Test SLR camera SONY SLT-A77: I shot a wild fox for a month…

When a few years ago affordable DSLR cameras with high resolution and accurate auto-focusing became available to amateur photographers, some technically advanced users wondered: what’s next?? The necessary resolution has been achieved. Technically competent picture can be taken by anyone, even by a child – the automation will do everything for him.

But the demands of the authors are growing. What tool helps you take a photo from an awkward position, from a non-standard point? How to lighten the weight of your travel gear? How to put the two together: Perfectly detailed photos and professional quality video? How to implement all the features of modern technology in one camera?

Sony has tried to give an answer to all these questions, presenting to the public at the end of August 2011 four models of interchangeable lens cameras. Two of them – the Sony SLT-A77 and SLT-A65 – are big, traditional-looking cameras. About them we’ll talk now, and the other two – tiny mirrorless cameras Sony NEX-7 and NEX-5N – we’ll consider later in the next article.

New Sony: the SLT-A77 flagship SLR

The flagship line of Sony SLT-A77 is a further development of the innovative technology Translucent Mirror SLT and has it not optical, and electronic OLED viewfinder, which shows 100% of the frame.

Company representatives assume that this solution is the nearest future and the future direction of photographic technology with great opportunities. The light flux that creates an image passes through an almost transparent and to the eye completely transparent mirror film mirror and hits the sensor.

Exmor sensor at 23.5 x 15.6 mm APS-C with 24.3 million pixels, the highest resolution for its size. Part of the light reflected by the mirror hits the top of the focusing unit where the pentaprism was located before.

Since the mirror never rises, focusing in tracking mode is continuous. 19 focus sensors, including 11 cross-type focus sensors. This made it possible to implement precise auto-focus during video shooting right at work.

No mirror up and down cycle to reduce vibration when shooting bursts and get continuous shooting at up to 10 and in some cases up to 12 frames per second.

The secrets of taking pictures

Shooting is traditionally available in standard RAW, RAW+JPG, and JPGs of varying degrees of compression and size. It’s worth mentioning that the size of a “raw” file with the ARW extension is quite big with an average of 25 megabytes.

The JPG image of maximum quality is also quite big: depending on the frame it can be from 10 to 18 megabytes. Probably that’s why the length of a continuous series of frames can be no more than 12-15 shots, after which the camera records data for 13-25 seconds, which is quite fast and convenient.

The key is to anticipate the climax of the scene and not to fill the buffer before the most decisive moment for the photographer. In the top reporter class cameras from other manufacturers, and there are only 2 on sale today, you need to remember this less.

The camera offers a very wide sensitivity range from 50 to 16,000 ISO. Exposure is calculated directly from the matrix by 1200 zones. The sensor behind the clear mirror is always open, and only during exposure does the curtain shutter trigger, which is unusual.

You can control the shutter mode. For example, in normal shooting, you can set the “Electronic Front Curtain” option. The beginning of the exposure is controlled electronically, as in a compact camera, and the exposure is completed by a mechanical shutter flap.

And for long exposures, you can go back to the traditional setting, with the familiar clang of the shutter accompanying the start and end phases.

The range of shutter speeds that can work from 30 to 1/8000 seconds, which is enough for almost all photographic tasks, except night photography, when the sky must show traces of moving stars. It is worth using a special remote control, which you can buy or make separately.

As with the entire family of Sony DSLRs, sensor stabilization is used directly in the device to suppress vibrations from the photographer’s movement or camera mechanics. It helps get rid of double outlines and blurring when shooting at slow shutter speeds.

The technical description, of course, can’t give an idea of how easy it is to take pictures with this camera but the mere listing of features already tells you that we have a serious tool in front of us.

It so happens that when I start a new project to photograph a nature reserve or national park, Sony releases its new flagship model. This is certainly a coincidence, but this time our first expedition to the Valdai National Park coincided with our acquaintance.

I was able to work with the new Sony SLT-A77 and a set of excellent optics for a month in order to understand all the fine controls and appreciate the capabilities of the new camera.

