Since the NEX-7 looks like its going to be delayed, I've got an A77. I was planning to get the NEX-7 first and then see about replacing my Nikons with the A77, if the sensor proved to be as good as predicted. However it looks like I'll be doing all this the other way round.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS.
Its seriously quick.
AF is terrific.
OLED viewfinder is polaroid sunglasses friendly. It arrived with the firmware update (1.03) already installed.
Its not as heavy as it looks.
It feels like its built like the proverbial Sherman....
Feels great in the hand.
Menus like the A55 and not the NEX's. (Plus point as far as I'm concerned)
There was some nice light late yesterday afternoon, and after charging up the battery for the a77, I was able to go out and give it a short "real world" test.
In terms of use, a few things became apparent.
I really like the AF system. Its very "intuitive" if thats possible. Seems to know what I want to focus on. Some of these multi-point AF systems are often way off in terms of what I want. The a77 works very well however. Its also pretty fast.
There's a built in spirit level, which is the best I've seen. Very useful indeed. I'm not particularly good at getting things straight, and it will save me having to correct the file later.
The shutter is very positive and I can't detect any delay. Because there is no mirror slap its unlike a DSLR. Quiet (ish) and a bit "wimpy" Though nice to use.
By accident I had selected a 3-shot bracket. It does this with one press of the shutter. Excellent.
Colours are nice and warm, and in terms of overall image quality its very good. The images, with the 16-50mm, aren't ultra-sharp, but then I never expected them to be. With this amount of pixels on an APS-C sensor, I imagine there is a pretty strong AA filter. However the files look much the same as my Nikons, and indeed look very similar to those from the a850 I had.
One thing that is very impressive, is the dynamic range. Like the 16MP Sony sensor in the Pentax K-5, Nikon D7000 etc. its possible (At low ISO's) to recover dramatic amounts of shadow detail, without adding lots of noise.
The OLED viewfinder worked fine. I can wear my polarised sunglasses with no problem. In good light it looks just like an optical viewfinder to me. It has eye recognition, like the Panasonic GH1/2 and switches automatically between the two. However this is a bit sluggish. Something Kai at Digital Rev picked up on when he did his review. Its also a bit slow to present the file for viewing after pressing the shutter. I imagine the large files are responsible for this.
A couple of things on how the images look on the screen. I've now had 3 cameras that produce images this size. D3X, a850 and now the a77. All of them produce slightly softish files on the screen. For example images I took recently on my Olympus E-P3 look a lot sharper. However, when I downsize the a77 images to E-P3 size, they are just as sharp, and if I upsize the E-P3 images up to a77 size, a lot of the sharpness disappears and all sorts of artefacts start to appear.
Some of this I'm sure is down to the AA filter, and some to the way in which monitors display images. From the samples I had seen from the a77, I'm getting more or less what I expected. However I'm tempted to swap the 16-50mm lens for a Zeiss 16-80mm, which is a much more useful lens for me anyway.
The images are very "clean" though in common with virtually all of the Sony cameras and lenses I've used, there is a fair amount of CA. Having said that all of the large sensor cameras I've ever used are pretty merciless on lenses. Nikon provided a nice set of lens "correction" presets for Photoshop ACR, but there are only a few for Sony. I will have to put together one of my own.
A couple of other things on the "bells and whistles" which I'm getting round to slowly. When the drive is set to high burst, its incredibly fast, yet because of no mirror, much quieter than most DSLR's. Wedding snappers will love that.
Finally the articulated screen is just amazing. Its a bit "Heath Robinson" at first, and it can be moved into some amazing positions. It is quite a complicated mechanism, and I do have concerns about its long term robustness and the possibility of damage because it does extend some distance. However its an amazing contraption and I can't imagine any situation it isn't able to cover. Here's a video I found showing some of the possibilities.
Finally, finally, It may sound callous to say this in the light of what has caused the situation, but I may have made the right move to buy the a77 rather than wait for the NEX-7. Apparently the Sony factory in Thailand is under water and has been described as having "No prospect of recovery". SonyAlphaRumors speculated yesterday that the NEX-7 may not arrive until after Christmas. South-East Asia has had an appalling year for weather-related disasters, and it is to be hoped that the situation improves soon.
