A Quick Hands-On with the New Sony a55

Sony came to Unique Photo today to talk business, but they also brought along the new a55 translucent mirror camera. Here is a short video we put together!

http://uniquephoto.blogspot.com

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Sony
• Photography
• A55
• A33
• Canon
• DSLR
• Lenses
• Translucent Mirror
• New Camera
• Sony Slpha

[mrPACarrier]

Is it good for recording videos? And what is better for me, the A65 or the A55 if my budget is tight? Do the A65 will be THAT worth the money?

[UniquePhotoInc]

@mrPACarrier For video they seem very similar. A65 will have an edge in stills.

[WaonTonSoup]

Hello! I really enjoyed the video. But I'm looking to get a DSLR. The camera's I'm think of getting is the (Nikon D3100 , Nikon D5000 , and the Canon T3) What do you think is a better choice? Thanks :)

[UniquePhotoInc]

@WaonTonSoup I think the Nikon D3100 is the best of the cameras you mentioned, but the T3 is very similar. Pass on the D5000 as a new model is coming out soon.

[DestroyBoys]

i am a beginner and i am looking to buy an entry level dslr; but i am unsure for which one to go for as there as so many to choose from. I want great video e.g. for bikes and sports, action pictures, landscapes and value for money. Any suggestions is the a33 a good option or is it worth the extra cash for the a55 or even canon's 500d or 550d

[UniquePhotoInc]

@DestroyBoys Sounds like all are good choices. Check out the Nikon D3100 as well. However for action video the a33/55 will be superior.

[a1mint]

@capdasejb ... in the meantime, like say, in a museum or some outdoor event, I'm laughing. I focus faster, can shoot pictures faster, more of them per second, and I can flip out the screen and take shots from better angles. I've got these old looking Minolta lenses on it. I'm seeing my camera as more versatile and modern and more capable, whereas the others are lugging around sluggish tanks.

But, it's whatever you like, people tend to defend whatever they spent their money on...

[a1mint]

@capdasejb You are underestimating Sony. Sony's camera department still has a lot of Minolta quality and innovation in it. There are a number of things that Sony has the edge on. There are a number of good features that the Sonys have that the others do not. Nikon I'd pick only if you insist on best low light performance. Canon is getting too much like a run-of-the mill. Every joe blo and his brother are flaunting around their mine-is-bigger-than-yours cameras everywhere you go.

[a1mint]

@capdasejb For image quality. I have to struggle with the Sony to get the most out of it. I *can* get just as good shots with it as the Canon does, but the Canon definitely does anything automatic much better. The Sony gets the expose wrong more often than not. It also wants to resort to higher isos. So manual settings are needed to get better shots. There are also a few other gotchas like unwanted dynamic range ending up brightening the entire scene introducing grain...

[a1mint]

@capdasejb I returned the T2i not because the Sony has faster auto focus, but because the Canon has *no* auto focus during video. It *did* auto focus, but it's unusable, because it has to hunt around when you manually trigger it through the shutter button. No continuous auto focus at all. It was a major turn off. Other than that, I thought the Canon was *slightly* better for image quality, but that might have been because I had this amazing lens with it. 18-135 I believe it was, very good.

[a1mint]

@capdasejb Movies are directed and prepared. Each shot is thought out. In spontaneous real life shooting, things are different. Of course, automatic focusing is used for anything where the subjects can not be predicted, otherwise you get this manual focus hunting, which is awful.

Canon doesn't have auto focus in video because of technical limitation. Sony has an edge because it is phase shifting based, whereas the Canon has to resort to using contrast only.

[a1mint]

@capdasejb I have an A33 and think the EVF is very good. The A65 and A77 have OLED view finders now and apparently are really amazing. Cool thing with those Sonys is that you get choices. A great swivel screen that's actually done much better than any of the other brands'. And an EVF that's actually usable. Plus you can choose between automatic or manual focusing. Things are getting very interesting, costly though - for a hobbyist anyway.

[capdasejb]

@a1mint

iv been doing photography for 5 years now and still at it, heading towards a career, still a beginner, just saying iv been in the photography world long enough to understand the genuine separation Canons and Nikons have from other brands, the two brands shaping the camera world,and the History of photography and saying this new advanced like features on the sony is long ways away till the DSLR world accepts it and perfects it to a "photographers/filmers liking"

[capdasejb]

@a1mint

so my guess is u chose the a55 over the t2i, big reason being The auto focus was faster on the a55. which for ME would mean u chose it for the photography category. Well then i bet u, u wouldnt be able to tell the difference between the speed of the auto focus on the canon when shooting pictures. BUT if u chose the a55 for FILM, not home/family videos, but actual film production. then u overlooked.

[capdasejb]

@a1mint

also for focusing, all movies or Most of them anyways, are done with manual focusing, through a Follow focus type of rig. Auto would just have the background and foreground suddenly pop back and forth. shooting a cooking show at home. u dont need manual.... unless ur macroing. ur shooting from far, the camera will focus on one point and everything will be in focus. if auto focusing was so important for film.. canon woulda had it on their Rebel series already.