Dear readers. What you can see here on top is the very first picture of the Sony A77 EVF! You can see the 19 AF points (11 of them are cross type). You can also see the 1080p60 logo. Hope to get more sceenshot like this as soon as I can.
I also ask my sources if they can tell me more about:
1) Image quality (Low and High ISO)
2) Is there it 14 bit RAW?
Thanks!
193 Responses
no comment!
I still think these are two few AF points. I would have liked to see 19 all cross primary sensors, additional auxiliary (tracking) sensors and a central double cross sensor.
Im liking this evf as most of the icons/text are are out of the way and they are really small which means they are really taking advantage of the 3MP resolution. I would like to see the different modes. Also, I wonder if it is customizable, that is can i add or even relocate certain elements and adjust their opacity, instead of having to choose from a set of predefined options. For example, on my epl2 w/ vf2 and I can’t have both the grid and histogram at the same time; would be nice if I can add both to the display, make the histogram more translucent and place it closer to the corner. Also be nice if i can configure the display on the evf and LCD seperately.
Honestly, I didnt think I would like using an evf, but the vf2 and the ones on panasonics are great and more enjoyable to use the most entry level dslrs’, yet this one and the one on the nex7 should be even better as it is oled w/ twice the dots.
Yeah, nothing to get excited about ;P
Ooo the AF points are interestingly arranged. too bad it doesn’t fill whole EVF though.
Mmm,little disappointed about all focus points are in the central part~
Still have to obey to the limitations set by phase detection…
It shows ISO permanently on the screen! Praise the Lord!!!
Totally agree.
A most welcome feature indeed! 😀
Agreed! LOL
YEAG! ISO IN VF!!! Patience is virtue indeeddd!!!
It is copy paste into it 😀 just kidding haha
I hope it does not show “Auto” for ISO most of the time like NEX-5
Hmmm what for so much near points???
For me there is 7 – 10 unneeded points.
just lost time to switch from center to side points
And finally ISO in viewfinder 🙂 its good.
*Sign* ^^
Nice.
But yeaj: I just wonder why did they put all af points sooooo damn close together?
It’s not that bad, really
Here it is:
http://img14.imageshack.us/img14/3065/a77d7000.jpg
Yellow dots: Nikon D7000
Red dots: Sony A77.
it’s not even half-width of AF point, but remember that AF points are usually (much)larger than area indicated on the screen.
What amuses me most is the choice of background picture for that comparison. The A77 would probably focus on the guy’s board.
I don’t beleive it’s possible to put PAF points near the periphery of the image as it’s not possible to get sufficient separation of angle for the system to work properly.
Correct. But I have to wonder about what those gaps would do to tracking focus.
That’s simple. It will not help you….
I do not like the gaps. Personally, the array in the center also needs some filling, up to a complete 3*5 set of sensors at least.
Furthermore, the question is which ones are cross type. I’ve been looking at the layout but sofar the best explanation of this layout would be that in the middle group only the central 5 are cross type, and in the left and right block only the inner vertical 3 are also cross type. I do not think that this will bring me accurate tracking at all.
The issue is how well does it work–not how many points, what kind, and where. The users so far are saying it works wonderfully. Let’s wait a week & see.
Exactly. Function > specifications
A850 has a simple AF system, but every point works well. And the centre point will lock anything.
I would rather have a basic system that works well than a fancy system which doesn’t.
and a GPS icon on screen
And real-time histogramm 🙂 Cool
Yeah that is cool indeed. 🙂
and not to mention very useful 😀
sure it is useful: to hide the construction site in the LRHS of the image.
Number of focus points and their position looks good to me.
G
If it is indeed live.
It isn’t live. I can’t believe anyone would think that it IS live..
9999 shots remaining…
Plus there’s no guarantee that ISO is permanently displayed. The EVF won’t have ALL of those icons active ALL of the time. Looks like a pilots cockpit rather than a viewfinder.
Of course the histogram would be live.
