Sony Alpha SLT-A77 Translucent Mirror Digital SLR Camera with 18-135mm Lens

I'll let other reviewers cover the more technical aspects of this camera, and there are plenty of reviews online.As a longtime photographer with 2 nikon film cameras as paperweights now, I wanted a nice camera that I could continue to grow with. I also wanted something more sturdy and preferably weather resistant. I've seen this camera listed as an entry-level 35mm, which it is not. I've seen it listed as a professional, which it is not. It really bridges the entry-level to the professional, with the functionality of what I would consider to be a professional category camera. I know many pros use this with fantastic results, especially if they have better lenses. After all, the lens is 80% of the picture (my guess anyway).I very quickly ruled out getting a Nikon or Canon. You pay extra for the name and when I played around with friend's Nikons (3100, 5100, and 7100) I was really not impressed at all. They took decent pictures but the cameras felt light (except the 7100) and, honestly, cheap. When I began comparing the Sony A65/77 with Nikons and Canons, it quickly became obvious that there were many more features in the Sony's and Pentax cameras!So ultimately I was trying to decide between the Pentax K30 and the Sony A65. After researching the two I then was looking at the K-5 and K-5ii, again comparing that to the A65. Let me say that I believe that the K30 is the far better deal for the price! If you're looking to spend under $600 to get an outstanding weather-sealed camera AND lens, then the K30 is for you. It is, however, very much an entry-level camera and will not grow with you. There is no jack for an external microphone and a few other little things, that, for me, added up. For most it would be fine.So my expectations grew from the ~$600 range to about $900-1000. So I compared the K-5 to the Sony A65. For me it was pretty much a dead heat, with the K-5 slightly outperforming the A65, especially as it is a weather-sealed camera. After a LOT of online research and examining the differences between the A65 and their weather-sealed A77, I found the A77 to really be far above the "entry level" A65. You go online and look at some reviews and you'll quickly see that the A77 is a pro camera for a relatively cheap, entry level price.Some of the features that sold me:1. weather-sealed body (now I opted for the non-weather-sealed 18-135 mm lens. I didn't know it wasn't weather-sealed when I got it though. I wrongly assumed that it was, but I don't regret it)2. Magnesium alloy body (not plastic like most, even the canon and nikons, and the Sony A65)3. 24 megapixels4. ability to shoot amazing, cinema-quality "film". Autofocus during video! Amazing!5. OLED viewfinder. I was used to optical VFs, but when I tried this I was blown away. Immediate feedback on what the picture will look like. Totally sold on this technology6. LENSES GALORE FOR CHEAP!!!!Let me explain this last one. First of all the "kit" lens that comes with it is weather-sealed. While I didn't get it I have read great reviews of this. I got the larger, 18-135 and let me tell you, this is a hell of a lens. This is a solid, heavy lens, not the cheap, lightweight lenses that are sold with high end Nikons, Canons, etc (I keep using Nikon and Canons as examples because, well, that is what everyone seems to feel they need to get)Second point about lenses. You can get any of the older Minolta AF (and even non AF) "A" mount lenses. Sony bought Minolta and kept the mount. So you can now go into a used camera store or on Ebay and pick up some OUTSTANDING lenses for a fraction of the cost of new Sony lenses. I got the 70-300 mm Sony lens as an add-on to the purchase for cheap on here (they had a deal). But if I didn't I could find this same Minolta lens (which apparently is exactly the same as the current Sony lens internally) for about $100. Seriously. The fact that you can use Minolta A mount lenses AND Sony lenses is a major factor in my decision to go Sony over Pentax and the rest.7. VERY QUIET AUTOFOCUS!!! Wow! I thought the lens was broken it was so quiet. You can find reviews of the Pentax K30 and Nikons and you'll hear how loud the autofocus is. The 18-135 is SO quiet! Good job, Sony.8. I also appreciated the way the menu system is set up on the Sony. For me it is a more common sense approach to setting your camera up. All options are listed on screen without having to scroll down ... you tab to the next screen to see the options listed. Much easier!9. Fantastic and LARGE sensor that surpasses most professional video cameras (this is a good thing for those of you who want to use this to shoot video.Things I don't like:1. non-standard "hot shoe" . Jeeez. Have to use Sony's proprietary flashes. They aren't too expensive, so no biggie for me2. The fold out LCD screen. Again, not that big a deal, but why not just fold the thing out to the side?! If you put the camera on a tripod with a flash, then flip up the LCD to try to compose a self-timed pic, you can't do it. The tripod is in the way on the bottom and the flash is in the way at the top. Just dumb design on Sony's part. Stubborn.That's about it for now. Hope this helps you decide between some of the cameras above. I spent weeks researching. I love the Pentax and Sonys as you seem to get much more for your money than the two top dogs.

