On August 24 Sony will make an amazing announcement. There is no doubt! And one of the thing you will like most is the new video features! I just learned from my sources that the new A77, Nex-7 and VG20 will support the new AVCHD 2.0 standard. This means that all those camera (!) will be able to record FullHD videos in 1080 60/50/25/24p at 28Mbit/s! Do you like that? Wait…there is even more! All camera will support full manual controls while recording video. And you can shoot video in P or A or S or M mode! All three cameras were development having video recording in mind. That means that the new sensor and the new BIOZ processor have been optimized to avoid artifacts like the weird jello effect. And as I already told you the new 3 million dot OLED viewfinder will have a high refresh rate! Can’t wait to see the first video samples! Keep following us on Facebook, Twitter and follow our RSS-feed! And be sure to be here at SAR on August 24th!
P.S.: Share the news to your Canonikan friends 😉
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248 Responses
Wow
Don’t wanna be a downer here, but what revolution? The Canon and Panasonic DSLRs can shoot 60P in addition to 24P as well. The Sony Hx9v P&S camera can do 1080 60P as well. Can the Sony shoot 24P on A77/NEX7? Just wondering if Sony will break its practice of not supporting 24P except on high end equipment.
troll is troll.
Kalimdor~~~~ lol…
24p just became obsolete, thats reason why everyone stars giving it.
Aesthetics is changing with new TV’s
Milos – people still believe BS that 24p recording mode will give their movies a “theater look”, so I doubt 24p will become obsolete soon, even from this one reason: people’s lack of knowledge.
🙂 I support critical thinking
Have you seen or worked with 24p vs 30? To make 30fps look like film you need the right lighting. Indies don’t have those resources. If you live in North America then it is a big deal. If we were on the PAL system then no one would care about 24p.
There is only 1 simple reason for 24p being the most preferred… you can shoot better in low light. I honestly prefer 60p, but it is near impossible to shoot indoors with that, without cranking out crazy lighting, or suffering grainy footage.
shoot in 24p wont have film look. its need color adjustment or apply film look effect.
“To make 30fps look like film you need the right lighting. Indies don’t have those resources” – right…. and to make 24p look like film you don’t need light at all.
@ Sky_walker
You need to work with video in NTSC to understand. Obviously you don’t know the difference because you probably live in a PAL system. Otherwise people wouldn’t be making such a big fuss. Look on YouTube to see the difference. And on this note, 120Hz Tv’s are ruining the “film look”. If all Tv’s go to 120Hz then I’ll be looking for a 60Hz because I prefer to watch movies that don’t look like home videos shot with an NTSC Canon HV30 or whatever (which is what 120Hz does). If you can’t tell the difference then I envy you.
Yes, I understand, but what makes a film looks isn’t just the FPS, crap movie will be crap, regardless of FPS count. People these days believe that there’s one easy solution to make movies “film-alike” – switch from interlaced to progressive, switch from 30 FPS to 24 FPS, switch from consumer camcoder to DSLR, while either of these will make them create a better movies. It’s almost like few years ago when in DSLR market tons of people believed that if they switch from entry level to advanced camera – they suddenly will start taking better photos. They won’t. Making a good photos or film looks isn’t about how fast your (video)camera can shoot, but about your skill.
For everyone who’s into filmmaking 24P IS A MUST
“So why don’t you use a real video camera instead?” Well, we all now know the advantages of a big sensor with interchangeable lenses at a very affordable price delivering the closest to that “cinema-look” image quality.
24p is only a must if you’re showing the film in a theatre, which you probably won’t. Since I’m in a pal region, 25fps makes more sense to me, and it can easily be slowed down a few percent to playback at 24p if needed. Although there is no reason for camera manufacturers not to include 24p. I am hoping a higher frame rate like 60fps will soon become standard for TV and projection.
So 24p is a must and 25p not? What’s the difference?
Mattoid. As you said, you live in a country wich has PAL standard(25) Obviously that changes from this sie of the world in NTSC. Maybe the difference in image between a 30p and 24p projectof won’t be recognizible for many guys. But a good edition workflow with the 24p framerate can achieve and come close to that “cinema look”.
Also, the fact is that 24p is “almost” as the standard for the filmmaking industry. I mean, it’s not a rule at all, there are few weird exceptions (Peter Jackson shots above those “normal” framrates)
I know… there must be some indie films that were done at 30p, but I can asure you that if you have the option, 24p is preferable.
No. 24P is for douchebag hipsters who are cargo cult filmmakers. If you want your footage to look bad, 24p is the way to go. If you’re going to blow up for a theater print (you’re not) then it makes sense.
For everyone else, including the audience, and everyone watching on TV or the internet (Which is really everybody) … 30p up is fine.
Milos . 24 is desirable for filmmaking. And 25p is the standard framerate for broadcast at Europe (so it’s obligatory for an european user)
In America we have 30p. Different standards that were implemented after WWII (if I learned well). Europeans filmgeeks got lucky with that because they can use 25p for filmmaking purposes and the diference is… I would say unrecognizible.
Asuming that someone here is traveling around the world making projects, this person would like to have all of those framerates with his camera, bu that’s more about profesional gear (say Sony F3, Red One and more)
Engineer. Even some douchbag hipsters are into this. Is not about blowing the damn theater is that 24p is PREFERRED if you want to get serious about that (you’re not) 🙂
Canon and Panasonic shoot 60 only at 720 res – big difference.
None of them has phase autofocus! This is a HUGE difference to contrast autofocus in video shooting!
Photo Nut, it’s 720 60 for Panasonic and Canon. Not 1080. This is a first for a DSLR. For those who are interested in video this is exciting news. If this is true it looks like Sony will now be a legit competitor to Canon and Panasonic. Frankly, I think the new Sony’s will blow all other competitors out of the water if this is true- at least in terms of video. I suspect this sensor is gonna be special.
24fps is very demanded by vimeo test shots crowds and bloggers who test lenses.
big deal….
We can always leave the downers to you, no surprises there.
No, Canon does not have a DSLR that can output *FULL* HD at 60fps (read the OP again).
And no, the Panasonic cameras you are thinking of aren’t DSLR’s by any stretch of the definition.
Try again.