Wasn’t real time histograms already on the a33/a55 and other DSLRS with live view on the LCD screen…? Am I missing something here?
YEah! the histogram is a BIG ++++++++++++!!!!!!!!!!!
Would be good to have similar overlay for NEX-7.
Good to see that it shows the battery percentage meter for both batteries(the one in the camera, and the one in the grip), and we can see the gps signal meter.
If the picture quality is as good as it is on this picture it’s going to be great 😛
If it is like the A700, both batteries are in the grip.
Oh, didn’t know that. Thanks for clearing that up 🙂
On NEX-7 you have unlimited AF points, vs 19 on the A77
— “If the picture quality is as good as it is on this picture it’s going to be great ”
Why not? Is it, I guess…
Wonder how they match up with the rule of thirds.
good question
Any thoughts on aspect ratios? The full image including info is, near enough, 4:3 but the landscape between the status bars is 16:10.5 which seems very odd.
Would welcome someone double checking my math.
Are you sure this is SR5?
Yes sure!
Interesting… I guess we’ll find out in one week what the image display options are but I would have expected a 4:3 image to either fill the EVF with the status info overlaid or hae black bars left and right.
Keep up the good work
No need to double check. The image is 3:2
😉
In reference to the layout of the AF-points, there is almost no change in comparison to my A55, but a big change to my 850. But that was the A55 already.
Don’t judge the EVF based on a small jpg. You have to see it in real. In real, the EVF of the A55 is not as bad as pictures in the internet show.
DaveR wrote “landscape between the status bars is 16:10.5 which seems very odd”.
This is practically the same as 3:2 which is exactly what you’d expect….
*slaps head* DOH… of course it is… thanks for pointing that out. I was getting too fixated on 16:9 and missed the obvious and correct answer!
So we get 3:2 and full status bars which is excellent.
With all the AF points clumped so close together, it’ll probably be quite accurate when important objects fall in those three zones, but there’s so much uncovered space it looks like focus-and-recompose will be the order of the day for many shooting styles, especially ones that need vertical tracking.
I wonder if any of the people Andrea has been in touch with has used the camera for birding?
My math says that 16:10,5 equals 3:1,968 which is not 3:2 so how can this be excellent??? It looks like we will not see some top and/or bottom portion of the scene!
Admin, is this is the actual photo size? i ask that since my only resent to A77 is the EVF – i can’t believe it will be as good as OVF. so if you have a higher resolution to this photo for us people to be able to check the full details for this EVF. i know it is a very amateur way to check this thing, and maybe not that accurate- but until the release for this camera – maybe this is the only way to check this.
keep up the great job you do, tnx 😉
Don’t believe it has 1:1 size.
Wonder, if you can limit AF to AF point groups? Eg shooting sports in portrait mode, it would be wonderful to put AF to all AF points in the top 3rd of the screen to have a dead on and accurate/reliable focus…
Damn, why is the meter scale so small?
Disappointment…
Why ? Everything is clear and clean. Nothing is disturbing the composition. Sony engineers have well done their job. Stop complaining before seeing the EVF in real ! 😉
You will see if the image is too dark/light anyway from the realtime image in the screen. if you like what you see, who cares what the meter says. Not to mention an actual histogram. Besides, it does not seem much smaller than on the A700
Andrea, can you ask your source if it is customizable as well?
hahaha~
I see that!
It’s very nice viewfinder.
size are…same A900.
!!! Impossible to focus on trees without movement… LOL check the illustration picture
Don’t take it seriously, just wanted not to celebrate all the time :]
But I would like to have points a little more spreader.
ISO! ISO! Good lord, that’s the thing countless people have been asking for ages! FINALLY!
Dear admin, are there any rumors on EVF magnification? 🙂
what’s the 2nd icon, on the top left (right after the S) ?
A slight aside, but its worth noting that Sony Vegas MovieStudioHD 11 video editing software has been released in the last couple of days with new support for all of the rumored video rates for the A77 (1080p60/p50/p24) – coincidence????
Is the buffer(remaining pictures/memory) indication missing?
