light (concerts) the 3200 iso on the A77 sucks it is way behind older cameras, that is a valid point, I shot Sony for about 5 years sold it to go Canon and came back to Sony last year in hopes they would do something on a pro level.. For me the something is in the NEX line… the 5n is very good in low light, we shall see what the 7 can do.
Depends on what you shoot and where you want to go with your photography!! as stated most people wont see a difference, but when you are shooting for money you as the photographer better see the difference, and you better demand the best you can afford. Sony needs to focus on pro level if not they will lead people to the door of Canon and Nikon..
My 2 cents
Kevin, I shoot Sony professionally. Raw only, a850 and a580 deliver great low light results with proper (positive in this case) exposure, manual settings work best and I don’t hesitate going to 4500 with this technique. Yes some noise creeps in, but nothing to be alarmed about.
1) Sony could simply do a better job balancing resolution vs ISO.
Sony could simply release an additional camera with better ISO and nobody would ever say anything bad about A77. And while it’s the only enthusiast alternative offered by Sony, it must be criticized for it’s inferior ISO performance.
2) I prefer looking at charts and synthetic tests when comparing cameras. When You look at Dave’s lovely pictures it’s impossible say which is shot on A33 and which on A77. If he wisely mixed some processed images from compact camera a lot of readers would not recognize it too 🙂
3) “Time to stop sweating over 3 points on a DxO comparison and take some photos!”
I bet people here do that, they share them on flickr,500, recently Google+ and many others. They can comment on them, critique them or like them.
And since this site is related to hardware I find those discussions highly relevant and entertaining. This place is paradise for charts, c’mon they are not boring for people with photographic background and a little bit of technical knowledge 🙂
4) I would welcome some picture sharing here on this site for everyone, but it should be done in different stream. Perhaps admin will someday merge SAR,43 and MR into one site with introduction of streams including artistic and social.
Release Firmware 1.03 already!!!!
I am so beginning to hate Sony!
there’re many problem with the A77. i got mine just by chance to play around with it. the camera crashed when changing ISO. example. when you set ISO on 800 take a photo it works then you change to ISO 1600. or 6400 then take photo again it crashed both screen show error. must turn off then turn back on again to get it to work. Sux hope the new firmware out for dl soon to fix all those problems..
What firmware are you using? If it is lower then 1.03 then that may be your problem.
Ohhh dear lords!
Mine doesn’t crash at higher ISOs. Looks like you played around with your camera too much with firmware 1.02.
Could this be hardware issues?
If it is, will Sony replace all the cameras that was released with firmware 1.02?
It almost feels like we are running a Ferrari on Diesel!!!!!!!!!
Sooner or later, the engine will give in!
i think its related to memory buffer problem. it didnt hold the setting when try take photo change iso to high or low,
If you are not using 1.03 then you SHOULD BE.
something i found that i’m not sure if anyone posted this here before.
Sony A77 got the Editor’s Choice Award from American Photo Dec 2011 magazine. check the mag out, its free to download 😀
http://storemags.com/american-photo-december-2011/
@ shaokeephotography, these are the type of things that are not so good, as they don’t have a finished product.. Maybe for innovation and technology thay can honor it but for performance no way.
I am going to hold off a bit before I invest in this system, as stated I think the real winner is the NEX 5n / 7, these cameras offer much better flexibility and usefulness for me…
Hope they don’t realize that and cripple NEX 7 to highlight A77 :p
All of these professional reviews and reports from A77 owners are obviously patently false. I have read many reports from multitudes of amateur, non-owners here and on DPR that show PROOF that a77 is a nasty, noisy, piece of rubbish and that more pixels means worse IQ. I will not buy into these glowing reports and refuse to consider any purchase of this or any Sony product until they admit that their engineers are idiots for designing the sensor despite being trained professionals who devote their days to improving technology. (Can one’s tongue be planted so firmly in one’s cheek that it causes trauma to the cheek and/or tongue?)
LOL, yeah I know exactly where you are coming from here.
The finest Sony camera ever!!!!!
I can’t wait to see all those wonderful pictures users will post of their cats at ISO 1600, a fance by their house, and whatever else they can come up with.
Meanwhile, back in photoland, the 2% of Sony users still using an A100 will blow away the Sony a77 user photos. All because why people were caught up with marketing & BS, we were caught up with our subjects, lighting, composition, & the art in photography.
You sound butt hurt…
Go get a job and buy yourself the A77.
Yeah, somepeople can drive a Morris Mini-Minor better then other people with a sports car. I rather have the Ferrari….
someone here work for Sony? dont misleading customer , yeah i have my A77 with firmware 1.02, 1.03 no for Dl yet, on M mode. if your try to take photos under different ISO settting. thats how it freeze the camera, if you dont change iso setting it wont happen.SonyA77 go fix your problem before talking behalf of Sony
Were you born stupid or do you have to work at it?
This is what I said:
“What firmware are you using? If it is lower then 1.03 then that may be your problem.”
I was trying to help by suggesting that 1.02 is the problem. I’ll now help you more (although why should I?) by giving you the download link to 1.03 that will probably FIX IT.
http://www.sony-asia.com/support/download/474591
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