It’s a lot easier to do 60p on a tiny sensor, than it is to do it on a APS-C sized sensor. I don’t believe any Cannon or Panasonic DSLRs can do 60p out of the box. If you want to be taken seriously, best to give us an example model number…. lest we think you’re speaking out of your ass.
did you read the thread properly? it say recording @ 1080 60/50/25/24p at 28Mbit/s! it support multiple rates sigh… pls read properly before commenting
Awesome!! That will please much of the fussy users out there.
that’ll keep the 24p crowd happy.
I’m hopefully for the Manual Controls, but not confident.
Futile. No need to hope. it’s true. Trust me 😉
We will hold you to that!
I’m delighted as I have a VFX short film to shoot and I do not want to pay someone else to use a RED!
I have a saying, “never trust anyone who says “trust me”.” 😉
I have a saying, “never trust anyone who says “trust me”.”
Based on that, I don’t trust you 😀
No, I’ll have to admit. It’d be a bad idea to do so. 😉
And it’s awesome true. I almost feel like it’s 1st April and someone just posted a rumor of his “dream camera” in the internet! hehehehe
Looks like this shall bring a lot of fresh air into DSLR market & lots of new A-mount users! (what hopefully will pull more lenses too!)
Yeah I thought it was 1 April.
UPS… 🙂 didnt mean to post anything – admin plz delete.
Hallelujah! So happy. This is going to give Sony SLR’s so much credibility! The continuous phase detection auto-focus already put the SLTs ahead, but the overheating and lack of manual controls are the only thing that held them back. Thanks so much for this!
Does anyone think overheating will be an issue with ISS? If not than there is NO OTHER CAMERA in this price range or the next that can even hope to compete for indy cinematography.
Sony has already fixed the overheating issue in the new a35.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99Fy82XTcyQ
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/readflat.asp?forum=1037&message=38662298&changemode=1
“I had the Steady Shot turned on and the video went to 10:56 before shutting down. I never had the a55 go that long”
I still worry only because I live in Florida and in the summer time I never got the A33 past 5 minutes even with ISS turned off.
I wonder if you will also be able to record 720 60p as well for web distribution.
Of course Joey!
Andrea, sounds like your very confident with your info huh? I’m happy for you man!
Big time!
🙂
amazing…
Sounds very promising. 3 more weeks until everything is official and confirmed.
Any new rumors on the A65 ? Has the 900 € price tag been confirmed, any new known differences to the A77, same awesome video features as the A77 ?
This will seriously challenge the Canon 5 domination of video.
Here in San Francisco, students at the Academy of Art collage ALL use the Canon……This is going to change that!
But I don’t expect that Canon will sit still and just rollover and let Sony win without a fight!
but seriously tho, what can they do?
go on SLT canon!
Yep, especially thanks to this “processor optimized to avoid artifacts like the weird jello effect” – IMO from more creative point of view it might come out as a killer-feature along with 1080p60 recording and M controls during video. Ofq I don’t have any expectations for removal of rolling shutter, but any improvement would be good cause now Canons got it terrible.
And keep in mind that Sony also offers the Super35 NEX system, that could grow-up for those videographers who Would consider to make an up-grade in the future. Of course, getting E-mount lenses and the A-moun adapter (big deal investment).
Canon doesn’t offer that currently.
It won’t change it. The people who use canon are the people who buy on brand, not quality or features. They are buying canon because they were told to buy canon…. just like all those people who get stuck with windows PCs when macs are better in every way. They don’t know what they are buying, they are jus trusting the advice they get, from people who often know even less.
Yeah, but many guys are councious that Sony was not giving them good capabilities for video with a DSLR. Until now, Canikon is a better choice if you want video from a DSLR(fact, fact) besides the possibility of a extensive lens system, because you might end up spending 4 times the cost of your camera in lenses if more tools are needed.
Now with this addition from Sony that can make some guys from Canikon who are into video change to the alpha system (the guys that do not make the mistake of being “loyal”). But afther this, new lenses are necesary by Sony.
That’s why is not strange to see folks shooting on Canon bodies with their old Nikkor manual lenses, sure that many of them just picked the right choice by that moment.
I’m pretty sure 99% of the professional media world uses canon or nikon. And as for people buying on “brand” isn’t that what people do with macs? Are they not the cool computer for the image conscious? I mean people camp outside stores before they release models which are untested/reviewed.
Not trying to say one thing is better than another, just wanted to troll.
For people who buy DSLR for video the Sony is equally high-end brand as Canon – perhaps even better one. Canon is more famous from video lenses, while Sony from video cameras.
It’s nothing alike Windows on PCs. This market differs by a lot from still-shooters.
This should lay a beatin on Canon.
Wait till the A99 comes out.
🙂
If that’s true, I’m buying the NEX-7
augh, What about the a65? Please also have manual controls in video and avchd 2.0!!
I believe the A65 will loose the video controls and the new EVF.
IMO the EVF will stay most likely. it’s cheaper this way. But video controls in did might disappear to differ the cameras. I wouldn’t mind that really.
Wow
Drooooooooooool.. Patiently waiting for this to be released. 😀 😀
Partyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!
24p Yes !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
24p Yes !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
but hopefully the EVF will has no lag or minimal lag.
To this date, I have never seen an EVF with unnoticeable lag….
Owwwwww yes, EVF is a critical point!!! Can’t wait, can’t sleep untill August 24!
Well, all video-cameras use EVF so it won’t be worse than semi-adv camcorder anyway 🙂
Yes ture.
But let’s not forget this is a still camera too.
And performance of E.viewfinder is critical when you are
taking pictures of your kids running around.
And for this reason I don’t take any of the EVF cams seriously.
And hopefully A77 will change my mind.
(A55 was terrible in terms of EVF. too much lag….)
The news about the NEX-7 will full manual controls in video is a major thing. A big hooray for this. Funny though I don’t even shoot much video but know this is still going to be handy 🙂
Will Sony kill its own video department?
If it’ll kill Canon by the way – I’m sure they would agree for this sacrifice. Besides that – video cameras will co-exist with HDSLRs for long years to come, no worries about that.
Good news! Exactly what I had hoped for.
I have the Sony HX9v compact camera which already has 28Mbit 1080/50p video recording – that was a big hint to me that the A77 could have this too. If Sony can put in in their advanced compact camera, why not their advanced SLT?
@Cliff
“Lets see how Sony carefully cripples the video functions of the A77. Sony is the best at creating segmentation’s in their products. Here is a common list.