I consider it quite important when shoot large files at 10fps
I find it very useful on a700….will miss that….
Well there is a symbol for a card and 9999, which means 9999 pictures left…
we’re talking about buffer memory state….a700 in the right lower corner of OVF has a digit that tells You how much pictures can You still take in burst without delay for writing on memory card (before clearing the buffer)….
there is still some room left in the rigt lower corner, maybe it will come up only when the buffer is almost full….maybe just last 9 frames….
we’ll find out soon enough 🙂
Just for comparison here is the focus aray of the Nikon D300s
http://a.img-dpreview.com/reviews/nikond300/Images/Additional/afpoints.gif
51 point 15 cross type
D7000
http://a.img-dpreview.com/reviews/nikond7000/images/AFpoints-001.jpg
39 point 9 cross type
D90
http://a.img-dpreview.com/reviews/NikonD90/images/focusallarea.jpg
11 point 1 cross type
Sony A55
http://a.img-dpreview.com/reviews/sonyslta55/images/AFarray-001.jpg
15 point 3 cross type
Many thanks for the comparison chart John. 🙂
I read a review that says D7000 AF is a bit better than D300s! If it is true, how many total AF focus point a dSLR has is less important than the quality and how accurate they are, isn’t it?
In week we will know how good the a77 is?
The question is that the AF is better in what scenario? In single shot AF? or tracking AF? in daylight or low light? Using centre point or outer points? In speed or in accuracy? If it is in AF tracking mode then are we talking about speed of initial acquisition or ability to retain the focus during subject movement? and so on
The point is that it does not mean much to say that AF In one camera is better than the other. There are too many aspects of AF performance and often one camera is better at some aspects and the other camera is better at other aspects. And yes number of AF points is also only one aspect of the AF performance.
Ha! Ha!! You are so right. Too many things to consider in regards to AF!!!
+1234, 🙂
well, for all you have mention, i know A580 is better in all the ways u mention then A700, i know, a700 showing its age, just to point out, since A580 is better in so many way (even more accurate at F1.4 then A700)…. the A77 will be better then A580/55. have fun~
and yea, the AF is so fast (with SSM), motor driven is average, and hit on accurate!
Where did you read that ? Generally, one of the most important reason to chose for the d300s in stead of the D7000 is when you shoot sports. Now why do you think that is the general consensus ?
I’ve used the d7000 and I own a d300. The D300 is way better particularly when the lights go down, and if you use big tele gear. with rhat gear, the D7000 AF easily gets distracted (and obviously, often by objects behind the one you intend to shoot). This was also one of the reason why I sold my a700.
Looks cool! I hope it refreshes pretty fast ant that it has natural colours.
Why is all the focus points cramped in the center~~!!??? I hope this isnt real!
Physics.
The same as every other camera.
I need to now if my tamron 70-200 2.8 and my Tamron 60 mm 2.0 can be used with the new Sony A77 ??
if it has the A-bayonet than yes, it can.
It’s only Sigma that has the incompatibility issue with Sony dSLT.
Looks great layout-wise.
All focus points are always clustered around the middle in every camera. It’s not a point to complain about. It does mean that tracking of moving objects should be good too.
Also the histogram is the biggest advantage of EVF. You should literally NEVER have a shot with a bad exposure. Awesome.
Totally agree for the histogram. A big advantage for the EVF.
Indeed. Looking forward to the DDay, August 24th!
Great looking layout with tons of useful info, but I hope they didn’t remove the meter bars of SSS. That was a really useful indicator of how steady one was holding the camera.
I just hope the AF is much better than the A580, which was a complete load of crap (especially with fast lenses), and at least as accurate as the A700.
Wrong comparison.
You should be comparing it to the A55
Not really the wrong comparison when my only option in the future will be EVF, unless I switch brands. If I’m not mistaken, the A55 has the same AF system anyway, although there have been less complaints of backfocus issues with that model.
LOL no it wasn’t. The a580 autofocus was mch better than the a500/550. And always dead accurate for me, even with f1.4 lenses.
