A77 news and reviews roundup (firmware 1.03 spotted in Thailand)
Sony A77 and NEX 7 focusing demo by The Phoblographer
Sony Alpha A77 vs Canon EOS 7D – Which one to get? (Digitalrev): “If you are still in the entry level DSLR range or simply don’t have many lenses so changing system won’t be an issue, get the Sony A77.”
I Thailand there was a Sony presentation and the A77 and A65 already had the new firmware installed (Version 1.03). There is a screenshot somewhere in the middle of the thread proving it at fotorelax.com (google translated).
According to Germany Chip.de the A65 and the A77 are the top APS-C cameras in eahc category: The A65 is on position one of the top cameras in the sub $1000 category (Click here) and the A77 is leader of the category above $1000 (Click here).
Sony Alpha 77 Review Sample Image Gallery (Whatdigitalcamera).
Remie is testing the autofocusing speed of the A77 before to start for Mongolia with the camera: remichapeaublanc.com
Allnew Sony cameras and lenses links:
A77 at Amazon, Adorama, B&H, J&R, eBay.
A65 at Amazon, Adorama, B&H, J&R, eBay.
Sony NEX-7 Amazon, Adorama, B&H, J&R, eBay.
Sony NEX-5n Amazon, Adorama, B&H, J&R, eBay.
Zeiss 24mm f/1.8 Amazon, Adorama, B&H, J&R, eBay.
Sony 50mm f/1.8 Amazon, Adorama, B&H, J&R, eBay.
Sony 55-210mm Amazon, Adorama, B&H, J&R, eBay.
NEX-5n viewfinder Amazon, Adorama, B&H, J&R, eBay.
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Recent comments
Comment from José Magalhães: I updated my blog.
Please try again and...
Comment from Terryfried: Not only are things looking a lot better...Comment from Ollder: @José this matter is widely handled on ...
- Comment from José Magalhães: I do not want a A77 anymore
If you ca...
Zagreb
8 months ago |About Digitalre: they wrote for A77 ”entry level DSLR”!? Entry!? It’s semi-pro!
acolyte
8 months ago |Because entry level photographers can use it with ease
:p
physica
8 months ago |What I understand the sentences , is if you are still a new comer and you did not have(own) lots of lens (on hand) to change for , please change your.gear to A77 as you no need to exchange too many of lens(which already on hand)
mXim
8 months ago |No, you did not understand the wording. If you currently own an entry level camera, you should consider buying the A77 if you want to upgrade.
acolyte
8 months ago |Ahaha yeah this is the right interpretation. I was just joking earlier.
pancanikonpus
8 months ago |no no… he says throw away all your camera and lenses, just buy a77
lol…
Josh
8 months ago |Anyone have any info on a firmware update for the VG10?
Frank
8 months ago |Just read this:
http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=zh-CN&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fforum.xitek.com%2Fshowthread.php%3Fthreadid%3D919683
It seems that if your a77 is dead,you just need to power off, press the MENU MOVIE playback buttons for ten seconds,release and wait for 30 seconds,power on press the three buttons for 3 seconds.Then the problem is solved.
Zstan
8 months ago |How on earth did those people get their ideas from? Respect man.
Roman
8 months ago |I might be in some repair manual.
Wing Wong
8 months ago |on the dxo site, the a77 is listed as an entry level camera where as the a700 is listed as semipro.. i wonder if the designation is more about what features are present, ie tethering.
btw, if the a77 is using linux under the hood, then tethering is a firmware fix, which i strongly recommend they do. likewise, buffering is most likely just divvying up the available memory as ram device slots… should be reconfigurable… with reboot. what woyld be nice would be remote control of the camera via usb interface or a usb wired remote interface to make things like housings easier to implement. Sony is keeping alot of functionality locked away… *sigh*
David
8 months ago |I think its just a mistake..
a850 also listed as entry level
acolyte
8 months ago |Yes because Sony cameras are user friendly even for entry level
David
8 months ago |This is actually true. I find my girlfriends d90 infuriating.. so many menus everywhere and too many options.
My a850 gives me things I need, easiky accessible and no fiddling around
NEXfive
8 months ago |Talking about Firmware Updates: Any news about Firmware 05 for NEX-5/3 probably coming with the LA-EA2 Adapter and hopefully with Lens Compensation?
Oswald
8 months ago |Regarding buffer size, if two slots were included as all of us hoped for then maybe one slot could have been used as ram, like I do with Windows 7. Either way I still got the a77 on order. The pros outway the cons big time.
Maximus
8 months ago |Canon 7D has single Slot and 18 RAWs at 8FPS and 18MP
Alpha 77 has single slot and 13 RAWs at 12FPS and 24MP
Not that bad in comparison, right?
REVENGE
8 months ago |There’s gotta be something amiss with Sony’s firmware design. The RAM is there, but why is Sony’s max JPEG buffer so paltry compared to its RAW buffer??? Not that it gets my hopes up, but I believe a K-5 style firmware update is possible to raise the max JPEG shot count. It would be very surprising if this is all they can squeeze out of the new BIONZ.
pancanikonpus
8 months ago |Admin, i watch that video almost one week past…
acolyte
8 months ago |Admin busy ah..