The A77 and the NEX VG20 will be in direct competition with each other. The VG20 will also compete directly with a $5000 PRO FS100 camera. So,..they must kill features (dumb it down) on the VG20 to protect FS100 sales.”
A buck short and a day late.
😉
I don’t believe the FS100 and VG20 will share a similar sensor. The FS100 uses the same super 35mm sensor as the much more expensive F3. The VG10 used the same Exmor R sensor as the nex3/5. So they won’t really be in direct competition, direct intended markets. Neither will the VG20 and a77 because the VG20 will have more video functions, being a dedicated video camera, and ergonomics will be better suited for taking handheld video.
There’s a small but very passionate group of filmmakers and amatuers who swear by their canon dslr’s for video so this is sony’s strong attempt to tap into that market with the a77.
This was a quote from Cliff from just yesterday.
🙂
Actually the A77 and VG-20 will not be in direct competition with each other. Different form factors is the obvious one. There’s no confirmation the VG-20 will shoot RAW either. The VG-10 doesn’t. The A77 could have time limits the VG-20 will not.
Features alone will separate the VG-20 from the FS100. The huge two are XLR inputs, and the fantastic Lowlight of the sensor. Then you have Picture Profiles, Numerous on body buttons vs menu driven selections, the fs100 being pal/ntsc switchable via firmware update vs the VG-20 being region locked and etc. There’s a difference between the two without having to cripple the video image quality.
ho! ho! ho!
Sony is the best at creating segmentation’s in their products? No, you’ve obviously never been an Apple customer whose experience of revolution has been the day when that company stopped selling Combo-Drives. But I’m also curious how SONY will manage to keep the distance from VG20 to FS100, but I guess Lunes might be right about that…
Simple: Make VG20 in style of VG10. That would differ them a lot, cause FS100 isn’t exactly something you can grab with one hand and go shooting 🙂
…so i will definitely go for the NEX-7! Thanks, Sony!
1/VG20 – not include “HDMI Output with Embedded Time code for 4:2:2 Uncompressed digital output”
2/A77 – and also no XLR inputs :]
Thats already enough difference.
Crazy!!!
Insaneeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!! 😀
Geezz…. I love it!!!!!! Thanks Admin!
600D sale for SURE 😀
Ha ha, get that 600D on eBay!
will sell at lowyat 😀
Better sell soon, price might drop further after Sony announcement 😀
ya, now i start to sell 😀
I’m just really happy that Sony are finally doing something really big to challenge the other two. Let’s face it, at the moment we are the laughing stock if photographers. They might see a few good spec or features in our cameras but they will always discount Sony straight away.
And whenever a newbie asks what camera to get, the answer is always a rebel xt or d3100. Hopefully a new batch of Sony stuff will change things, and change their image. I want Sony to be a serious alternative to the other guys.. not just a copycat but with actual features that people will be willing to pay attention to. It looks like the a77 and co might just do that!
So why won’t Sony enable these features for earlier models? It’s not like the a33/55 can’t handle 24p and 60fps at a lower resolution. I can’t see Sony being this liberal. They would have to dumb something down to keep their pro video line floating. And if not then it’s about bloody time. So when will there be a firmware update?
it’s all clear they did!
wish the A77 was more of a photo camera then a video camera. toooo much video – i need a PHOTO CAMERA!!!! maybe after 15 years of happiness with minolta & no choice but to continue with sony – it is time to look what nikon will bring on the 24th and considering a first time switch of brands. i almost sure i’ll hate not having an OVF (no matter how good this coming EVF will be), and i already starting to hate this landslide toward those video features. who are this people who cheer for all this AVCHD – why a semi-pro DSLR need to be soooo much a video more then photo!!!!. sorry guys, i think this 24th gonna be a turning point for guys like me who waited long time for a proper dslr and starting to see that they will have a VSLR !!! 🙁
Will you say the same for Canon and Nikon models that also emphasise the video aspects of their models? Video is one of those things that all manufacturers need to provide these days, it’s marketing.
AGREE!
marketing bring goodies 😀
I feel you. Sony is at heart an electronics and video camera / TV maker. Takes a lot to give the Imaging division a photographic DNA
A77 is still one amazing still photo camera. 24mp, 12fps, reportedly fast and accurate AF, and some good lenses. If you don’t want video features, you can just ignore them.
+1 Agree — i need the A77 to be a Photo camera first and foremost…
You mean the a77 doesn’t take photos? Weird. I thought it was a photo camera that just happens to have a video record button on it.
My friend, the A77 will also, and more importantly, be the best aps-c dslr still camera ever made, with the best iq, perhaps the best AF, the best manual focusing, the highest fps, the quickest handling, and ergonomics that won’t quit. To say nothing of a superb 100% EVF that pretty much everyone will love. You simply won’t be able to do better with any brand.
And what other brand has emphasized video less than Sony? Nikon led the way into video with the D90, and Canon made video the unique selling point for the 5DmkII. Even with their recent FF cameras, they have made a great show about their video advances.
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Looks ugly!
This all sounds very interesting and I have been following this for quite some time. I’m not sure that just because the new cameras will support AVCHD 2.0, that it necessarily follows that they will support all the frame rates this standard allows, as many cameras using the current AVCHD standard do not support all the frame rates this standard allows. So I would be interested to know from Admin if they are simply assuming that it will support all the frame rates AVCHD 2.0 allows, or if their sources have confirmed it will. An important factor to me will be whether the new Sony’s provide a crop or digital zoom feature in video using a smaller proportion of the sensor, like the Panasonic GH2 and Canon 600D, as this would be very useful to me, and might be a deal breaker.
This is very positive news, not because I am interested in video, but just to shut the Canikon lot up.
@Admin
Great Info.
Do you ever wonder if Sony is purposely leaking these rumors to you to generate buzz?
This is market analytics for free. I’m sure you are able to imagine that Sony people are all over the net to read boards and discussions on these rumors / announcements.
definitely hype to me by Sony’s marketing arm … whether people realize it or not they’re being exploited. I don’t think Admin cares if it’s being deliberately leaked by Sony … any SR5 rumor makes the website “hum”
Does it matter if it is hype? As long as the rumour is accurate, why should we care?
Yep, likely it is. But does that make any difference, from a perspective of me as a customer? Not at all.
We at least have rumors that confirm and meet the reality unlike Canon and Nikon guys, we can plan your shopping list in advancement thanks to this website for which I, and many other people are grateful.