Just a quick warning before you read, I am well educated in photography thanks to YouTube and flickr forums... :-)I will update this review as I go along but after this first picture outing I have come to the conclusion that I must be doing something wrong here cause I know this camera has to take better pictures then what i witnessed on my laptop today.Eee gads... 70% of the pics were out of focus and the rest that were in focus were overexposed terribly. A few seemed exposed OK but they just didn't look right. I'll give the camera the benefit of the doubt cause it was a cloudy day and I had ISO up at 1600 at times, mosly 800 though to get fast action shots of seagulls being fed by some kids.My settings were:Vivid picture mode (+1 sharpness)Autofocus with 18-135 lens - SONYWhite Balance was Cloudy DayI didn't set exposure comp so it was 0I was zoomed out at about probably 100 + mm most of the time.I noticed a few times the high speed multi picture rate stopped after a few pics, maybe my card isn't fast enough, I have a new one on order.One other thing i noted was the OLED viewfinder went black when I put my eye up to it after looking at the LCD. I had to pull back and then reset my eye on viewfinder and then it was ok.Other then that this camera is built like a tank and has some great picture features. Ergonomics are great also and button placement is easy to access for changing settings.I have been doing some research on the web a day or two after I wrote the above information and I see some forums about people having issues with autofocusing for action photography but i also see some spectacular shots of people who have had success with this camera. A good thing is they included some settings for how they took these pictures and I am going to apply them the next time i go out and shoot. People seem to have good results using spot metering with single point focus in continuos focus mode which i did not have set. I think i had auto focus with all the focus points (wide area) in play so it probably picked the wrong focus point with the type of shots i was aking. With birds flying all over they are going in and out of the viewfinder and it is probably getting confused at which focus point to select, my guess or I am picking the wrong time to release the shutter. I have a 300mm SONY zoom on order and will try that one also.If anyone could help here i would appreciate it, I will update the star rating as i use and test out some more this week. I'm not giving up on this camera.** Update January 19, 2013 **I have been getting more used to this camera as i go along. One thing I would like to recommend to anyone new to this camera is get to know your focus options really well. I found that taking the Wide area focus point out of the picture and using spot focusing or either Local (zone focusing) is the key. I did some test portrait shots and noticed the pictures were a tad out of focus. I did have spot focusing on but i also had face detection on cause I noticed that the squares in the camera LCD would track my face when i came into view. This is cool but it doesn't give you the sharpest focus. Well maybe it does for smaller apertures but in my case I was using a 1.8 50mm lens. When i took off face detection and focused like a laser at the eye of the person in the portrait, Bam! crystal clear when zoomed all the way in. What a difference. So keep that in mind.A couple things i am still noticing is the OLED when I look at the LCD fast and look back at the OLED sometimes it boes black, a quick pull away from the camera and back to the OLED and it's fine. I think they still need to speed that feature up. No biggie just have to adjust to it.One other thing i also noticed is that autofocus on a few of my lenses seems to hunt a little more then i would like to see. It doesn't pick up focusing quick in some situations. Noticed this on a couple lenses but all in all i do love the camera.Noise issues?Also a quick note on image quality/noise for the pictures this camera takes. I have seen a lot of reviews and comments in user forums about the lack of quality over 1600 ISO. I did a few test shots at ISO 3200 with this camera and the D7000. Let me tell you that the Nikon is way way better at higher ISO's without any noise reduction applied. Now.. hold off from posting the A77 on EBAY, you can make an adjustment or two that will help here. 2 options you have are: Change the settting in the menu (High ISO Noise reduction) to High and this will help some. The other option is to use the High ISO noise reduction option that's part of the ISO setting (when you change ISO sensitivity from the LCD). Below ISO 50 there is an option that will say High ISO Noise Reduction, use this and take a picture in low light. It will take a few pics quickly, process and spit out a picture. The quality is actually pretty good, it came extremely close to the High ISO picture quality king (D7000). I was pretty satisfied. I think you shouldn't have to do this and that ISO 3200 out of the camera would produce a decent pic but maybe SONY will make some adjustments to thier algorithm for High ISO usage, IDK just a wish for future.Get to know the camera and you will enjoy it, I really feel like The Terminator or Predator when looking through the viewfinder. Feel like I'm in some futuristic world. :-) It's different then any other camera which is what makes it interesting to use. I really like it but until i get used to it some more the money in the bank cameras are my Nikon and Canon.** Update 3/19/2013I have been using this camera a lot lately and have noticed a few quirky things. First off the viewfinder is very laggy, when i put my eye up to it i have noticed a few times that it goes black and i have to move my face away and re engage the viewfinder to reset it. Maybe it doesn't like my ugly face? IDK. I also noticed when taking pictures i get a focus lock but pressing down on the shutter release button is hit or miss sometmes in low lighting. i had a terrible time this past weekend at an indoor cat show where the lens would not engage and i could not take a shot. My daugher was clicking away endlessly with my Canon 60D with a kit lens no issues. I was using the 18-135 kit lens. her pics were way better so i kept hers, not 1 keeper from my A77. I just ordered a Sigma 17-70 for it and am going to dump my 18-135.

I purchased this camera to shoot wedding video's because of it's superior focusing system. I shot several stills as well, and found that the images equalled or exceeded the quality of images shot with my Canon 5D MKII with L Series lenses. The only department this camera falls short in is it's limited capacity to shoot in low light. It will still focus very well in low light, but the images/video become very grainy. Images are equal to or slightly better than 5D MKII at 100 ISO and stay really good till about 800 ISO. After 800 ISO image quality starts degrading slowly till 1600 ISO which is the last usable ISO setting with acceptable results. The camera does have an option to shoot high quality pictures at even 6400 ISO, but the render time is very long. But it is great to have this option. Because of the extensive electronics, there is a lot of drain on the battery, so a spare battery is a must if you shoot professionally. Sony's 'Steady shot' is definately superior and more affective than Canon's 'Image stabalizer' and Nikon's 'Vibration reduction' technology. The electronic OLED True Viewfinder is amazingly accurate and can be switched off to work as a conventional viewfinder. The built in special effects are very interesting and a real Bonus. Everytime I pick up the camera and hit the FN button, I discover someting new. This camera has by far exceeded my expectations, and is priced reasonably. This is not like a conventional DSLR, it is totally new technology, redesigned from scratch. I have been shooting professionally for 30 years and have used all kinds of camera's in different formats, made by different manufacturer's and I would highly recommend this camera for Business or pleasure.