There is this button that blows up the image for a 12MP file and a 6MP file. Its basically a digital zoom and a crop feature. Its jpg. only and its a complete waste of time as far as I'm concerned. Note to Sony - We know how to crop an image! It doesn't work in video. It also functions as a magnifier for manual focusing, BUT - it doesn't work for video where it would be really useful and if you want to use it for stills, you have to deselect the raw or raw + jpg options because it doesn't work with them either!!
Panorama function.
This is getting worse! The camera tells me that it can't create a panorama because I need to move the camera faster, then when I do that it produces a blurred image. I never managed to get a wide panorama at all, as it always stopped before I'd finished. Its hit and miss, impossible to predict what you are going to get and also a waste of time as far as I'm concerned.
Auto-Everything Video.
Camera makers are still trying to persude us that we can use these cameras as auto everything video cameras. Presumably to video the kids on the beach, sports days, family events etc. They make a great play of how they AF doing recording. However because of the larger sensors, and the fancy AF systems, they rarely work well for this. I shot the above using auto-everything. As you can see there's lots of AF "hunting" and exposure changing. The little AF point squares were constantly flickering, moving about and trying to find something to focus on. Admittedly this all happened very quickly and smoother than most, but the final result is not particularly pleasant to watch.
This is all the more annoying because the actual quality of the footage is truly breathtaking. Easily the best I've ever seen on a stills camera equipped with video. With the largest sensor used in any DSLR-type camera to do this, the A77 produces beautiful, high resolution movies that are a joy to behold. Fortunately its possible to use full manual control. When I've worked out how to do it properly, I'll shoot something better to show what it can do. It also has the super steady shot function, which combined with iMovie produces very stable hand held footage, as you can see from the above example.
Out of Camera jpgs.
All of the following are taken from out of camera jpgs. While these very usefully remove most of the CA, fringing and help with lens distortion, they also soften the images. This is fairly commonplace with jpgs. and to a large extent they are no better and no worse than anything else.
All images - Sony A77 16-50mm f/2.8
On the raw front I'm gradually starting to work out how to get the best from the raw files. My reservations about the 16-50mm lens have been somewhat dispelled by approaching the raw development in Photoshop / Adobe Camera raw from a different angle. I basically zeroed everything out and started from scratch. I got a great improvement in CA, by removing all of the "correction" parameters and discovered that on many of the images, there was virtually none. Sharpening for this lens / sensor combination is still something I'm trying to get right. The massively popululated APS-C sensor responds in much the same way as the Panasonic sensor on the GH2 / G3 in that increasing sharpening tends to increase the luminance noise. I'm getting there, but I haven't got it right yet.
The last shot was taken using the articulated screen, which following on from my comments yesterday, is an amazing contraption. It does seem possible to put it in any position. I haven't been able to stump it yet. Its certainly a step on from Sonys previous offerings and indeed its more versatile than the Panasonic system and the Canon and Nikon copies of that.
Some initial impressions
The a77 isn't the game changing, DSLR alternative, great camera that perhaps Sony would like it to be, but it shows amazing potential. There's a few gimmicky features for the gadget heads that could do with either being removed or worked on, but there is certainly enough here that shows what this technology and engineering is capable of.
This is a camera designed for photographers, there's no doubt of that. Many of the headline features, OLED EVF, articulated screen, high speed drive and lots of MP's are really useful and work well. The video output is simply stunning and with some more attention to this Sony could give Canon and Panasonic a real run for their money.
So, not a great camera yet, but the potential for Sony to produce something that is truly ground breaking is there. Things like the incredibly fast, yet relatively quiet motordrive, and more importantly the lightness and low price, make this a very attractive option for many professional photographers. In its current state I think wedding and event photographers will love this. Though I have to say that I haven't checked out the high ISO performance yet.
The a77 has certainly displaced the D7000 as the "best" camera I've ever owned. It does the things I really want a camera to do, really well. It produces high resolution "punchy" images, it covers the majority of my handling and operating requirements and it doesn't make my back any worse (thats the best I can hope for I think!) and it certainly doesn't break the bank.