Buzz, or not buzz, Sony saved few people from jump-shipping thanks to these rumors, so it’s definitely a real profit for them too.
And as was said before, this site is not affiliated with Sony. It’s up to you to trust the rumors or whether to think of it as hype building. We’re just reading SAR for fun, not as a newspaper from Sony.
@acolyte,
I agree. I wasn’t referring to the site. I was wondering if, perhaps, one or two of the “testers” that send rumors to SAR are simply employees of Sony’s PR department. I would be very impressed with Sony PR if that was true.
Of course not. Sony can announce the rumor themselves to generate buzz, if they want to. Why rely on a 3rd-party website that people may or may not trust.
Isn’t that why all info is leaked?
Sony needs all the BUZZ it can get to drown oul the upcoming Canikon offerings.
Hopefully they can deliver on everything that has been hyped.
🙂
If so, I don’t see any issue here mate. 🙂
@kalpurush
I don’t see it as an issue, either. IMHO, if they were behind the leaks, it would show impressive PR skills.
There is no way at all that Sony would be behind any leaks. As it’s fun to see what might be new products from Sony, you see how the people here get the animosity it creates (Sony said this, or this tester said that) the exact reason why there is a official announcement. The CONS outweigh the PROS as for unofficial leaks.
Are you sure? So far it’s been other way around.
EVF must be really really good (and I mean plain PERFECT), otherwise no one serious photographer will buy A77!
I hope not! Would be a huge OWNED!
yawn, 24p is a bit crap but most people are craving for it.
I wish it has high speed 720p.
any expert here?
if it can do 1080p at 60fps, surely it can do 720p at 120 right?
you divide the res by 2 and up the frame rate by two.
there is nothing mechanical and the lightfall from higher shutter speed can be corrected by higher iso right??
so any firmware updates for the older models to have full manual controls??
That would be unlikely.. but just saying 🙂
If this site wasn’t here to feed us with some info now and then a lot of us would have left Sony long age.
Fom me the video part is nice (very nice), but the photo part is more important.
The amount of pixels don’t matter to me (helps to sell though).
Clean high ISO and fast AF are more important, especially focus tracking (my a700 isn’t that good in focus tracking).
If a picture isn’t sharp it’s not worth anything.
I’m hoping for some leaked video’s and pictures taken under difficult circumstances.
+1 I agree
I’m really looking forward to seeing how the a77 preforms at high ISO… really hoping it’s at least on par d7000 and maybe even the d3
The a580 already performs as well as the d7000.
The a77 will surely have a sensor better than that. I don’t see them releasing something worse in their semi-pro model (a77) vs mid-range model (a580).
i wouldnt show this article at the canon/nikon fanatics theyll just say im bluffing, i Rather Buy it them show it of the their face and say “TAKE THAT BIATACH!!”
lol
yaaaay .. now i am very happy
A tear just rolled down my cheek… Sniff… 🙂
I hope that you mean your FACE cheek…:D
I don’t mind the other cheek =)
Wait…f or m. NOO!!!
Even better if it isn’t a tear rolling down it…
Please can l just have a top notch photo camera and forget about video? If l want to make serious videos, l will buy a video camera. Let the others compromise. There is a certain price point at which video is pointless. It’s the same for the Fujifilm X100. Does anyone buy that camera because it shoots adequate video?
I’ve been carrying my NEX5 around for quite a few trips.
The video is worth it, really
Of course…if you’re a pro photographer then it might not be so important..but for the rest of us…thanks for tolerating ^^
I would love to have the video. The video is probably as important as the stills for me, because I love cinematography.
My NLE will not support 1080p60. Will the A77 also shoot 1080p30?
Probably 24/25/30/50/60p in both 720p and 1080p!!! excellentª
This is great. How long usually from when they are announced to when they are available? Any predicted release dates?
Am I the only one having problems with tinypic? None of the images have been loading the past week, and I can’t even go to tinypic.com. I want to see the photos! 🙂
EOSHD is giving the news high praise.
http://www.eoshd.com/content/3604/new-sony-nex7-a77-dslrs-have-full-manual-video-controls-and-avchd-2
🙂
All eyes on Sony…
And SAR of course:
http://www.eoshd.com/content/3601/sony-nex7-a77-a65-nex5n-and-vg20-video-camera-to-launch-august-24th
These latest rumors have gone viral.
🙂
Sony has certainly put all other makers on notice. If everything lives up to the hype there may be a whole exodus to the brand.
“I can now say for certain what my next DSLR is going to be. Roll on August 24th!”
Bleh.. Somehow this puts me off when it’s posted in a non-Sony website. I think it’s because those are the people that mocked Sony before..
I hope they do not forget, that it is a Photocamera and not a Videocamera.
I have as second body an a580. But until now i never really used the video. Ok i made some tests and sometime i came on the button and then i made a video until i recognized it but with my dslr i make IMAGES and not videos.
I hope the new a77 will have cf, will have more af points, will have faster af. All the video stuff i do not need!
You might not need it but some others might! 🙂
I’m fine with it. Lures Canikon people into the system, Sony gets more money from A-mount, and thanks to this we, photographers, will have some new lenses (hopefully more WR lenses than just one and new well-priced SSMs). 🙂 “it’s all connected“.
Besides that: camera with well-developed video option is still a camera. Look at Canon 5Dm2.
O M G …. O M G …. O M G ! ! ! !
Thank you, Admin… for breaking this awesome news !!!!
You just made my day !!!
And, to all the brilliant minds(!) here, saying A77 should be a still camera first: Were you guys even reading the posts on this site about A77 so far? They were mostly, if not all, about A77’s features related to still photogragraphy. And, I’m pretty sure most of you were rejoicing and welcoming these features. Now that finally they’re putting out some of its video spec, and all on a sudden you guys sound upset.
How come perfecting the video capability of a camera would make it less of a still camera is beyond my comprehension? It’s almost like these people are crying for the video features to be removed, while they let the canikon folks make a mockery of Sony saying that it cripples the video features intentionally….. such double standard!!
+++1!!!
RIP Sony still photography. It was nice while Sony cared about still photography. Enjoy your camcorder folks.
Still trolling for things to be negative about Walt?
Let’s not forget which camera was named “Camera of the Year” by Popular Photography – the A55. You may disagree with that judgement, but then you’d have to have reasons and reputation for me to agree with you, and you have neither.