SRL
8 months ago |The definition of what type of customer is likely to purchase it could be different than who Sony would like to market it to.
Sony’s has its a900 full frame that Sony markets as a professional camera, although few professionals use it or any Sony cameras.
Most Alpha 900 likely are sold to advanced amateurs or the enthused that started photography using Minolta.
I think the a77 no matter what many of us would like to believe will be sold to amateurs with money and inspired iPhone photographers looking for the next-big-thing that this new camera does represent.
Few professionals think of Sony, so it not difficult to see why many in the trade only see Sony as an choice of an amateur and not the choice of someone seriously into photography.
And before you start spamming me as a TROLL, I’m really a Sony fanboy that earns a good part of my income as a photographer for 30 years and owns two a850’s and a lot of Zeiss, and A-mount lenses and a bunch of older Minolta/Sony cameras no longer in use.
acolyte
8 months ago |Nah quite a number of professionals use it. They’re just not as flamboyant as Canikon photographers
You worry too much. If professionals don’t carry too many Canikon lenses already they may consider switching to Sony, but this is not the case.
After all, how many years has Canikon been in the DSLR business, and how many years has Sony been?
Can’t expect the professionals to give their babies up so easily, right? 
You who photographed for 30 years, was Sony even a choice for you back then, or even 5 years ago when they just came out with A100?
SRL
8 months ago |My post wasn’t bout reality is about perception.
I work with several students at the local art university here in SF and most of them snicker at Sony as almost the entire class has Canon 5’s (rich kids and an expensive school).
The young people that are doing the review are often about the same age I would think.
Old timers like me picked Minolta not Sony; and for good reasons as Minolta was an innovative leader through the 60’s, 70’s and into the 80’s before Canon took over and topped Nikon also ( I used a Nikon F3 for years)
I think this will start to change as soon as Sony cleans up the a77 firmware mess.
David
8 months ago |Just let your a850 best their 5d in the studio. At least it can focus in the dark without a torch! Plus the better dynamic range and ddr nicer colours
TypeZeiss
8 months ago |Editorial/Beauty/Fashion photographer Matthew Jordan smith uses the a900 and said he cant wait for the a77 http://www.matthewjordansmith.com/
Editorial Photographer Brian Smith uses the Sony a900 http://briansmith.com/
Fashion Photographer Grant Thomas uses the a850 http://grant-thomas.blogspot.com/
Fashion Photographer James Ogilvie shoots with the a900 http://jamesogilvie.com/
Nigel Barker shoots with the a900
Michael Yeoh fashion photographer also shoots with the a900
There are a LOT of photographers out there shooting with the Alpha line. There are more I could name but I have other stuff to attend to.
Bill
8 months ago |Old Sony cameras were Minoltas. They had the pro XK in the old MD mount days, not sure if an equivalent ever made into the Maxxum line. I bought Minolta MD bodies when I first started but never made the jump to the Maxxum autofocus line. At work I used Nikon and now Canon bodies. My first plunge into personnel digital is going to be the a77
Spoon
8 months ago |Interesting. I know a couple of people with the A900 and they all use it for professional work.
Error: No Name
8 months ago |Looks like the auto focus speed on the NEX 7 isn’t any better than the 5N. I know people have different ideas about how to measure the speed and I know it is highly dependent on lighting, movement, subject and such. Personally I find that switching focus from a near object to a far object is a good indicator. It gives me a good indication of how quickly I can switch between composing consecutive shots that may be drastically different. It also gives me an idea of how feasible it is to raise the camera to my eye and catch a fleeting shot.
acolyte
8 months ago |Actually switching focus from a near to far is not as good indicator if you want to lift your camera to your eye straight away.
Sometimes my a700 half focus, went out of focus the wrong way, then focus correctly :s
Error: No Name
8 months ago |Actually this is one of the reasons why I think it is indeed a good indicator – for me at least. When lifting the camera to my eye for a random photo I have no idea where the lens is currently focused and/or zoomed since my last shot may have been a second ago or 10 minutes ago. In my experience changing focus from a near object to a far object generally takes the longest so that gives me a worst case scenario. Factoring in zoom complicates things a bit so I also tend to play around to get an idea how long it takes to focus from one extreme to another.
None of this is scientific. I just find it works well for me as a non-professional who shoots a lot of family (w/ fast moving kids), landscapes, sunsets, architecture and collectibles. Focus speed only really matters when it comes to the family shots since all the rest are static. But I tend to do that so much that this is one of my chief concerns.
Croatia
8 months ago |In the end, all that matters is the quality of photos. I’ve worked with Sony A350X at many events and all my clients were more than satisfied. The clients were some of the strongest companies in my country. I had Sony standard lenses. Yes, now everyone will be shocked, but when you give your best, then you can achieve whatever you want. I believe that the A77 is an excellent camera.