Plus it will easily lock on in low light (like ISO3200, f2, 1/30 lol
It would lock where a 5d2 couldn’t quite easily
LOL yes it was with the two copies I had. Clearly they could have been faulty, but there are a hell of a lot of posts on forums regarding AF inconsistency resulting in backfocus with the A580.
I don’t doubt the A580 when working properly will outperform the A500/550, but many people seem to have A580s that focus faster than previous models, just not accurately!
I gave up on the A580 and went back to my A700. I suppose I could have sent it to Sony for repair or adjustement, but why should I have to do this with a new camera?
Great can`t wait to try the new camera
Thanks for the info :O)
Was a little afraid about that the macro 60mm was constructed exclusively for digital SLR cameras with image sensors not greater than 16x24mm and offers an angle of view when converted to full frame corresponding to a focal length of 93mm. This lens is ideal for macro and portrait photography
The A77 is an APS format camera, the same as your lens is.
awesome,
Raw+J with L images
9999 pic, how large the memory space…
64GB ?
Same question I was wondering.
Icon of a memory card with “9999” next to it. No way that means either 9999 pictures can still fit on the card or that’s how many are already on the card. I hadn’t considered it could mean internal buffer memory.
Causes me to doubt the whole screen shot.
Any suggestions or clarifications?
Counter is always for empty space. Number of snapshots already taken is displayed only in review mode.
Haha lol 64GB no way enough….
16.2 MP RAW+JPEG i get about 340 images on 8GB. A77 24MP images have roughly 1.5x pixels – so on 8GB you will get about 225 on an 8GB card – therefore to get 9999 images on a card you will need…..
oooh only about 355GB card 🙂
I.e. this is NOT an ACTUAL image of the EVF…. some kind of composite recreation which gives us no guide to quality 🙁
Interesting how batteries are at max, memory space at theoretical max, all features are on, (assuming using the new kit lens) apature is at max – yet ISO is at 100 (nneither the rumoured 50 minimum, or what i expect the sensor native ISO will be at 200) & shutter speed is 1/4000 not the rumoured 1/8000 max.
either :-
a) this is a placed leak by Sony keeping these competitive new features secret.
b) the rumours we have seen are wrong.
c) this is the A66 as 100ISO & 1/4000 fit the rumours.
d) i’m just waffling & looking too much into things as a diversion from working….
🙂
Good suggestions. Especially d). I better head off to work.
Thanks
Tanglefoot, yes of course its a composite. And how could you assess quality from an image anyway? That would depend on the resolution of your computer monitor, as well as its own colours, contrast etc.
I know, I know…. its just that the quality of the EVF is the BIG question…
I get about 1300 images on a 64GB card in straight raw. The A77 might squeeze in a few more as its resolution is slightly lower, but that’s the ballpark.
9999 images would need 512GB at a minimum. I wonder how much a 600x speed card that size would cost?
2 Tanglefoot – Watch bottom right – there is star that means – aperture and shutter speed are fixed.
2Carl – And about 9999 – may be there is direct connection to PC – finally? 🙂 And there is NO MS or SD sign on it – even H100 compact shows what card type is used.
“may be there is direct connection to PC – finally?”
You mean like tethered shooting on the A700 that I have been doing for years?
more likely its running in some software test mode which shows all of the icons with arbitrary default values.
and MORE likely it was made in photoshop as a representation of the layout, AF area size/placement and icons that will be displayed…
Cmn. 9999 means: there is no card in any slot!
I wonder about ghosting effect?
Are there any news about it?
Hmmmm…. i’m assuming that there is no depth of field preview applied in this shot as the DOF seems a bit deep for a shot at f/2.8…
Shame that it is such a well exposed scene as it was how the EVF handled overexposed areas in the A55 that put me off. Oh well – guess we’ll soon see 🙂
Also assumingthat there is the same number of AF points in the same position on the EVF and live view screen? I know my A580 has different ones but cant remember if SLT models have them the same?
