Sony gets serious with its SLT camera line

Sony Alpha SLT-A77V photos

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Editor's note 10/6/2011: Sony has delayed shipment of the A65 until mid-November.

Though not as sleek as theNEX models announced at the same time, Sony's translucent mirror, dSLR-style cameras are more-mainstream workhorses. And with the Alpha SLT-A77V, it's the first time that Sony's trotted a real weather-and-dust-sealed model onto the field; plus, it's packed full of new technology that ostensibly make it faster and better than ever. But despite comparisons with models like the Canon EOS 7D, Sony reps were very emphatic that this is an enthusiast-targeted model, not pro. Whether that's because it's got as-yet unknown limitations or because Sony's planning to release a subsequent even higher-end model, I don't know.

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The design (and price) certainly seems pro oriented, with a top informational display and 150,000-cycle shutter rating. And the camera pretty much includes a new everything: autofocus system, OLED viewfinder, AVCHD 2.0 progressive video capture with full-time AF, 24-plus-megapixel sensor, and articulated LCD. Plus it's got a built-in GPS, which is absent from competing models. Sony also claims class-leading performance, in part because of what Sony refers to as a "electronic first curtain" release. (In essence, since the camera has to keep the shutter open in order for you to view the image through the viewfinder, it would normally have to close the shutter before it could initiate exposure. Instead, it simulates a shutter close via the sensor, which of course is faster. It will be interesting to see if this introduces any artifacts during, say, panning.)

Here's where it fits into the current Sony lineup:

There's obviously a big price gap between the A65V and A77V, but I think there's enough of a design and build quality difference between the two cameras that it shouldn't be too difficult to distinguish them when confronted with a buying decision.

More interesting is how it stacks up to competitors. It's priced in between options from Canon and Nikon; there are no similarly priced models.

At least on paper, it looks pretty compelling, with better performance and video options, plus some of the benefits conferred by the EVF. A lot will be riding on how well Sony can pull off image quality on that crammed sensor. One drawback looks like battery life; all Sony's models have worse performance when you use the EVF than the LCD.

That said, both Canon and Nikon are due for updates to the models in this price class; it will be interesting to see whether they'll try to push midrange dSLR technology to rise to this level.

Sony Alpha SLT-A65V photos

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The SLT-A65 isn't as interesting a camera; though it does use the same sensor and image processing as the A77, the autofocus system comes from the A55, and the body looks a lot less functionally designed.

Compared with its competitors: