Sony A77 release very soon - is this the 5D/7D/GH2 killer?

I wanna see more footage :)
Sony A77: Fast stabalized standard zoom with a weather sealed form factor. Combined with flash and battery grip (all weather sealed) this will be an action all weather cam, cant wait!
 
I wanna see more footage :)
Sony A77: Fast stabalized standard zoom with a weather sealed form factor. Combined with flash and battery grip (all weather sealed) this will be an action all weather cam, cant wait!
All that souds good. Do you have any issues with losing a full stop of light, no matter what lens you use? Just asking.
 
All that souds good. Do you have any issues with losing a full stop of light, no matter what lens you use? Just asking.

Maybe Its because I have nothing to compare it to :) so anything with a large sensor is gonna be better than what I have already.
Even so, you can always overcome that light loss with faster glass.
Just as with the GH2 you can overcome the DOF difference by openign up 2/3 of a stop more than the FF equivalent.
Now we would have to open a full stop more to get equivalent exposure or go up one step in ISO.
Its a tradeoff I am willing to make for the other benefits of the SLT.
Those using the A-Mount adapter will be faced with the same problem too so its not just the A77.
I dont see it is a being an issue on paper but in practice who knows?
No one in the video community has had a proper review of this thing so this cam exists in my semi-realisting dreams for now :)
 
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* it's not a "Fast stabalized standard zoom"; the A77 has in-body stabilization, so it's even better: my vintage primes will benefit from it too (though it may have some drawbacks we don't know about yet)
* it's not a full stop that you use because of the SLT design; sony claims a third of a stop, some reviews of previous sony SLT models place it between 1/3 and 1/2 stops; the sensor and signal processing (for video, specially, the subsampling method), have a much bigger impact than that
 
* it's not a "Fast stabalized standard zoom"; the A77 has in-body stabilization, so it's even better: my vintage primes will benefit from it too (though it may have some drawbacks we don't know about yet)
* it's not a full stop that you use because of the SLT design; sony claims a third of a stop, some reviews of previous sony SLT models place it between 1/3 and 1/2 stops; the sensor and signal processing (for video, specially, the subsampling method), have a much bigger impact than that

See now thats even better! I knew it was stabalized in-camera but I'm comparing it to other systems which used in-lens stabalization.
AFAIK no other system has a fast F2.8, stabalized, weather sealed, standard zoom range.
And all this for $2000 USD. I only wish Sony had more weather sealed lenses to go with this new body but I guess thats coming in time.
I know everyone will compare this cam with the GH2 and although its video capabilities are not as high it does do some things better
(see in camera stabalization, 60P video, proper stills camera, high burst rate)
The audio is a dissapointment with no manual controls but we do get a mic jack and who knows, maybe it will be hacked and we can fully unlock this baby.
By the time I am able to buy one of these it would either be hacked or something better would have come out so win win for me :)
 
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So does this camera have line skipping aliasing artifacts?

IDK thats a good question. I haven't seen any footage that has any aliasing but good footage is hard to come by so far.
What I have seen is what appears to be better resolution than the Canons but less than GH2.
Sadly there seems to be alot of noise reduction done automatically and the codec seems to be crushign alot of detail sometimes.
I'm not sure what to call the artifacts that I see but it reminds me of the GH1 FPN in a way but not quite.
My only guess is that a higher bitrate will fix it.

NB
All of the footage I've seen of this camera has been with the 1080p 60p setting at 28mbs.
That is a lot of frames to squish into that bitrate and that leaves me to believe the 1080P 24P setting at 24mbs will give better results.
AFAIK everyone who's posted a clip so far has been beating the 60P feature to death while forgetting the good 'ol 24P
 
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Nice! I believe Sony is trickling down its higher end video camera 1080p technology to the dslrs and lower cost video cameras now that they are seemingly moving towards 4K acquisition. Can't wait to get my hands on all of these new babies. I am going to have a chance to check them all out at the Photo Plus Expo in New York come october. Like a kid waiting for Christmas!
 