It’s an art.
The shots used in such previews are never actual feedback from camera viewfinder. They could be with EVF from technical point of view, sure, but people in advertisement department never do it this way. As same as they never publish a photos of models holding the camera without photoshopping them. 😉
I wonder “slideshow” on EVF is fixed or not in high fps shooting mode. A55 can not show moving object on EVF during using continuous and high fps. If I use 5 fps EVF can show only 5 image per second! So it’s really hard to track moving object during shooting…A77’s 12 fps will help to solve this but I wish EVF is improved to show between continuous shots like OVF.
that slideshow you’re mentioning is an real issue for me, that’s why I droped the a55….that MUST be fixed
Yes, SLT models are same.
Good work SAR, thanks.
I actually like the way the sensors are arranged. For birding or any other activites involving following a moving subject, you always try to keep the subject at the center of the viewfinder. With an AF arrangement like this, I guess you’ll end up with far more usable photos than just using a single center sensor.
Where is the hand shake indicator in the EVF?
top bar 3rd from left
Third icon from left in the top.
Thanks a lot. 😛
And the 4th from left on the top row is our beloved WireLess Flash and High Speed Sync feature, wellknown from the A700 (WL HSS) 🙂
Everything about A77 Here
http://atributos-1.blogspot.com/2011/08/sony-a77-esta-para-chegar.html
Work wiyh A700 and DSC-H9 Here
http://atributos-2.blogspot.com/
Thank You
You website is spreading a virus!!!!!!
I guess it will be displayed in the lower left corner once the shutterspeed gets in the longer ranges.
And regarding the buffer space left during continious shooting, isnt tue ammount Shown at the “space” on cqrd left while continios shooting?
And i wonder why nbdy mentioned the mf magnification feature, that’s one of my most anticipated feature, as it will make focusing with old lenses more practical compared to the lcd only mode of my 550.
What about such an arrangement of cross AF sensors?
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4911439/af.jpg
yellow or blue – is not fundamentally
awesome! 😀
1080p60 – Andrea, did you hear anything more about the possible (and hopefully non-existent) EU/US framerate differences from your sources?
EVF looks good so far… any info about the size (not resolution) compared to a55/a33?
The different frame rates between US and EU versions would suck. Canon cameras have all framerates available.
It’s cool to have histogram and other informations (PASM bat and so on) at the same time ! With the A55 when you chose the histogram, the top informations disappear.
BTW – top line second indicator – Is it status of AF assist lamp?
why it got display 2 battery power icons?
panasonic & olympus going for global shutter – my god!
Two batteries means accessory grip attached.
Everyone is going for global shutter, on sensor PDAF and curved image sensors.
Nikon even have in lens mood sensor that measures photographer’s biorhythms (temperature, sweating, blood pressure, heart rate, blood flow) through a sensor on the zoom ring and change the camera setting or even trigger the shutter in certain situations:
http://nikonrumors.com/2011/08/12/the-latest-nikon-patents-2.aspx/
OMG
those cross type sensor, are they F2.8 only or will F5.6 do? the D7000 can do F5.6. i believe Canon support F2.8 cross type?
also, is the Sigma lens still not compatible with SLT? any firmware fix can be done?
was thinking of pairing the A77 with Sigma 24-70 HSM and their 30mm 1.4
thanks
The A700 had a cross type sensor which supported F2.8 so one can assume the A77 will as well.
I believe that Sigma will adjust its lenses for SLT cameras for free, but perhaps you need to send the lens to them for the adjustment.
If you have a used lens, they charge you for the fix.
they dont charge in the US, even for used lenses..
Another typical US/Europe divide. US customers really don’t have a clue how lucky they are. 🙁
I wouldn’t take autofocus advice from Canon cameras
And hopefully it will have the f2.8 double cross sensor in the centre point at least. That thing is amazing on the a850/900. Locks into anything.
September 2010 Sigma made a fix for Sony SLT (you can google it). Do not know if it works (have no experience) but the text of the announcement seems clear. Box should state fit for Alpha 33/55.
