What's the deal with this camera?

Never heard of it. It's sensor is APS-C - not really huge by most standards. It's the same size of the sensor in the 7D/T2i/etc.

24.53MP is a lot, especially for an APS-C camera. It might be crappy in terms of sensitivity with so many pixels on that size sensor for only $1,000, but that's just a guess.

I have no idea how it would hold up in video.
 
it is the smaller brother of the A77: basically the same camera, with slightly reduced specs and no weather sealing

like the A77, it has:
APS-C sensor: 1.6x crop, not huge by modern standards
24Mpix: in stills mode, more per-pixel noise than 7D/60D/600D, but quite similar in (more relevant) per-image terms (check dxomark link below)
SLT: translucent mirror that allows full autofocus while shooting video (and it is phase detection AF, so absolutely great)
EVF: huge when compared with OVF from 1.6x crop cameras, plus it can be used while shooting video, and has features such as histogram, peaking, etc
cleaner video than current canons: less aliasing/moire... but there are some complaints about noise at ISO above 400, which would suck big time
absolutely moronic sony firmware that makes manual settings somewhat painful to use, only allows you to use AF if you also use auto exposure, etc
(personally, I think this last point is enough to offset any advantages from the previous ones)

this clip was shot by a fellow forum member:
http://vimeo.com/29245251

the NEX-5N is cheaper, incredibly small, much better in low light, and accepts basically any manual lens you can think of with a cheap dumb adapter
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005IHAIMA...7R55XQ6N&&ref-refURL=http://www.similaar.com/

this is a comparison, in stills mode, between the NEX-5N, the A77, and the 7D:
http://www.dxomark.com/index.php/Cameras/Compare-Camera-Sensors/Compare-cameras-side-by-side/(appareil1)/734|0/(brand)/Sony/(appareil2)/737|0/(brand2)/Sony/(appareil3)/619|0/(brand3)/Canon
the 5N wins in every aspect
I think it also does in video mode
 
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Thanks NB. Interesting info. What intrigued me was the high MPs... how does the t3i sensor size compare with the 5n?
 
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sensor size:
7D=60D=600D=A77=A65=5N = 338 mm2 (approx)
5D2 = 864 mm2 (approx)

megapixels:
5N = 16 Mpix
7D=60D=600D = 18 Mpix
5D2 = 21 Mpix
A77=A65 = 24 Mpix

if you cram more megapixels on a sensor that is not bigger, each photosite is smaller, so it catches less light, and you end up with more noise per pixel
this is not always a problem, because then, if you resample the image to get less megapixels, which you should do if you're going to compare images from two different cameras, that extra noise is averaged out (if you do the downsampling correctly, as with a stills image), and the final result may or may not have more noise, depending on a lot of details about sensor tech and signal processing

I've got a nice graph on sensor sizes on the very first page of my photography tutorial:
http://www.similaar.com/foto/tuten/100.html
 
1.6*1.6=2.6 times bigger area, now THAT is huge!! - when I made my graph on sensor sizes, I checked everything like 3 times: if I had had to draw it by hand and with no ruler, I'd have put my bet for APS-C exactly where APS-H is
 
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