Sony SLT-A55 Review: 1. Introduction. Review based on a production Sony SLT Alpha A55V with firmware version 1.0 Sony's latest interchangeable lens cameras, the SLT Alpha A33 and A55 represent a significant technological milestone - not just for Sony but for the enthusiast camera market as a whole.
The company has rejected the traditional DSLR design and instead created a hybrid that, like a compact camera, is from the ground up built around live view, but one that is also capable of offering full-time DSLR-style phase-detection autofocus. The combination means they can offer features such as phase-detection AF during movie recording and extremely fast continuous shooting rates (10 frames per second on the A55), previously unthinkable at this price.
This is made possible by adopting an approach that has more in common with a mirrorless camera (like the Panasonic G2, for example) than an SLR by removing the bits that pretty much define such cameras: the optical viewfinder and moving mirror. Sony Alpha A55 Preview Report. Translucent, Small and Fast Sony A55 With Zeiss 24mm f/2 It isn't often that something really fresh comes along in this industry.
There are new models every few months, but usually these are simply the same old with a bit of added chrome. But Sony, who are really gaining momentum in the still camera industry of late with their NEX series still and video models have just launched two new cameras, the SLT-A55V and A33, which will cause their competitors to have a few sleepless nights, and uncommitted camera buyers to look very carefully at what Sony is offering.
Current Sony Alpha owners will, I forecast, buy these two new models in droves. Disclosure In mid-August, 2010 along with a small group of web and print journalists I had an opportunity to shoot for several days near Jackson Hole, Wyoming and Yellowstone National Park. The Basics Ride 'em. Sony A55 with 16-35mm @ ISO 500 1/1500 sec So with that out of the way, here are the main bullet points... An Overview Buck'n. Sensitivity Autofocus. Sony Alpha SLT-A55V Digital Camera - Full Review - The Imaging Resource! Imaging Resource rating: 4.5 out of 5.0 Sony Alpha SLT-A55 Overview Reviewed by Dave Etchells, Mike Tomkins, Shawn Barnett and Zig Weidelich Review Posted: 08/24/2010 Just three months after launching the NEX-3 and NEX-5 single-lens direct-view (SLD) cameras, Sony takes its interchangeable lens offerings in yet another direction with the Alpha SLT-A55, and SLT-A33.
Instead of being mirrorless, the new digital cameras employ a "translucent mirror," more commonly known as a pellicle mirror. This advanced translucent mirror remains fixed in place during operation, allowing most of the light to reach the imaging sensor, while a small percentage is reflected to a dedicated autofocus sensor. It's what this high technology allows that's so exciting: real-time, phase-detect autofocus while firing off up to ten 16-megapixel images per second in the A55, and seven 14-megapixel frames per second in the A33.
Sony Alpha A55V User Report by Dave Etchells, Mike Tomkins, and Shawn Barnett Look and feel.