What medication are you on Walt? Canikon have video and their cameras don’t suffer for it. Perhaps you’d be better sticking with 35mm film.
Troll troll troll your boat…
lol 😀
Yes, SONY created E-Mount to make still photography and movie recording finally growing together, and guess what: I like it very much.
this is really tempting… if only pocketwizard support sony, or sony came up with something like it..
All very exciting news, for most, I am hoping that the image side of things doesn’t disappoint as I’ve never, not once, have felt ‘I wish I could shoot video’ when I’m out taking photos. But that’s my personal preference.
I’m also trying to determine how much more investment in new high capacity SD cards will add to my cost, if CF is truly dead.
So I’ll save my excitement for now, but thanks for the great work Andrea!
There is some hope
Coming from two generations of professional photographers with studios before me, and me being now only a part-time professional photographer and no studio but a full time Information Technology manager, I have eaten thirty years of shit, first form my Nikon friends and lately from the Canon pros pointing out every missing feature and accessory that Minolta and then Sony was missing but the others had.
Could it be possible that sometime in the near future it will be my turn to walk around with my noise up in the air and looking down at the pathetic Canon and Nikon shooters?
One can only dream
I’ve been looking down at Canikon users for years, I have an A700. 😉
So did I, then replaced both of my a700 with a850’s when that camera came out.
I’m waiting for the a900 replacement and will purchase two of them if all is well when that camera ships 🙂
I’ve been doing this every three to five years since 1985 when I purchased my Minolta Maxmum 9000
You can already counter that the Canikon cameras lack usable autofocus. My friend just bought a Nikon, and was surprised to find out that it barely usable to do family films – it’s great for doing interviews when nobody moves, but that’s not what he wanted it for, and none of the salespeople were forthcoming about the limited usefulness of the camera.
If they really have done this I think it will blow the Panasonic GH cameras out of the water. I want to believe this but Sony has always found a way to significantly cripple the video. So I’ll believe it when I see it. This will be soooooo awesome if true!
Yup, Sony do have a way of mucking things up! That is my fear too.
What about digital zooming during video capture?
The Sensor has enougth pixels for high zoom capability. A digital zoom in video mode would allow smooth zooming, maybe with automated control of speed.
Forget about digital zoom. I’d like to see an Panasonic ETC type mode which would give a clean 1080p with greater than 3x crop.
great news ever !!!!!!!!!!!
I am not very optimistic about IQ. 24mp on APS-C sensor…. it’s gonna be noisy as hell. Then ISO102400? LOL! Marketing sheet! Also, real photographers don’t give a sheet to video-hdr-panoramas and such marketing features… I’m really disappointed….I’d expected a real A700 sucessor…
This is one of the last negative baseless accusations I am going to answer, as I can see where some might worry. Using any one generation of sensor increasing the no of pixels on an APS-C causes more noise. However every new generation of chips improves the efficiency so More pixels can be accompanied by less noise. If you doubt this look at the 16Mp sensor in the A55 and compare with older 14 and 12Mp Sony sensors. from A700 to A580 33% more pixels iso up from 1600(6400expanded) to 12800. believe it or not those 6Mp Cankons everybody remembers as having great noise and high iso would be hapless today as ISOs that where then thought of as high are now common so maybe the A77 will only go to ISO 25600 and need a special mode for 102400 but at 12800 they will probably be more usable than almost all previous APS-Cs with smaller pixel count. ie merely counting pixel density without sensor generation advances is meaningless.
The 24mpix sensor is going to be a hell of a lot LESS noisy than your A700 at the same ISO and it will go far higher and still be usable. I really have no idea where you get this delusional nonsense that a high pixel count means worse noise, these days it isn’t true.
If you knew anything at all about “real photographers” you would already know that we do HDR and Panoramic. If you don’t like video, don’t press that button.
I am amazed that people are complaining that the A77 has too much functionality, it is quite a bizarre attitude to have.
Finally!
Sony, what took you so long?
I’m wondering.
How does it feel like using a Sony DSLR (Autofocus, AVCD, Full manual) with Technicolor cinestyle on it? 😉
720p120 anyone?
CUSTOM FIRMWARE
I’m looking forward to the NEX user base expanding, mainly because it will attract hackers to modify the NEX firmware. I’m already guessing Sony will be crippling some of the functions on the camera on launch.
+1
Great news! This is what I was waiting for. Not to have 1080p60 for a new camera would be a big let down. I don’t care about 24p if it can do 60p.
As a photographer, I take the liberty to be unimpressed about a photo camera that is optimized for video.
I have no doubt that the A77 is one of the most awesome cameras of all times, but I still don’t see why Sony can’t just make an A-mount APS-C camcorder that is *really* optimized for video (think of the built-in microphones, for example!) and keep the other cameras optimized for stills.
I guess if I ever buy an A77, the first thing I’ll do is put some layers of gaffa over the “movie” button so that I don’t accidentally hit it when I meant to press the AEL switch.
Sony does make camcorders optimized for video which offer much more than what A77 gives. A77 and other DSLRs are far from a professional level video device. Sure people use these professionally but the dedicated video devices have a lot more options and higher bit-rate recordings etc. The video in A77 type cameras is still targeted more towards consumers. The thing is that many consumers have realized that their DLSRs have all the capabilities in place to produce great quality video and get annoyed when companies arbitrarily cripple that video capability. Lets just consider manual controls – it does not require any design effort to enable manual controls in video. In fact it requires less programming than auto mode as the camera does not have to figure out the exposure settings etc. But manufacturers choose not to allow this option probably just to create distinction with more expensive dedicated video devices. So it is very reasonable to demand that manufacturers let us use all the capabilities of the device that we have in hand instead of trying to cripple it artificially.
At this point I end up having to supplement my DSLR setup with a $1000 camcorder which still produces much much inferior video quality compared to what my $700 DSLR can do. So it makes perfect sense that I would want to be able to use the video capabilities of my DSLR. I don’t need professional level video options – just enough to make it a practical video device which can replace my “dedicated and expensive yet pathetic” camcorder.
Why should it bother you that a dSLR has been optimised for video? If it takes great stills AND video, who cares? There appears to be some snobbery around here where so-called photographers are looking down at cameras that have a video button. Don’t like it, don’t press it.
It reminds me of the snobbery around manual focus vs. auto-focus and then film vs. digital.
