Sony alpha A55

[Allam2009]

I believe the embargo is lifted tomorrow and I should then be able to provide some thoughts on the evf. Still going to leave you guessing on the specs for the 7xx but a start!

[Dusty]

............. Still going to leave you guessing on the specs for the 7xx but a start!

Bastard!

Dusty

[bfitzgerald]

AP have a bit up nothing new but it's an ok round up on the EVF models.
http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk/ne ... 01246.html

As I'm not in the market for an EVF camera I'll be looking out for the traditional ones and how they stack up. Looks like Sony is dipping it's toes in with both and playing "let's see what sells better" I'm not sure the buying public particularly cares or knows much about EVF's myself.

I'd bet it's more expensive to make an EVF than a normal OVF. And like others I would not be willing to accept them as a replacement for an OVF. Some are saying the EVF is making up for the OVF not having enough light with a fixed mirror, the downside to that is you have to add more gain to the EVF and in low light that could be rather poor and noisy/distracting.

[Greg Beetham]

For some strange reason they want too morph the SLR design into some half baked video camera that can still do stills up to a point, and expect too find enough customers on the way to help finance it, maybe they will who knows.
I reckon they should keep the regular DSLR with PDAF and screw drive A-mount lenses as a seperate line and introduce these VDSLR's as an alternate co-existing line with whatever AF and SAM lenses that work for them.
If they do that though will they spend the R&D time and money on the standard one? and make sure it's still taking features are not compromised, they couldn't even introduce the A550 LV without screwing up the MLU...remember.
Greg

[KevinBarrett]

For some strange reason they want too morph the SLR design into some half baked video camera that can still do stills up to a point, and expect too find enough customers on the way to help finance it, maybe they will who knows.
I reckon they should keep the regular DSLR with PDAF and screw drive A-mount lenses as a seperate line and introduce these VDSLR's as an alternate co-existing line with whatever AF and SAM lenses that work for them.
If they do that though will they spend the R&D time and money on the standard one? and make sure it's still taking features are not compromised, they couldn't even introduce the A550 LV without screwing up the MLU...remember.
Greg

Greg, it seems to me that they're doing just that--only the two systems can use the same lenses. Voila, minimal R&D!

[agorabasta]

The IR are putting their review up at this very moment. Not all pages are accessible yet, still the review is sorta up - http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/AA55/AA55A.HTM.

The stay-down mirror doesn't hinder the res too much, or so it would seem.

Still it's a pity the mirror doesn't flip up for higher quality stills as their patent was suggesting... So there's a room for some A77 for sure.

[agorabasta]

Resolution is considerably higher for the vertical lines, though - http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/A ... 5hRESM.HTM

[grubster]

It's only just beginning!!

First reviews are in...and look like Sony did it!!

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/revie ... view.shtml

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/sonyslta55/

From two of Sony's toughest critics this is praise indeed.

From what we see today the A7xx, A9xx and A10xx will be market changers.

[Allam2009]

OK - lets talk EVF!

When you look through the viewfinder it is obvious that it is electronic BUT the quality is still very good.

We were using them inside the office so can't comment on what it is like under natural light but I was impressed. The advantage of the EVF is that you can have things like face detection activated - if you are using such a camera for sports photography you can now lock onto your subject and the camera will track very well (much better than the continuous focus option on the other alphas in my view).

In terms of build the cameras feel like they are well made and are a more traditional shape than some of the other cameras released last year. I hope that these do well on the market as they are definitely an improvement for certain types of photography.

[bfitzgerald]

The real EVF test is low light and that is where it has fallen down before. We'll see how these stack up on that front. Unfortunately according to DPR you only get live view EVF updates for cont' shooting at 3fps and not the fastest fps rate..this is not going to make action shooting easy. Also battery drain as predicted is significantly higher than OVF models.

The old EVF v OVF is a combination of pros and cons for both..simple as that. Unfortunately the cons for EVF currently make it unsuitable for some types of shooting..hence it's likely to be limited to consumer type cameras for a while yet. Hats off to Sony for trying something new..one has to balance the review "tech geeks" excitement with real world use.

[peterottaway]

If I was in the market for this class of camera and had the choice between a decent EVF and a periscope style penta mirror, I would take the EVF as being the better compromise. Most of my low light shooting is done with a monopod / mini tripod and the hand held shots would constitute only a small proportion of my camera work.

Sony by choosing to take the photographers to Jackson Hole were certainly eager to prove the EVFs effectiveness in the conditions most photographers would be worried about.

[bfitzgerald]

Well unfortunately this highlights one of the problems. Pretty ho hum OVF viewfinders..
Saying that for the asking price of the A55 (€850) it would be perfectly possible to put a decent pentaprism VF in there..or a much better pentamirror at least. Sony are asking for €900 for the A580..

[peterottaway]

I try not to be a conspiracy theorist but given that the published specs for OVF for the 560/580 are the same as for the 500/550- you have to conclude that Sony are not putting development money into these cameras. They give the impression they are there to hold the line for those not prepared to accept EVF at the present.

I am on record as saying that OVF will only continue for the higher end enthusiast and pro level cameras and that the 5xx style cameras will be gone within 5 years. BUT the apparent lack of improvement is disappointing, surely if you are spending the money to manufacture the 2xx/3xx/5xx cameras some money could be spent on developing a reasonable final generation OVF for them.

[bfitzgerald]

To be blunt 0.80x isn't great...might pass ok for super budget DSLR no problems, but when you're asking this price for mid point bodies I think you are rightly expecting more. We'll see how things pan out, but I would say Sony will be the first to drop OVF's in these cameras..I would not expect other makers to follow that quickly, they might play about with one model.

They are playing safe with round 1 and waiting to see what sells best.

[Greg Beetham]

My argument is, If Sony now has a SLT model line that has LV, EVF, Video they can revert maybe the DSLR 5 and 7 still taking cameras back too normal, the OVF's can be converted back too being non handicapped by the LV feature and the MLU and DOFP can return to their proper place as well.
I don't do astrophotography with either a specialized astro cam or a DSLR but lots of people do. I remain too be convinced as to an EVF's usefulness in seeing faint things like Nebula and Galaxies, how much does an EVF interfere with your night vision?
And I remain to be convinced if they would even be of much use in night time macro either...don't know yet on that one, but any bright viewfinder is going too affect your dark vision and the ability too see a subject in the soft modeling light of the macro flash.
If an EVF does NOT affect your night vision at all, I won't have any objection to them.
Greg