A 25MP Nikon D3X with a 24-70mm f/2.8 zoom costs £6200 and weighs 2122g. The Sony a77 plus 16-50mm f/2.8 cost me £1660 and weighs 1230g. Both camera / lens combinations are weathersealed. So just over 1/4 of the price and 1/2 the weight. Plus video, plus articulated screen, plus full-time live view. Its new, so judgement on long-term use is impossible, but the numbers will make a lot of sense to a lot of photographers, as they do to me. Sony's ambition to become a big player is starting to show good results, and the NEX-7 has yet to arrive.
Some high ISO images with the A77. Shot under typical low light conditions, in a dark room in daylight. hand held. I even let the silver of the camera underexpose the images slightly.
As ever larger versions available at flickr > Actions > View all sizes > Original.
As I think you can clearly see the raw files are pretty bad. Totally unusable as far as I'm concerned above ISO 6400. The in-camera rendition of the jpgs is somewhat better, and indeed ISO 1600 and 3200 are actually pretty good.
Incidentally, below is a B/W conversion from the ISO 6400 jpg, using only the blue channel, and that is very useable.
So the highly populated sensor takes it toll at high ISO. This is obviously not the worlds greatest low light camera. However its fine up to ISO 3200. Not an issue for me, but many would perhaps require a better performance. Having said that, when I was shooting weddings, if I had to use higher than ISO 3200 I would break out the flashgun, a somewhat neglected item these days.
These high ISO results would work for me if I was still shooting any kind of event indoors, and I've certainly coped with much worse sensor performance than this. However, I'm not a heavy duty high ISO user and that has to be borne in mind.
I'm not going to be doing any more stills high ISO tests, so I'd recommend the excellent Imaging Resource for that. Their high ISO samples for the a77 can be found here:-
So how good is the 16-50mm f/2.8 zoom, available as a kit with the a77? A difficult question to answer objectively since I have nothing to compare it with. Plus the performance of a lens and a sensor doesn't exist in isolation, particularly when the camera "sees" the lens and performs "corrections" regarding CA, distortion etc. as in this case here.
If you already own a set of Alpha mount lenses, then the lens may not be of particular interest, other than it fills in a gap for you, but if like me, you currently own no other lenses, then its performance could be significant.
Significant because this is certainly a good value lens. It gives an idea of how Sony rate the a77, as they have chosen to release it not with an 18-55mm zoom, in a similar fashion to other cameras from a variety of manufacturers, but with a "pro-spec" lens. This is after all the APS-C equivalent of a 24-75mm f/2.8 (35mm / FF) which many consider essential for serious, "professional" work. These are often one of the "top of the line" lenses for other systems and they can be heavy duty in terms of size, weight and price. The 16-50mm f/2.8 is relatively small, light and inexpensive for a lens of this type, and while no lightweight I've had no problems carrying it around for the last few days.
As far as I'm concerned the option of the Zeiss 16-35mm f/2.8 is out of the question. Having tried one out, its incredibly heavy and would make the combined camera / lens weight in excess of 1.5kg. For my work, which involves a substantial amount of walking, I wouldn't even consider it. There are the alternatives of the Zeiss 16-80mm or the 16-105mm, neither of which get particularly great endorsements from photographers. I have ordered an 85mm f/2.8, which I used before with the a55 I had, and I'm undecided about whether to get a 30mm f/2.8 or a 35mm f/1.8 to use as a 2 lens prime outfit. Again I used both with the a55 and they worked well with that.
But I will be keeping the 16-50mm f/2.8, and I'm actually very pleased with the results. I'm not going to be doing any serious comparitive testing with it. As I indicated in a post a short while ago, I have neither the time or inclination to do that anymore. This, and all future, reviews will be based around my use of equipment as part of my work. I'm not setting anything up anymore, and my decisions as to whether to keep a lens and my opinions about it are based totally on how it fits in with the way I work and what I use it for. If that helps others come to a decision then great. If people want more, then there are a range of other reviews and user experiences to view also. This is, after all, just one persons opinion.
So why do I like the 16-50mm?
It has good colour and contrast, distortion is well-controlled and sharpness is excellent at all apertures. For the most part I'm going to be using it around the f8 - f11 mark, and it produces excellent results there.
Finally, while out shooting yesterday, I ended up at Broadway Tower on the edge of the Cotswolds. A Bride and Groom were being photographed and captured on video.
I shamelessly got myself into position to grab a few shots of my own. Including the one below, which will be useful as a stock shot, since no faces are visible. The fact that this is a serious crop from the original, yet still retains the quality needed for using this image for publication, shows the quality of both the a77 sensor and the lens.