Not too old lenses can be revised/changed.
Maybe this is a screenshot from the a77 manual meant to illustrate the various EVF elements rather accurately depict the EVF performance.
Shouldn’t there be flash exposure compensation visible?
I don’t think this is the only display. Depending on mode some info may come of go. as it is an EVF it can be moved.
hey, where the SSS indikator? like that indicator missing, that important u know
Considering that there is no longer a SSS switch on the body and apparently no longer a SSS indicator in the EVF (and the fact that this camera was designed with video in mind, and in the past SSS has caused premature overheating), is anyone else concerned that stabilization may have been dropped entirely?
I mean, I seriously doubt it, but you never know.
Top bar 3rd icon from left is hand shake=SSS
ahh, by your edit you obviously noticed that 5th is GPS signal strength
do you really need the SSS indicator in the EVF. Dont forget, with the EVF you’re looking at the “shake corrected” view. With the old OVFs the only indication of the likelyhood of SSS working was the indicator as you had no other live feedback, with EVF you have – if the EVF aint shakin’ SSS is working fine.
Very good point! I hadn’t realized that, but it totally makes sense. Is that how it works on the A33 and A55? Can you see the stabilization working through the EVF?
On my A55 it is actually most evident when shooting video as due to the longer duration you’re more conscious that the viewfinder image isn’t waving about nearly as much as your hands.
I didn’t realise the EVF gave you the stabilised image. That’s interesting. It’s common-sense though now somebody has mentioned it, because the EVF image *is* the sensor I guess?
I guess for the same reason someone would implement live histogram on an EVF which ideally gives you WYSIWYG.
Its a gauge.
😉
the reason why you need a live histogram is that the latitude and colour balance of the sensor is not the same as the EVF so your final image as recorded on the card may be somewhat different from the EVF view. The histogram is more accurate than the EVF with regard to sensors white/black points etc.
No, unfortunately, you are not looking at the shake-corrected image. You are looking at the image picked up by the EVF sensor reflected off the 30/70 beamsplitter. Anti-shake occurs only at the image-producing sensor during exposure.
To my knowledge and that of DPReview (http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/sonyslta55/page2.asp) etc etc, there is no secondary sensor for the EVF, it all comes from the main sensor. The light is 70-30 split between the main sensor and the AF array.
WELL, I’LL BE A MONKEYFACEDMCBRIDE’S UNCLE!!!
Thanks for correcting me on that, I assumed incorrectly!
However, do you know for sure that anti-shake is active during previews? that would be a lot of burden on the pizos to have to work continuously.
Yes and that removes one of the disadvantages of the in-body stabilization. In the good old days the lens-based image stabilization had the advantage of stabilizing the viewfinder view (becomes pretty important for longer lenses like 300mm or more on APS-C bodies). The in-body stabilization unfortunately didn’t provide this ability. With the EVF, now the in-body stabilization becomes even more useful.
Mmmmm…a small part of the image that you’ll see through the vf will be the 30% light that the semi-transparant mirror sends UP through the body at all time….right?…so….its actually not pure breed EVF…but a hybrid OVF/EVF….right?…
Or….did i misread something somewhere?…is this 30% light solely/exclusively used for the phase detection AF?
the 30% is solely for AF. See the dpreview link in my response above. I think SAR also had a diagram somewhere a while back.
Hmmm.
Looks pretty good, overall, but I see one BIG-ish oversight: Looks like top & bottom of the central AF-cluster are on the horizontal rule-of-thirds lines, and the inner (vertical) row from the R&L clusters are on the vertical rule-of-thirds lines.
HOWEVER, when you see a rule-of-thirds grid, notice that there are 4 places where the thirds-lines cross. To really get my admiration, I need to see a (cross-type) sensor on each of those intersections — and preferably small cluster (1 central cross, with 4 sensors around it?).
Now THAT would be awesome!
Still, this looks pretty good… ISO, histogram, YEAH!