Ergonomics

Smooth operation starts with ergonomics. It seems to me that interesting photos are more likely to come from someone who is able to make friends with the tool. Let’s try it, too. The copy I was able to try was equipped with the VG-C77AM vertical control knob.

This is exactly the size of the camera and the weight distribution I got used to. All the details are designed and made very well and are fixed in their places, the eyecup, for example, will be very difficult to lose, and the covers of electrical connectors are made without slots.

There are 33 controls buttons and switches on the body along with the battery pack – that’s a lot. According to the manufacturer’s assurances, they are all protected against moisture. We were able to check this statement during the expedition. There were pouring autumn rains all day long, and the humidity in the forests of the northwest was just tropical.

Sometimes the camera on a tripod was under jets of water, but this did not lead to the failure of technology. The result is great. But the control logic is a bit off-putting. But this is understandable: the myriad of settings and post-processing possibilities right in the camera makes you either have to thoroughly learn the user manual or carry it with you at first.

Even the intuitive terms and abbreviations of the menu are surprising. What can the abbreviation “mouth” say to an amateur photographer, for example?. corr. exp. Okr. osv. and pop.”. Some peculiarities of the camera control became clear only after consulting the Internet. But you can get used to it.

Screen and viewfinder

Now about what makes you fall in love with the camera. It’s an electronic viewfinder and screen. Viewfinder resolution is so high compared to previous models, that you forget about its electronic, not optical nature.

comparing the convenience and realism of viewing the scene through a traditional viewfinder and an electronic viewfinder from different manufacturers, I must say that in a dark room, a traditional viewfinder cannot help photographers compose the shot properly, and it is often not even possible to see what is happening in the frame.

The Sony electronic viewfinder helps to find a black cat even in a dark room and to frame the shot correctly. This is not a metaphor, but a real experience!

It may not be necessary for everyone, but for secret agents, photo hunters, reporters, but it’s still nice. Under normal conditions the viewfinder “embellishes” the frame a bit, making it richer and more contrast-rich, strongly emphasizing errors in color balance. You just have to get used to it.

The Sony SLT-A77’s high resolution liquid crystal screen is brilliant. The UHS-I focus is very fast and stable, it displays the image the way you would like it to appear in your print or monitor and it almost exactly reproduces the real colors of the scene.

It shows very well the effects of color or exposure compensation, if you turn on the corresponding option. The screen position can be changed in any plane, and you can comfortably observe the scene from ground or water level, from outstretched arms or a high boom, from the edge of a cliff or even from behind a corner.

And in almost all cases, when you don’t have any fast-moving characters in the frame, you want to look at the composition of the shot in that gorgeous screen. You’d think this would be something wonderful? But the number of shots from unconventional points of view is increasing when using this camera, and the range of creative tricks is expanding accordingly. When you don’t need the screen, you can shut it off.

The screen and viewfinder can not work at the same time, which is a pity. Switching between them is done either by a button or by bringing your eye finger, any object close to the viewfinder.

If you leave the option to automatically switch between screens on, chaotic, unpredictable displays often occur when controlling the camera on a tripod.

It’s possible to separately dose the information that appears in the electronic viewfinder and on the screen. By default it displays a lot of unnecessary numbers and symbols, which can be limited.

Finally, the screen and viewfinder could be used in a studio with pulsed light. The “LiveView Parameter Display” menu option is responsible for this. Precise sharpening with the on-screen magnifier when using a tripod, and you can move the sweet spot anywhere in the frame with the joystick.

Practice photography

I’ve even developed a whole new shooting style that reminds me of the good old medium format cameras. I compose a shot, point manually to the important part of the scene with this same magnifying glass, and shoot.

However, estimating the depth of field when the aperture repeater is pressed is difficult – much harder than on a traditional optical viewfinder. It’s easier to make a shot, see the result on the screen and then make a few more takes, changing the aperture if necessary if the photographer can manage to keep up with the scene .