Unfortunately it’s not as simple as “Don’t like it, don’t press it”. There are several other things I will probably never use, like 12fps continuous mode or 3D sweep panoramas, which don’t bother me at all. But video *does* get in the way when taking photos.
1) The only benefit from the fixed translucent mirror is that you have phase detection AF while recording. This is totally irrelevant for photos, but the mirror still eats about half an f-stop of light (compare the DxO test results for the A580 vs. A55, the A580 has a significantly better signal-to-noise ratio even though both use the same sensor). I hope that the upcoming A99 will allow to flip the mirror up when shooting stills.
2) The MOVIE button takes up space that could have been used for something more useful, like the metering mode switch or the SteadyShot switch, which both have been “optimized” away. I don’t get why they didn’t make video an option in the drive mode menu (Single shot, continuous mode, high-speed continuous mode, movie) and simply use the normal shutter release button to start the recording. This would (a) be more intuitive, (b) save the extra button, and (c) also let you use the cable release to start/stop the recording when the camera is on a tripod.
3) With almost every camera that has video capabilities I’ve managed to start a video recording either completely by accident, or when I meant to take a photo instead (except for the Minolta Dimage 7, where you have to unlock the mode dial and turn it to the video position, which is impossible to do inadvertently). Now this might be my personal clumsiness, but I’ve already seen several people asking in the forums “how can you disable the movie button, I always hit it accidentally?”, so apparently I am not alone 🙂
So I would not mind video at all if you could get rid of the mirror when shooting stills, and if the extra MOVIE button wasn’t there.
Sony is doing this because the are competing against Canon, Nikon, Panasonic,etc. Sony said years ago that they would not put video on a dslr until they could do it right. They have done it right with the a77(It seems). The a33/55 were right for the intended buyers of those cameras, but a 7 class camera has to perform at a higher level of course. The a77 most likely will be head and shoulders above the a700 in still image quality and performance, from low light photos to action photos, right down to the shutter sound. If you look at the back of the a77, the only button for video is one that says ‘movie’, that’s it. Don’t hit that button or *gasp* it will start taking a video. The sky will not fall, your eyes will not burn, and the camera will take photos again once you turn the movie function off. It’s like magic. You could superglue the movie button solid if you are really worried about it, then scratch out the word ‘movie’. Problem solved, hooray.
How about an a60, basically a77 without video but everything else? (and a lot cheaper)
There is the A65 but it will also have a smaller body with few manual controls and likely the current EVF.
Because it’s a somewhat wasted developing time, which could be spent on developing more and better photo performance if photo was the only one priority. “Jack of all trades, master of none”, sounds to you? Consumers who like video will be frustrated because video in DSLR is not as practical as in camcorders. Professionals will be frustrated also, because they need professional quality and features, and will always use pro dedicated video cams. Advanced amateurs will try to make pro video with their DSLR’s but realize that they don’t have the skills nor the equipment to make it, and will be frustrated also. It’s no good. DSLR should be for photo only.
I would like to say something more, too. I’m a photographer for almost 50 years. I’m 88 now (still not retired), and feel that photography is fading into something strange. New times? I don’t think so. It’s a shame photography is losing its essence.
“It’s a shame photography is losing its essence.”
Marc, the essence of photography is what YOU make out of it. It’s not something that’s imposed by a camera – unless you still use an 8×10″ camera (like I do)
Digital Photography isn’t baryte paper anyway, that really has been outstanding, but times and uses have changed, I’m not missing the viewfinder at all and I’ve decided for NEX, just because E-Mount is for digital photography and film recording finally growing together…
Could be done BUT as the sensor processor etc. are all used for stills as well the only real difference would be removing some code from the ROM (and removing the button) this would not save any cost. While the time taken to SAFLY remove the relevant code without effecting photo operation would cost time and money. Result the A60 would cost more than the A77 and lose money for the company as it would not sell enough to pay for the 2nd production line.
Seems great! But Andrea there is one more important issue about the video – will it allow doing phase detect during video at stopped down apertures? Will be great if you can ask your sources to find out more about this question
With the A55/A33 you are forced to shoot video wide open. This is a problem when you don’t want the shallow depth of field or are shooting in bright day light, specially if you have something like an f1.4 lens on the body. Off course it is clear that you can’t expect to have phase detect autofocus at something like f10, f11. But all DSLRs and Sony SLTs are capable of doing autofocus with f5.6 lenses so they should at least allow stopping down the lens to f5.6 during video.
Read the origin post (I know thats a noval idea for some). What would the point of having p,A,s,m modes in video if Aparture was full open. unless you think it will be manual or fixed focus in these modes
“Read the origin post (I know thats a noval idea for some).”
LMFAO classic response.
Well yeah you are right – having full manual control obviously means that you can set whatever aperture you can want.
But I would then be curious about any limits on the aperture that you can set or on the PDAF. It is not likely to have phase detect Af operating at say f11, f16 or f22 etc so there must be some limitations in there. It maybe that you don’t get PDAF beyond a certain point or something like that. I think it would be good if we can get more info about that.
Any hope for a FW upgrade for the VG10 with peaking and manual audio control?
This news Mr. Bloom excited as well. 🙂
http://philipbloom.net/2011/08/03/sony-enters-the-video-dslr-revolution-finally-a-bit-late-but-not-too-late/
Wow, all this buzz on non-Sony-specific sites is really good news, but it also has me a little concerned. If any one of these features turns out to not be true, are Sony users going to end up with egg on their faces? After all, we know these are rumors (even if Andrea is pretty certain about them), but other sites and their readers might be taking them as facts.
We might never hear the end of it if one of these features turns out to not be included.
I’m hoping the NEX-VG20 fulfills the promise of the VG10. I hope Sony doesn’t sell the VG20 short because of the FS100.
Can the source also tell how long we can film with the A77 before overheating?
also +/- 10 minutes as the A55
A totally different question, but where is the I/O port for an external flash (A700: flash sync cable) located on the a77?
yes
can’t wait!!
Andrea,
did u hear anything about the screen of the nex 7? which resolution? tilt screen?
Thanks!
Whatever happened to those who argued that pixel counts over 18MP on APS-C (??) would cause diffraction? I don’t read about that anymore these days…Obviously, no manufacturer would release a product with such difficiencies, but how did they solve the problem?
