Sony's A77 Is The New King of APS-C DSLRs

New "king" has high ISO as good as a Rebel XTi... hmm no thanks. It should at least be able to have fairly clean ISO3200 and somewhat usable 6400. That is what is important to me anyways, over AF and other do-dads.

[QUOTE=bjyoder;1317810​0]And that's about all Sony has, is a good, headline-grabbing spec sheet. It's kinda like the Nikon D7000 vs. Canon 60D: the Nikon definitely grabs the headlines, but I've seen a number of reviews claiming that, in practice, the Canon is the better camera (with IQ being generally equivilent, probably leaning to the Nikon).

[QUOTE]

I wonder how Canon 60D is better than D7000 when D7000 outsells 60D even with higher price. And not to mention it's better AF, ISO performance and build quality.

*grabs popcorn* This should be interesting.

jwcdds wrote in post #13177508
Probably already linked somewhere but here's dpreview's studio comparisons.

http://www.dpreview.co​m …92610sonyslta77​studio.asp

Is it me or does the A77 look to be the worst of the lot?

Sure, it's got 24mp but... wow, it's noisier in jpg, and looking at the RAW comparisons, you can see the amount of NR they needed to apply.

I mean it's no surprise that shoehorning more pixels will have a negative impact but... yeah...

1) Higher density cameras result in higher subject magnification at 100% pixel view. Higher magnification means higher magnification of noise.

2) Brand new cameras usually have bad support in converters.

3) This is a special-design camera, with a fixed, partially-transparent mirror. Light is lost to this, so don't blame it on the sensor!

4) The A77 crop is brighter than the rest - that emphasizes noise.

Critical thinking goes out the window when dodgy evidence supports your beliefs!

John Sheehy wrote in post #13189620
Critical thinking goes out the window when dodgy evidence supports your beliefs!

His beliefs? Can we please not bring religion into this? This is a photography forum!

(Suddenly remembers picture of Japanese photographers praying at Niepce's tomb in Chalons)

That's the thing about the Sony, people who aren't you or me or spending their tome on the photography boards debating cameras are the one thAt will be buying these. They see the specs, the Sony name, and that it has all the "gimmicks that look cool and buy it and end up using the auto mode. I think there are alot more people out there that will buy off of specs, and marketing than know what all the jib Ed jabber means and know what camera would actually work best. I think Sony is going to continue to squeeze out market share.

bjyoder wrote in post #13178100
And that's about all Sony has, is a good, headline-grabbing spec sheet. It's kinda like the Nikon D7000 vs. Canon 60D: the Nikon definitely grabs the headlines, but I've seen a number of reviews claiming that, in practice, the Canon is the better camera (with IQ being generally equivilent, probably leaning to the Nikon).

So it is with the A77. Sure, it can do 12 frames per second, but it can't do it for more than a second, and it can't give you meaningful DOF from a high-end lens if you want it. The IQ is suspect; not that it's bad, but there are lots of conflicting views out there (it is amazing to see 24MP on APS-C looking as good as it does. Remember when it was rediculous to have 21MP on a FF camera?).

I think what Sony has is a great, (very) high end, "Mr. and Mrs. America" camera. A camera for those who want to brag that they have the fastest camera. A camera for those who don't care a whole lot about the ins and outs of photography. That definitely described the A55, and, even though the A77 is more photography oriented than the 55, it still isn't "there."

I'm definitely in the camp of being excited that Sony is pushing, however. Canon and Nikon are going to have to try and come up with something to grab some headlines back, or the consumer market (i.e. the money-making segment) will definitely take a hit, and we, the photographers/enthusia​sts will get hit because of less R&D money.

KenjiS wrote in post #13179882
+1, Sony looks king because its fighting cameras that have been out for AGES at this point, the 7D is 3 years old, and the D300s is just as old, the D300s might even qualify as older given its still using the same sensor from the D300....

The 7d is 2 years old now--it's not so ancient. We may not see another 7d for another year.

NickR wrote in post #13180945
Also has a magnesium body.

So does the 7d. So do all of the Canon pro and prosumer bodies, minus the 60D which has an aluminum frame and polycarbon body.

when i see sony cameras i think of minolta.

ckramos wrote in post #13189753
when i see sony cameras i think of minolta.

... because Sony ate Minolta/Konica?

For good reason. They have very similar lens coatings (color), a compatible mount for all the old Minolta lenses, and the best color accuracy from any 35mm DSLR manufacturer (a trait minolta lenses were often held highly for).

Have you all seen the RAW shots processed with the latest update of ACR? Easily best the D7000 up to ISO 3200 on detail, at which point you can use the 50% resolution advantage to downsize, and beats the 7D everywhere.

Also, the ISO 50 shots look like medium format in terms of color quality.

wishlf wrote in post #13189542
I wonder how Canon 60D is better than D7000 when D7000 outsells 60D even with higher price. And not to mention it's better AF, ISO performance and build quality.

See below...

bentlax33 wrote in post #13189649
That's the thing about the Sony, people who aren't you or me or spending their tome on the photography boards debating cameras are the one thAt will be buying these. They see the specs, the Sony name, and that it has all the "gimmicks that look cool and buy it and end up using the auto mode. I think there are alot more people out there that will buy off of specs, and marketing than know what all the jib Ed jabber means and know what camera would actually work best. I think Sony is going to continue to squeeze out market share.

This is all I'm saying, and I'm not trying to crucify Sony in the process. I just believe this line of cameras (the fixed-mirror ones) is mainly aimed at consumers, and there are enough other (headline) features to make enthusiasts interested. We've already seen that Sony image sensors can be utilized very well (see: Nikon and Pentax), but that Sony rarely does the best job of utilizing them quite so well.

And, as I've said before (even if not in this thread), I'm excited to see Sony push the industry; it will be great when Canon decides to take them seriously.

rjx wrote in post #13177551
First post linking to a positive review for a competitors camera. Hmmmm.

Hahaha, only post.

Probably wears a Sony baseball cap or something

wishlf wrote in post #13189542
I wonder how Canon 60D is better than D7000 when D7000 outsells 60D even with higher price.

Can you share your sales numbers? How do you know it is outselling the 60D?

The person you quoted was mentioning a review that found that was not the case. Most practical reviewers find these cameras neck and neck outside the tripod and test chart lab. And even using pixel peeper charts, I have a hard time calling the D7000 (or K-5) better at high ISO. I guess it depends what you measure.

Going back to the A77, I am sure it will be a fantastic camera, too.

Jahled wrote in post #13191161
Hahaha, only post.

Probably wears a Sony baseball cap or something

And named his firstborn "Sony" if it's a boy--"Sonya" if it's a girl

The Sony A77 looks real good on paper. And makes for great marketing material to appeal to the general public. For the more discerning photographers, the a77 cannot compete with the 7D. It lacked the pro features(large buffer, continuous meter/af at high burst, fine tune AF behaviour, set home points, spot AF etc...) that make the 7D so good to the point that it is a viable replacement for older 1d-cameras.

Where the A77 will make inroads is in the 60d, d7000 segment where the typical photographers do not require such high demand on camera robustness.

Sony Alphas are quite popular in Asia. I think it is the price to value quotient is so good.