Sony A55

[Ceylon]

Thinking of selling my Canon 500D and buying a Sony A55. Fancy the 10FPS for action shots.

Anyone tried one yet?

[onomatopoeia]

While I've owned a few Sonys and tried a few more I haven't used either of the new aXX models yet.

Two things to be aware of - you will lose 1/3rd stop of light due to the mirror (the camera will still meter correctly, but to achieve the same shutter speed you will need to open the aperture 1/3 stop more) and the EVF apparently doesn't cope to well with studio flash in fully manual mode. Set it at f/11 with only modelling lamps and you wont be able to see anything useful through the viewfinder (or live view).

I like the idea of 10fps as well, but have spent too much already this year!

[clonmult]

I had a look at both the A33 and the A55 yesterday. Felt that the EVF was utterly horrible. Much prefer the old fashioned viewfinder on my A200.

[Ceylon]

clonmult said:

I had a look at both the A33 and the A55 yesterday. Felt that the EVF was utterly horrible. Much prefer the old fashioned viewfinder on my A200.

I must admit the level indicator was something I thought I may use. I believe that is part of the EVF. I tend to rotate 3 degrees clockwise when I take pictures with the Canon.

[SamHH]

Make sure you look into the 10 fps feature before you buy. My understanding is that you lose some control over exposure and focussing when you shoot at that many frames per second. Maybe a second hand Canon 1D would be worth considering?

[RobDickinson]

AFIK the focusing cant keep up at 10fps and the viewfinder..

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/sonyslta55/page18....

Conclusion - Cons
Limited control in 10fps and movie modes
AF system not quite up to capturing fast action
No live view in 10fps/6fps shooting makes panning almost impossible
Slow (50 seconds) buffer clear time (RAW-mode)


I dont know how itspriced compared to a 60D or 7D or used 50D etc.

[adamfogerty]

Ceylon said:

clonmult said:

I had a look at both the A33 and the A55 yesterday. Felt that the EVF was utterly horrible. Much prefer the old fashioned viewfinder on my A200.

I must admit the level indicator was something I thought I may use. I believe that is part of the EVF. I tend to rotate 3 degrees clockwise when I take pictures with the Canon.

The level indicator isn't something exclusive to the EVF, some DSLR's with optical viewfinders have them as well.

[RobDickinson]

My 7D has a spirit level, it works OK , can show in the viewfinder if you want it to, or on the LCD.

Only accurate to about 0.5 degrees though so not perfect, much better to use grid lines to line the horizon up.

[adamfogerty]

RobDickinson said:

My 7D has a spirit level, it works OK , can show in the viewfinder if you want it to, or on the LCD.

Only accurate to about 0.5 degrees though so not perfect, much better to use grid lines to line the horizon up.

On my camera the sensor is aligned with the body, but not the viewfinder. So if I compose using the grid lines I end up with a wonky picture :-)

Adam

[heyho]

Real life users have a lot of good things to say about these cameras, including the EVF.

There have been some good examples on dyxum of AF in the 10fps mode working very well. I guess it depends what you want it for, and what glass you may also want in the future.

If you can wait a couple of months, the A77 *should* be announced, which promises to take the SLT technology further forward.

Current WHE prices, A55+18-55 = £748, 60D + 18-55 = £999

Edited by heyho on Wednesday 20th October 22:26