The autofocus precision with all lenses is always excellent. That is, out of tens of thousands of images, there were practically no out-of-frame ones due to the camera’s fault. Tracking focus also worked perfectly at fully open apertures, even in fast-moving situations.

It is necessary to notice that 13 of 19 points can be considered as working focusing points, the leftmost right and left top and bottom points only help the next and alone are not capable to focus accurately even on very contrast and sharp elements of a picture. It’s worth keeping in mind for a variety of non-standard shooting situations.

The camera uses the standard NP-FW500H lithium battery, compatible with conventional SLR cameras. The battery grip reveals an interesting feature.

Two batteries can be inserted in the grip. First, the energy of the first one is completely consumed, and only then is the switch to the second one made. This made me nervous during a real photo shoot, when at first the battery showed 10% residual power and I was saving power by refusing to take interesting shots, and then the camera showed 100% of charge.

I found the ability to record geographic coordinates of the shots I took to be fantastically helpful for travel photographers. the built-in GPS module puts very reliable data into the EXIF to my mind, with an accuracy of 2-3 meters .

In my opinion, inclusion of such a possibility in photo and video cameras of all manufacturers should be made a standard of medium and high class equipment.

The data can then be used in various programs working with satellite, raster or vector maps, to place photos on Google Earth, to share with colleagues. It doesn’t work when taking pictures indoors, or you can turn it off if you want to.

What are your impressions of the photos

Of course, the convenience of the camera is very important. Let’s have a look at the results on a big monitor and try to apply computer processing capabilities directly to our photography.

I’ve noticed that I took all photos in RAW + JPG format, but it seemed to me that with Sony SLT-A77 you can safely use JPG with all its amenities: quick result acquisition, noise reduction and other pleasures.

Speaking more transparently, I can say: a wedding a serious wedding for a photo book of large format 30×60 can safely be shot in JPG with Sony SLT-A77.

But if you are not going to make a routine mass shooting and want to get a big format print about a meter on the long side , you can and should use RAW.

Sensitivity range is very wide – from 50 to 16 000 ISO. It’s just great that you can select such a low value as 50 ISO: in some situations it helps to take photos of flowing water, moving lights, blur outlines of people and cars at night with slow shutter speeds.

This does not require a gray filter for many situations. But many users are interested in the peculiarities of taking pictures at high sensitivities. To do this I took a series of pictures with three cameras from two manufacturers under exactly the same unfavorable conditions.

I tried to eliminate all factors that could interfere with the comparative evaluation by shooting in constant light, with a tripod, with manual focus and with remote control.

A close visual analysis revealed that within the range of 100 to 1000 ISO the nature of digital artifacts noise has practically no effect on the image. Only at 1600 ISO does it start to show up in the background blur areas, and becomes more noticeable with increasing sensitivity.

However, it is safe to say that in reportage genre the working ranges of sensitivity are very high and can reach 6400, in portrait – 3200, in landscape – 1000 ISO, and in macro photography, which sometimes features a very large area of unsharp and beautiful background with high detail of the subject – 800 units.

When shooting in JPG you can activate such noise reduction option when the camera makes three consecutive photos and gives out at a very high sensitivity for example 3200 result with a noise level like at 100 ISO.

It seems to me that with a completely still subject, you can find simpler solutions, and the scope of this interesting option will find practitioners in specific cases, in a specific range of shutter speeds and ISO.

When comparing with other top competitor cameras, especially those of the previous generation, we can confidently state a technological step forward.

The camera has several styles of image post-processing, and there are many more than other manufacturers. I will describe such, which can really be applied in work and at the same time will not fall into a stamp, the result will be demanded by the customer.

Such a photo can be an alternative to a file obtained with huge time-consuming computer editing methods. First of all, this is a signature feature when shooting panoramas.

It’s pretty easy to shoot a great horizontal panorama with a Sony camera. You need to switch the wheel of the main mode selection to panorama, select wide panorama mode in the main menu, focus on the important scene point and turn off automatic focusing on the camera or lens for reliability.