They didn’t. The effect will become noticeable when you stop down to about f/11 or more. But you still get the advantage of the higher resolution at larger apertures – if your lens is sharp enough. 🙂
I dont think they will forget photographers. There there bread and butter. The two worlds merging in one is a good thing… they wont leave one stranded
Google traductor
We’ll see, as Sony said the first NEX, which supposedly would not have the rolling shutter, said the same of the VG-10. Also, I see nothing new or surprising as Canon SLR with video function and all the manual controls.
Shutter priority mode in video? How does that work?
🙂
I don’t understand all the hate on video features. I get that being an excellent photo cam is more important, but the reason people want these cameras to have video features is because of what you can do with it. On the highest end consumer camcorder, you could NEVER achieve the results you could with the likes of the 5DMarkII, GH2, and if rumors prove correct even the a77/nex7/vg-20 (full manual control being most important). With a DSLR, there are compromises, but the creative possibilites are astounding. For those non-believers, have you seen any of the vimeo clips shot by these cams??? That is why this is the video revolution for dslr’s. Why not take advantage of the hardware to be able to produce videos with beautiful shallow depth of field with your investment? After all, its optional, you don’t have to shoot video if you don’t want to.
I don’t hate video in general, even though I hardly ever use it. I have several cameras with video capabilities where it doesn’t bother me at all (except when the mode switch gets shifted accidentally and I start a video recording when I meant to take a photo).
But this is a different case – first because of the fixed mirror that gives you phase AF for video but adversely affects image quality for stills, and second because of the prominent MOVIE button while at the same time useful controls like the exposure metering mode switch get “optimized” away. If you pardon the pun, it feels like Sony is losing focus on the main purpose of an SLR.
The rumours seem to get better each and every day! 🙂 Even better than that, PhotoNut and Walt seem to be absolutely SEETHING! That gives me great pleasure. 😀
LMFAO!!
Sony is on a roll. The F3 and FS100 are really great new Large Sensor cameras and now they have low end cams like HX9v and HX100v and if the rumors are true they will have a solution at every price point from low cost all the way up to the F35. And every one of those cameras will have 1080/60p!!! They will dominate the market for a good while IMO. Great image quality and features and they’ve created a upgrade path for buyers who will start off with one of their lower cost cameras and get used to the look and fee and when they have the money will likely stay with Sony and upgrade to one of their better cameras.
OMG… this great news. I was holding off buying canon 5dmr2 even thou it is a great cam (Photo & vid) looking between these 2 —-> A77 and VG20
can you change aperture, manual focus, etc during video recording on the nex-7 or do you have to preset it and cant change it once you hit record?
My 7d is staring at me with that “you’re not thinking on selling me, rrrright?” look…
LOL Now hug your 7D so tight man!
Not too tight, or he’ll have more than just the first frame come out black.
Not selling my 7D for the A77! Not many would be interested in buying a DSLR introduced in 2004! I’m not a pro. Don’t have the mindset that I need a new digital camera every 1-2 years! Even though the industry would like me to! Certainly not for for “A Video Revolution”! I have yet to buy a Sony Camera body. For my purposes the photographic tools I currently own are entirely adequate. I have drawers full of Super 8 film and video tape that no one is interested in watching to remind me why I don’t need video.
However, I am very interested in seeing Sony’s progress in the Alpha line and NEX line! I sure hope the A77 is everything Alpha fans have been waiting for. It sure seems that it will be very competitive both performance and price wise!
As of this date there are only three cameras in the Sony line up that I would consider buying if I need a camera (which I don’t): the A900 (because I’ve never liked APS-C) the A580 (because it has great IQ despite being APS-C) and the NEX-5 (because I could use all my Rokkors with it). I have to say of the rumored cameras the NEX-5N and NEX-7 are the most interesting, but I have to see them, and see how they perform after they’ve been on the market for a while (and Carl reviews them). Maybe then I’ll be clamoring for “A Video Revolution”? 🙂
This is great news! I am really excited. I think my A700 rocks so I can’t imagine how great the new A77 is going to feel.
I am all for Photo / Video capabilities. I can’t believe people are saying Sony compromised when we haven’t even seen pics or video yet…
In my opinion the more features it carries the better. I get fantastic photo’s with my A700 but miss some great shots because the camera is slow. This A77 sounds like it’s going to be a rocket in comparison.
The day it’s announced Sony will be getting a deposit from me.
There is no cow level!!!
Dear Sony, my money is waiting for you!!! don’t keep it waiting.
28Mbps is still well below the bitrate of the Canon 7D I do believe:(
About how much is the bitrate of the 7D?
Bitrate doesn’t bear the significance that you think it does — AVCHD codec compresses the video more efficiently, and therefore functions at a lower bitrate. Comparing bitrates only makes sense when you’re talking about the same codec.
The Canons doesn’t use B frames in the encoder (not enough processing power. Thus they must have a substatially higher bitrate to compensate, typically a B frame compresses to 1/2 of a P frame.
how is that?
The Canon’s use a higher bitrate for their h.264 encoder (around 45mbps). But bitrate isn’t everything – not even close. Don’t fret the Sony’s will be fully capable of having higher image quality for less data than the Canon’s. Just look at the FS100
Swemba – watch the Zacuto DSLR shootout 2011. The Canon DSLRS bit rate means NOTHING in real world shooting or tests. The Canons were horrible in all the tests.
Right now the Panasonic GH2 (even non hacked) with its 24mpbs AVCHD has VASTLY more resolution – not to mention less jellow, morie, etc.
This Sony SLT will be godly and far beyond any current Canon (i own a 5DMK2 – for stills). Canon will have to release something new to compete.
Cheers.
“Right now the Panasonic GH2 (even non hacked) with its 24mpbs AVCHD has VASTLY more resolution – not to mention less jellow, morie, etc.”
While true the moire in the GH2 is almost eliminated and the resolution is much higher, the Jello on the other hand has actually increased. Rolling shutter isn’t as near a big a deal as those other flaws though!
A77 is likely to be my 5th generation of my A-mount serie.
From my first 7xi to 800si A9 A700(dslr)
You shouldn’t care all those features because you won’t use all of them. But if you really need them, you can work on it to optimized them. Usually, I spent my time 3-6 months to get used to my new camera’s functions so that I hope A77 won’t change their menus too much. I may need a year to learn all about video in A77 😛
All my cameras I have, I could only get 50-60% of their potential.
