A big thank you for your preview info Carl!!

I agree, thanks Carl for your time doing this and look forward to hearing how they operate and perform in your hands.

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Thanks, Carl. It has been a long time. I am looking forward to seeing one. So, am I getting it right that there's no manual focus mode? If so, that seems like an odd decision.

Glenn

Absolutely there is a manual focus mode.

Full time PD AF just means that there's no delay/time gap between auto focusing. Unlike a DSLR the mirror is translucent and fixed, so the PDAF sensor gets a constant reading at all times.

Unlike a DSLR where the AF is interrupted because of the mirror movement.

Good to see you Glenn :)

Cheers!

Carl

Thanks Carl. I don't post that much, but I promise I do read! Looking forward to more reviews.

thanks carl for your usual time and effort. are you saying that Thetering will not be achieved with the A77 or I missed something?

Thanks for the clarification, Carl. I was a bit confused by the bit about losing "Direct Manual Focus". I'm looking forward to hearing your hands-on comments!

And thanks for a great preview coinciding with the official announcement. Great job. :)

Glenn

Thanks Carl, clearly you haven't lost your touch!

I too will be anxiously awaiting your observations and culling through the inevitable deluge. Hey, it keeps us off the streets.

Is there another gathering of the clan will scheduled for tonight or did I misunderstand?

Good stuff Carl. Nice to see Sony back from a dead zone in the Advanced Amateur market.

BTW, On Page 4, for me, the last 2 A65 images are not working right. Getting a cPanel login on one and a thumbnail only on the other.

Double thanks, actually.

I'll fix that when I get home tonight, just too rushed or tired apparently. :)

Hi Carl,

Do you know if the A65 is compatible with a vertical grip? I see nothing was announced for it so far which is a bit disappointing as I have been wanting one since I moved from my A550 to the A55. Since they moved the memory card from the bottom it had me wondering.

Thanks,

Jeff

Nothing mentioned and there are no mounting holes for one on the bottom of the camera.

Perhaps an aftermarket one will come out though, but that's you're best bet.

C

LOL ..... only comment I have...

Sony α77 DSLR Camera and Lens

Model Number: SLT-A77VQ
Available on or about 10/19/2011. We will email you when product ships.
$ 1,999 .99 1
x $1,999.99

How many more days till October 10th?

Hey you paid and ordered one for me too right? LOL
gratz

Congrats Dwayne!!!

Me I am going to wait a bit. I still enjoy my 700 & 850 enough to wait for the dust settle and the A77 has been tried and tested out there in the real world. Looks like one heck of a camera though, but I am going to have a serious emotional problem getting rid of my 700. I have advertised it 3 times now and pulled the add - I just couldn't do it (I know - rediculous). If I want the A77 the 700 has got to go, so I will wait because there is still a lot of life it that "old" camera.

Well, my girlfriends daughter is taking photography classes so the a700 will probably go to her... will keep the a850 at least for now and compare the two... low iso noise, DR and focus accuracy are what are important to me... we'll see.

Seeing the weight difference and use between a850+cz24-70 vs a77+16-50...
Will be interesting with my "lil buddy" Tamron 18-250 to see how it holds up as well...

Lens specs for the 16-50/2.8...

Lens Type : Standard Zoom
Lens Mount Type : Sony A-mount
Aperture (Max.) : f/2.8
Aperture (Min.) : f/22
Focal Length (35mm equivalent) : APS: 24-75mm (35mm Equivalent: 16-50mm)
Filter Diameter : 72mm
Lens Groups-Elements : 13 groups, 16 elements
Minimum Focus Distance : 1' (30cm)
Angle of View : 83o- 32o
Aperture Blade : 7 blades (Circular aperture)
Distance Encoder : Yes
Lens Weight : 20.4 oz (577g)
Maximum Magnification : 0.2x

Only negative I can see is I wish the MFD was beter... .2x should equate to about 1:5

I have been toying with the idea of picking up a film camera to play around with. Obviously there are the Maxum 9's and 7's but, every once in while I do see a 600si. Outwardly from the images it appears to offer a lot of control based on the dials and buttons. Hell, even the maxum 5 looks like a possible descent performer.