Then control the aperture value. I don’t recommend values wider than 6.3. You have to point the camera vertically. After that you have to take 15-20 pictures in succession and the panorama is ready!

If the camera starts telling you that it is impossible to stitch the panorama, try to figure out at what stage the failure occurred, and exclude a part of the problematic object from the panorama.

It usually takes 1 to 8 tries to create a panorama. The result is a very competently stitched file with a resolution of 5536×2160 pixels in JPG format.

Other great options are to create works in a high key technique, HDR style, or simulate using a lens with a fast aperture and a shallow depth of field. I believe that combining these and a dozen other styles will help you quickly create a set of photos immediately after shooting for demonstration at a private event, after a small photo shoot..

My youngest daughter has simpler clothes

The little sister of the Sony Alpha family, the SLT-A65, has pretty much the same basic layout in terms of sensor, processor and software. Clothes simpler.

The body is not as sturdy as the older model. The LCD panel does not have three degrees of freedom, the maximum shooting speed of “only” 10 frames per second, the control is less convenient for the photographer.

The camera is made for the amateur photographer in his classic sense – for the person who wants just to press a button and get great results in the conditions he understands.

I really want to try the cameras in serious creative video mode and tell you about it. Unfortunately, within the limits of this article it is difficult to describe at least the photographic capabilities of the instrument, all the menu options, and the possibilities for optimal use of the camera settings in photography. There may simply not be enough room.

Nothing to say about video – let video practitioners tell you about them. But I would say that by far the camera seems to be a very handy tool in almost any field of photography.

An instrument that is aesthetically beautiful, reliable, complex, and demanding to know the instructions and controls. It just went on sale in America for about 45,000 Dollars for the camera without the lens.

Test in pictures

Nighttime cityscape. Slow shutter speeds blur the contours of moving cars and people. ISO 200, 22 sec, f/22. Sony 2.8/16-50 lens.

Action shots. High sensitivity and 12 fps shooting speed captures the right moment. ISO 1600, 1/400 s, f/5.6. Sony 70-400 G lens.

Shooting at dusk. High sensitivity helps you take high-quality photos without the need for a tripod. ISO 800, 1/100th of a second, f/4. Sony 2.8/16-50 Lens.

High key style photo. Processing was performed directly in the camera. Picture Style – High Contrast B&W HCBW . ISO 400, 1/30s, f/3.5. +2.7 Ev correction to eliminate distracting details in the background. The image was not post-processed in an image editing program. Zeiss 1.4/85 lens.

Shooting in extreme weather conditions in pouring rain. A few seconds later, the front lens was stained with water droplets. But with the power of advanced digital technology, you can capture images in conditions that were once considered incompatible with photography. ISO 800, 1/800s, f/8. Special software was used in post-processing to remove noise. Sony 70-400 G lens.

Macro mode with natural light. Precise manual focus with flip-down display and 11x magnification on-screen magnifier function. ISO 50, 1/6 s, f/5. Sony 2.8/50mm Macro lens.

Meeting a wild young fox. A fox yawning and showing his fangs. The wildlife inspectors told me about the possible encounter, so I set the camera to fast 12 fps, focus tracking and JPG shooting so it wouldn’t fill up the buffer so quickly. ISO 800, 1/400 s, f/7.1. Sony 70-400 G lens at maximum focal length.

Fallen huge fir tree in the Polomet River valley. Combination of a very low shutter speed and a slow shutter speed to capture the movement of the water. Tripod, frame by flip-down display. ISO 50, 2 seconds, f/22. Sony 2.8/16-50 Lens.

Shooting the panorama handheld, without using a tripod. Software image assembly with the camera. Auto focus off, ISO 250, 1/320 sec, f/13. Sony 2,8/16-50 lens.

Tests of cameras from other manufacturers:

Nikon D3100 SLR test: a pass to the SLR world

Canon EOS 1D Mark IV professional DSLR test: speed shooting for speedy release