Ok, let's start with the "con": you cannot tether this camera. The a700 could be tethered. The a77 cannot. It's not a huge drawback, but it is a drawback. What do you use tethering for? Controlling the camera from your computer. Transferring the pictures directly and immediately to a computer (for a client or someone else to look at). For easily seeing the pictures on a large screen, rather than the screens on the camera. And...using this in a photobooth! This camera just cannot be used in a photobooth. It's frustrating. Not being able to tether the camera is frustrating, but not a deal-breaker -- not even close. How many times have you needed to tether your camera? But it would be nice.
I've been using the a77 for a year and three months. I resisted it and continued using my a700 because I hated the idea of an EVF. However, after about 30 seconds of trying out the a77, I was hooked, and I cannot go back to an OVF. Occasionally I use a Nikon, and it's just awful. An EVF has REAL advantages -- big advantages.
I am a professional photographer, and I'm shooting 4-6 days a week, most weeks. About 70% of my assignments are sports, and about 20% are club event photography. The other 10% are group pictures, studio work, on-location "people at work" photos, etc.
For sports especially, the EVF is incredibly useful. I shoot in manual mode. With an optical viewfinder, if you change from f/2.8 to f/11, the view doesn't change. If you change from 1/50 to 1/2000, the view doesn't change. The picture will be drastically different, but you won't see it until you actually take a picture. With outdoor sports, the lighting is constantly changing -- sun going behind a cloud, light diminishing during sunset, front-lit, side-lit, or back-lit faces. With an electronic viewfinder, you see exactly how the picture will look. If you change the shutter speed, film speed, or aperture, the image in the viewfinder will change. This is a huge help while shooting.
Also, after you take a picture, the picture usually shows up on the back of the camera for a few seconds, right? Well, since the viewfinder is a tiny computer screen, you can have the picture show up there, instead. That is also great. You don't have to take the camera away from you eye and look at the back of the camera -- you can be shooting pictures and reviewing them, all without moving the camera. It's kind of like the difference between using keyboard shortcuts and clicking with the mouse. Yes, you can type, then use the mouse to click on the next field, then type some more, then use the mouse to click on the next field. But it's much faster to just hit "tab" to go to the next field. You never take your hands off the keys,and it just goes faster, your train of thought isn't interrupted, you can just "go" faster.
For example, when I take group photos, I need to check to see if anyone was blinking, and take another picture if they were. With an EVF, I take the picture, then the image immediately appears on the screen in the viewfinder, and I can very quickly see whether I need to take another picture or not. I know -- it doesn't sound like a big deal. None of these things would have made much impression on me, before I bought an a77 and got hooked. I would have said they were all small things, and really not very important.
Just try it. Borrow or rent one for a week, and then try to go back to an optical viewfinder. You won't be able to do it.
One more benefit of an EVF: you know how, when it's sunny outside, it can be hard to see the screen on the back of the camera? Too much glare, too bright outside? Well, the EVF is inside the camera, in a deep dark cave. There are no reflections, no glare to fight. You can see how the picture actually looks.
Ok, so obviously I think the EVF is the big selling point with this camera. But there are other good things.
The 12 fps is kind of a lie. The real burst rate is 7 fps. 12 fps only works in "P" mode. If you are a serious photographer, you don't use P. But 7 is plenty. If you're the person who has to cull all the photos after an event (and I am), then...7 fps is more than enough to wade through... I do use the 12 fps setting when shooting golf, just because the club and ball move SO FAST. And I also use it in baseball, to get the "ball on the bat" picture. But otherwise, 7 fps is plenty.
The camera is rugged. I shoot sports. Most sports don't stop because of rain, sleet, snow, heat, or cold. So I can't, either. I've used this camera in all types of weather, and it survives admirably. It's built tough.
People say the Sony alpha cameras have bad high-ISO noise, and I agree. HOWEVER, I work for a large photography company. I am (obviously) the only Sony shooter. Most of the other photogs shoot Nikons, and a few shoot Canon. The head of sports photography sees ALL pictures, from everyone, before the pictures go onto the website. And he raves about my camera's noise performance. He's comparing my a77's noise to pictures from Nikons and Canons, and he thinks the a77 is excellent. He's a die-hard Nikon fan (a member of their professional photographer group), but my pictures have almost won him over to Sony. I honestly don't understand how my pictures are so much better than pictures from Nikon and Canon, but he swears they are. So much so that I have become my company's top photographer for low-light assignments.
The GPS feature is GREAT, and I'm very disappointed that they've eliminated it on the a77 mark 2. It's another feature (like EVF) that you don't realize how useful it is until you actually have it. I will be very sad to lose it. Very.
The Minolta/Sony hotshoe is a non-issue. Were you planning to use a Canon flash on your a77? No, of course not. So what does it matter? Sony, Sigma, etc make flashes with our mount. It's true, pocketwizard does not. But I use cowboy studio triggers, and guess what? They work equally reliably as pocketwizards, and they cost a small faction of what pocketwizards do. Perhaps a cowboystudio trigger wouldn't work from 100 meters away, and perhaps a pocketwizard would. But I don't work that far from my lights. In normal studio conditions, my cowboystudio triggers work as reliably as my company's pocketwizards. And the cowboystudio triggers allow my camera to fire my Canon 430 EXII flash remotely. (Ok, so I WAS planning on using a canon flash with my a77...)
My Sony a77 is rugged, dependable, full-featured, takes great pictures, has good continuous AF, and has an excellent electronic viewfinder. I use the camera 4-6 days a week, and I'm glad I chose Sony, not Canon or Nikon. It's an excellent camera.
Sony Alpha SLT-A77 Translucent Mirror Digital SLR Camera - Body only (OLD MODEL)
3.9 | 151 ratings
Price:
Last update: 11-27-2024
About this item
2nd Generation Translucent Mirror Technology camera
24.3 MP for superb detail and amazing enlargements
World?s fastest up to 12 fps continuous shooting
World's first OLED viewfinder; big and bright
World's first HD Movie mode with AVCHD 60p/60i/24p
24.3 MP for superb detail and amazing enlargements
World?s fastest up to 12 fps continuous shooting
World's first OLED viewfinder; big and bright
World's first HD Movie mode with AVCHD 60p/60i/24p
Product information
Warranty & Support
Amazon.com Return Policy:Amazon.com Voluntary 30-Day Return Guarantee: You can return many items you have purchased within 30 days following delivery of the item to you. Our Voluntary 30-Day Return Guarantee does not affect your legal right of withdrawal in any way. You can find out more about the exceptions and conditions here.
Product Warranty: For warranty information about this product, please click here
Feedback
Would you like to
tell us about a lower price?
Sony Alpha SLT-A77 Translucent Mirror Digital SLR Camera - Body only (OLD MODEL)
Share: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005IHAICK
Found a lower price? Let us know. Although we can't match every price reported, we'll use your feedback to ensure that our prices remain competitive.
Where did you see a lower price?
Top reviews from the United States
Springfield
excellent for what I use it for
Reviewed in the United States on June 8, 2014Savi You
Sony is really making great strides
Reviewed in the United States on November 3, 2011