Anyway, would a 600si be a good choice for a film camera to 'play' with compared to the 7's and 9's?

Thanks,
SKB

ps: I will be ordering the a77 with 16-50 2.8 tonight. :)

You should be able to get one for a bargain. Batteries are harder to find if I recall correctly, different type, but should be able to find them without too much trouble.

If you don't mind an all plastic exterior, its got a very decent viewfinder and lots of external controls and features. Having run the gamut of cameras from that era myself, I like it more than the even more popular 700si. If you like waxing nostalgic, try it- so affordable its hard not too.

After I got my Maxxum 9 though, everything else I used ended up getting some serious shelf time. If I had one camera wish a Genie would fulfull by rubbing the lamp, it would be a digital back for my Maxxum 9.

I absolutely fricken love that camera. But of course, they are a lot more expensive than a 600si.

Carl

Sounds good. Yea those 9's look very good but, are still very expensive. I'll keep my searches in the 600si/maxum 7 range.

SKB

Just to let you all know.

Carl

1) How easy and well the manual focus works. I would love to see the digital equivalent of a split image viewing aid to help me achieve critical focusing, like you have on your Maxxum 9.

2) Is that built in GPS just a gimmick or does it really work quickly enough to be of use. I can imagine it taking fifteen minutes to lock on to the needed four satellites while I'm photographing a charging bear! It could also inform me that I took a picture of the white house in Illinois. (That might happen anyway.)

In one of the promo movies I noticed someone with a 300mm f/2.8 lens and the 2X tele-converter attached to the A77. Let's see....... That's equivalent to a ff 900mm f/4.0 lens! Fun!!!

I'll keep that in mind.

Two key area's I'll be focusing on with the A77 mostly, will be how well it performs as a landscape/portrait/still life tool, and as a high speed sports/action tool. The latter I think is really important to demonstrate as it has been one area that Sony have lagged behind the major competitors since Alpha was formed. Not only that, but how FT-PDAF has an advantage with that type of shooting.

It should (careful on that word) show a clear advantage at this stage of the SLT development, Sony have had enough time to get that technology at the level where ft-pdaf shows a clear advantage.

I think at ISO 50 it might become an excellent landscape camera. Since APS-C enjoys the sweet spot of many of the FF coverage lenses, the potential for enlargements is better than even the A900 and A850. Less vignetting, sharper corners, less barrel and pincushion distortion- etc than FF if using the same lens.

Carl

...

I Googled the term FT-PDAF and found nothing meaningful. I could guess that "AF" stands for (Auto Focus) and maybe "PD" means (Phase detect). I don't have a clue what "FT" means.

SFBSD *1
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*1 (Sorry for being so dense)

Full Time - Phase Detect Auto Focus - (continuous autofocus) since there is no mirror flipping up and down to interrupt the focusing

Thanks for that clear explanation.

AAU- Acronyms Are US

;)

Sorry for the confusion Dave.

C

WTF, I know what that meens :-) My Grandson TXT's me and never spells out words just uses Acronyms for everything like L8 for later "which I had no idea what that meant" and so on, I guess were just old farts. I still use two tin cans with a string between them to talk to people. LOL Acturally I still have a flip phone Gz One Boulder its water proof shock proof and its going on 4 years old, meen while they go though there fancy smart phones every couple of months it seems like.
I like to add my opinion on the a77 from what I've learned from Carl and Sony Style. First what I feel they should have left off and keep on the a65
1st No Smile detection or face Detection
2nd No HDR
3rd they should have included two memory slots one CF & one MS/SD slot & like I keep saying Let Raw go to one and JPG go to the other, seems like a softwear thingy!
Other than that it looking like a nice sweet camera. and since they made the VF OLED now they have my attention Maybe i can get Jeff to buy my a700 he only has three.
Just my opinion

Gill