Mike
8 months ago |What’s the point in testing AF speed when you don’t compare accuracy as well? It’s as stupid as all those reviews that show IQ at ISO 3200, 6400 or even 25600 but not at ISO 100.
acolyte
8 months ago |I think accuracy is implied. Otherwise how do you measure AF speed? If it’s not accurate, they’d have trolled it earlier
Aren’t you aware the number of Sony trolls yet?
Albert
8 months ago |anyone know what steadicam that remie using ?
danny
8 months ago |“The A65 is on position one of the top cameras in the sub $1000 category and the A77 is leader of the category above $1000″ on chip.de
Did everybody see that ?
A77 comes before Nikon D3s and Canon 1DMarkIII.
A65 comes before Nikon D7000 and Canon 60D.
Thomas T
8 months ago |Actually Hong Kong is also offering firmware v.1.03 too. The a77s and a65s are already updated to 1.03 in sony showrooms and CS center is providing firmware upgrade for customers although I personally think that they won’t put this to public. And there are some members in DCHome say that they have already upgraded their machine too. (http://www.dchome.net/viewthread.php?tid=1071748&extra=page%3D1) The response time for both wheels and eye sensor are faster when I tried that out in one of the showrooms but I didn’t have time to check through it carefully and this is the case for Hong Kong. Seems that the company is responding quite fast because of the seriously awful feedback from the users.
harpo
8 months ago |Got an email from sonystyle.ca today comfirmimg shipment of my a77. Hope the new update is in it?
ShamB
8 months ago |Interesting that the DigitalRev link allows you to buy the A77 for sub £1000 – its £989.00.
The thing that Canon and Nikon should really be worried about is not so much the feature set but price – the a77 can already be bought for the same price as the 7D (e.g look at the DigitalRev link), and Im guessing that this will be the same at places like Amazon within a month.
CaNikon may well bring out competing APC-S models within a year, but if they use OVF, they will never be able to compete on price.
Although there are many people who swear by OVF and High ISO, my guess is that the same wont want to pay £500-600 more for them both unless they are doing paid work in some very specific areas.
pancanikonpus
8 months ago |Sony A77 Yellow Bendding Noise
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2AAV196Wj4
mwl
8 months ago |*clap* *clap* *clap*
Yeah, real nice focusing test. These guys make DigitalRev look like a bunch of rocket scientists.
José Magalhães
8 months ago |I do not want a A77 anymore
If you care to see this, will you be as desappointed as I am?
http://atributos-1.blogspot.com/2011/10/sony-a77-uma-desilusao-sony-a77.html
Ollder
8 months ago |@José
– and seem to me that not so bad as it seems by first glance.
this matter is widely handled on these columns – you’re some 1 week late
First of all that A77 has 24 MP, so the image seems strongly “magnified” compared to others – and the noise as well, of course. Secondly, after DPR:s images (taken with test version firmware) there has published proper RAW support, which was not available for DPR.
After these I have seen several excellent A77 high ISO images, comparable (still not winning) with D7000 and 7D. Good enough for me. But if hunting especially and only high ISO, the A77 is not THE camera.
Like here:
http://www.sonyalpharumors.com/more-good-news-about-the-firmare-and-the-a77-raw-image-quality-with-lightroom/
http://accessdesires.com/test-shots/test-6400.jpg
http://accessdesires.com/test-shots/test-3200.jpg
http://www.sonyalpharumors.com/sony-a77-news-roundup-does-it-have-color-band-noise-in-video/
http://fotkidepo.ru/photo/351453/38216ciPKjWvt0d/KkVqCMOrz8/692562.jpg
http://fotkidepo.ru/photo/351453/38216ciPKjWvt0d/KkVqCMOrz8/692561.jpg
Terryfried
8 months ago |Not only are things looking a lot better with latest software but you should be aware that bench testing methods do no favours to A77. most high iso tests are done in the same lighting and just use smaller and smaller apertures with bigger iso’s. So a 24 MP sensors starts suffering from defraction limits and red patterns blur. but in the real world High ISO would normally relate to low light and large apertures So A77 would be at its best in such a set up in real world but at its worst in test bench. even DxO ISO test fixes everything and lowers iso to fixed parameters. using ONLY iso to adjust. for a change of a few stops this would be OK BUT with the correction for the mirror on the A77 in the real world with such a change of less than 1/2 stop the camera would just change settings in exposure. ie move from 1/250s to 1/200 or from F4.5 to F4. This would not effect lowlight a fraction of the way there test does.If you want to now what it would be like in real world add about 40% to DxO ISO rating or rate it similar or JUST below nex 7.
José Magalhães
8 months ago |I updated my blog.
Please try again and see what I found.
I now have the same test with the last raw converter (Adobe 6.5)
Unfortunately the problem is the same.
http://atributos-1.blogspot.com/2011/10/sony-a77-uma-desilusao-sony-a77.html
Am I wrong?