As others have suggested, this looks like a composited shot, maybe from the manual or a similar source, showing everything that the EVF *could* show, not any particular view that it WOULD show. Tanglefoot has a good point, that there’s a bit of an anomaly in having some features (e.g. 9999 shots-remaining) at a maximum/impossible value, while others (1/4000, 2.8) are slightly backed-off from the presumed “max” value and some (ISO100) are way down…
@Wishmaster RE the V-grip: the grip actually inserts into the battery compartment, see http://www.sonyalpharumors.com/sr5-battery-grip-price-a77-uses-same-a700-battery/ or http://www.sonyalpharumors.com/sr5-huge-sony-leak/ for the image. There’s nowhere for an in-camera battery to go!
@pancanikonpus: 2 battery-charge icons ‘cos if you have a V-grip you have 2 batteries (indeed, some shooters don’t care port/landscape, and refer to the “Vertical Grip” as a “Battery Grip” in reference to how/why THEY use it… 😉
@FMJ – The Sigma incompatibility with SLT is an error of Sigma’s, Sony _cannot_ fix it (unless they screw up compatibility with OTHER lenses…) . Sigma F’ed up, and it can ONLY be fixed by Sigma. Upside is, Sigma has owned up to the error and all new lenses work, plus they retrofit all but the oldest lenses for free!
in the UK Sigma don’t fix then lens for free if you bought it used. You need proof of purchase from new.
How much do they charge? I have two that will need fixing.
One of the most important things about the EVF is dynamic range!. If it can’t do better than my a33 outside on a sunny day, it’s crap!. I would also like to see an image that is always the same no matter what exposure setting.
This is why the A3x/55 don’t work with studio lights and manual mode. There must be a way to set the EVF to a neutral setting for it to be viewable regardless of the aperture/ISO/shutter settings.
I agree that dynamic range is the main remaining issues with the current EVFs, which I otherwise find very good. I didn’t find the dynamic range limitation to be a problem in majority of my typical uses including outdoor shots in broad sun. However in some high contrast situations the dynamic range limitations start posing problems. Though you can look at it in a positive way as well – that the EVF is giving you an honest view of how much DR the camera will be able to capture.
And that leads to the second point – that the DR limitation in the EVF view is as much a limitation of the sensor itself as it is a limitation of the EVF. EVF cannot display more DR than the sensor can capture (unless it does real-time HDR for EVF view which is possible but has its own set of issues).
A bit disappointed here with the AF points arrangement.
Am I the only one who feels that huge portions from the top and the bottom parts of the image are not covered by any AF point?
Couldn’t they put the top array of AF points a little higher and the bottom array of AF points a little lower?
However, I’m glad to get the confirmation about 1080p60, and the SSS not missing.
ISO indicator on EVF is also much welcome.
Live histogram is nothing new though… it has been on all LV cameras by Sony… even the a300.
And, yes, looks like it IS a composite image that shows most of the possible indicators in EVF, which I think is prepared for publishing puposes.
I too thought there would be many AF points, something like the D7000 for example.
I think that the Sony is going to be criticised for the lack of them by reviewers and on paper the A77 will not look as good on this AF point issue when compared to others.
Live Histogram hasn’t been in the viewfinder on OVF cameras, that’s the difference 😀 You don’t have to take your eye away from the EVF, which is excellent.
Most lens are sharper in the middle, maybe the reason why they are more in the center. Also I don’t see the reason to focus on something close to the edge of the frame.
If I focus with my a700 on this photo and take exactly the photo in my VF then I see that the Af point on the left and right are on the same place as the 3 above each other and the one at the outside. But the one on the top and the bottom are on the a700 more to the outside so it looks like the new AF points are more centered to the middle….
But this way of comparing is off course not very accurate… 😉
OK, I have to say it. Doing that experiment clearly shows you have far too much time on your hands! 😀
😉 And with so much time it takes too long before I can put my hand on an a77 🙁
Hopefully the wait will be worth it for us all.
The nice thing is that since it is an EVF, it is firmware updatable later on down the line.