The sad thing about the A65/A77 is that you have to be in programme mode to access the AF and tracking:(

Addin in the 5% extra cropping in video and you might as well shoot m43 and save coin.

If the above wasnt bad then the alpha lens adapters for third party lenses all have a glass element in them, duh!
 
The sad thing about the A65/A77 is that you have to be in programme mode to access the AF and tracking:(

Addin in the 5% extra cropping in video and you might as well shoot m43 and save coin.

If the above wasnt bad then the alpha lens adapters for third party lenses all have a glass element in them, duh!

The GH2 is great (awesome actually) in video but doesn't hold up in photos,
both in the build quality, IQ and buffer size so its not an option for me.
The Sony A77 seems to be a very capable stills and video camera.
So if you're looking for a hybrid cam that needs autofocus then this is the cam for you.
This cam will be very intersting to use on a steadicam for sure lol

You're right about that P mode oddity although if I was to be using it on a steadicam I wouldn't be able to touch the camera anyway (it'd offset the balance) so being in full auto makes sense to me in that respect.
I wouldn't mind seeing an additional implementation of the AF however.

A 5% crop equates to a m4/3 sensor? I doubt that very much (just by looking at the sensor sizes I mean)
The Third party lenses you're referring wouldn't be compatible with the A77's AF anyway (I'm assuming you mean old manual focus glass)
Old glass is great but I personally dont want a mismatch of lenses from different manufacturers.
I want a lens system, so I'll stick with Sony and 30+ years of Minolta A-mount Glass.
Not everyone thinks this way but I'm okay being the weird one :)
Sony has provided different cameras for different purposes.
If you have alot of other manual glass to use then the NEX series are for you obviously, or any mirrorless system like the GH2.
The Sony A77 was never meant for that (judging from its specs and build)
It appears to be a pretty serious hybrid camera that is aiming to launch Sony forward using SLT and EVF innovation.
Whether the market will respond to that innovation is the next question.
 
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I respect your needs man,
however for me if I was shooting with all that AF and tracking goodness and found out the shutter speed the programme mode selected was 1/320s well I ask ya WTF?
 
I respect your needs man,
however for me if I was shooting with all that AF and tracking goodness and found out the shutter speed the programme mode selected was 1/320s well I ask ya WTF?

Good point. That can become a sour point of the cam very quickly.
I read that the reason it must be Program Mode is that the aperture must be close to wide open for it to function properly in video mode.
So that means the shutter speed is the factor that is changed. NDs would be a must with this cam I think.
 
I don't need the AF, all my lenses are vintage leitz (and will work on canon, nikon, sony, whatever, with dumb mechanical adapters) - what I want is a clean image (no aliasing/moire) and a decent codec; you could claim the GH2 fits that bill, but for some reason I'm not in love with its footage; maybe the new sonys will fit the bill; and I can live with in-camera stabilization for my vintage lenses at the proce of that 5% extra cropping - conclusion: can't wait...
 
I would like to see some 24/25p footage. That's where I shoot 99% of my stuff. 60p will be great for slow motion. Plus I'm thinking the Sony will be a distant 3rd to Nikon and Canon in the stills department. But I'm willing to wait for a thorough review.
 
I would like to see some 24/25p footage. That's where I shoot 99% of my stuff. 60p will be great for slow motion. Plus I'm thinking the Sony will be a distant 3rd to Nikon and Canon in the stills department. But I'm willing to wait for a thorough review.

Having shot with the Sony A55, I can tell you that assuming Sony comes in a "distant third" is pretty hilarious. Having used Canons extensively for stills, my Sony focuses faster, delivers RAW images with just as much detail and range, and feels every bit as "pro" as Canon's offerings. Keep in mind that Sony's DSLR business is basically the continued evolution of the Minolta brand.
 
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