So, I’m happy as long as its better than what I currently owns not the one that other poeple owns.
canon will release a camcorder priced to compete against the SF100. DSLRs will stay the same
Finally, this is exactly what I was waiting for. Now hopefully the price of the NEX-7 isn’t too bad. AVCHD firmware update for the NEX-3 would be nice.
today 4th August, 19 days to go orange77 annoucement!
today 4th August, 19 days to go orange77 annoucement!
today 4th August, 19 days to go orange77 annoucement!
Canon 600D, EF 50mm f1.8II for SALE! $806 only! Class10 8GB SD, Bought on 28 May 2011. Total 2 yrs warranty 😀
Trying to inflict that 50/1.8 II on someone, are you? What a sadist.
i cant wait!, ill wake up in 8 hrs and open SAR to hopefully see more SR5 rumors! hooray, going to have a great sleep now!..Beautiful rumors!
AVCHD 2.0 is great news. Full PASM modes for video is even better news.
However, I hope there’s going to be clean HDMI-out (Full-HD res without the menus). That way we can record better video on an external recorder such as Atomos Ninja, Aja Ki Pro & Convergent NanoFlash.
@ Eric: just a question: why do you mean that video gets better when recorded on an external recorder? and about how will that be visible/noticeable – i.e. watching it on a full HD 60″ plasma?
Meh … Honestly, there is NO video feature that I would find exciting.
At most, I can muster “mildly gratified that it will have the feature and thus be competitive in the market,” and THAT only in hopes that a profitable a77 will lead to more mid-level-and-better cameras, sooner rather than later.
Of much more interest to me:
Has the SLT flash-lag bug been fixed?
Will there be good provision for microfocus adjust?
Will chipless / manual lenses be handled robustly (a la a700; or better yet, Pentax-style)?
Will the 12fps mode be semi-crippled, in any/most/all of the ways that the a55’s 10fps is?
How big is the buffer, that supports the “12fps” mode?
What’s the (RAW+JPEG, or at least RAW) speed after the buffer fills?
Does it freeze going into image-review (specially after a long burst)?
No one of these is a deal-breaker for me, but taken together they add up to a dramatically-less-attractive upgrade path (attractive to me, at least) than a more traditional SLR…
– Steve S.
@Einar,
If the A77 (and hopefully the NEX-7 as well) can provide clean HDMI out with 1920x1080p @60fps @ 4:2:2 sampling at high bitrates, then this will provide easier/better editing and color-grading in professional NLEs (Non-Linear Editor), such as FCP and Premiere Pro.
If you’ve ever worked with ProRes or CineForm codecs, you’d understand what I mean.
Ah, yes, I see the great possibilities.
So far I have only worked with 25 and 28 Mbps AVCHD Full HD edited with a Sony Vegas Pro NLE – and was pretty satisfied with the technical quality – but -as I understand now- there is even a class of quality above that.
I have the Sony CX550V and it delivers the HDMI live view without the screen menus. I just bought the Sony CLM55 5″ battery LCD screen last week – and it really works well.
I intend to use it with “my” NEX 7 (in October hopefully) when doing macro shots of flowers – and utilizing the Sony “Peak View” focusing feature, which the CLM 55 has a special setting for.
If someone would like to see – An Alpha 77 without the grip. 🙂
(sorry for texts in Polish on the website, you can google-translate it if want, but there’s just a short re-cap of A77 rumors from SAR)
…So for example – instead of AVCHD 28mbps 4:2:0 sampling, you can get 160mbps 4:2:2 ProRes. You get much better color fidelity, and video that is ready for quick editing (you can scrub the video back and forth very quickly in the editor). If you try to directly edit AVCHD footage, it would be very difficult both to color-grade it and move back and forth to examine the footage (even on a good modern machine).
Not to rain on anyone’s parade, but does having AVCHD 2.0 REQUIRE that cameras be able to shoot 1080/60p? I know the standard ALLOWS for it, as well as bitrates up to to 28mbps, but I’m not clear whether it’s mandatory. 1080/60p off a mammoth 24mp APS-C sensor would be an amazing achievement, especially if the rolling shutter effect has been lessened. The readout rate off such a sensor would have to be insanely fast, if this is true Sony has made great strides the past year (I wonder if they’ve been able to tackle the overheating problem???). Does it also mean that 1080/25p won’t be supported? (perhaps only in mp4 mode?)
The I/O rate would have to be very high to be able to handle the 6048×4032 pixels when shooting a burst of still images, too.
The sensor’s native resolution is about twelve times the resolution of 1080p, so five photos would have the same amount of data as a second of video at 1080p60. It seems like the A77 will have a higher full-resolution burst rate than 5fps. Even accounting for inefficiencies in pixel binning, that leaves room for them to comfortably offer 60p video.
I have had the little Sony TX100V camera for a couple of months. It actually does the full HD 1080 50/60p (progressive) at 28 Mbps with a 16,2 Megapixel chip ….
… and the result is slightly (but noticeable on a 58″ Plasma) better than from last years “real” video camera, the CX550V in terms of even less noise, better sharpness and better possibilities of zoom when editing.
A REAL photographer adapts with the technology..
Budgets are getting tighter, and clients now want MORE for LESS.
Sometimes getting the job comes down to wether you can offer moving image, with your stills.
Your next job might go to that bloke who qouted the same price but can do movies as well…. Even if he less experienced.
Pro’s DO use these functions, time to suck it up, because they are here to stay.
Marvelous, I can’t wait to sell my NEX-5 and get NEX-7 in October or November.
Things are getting better with Sony, looks they are following the wright path.
If it doesn’t have XLR audio inputs…stuff it!
If it’s really true, will Sony sell any FS100 after this release?
why is this good news? Unless it has efficient audio, there is not point
In lots of applications on board camera audio is not important as audio is recorded with other equipment.
@David & Alan, double system sound is easy now compared to even just five years ago. There are much better very small or compact stand alone professional audio solid state memory(most are SD card storage) recorders with or without XLR inputs such as the Zoom H4N for $300. It is also relatively easy to sync the high quality audio recorder sound with the reference camera audio sound with software such as Singular Software’s Plural Eyes or built into the latest digital video editors like FCP X.
If that type of audio quality/features was built into the camera it would be much bulkier & harder to handle & carry plus it would add too much to the price. If you want A77 quality video with XLR inputs all in one body then you can buy a FS100 for $5000 plus the cost of lenses.
the A 77 is it 25p in PAL countries? I bet it isn’t!