The 9999 for the shots remaining makes alot of sense when you tether.
I hope the a77 can do split or mirrored writing to both cards at the same time… That would be nice.
Also hope elements like the histogram can be moved around or made more translucent.
Nothing to do but wait for the announcement and appearance of this camera!
Maybe somebody with an A33/55 can confirm, but I would have thought the Histogram was not on permanent display if you didn’t want it. Perhaps pressing the button pops it up?
On a55, you can turn the histogram on and off from the menu, when it is on it is displayed live and you can hide it by changing the display (with the disp button, there’re three different ‘displays’ on evf)..
Thanks
I see +/-3, which makes those of us that like HDR happy 🙂
but is it limited to +/-3 ?
it is +/- 2 on a55/33
Thank you for his web, Andrea.
The wait of the camera Sony A77 is very enterteining.
Regards.
Strange,…the screen shows it shooting in “60p video” mode. Yet, it’s displaying “ISO” values instead of “Gain” values?
If that is a REAL screen shot, we should see “0db” listed as gain.
No?
I often wonder when the antiquated “ISO” values will be thrown out by the industry. They represent the chemical properties of FILM. Image sensors operate in “decibel” circuit-amplified gain values and have nothing to really do with different film stock properties.
Strange,….
It isn’t a screen shot, it is a mock-up of what it is like.
There are parts of the world where they still use units like “feet” or “barrels”. If you think ISO is obsolete, what about those units then?
lol,..true.
It’s just that “ISO” relates to the chemical makeup of the film being inserted. Since image sensors aren’t changed out inside cameras. They are just circuits that output images at certain voltages. You then “amplify” the image (turn up the volume so to speak)by turning up increasing gain.
Would you plug in a microphone and increase the “ISO” to make it louder? nope, you add “gain” to the circuit.
ISO is strictly an organic film property measurement, not something you add to an electrical circuit.
CT
I doubt the majority of photographers are electrical engineers. They actually don’t care if it is called gain or ISO. What they do know is that increasing the sensitivity (or gain) by as much as doubling the ISO value will halve the shutter speed needed for the same amount of light to reach the image plane, whether it is film or a sensor.
This changes if you measure with a logarithmic scale. Tables will have to be re-written, software will have to be re-programmed, books will have to be changed, the uniformity among manufacturers will be gone, etc. All in all, I don’t think it would be very wise to abandon this unit.
How do we know this is an image from the EVF? Could it be one of the LCD? are we just taking the sources word for it…
Man… What if I have focus in between the pretty boxes?
focus and recompose should do the trick.
G
to Admin: Andrea, do you have any info about AA-filter? 24MP assume enough to get rid of it
No info about that!
You just need to move your camera!
Most of the time I use the centre one anyway, lock focus and recompose. It’s quicker.
But your target will be out-of-focus if you do that with a shallow depth-of-field.
One thing that we haven’t heard about the AF yet is how many assist points there are. For the A900 in the official specs they state 9 AF points (the ones you can see) and 10 assist points (the invisible ones) IIRC. It may be that there are none on the A77, but its also possible that this is info we’ve yet to receive.
The AF layout doesn’t look that bad — compared to 5D mark II.
But the trend in the newest prosumer models has been more like that of D7000. Lots of AF points and no gaps between them. Have to say I’m a bit disappointed in the A77 here.
I’m very disappointed : the AF points are very centered..
None of them sits at 1/3 of the field, where the POI are meant to be in most photos (the front eye, in the case of a portrait).
My concern is the crispness of the image overall…I’m hoping this photo doesn’t begin to do do justice to the look and feel of the 3MB EVF – both the image and the information displayed. This 100,000 byte image is not really sufficient to start to judge the what we’ll see.
Still don’t know just how “live” that view hidden behind all that clutter is. How much is it delayed compared to current position, lighting, and so on of the subject? Even the histogram is probably delayed by the same amount.
That’s the important info to find out.
Why would you possibly care?
What is this ? tetris ? 🙂
2 batteries? nice..