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Photographybay (Click here) tested the Sony A55: “The A55 gives the novice user plenty of room to grow in both the photo and video realms. The biggest limitations I found were the image buffer when shooting RAW files at high frame rate bursts and the unnatural feel of the fast AF in video recording. For an entry-level DSLR though, the Sony A55 will go toe-to-toe with just about any other comparably-priced camera out there.”
A reminder: The A55 like other Sony cameras is currently discounted in US:
And here is the summary of all US deals:
-$50 on the A580 at Amazon, Adorama, B&H and J&R.
-$50 on the A55 at Amazon, Adorama, B&H, J&R, eBay.
-$50 on the A33 at Amazon, Adorama, B&H, J&R, eBay.
-$50 on the NEX-5 at Amazon, Adorama, B&H, J&R, eBay.
-$50 on the NEX-3 at Amazon, Adorama, B&H, J&R, eBay.
13 Responses
“unnatural feel of the fast AF in video recording”
Sorry if your Canon camera never showed you what “fast” is like.
I completely agree, The AF is fast and without hassle. I also found that the buffer is just fine if you use sonys new Memory Sticks, I usually take about 30 photos on RAW before the buffer fills up and then the camera will still take burst shots, you just can’t review them at the same time. In one experience I shot almost 50 shots bursting 10FPS here and there in the span of 6 or so seconds, I let the camera come back from buffer thinking and got every shot I wanted, which I would have never been able to do with any other entry or mid range DSLR. I love my A55 never leave home without it.
Shutter sound of the A55 can be improved, i.e. lowered.
If Sony shutters were quieter, Canon and Nikon would really have to up their game.
Is the shutter sound of Sony’s dslrs affected by the placing on a ‘plate’ of the sensor for stabilisation and does this placing physically prevent casing the shutter and sensor to keep the sound contained in the body?
@Rockie: totally.
It’s “unnaturally” faster than any other HD-DSLR out there. Unnaturally better equipped than most cameras under $1200, for that matter.
So sorry. 🙂
Haha, no kidding eh? Sounds like a jealous canikon fanboy to me. One thing I don’t understand is the fast AF during video. Mine doesn’t do that and it seems to be a problem with a lot of others as well. Some experience fast AF here and there but not sure why it might switch from slow to fast from day to day for no reason. Any clues?
“unnatural feel of the fast AF in video recording”
…compared to canon’s and nikon’s NON-EXISTENT movie AF??? LOL
i have this a55 and it straight-up mocks CANON’s silly movie AF…
So they are complaining that it’s too good.
Can I just add (by way of a plug!) that my appreciation of my A55 has grown out of sight since I bought and downloaded (via this site) Gary Friedman’s excellent book. Everything I wanted to know and a stack more that I didnt even know I wanted to know!!
I agree, the AF in video looks too fast. Make it selectable: fast, medium, slow.
This would be best. Makes everyone happy.
Problem is that some people don’t get it.
Canikon:
– Slow focusing: MF or AF
– Fast focusing: unavailable
Sony:
– Slow focusing: MF
– Fast focusing: AF
so to satisfy the unaware the selectable focusing speed would be a very good option.
I thought about this too. If the camera can originally do very fast AF, then it shouldn’t be hard at all to implement medium and slow AF modes into the firmware. They just need to drag out the length of time that it takes to re-focus. The camera will already “know” what subject it is to focus on.
If Sony implements these AF speed modes it could be huge. To have that much control and elegance when shooting video.
Fast AF is great when there are multiple subjects but all of those subjects are in similar but different distances.
But I agree the fast AF doesn’t look so great when the shot goes between foreground and background distances. Perhaps the camera could even take this distance into account and automatically go into medium/slow AF mode!
“Image Quality
I was very pleased with the overall image quality in both photos and videos. While I’m not going to delve into the minute details of noise control and ISO comparisons that I have done in the past, I will say that I wouldn’t hesitate to shoot side-by-side with a Canon 60D or Nikon D7000 with similarly-equipped lenses on the A55.”
Video is a nice touch but its all about the IQ, although labeled as entry level nice to know it can go toe-to-toe with the big boys.
Do people capturing video of their kids want slower video focusing? Do people capturing video of a sports event wants slower video focusing?
This lightning fast focus is BEST IN CLASS. If they want to manually focus the video they can do that in Manual mode. But what do they do? They moan and complain about the video focusing too fast! It really is the most ridiculous criticism.
I have an A55 and love it. The lenses that are most often on it are the Sony Carl Zeiss 16-80mm… the Minolta 50mm F/1.4 and a Sigma 70-200mm F/2.8 that I love using. Other than some flaring issues on occasion these lenses have STUNNING results. The video from the Sony Zeiss (with good light) is very beautiful and crisp. Plus the built-in stereo mic is BEST IN CLASS as well (the Nikon and Canon do not use stereo mics in the same class). Lastly, the GPS is a great feature that does use a lot more power but enhances the functionality of taking shots a great deal.