So, I'm in the position to give some sort of concluding summing-up to my days with the Sony a77 and 16-50mm f/2.8 zoom lens.
There's no doubt that this camera ticks more boxes for me than any camera I've ever owned. While I hesitate to state that its a great camera for anybody, I can say with some pleasure, that its a great camera for me. It suits me in so many ways, that I use it with a smile on my face.
+ POINTS
BIG files! Great for landscape and stock.
Quality of images is top class. Sony have got their 24MP APS-C files looking virtually identical to their 24MP FF files.
Great operation and handling with some really outstanding features:-
Built in spirit level
Sunglasses friendly OLED viewfinder
High quality live view screen
Eye sensor controlled switching between EVF and screen
GPS built in. I used this yesterday and its great. Lots of sites I sell on use this
Super Steady Shot stabilisation is again top class
Articulated screen - best I've used Fast AF Quick positive shutter Quiet high-speed burst mode
Well-organised menu system
Excellent build quality (Though obviously no long term use to substantiate this)
Well thought out layout and excellent grip
Not excessively heavy
Not excessively large
Good quality kit lens
- POINTS
Crop / Zoom option button seems pointless to me
Panorama mode works very poorly
Some operations are somewhat slow
High ISO performance disappointing above ISO 3200
Since the minus points are not of any great importance for what and how I shoot, the camera gets a very positive thumbs-up from me. I can't wait for the NEX-7 to have most of this available in a smaller, lighter package.
Though it isn't a DSLR (Its a DSLT?) I will always have a need for a camera of this type. Though something like a NEX-7 will do most of what I need (Assuming it fulfills its promise in the same way that the a77 does) that extra bit of performance and speed that the a77 offers is always useful for the variety of situations I shoot pictures in.
In fact I like it so much that I've been photographing all the rest of my cameras and putting them on ebay. And I do mean ALL my cameras. The a77 allows me to upload high quality, high resolution images to the sites where I sell my work, the images are beautifully saturated, sharp and capable of extremely large reproduction. I have to make no compromises using the camera, it allow me to do what I want to do, in the way that I want to do it. There's been a wonderful absence of fiddling with small buttons in the last few days and like the Nikon D7000 before it (still a great camera) the a77 allows me to stop thinking about what I'm using and concentrate on what is more important, what I'm photographing.
Above all this is a photographers camera. Not a gadget, not a toy, a serious, useful photographic tool that is designed for one thing, to make creating good pictures as easy as possible.
If I was to rate it, I'd give it 9/10 (It could be lighter!) and my somewhat varied collection of cameras could soon be turning into a Sony fanboys dream. I'm working towards the a77, a NEX-7 and a NEX-5n + Viewfinder for low light work, and that may be what I end up with after Christmas.
I've written before how impressed I was with Sony and the long interviews that my nephew and I had with them at the Focus on Imaging show last spring. Virtually everything that we both asked for has turned up in the a77. We weren't alone in what we talked about obviously, and to be honest most of the features were probably well-advanced anyway. I would say however, that all the things that the a77 includes and offers us as photographers are mostly sensible, well-thought out and geared towards those of us who are committed to producing the best work that we can.
No its not for everybody and there will be many who see it as a disappointment, but with this level of performance, resolution and options and at this price point, I can see a lot more photographers drifting towards the orange a. In many ways it IS a revolutionary camera, and the innovations and advances it uses will impact on many future models.
I saw the entry of Sony into the "serious" digital camera market as a good thing. However up to now I think they have struggled and got lost in a plethora of bewilderingly similarly specified models that didn't really get the adrenalin pumping. Solid but uninspiring, is the description I would use. With the a77, a camera over which they certainly took their time, they have moved into another gear. Sony seem to have spent years playing catch-up with Nikon and Canon. I think the next few years may see that situation reversed.
Sony a77 16-50mm f/2.8 lens. Recorded and edited in 1080p 25fps. Final version in 720p. Entirely hand- held using Super Steady Shot. Full manual control of aperture, shutter speed and manually focused using focus peaking. Image stabilisation added in iMovie.
Shot in a very strong wind. You can see the iMovie stabilisation doing its thing on some of the footage - its the "wobble" at the bottom of the frame.
