Sony SLT-A77 II First Impressions

Based on a pre-production SLT-A77 II running firmware 1.00

Sony has announced the SLT-A77 II which, as the name implies, is an overhaul of its semi-pro APS-C camera from 2011. The camera itself looks interesting, but so do some of the things it could be taken to signify.
Sony is not a company that could ever be accused of not trying. Eight years on from buying Konica Minolta's camera business, Sony has produced over forty interchangeable lens cameras based on at least three fundamental design approaches: conventional DSLRs, the fixed-mirror SLT system and the mirrorless E-mount models. Those cameras have continued to get better and the company has recently hit a particularly good run of form.
This success in terms of making very good, as well as very innovative, cameras starts to make sense of what has at times looked like a 'try lots of things, see what sticks' approach. The question is: once one of the designs really delivers on its promise, does it make sense to continue the other technologies in parallel?

Clearly Sony believes it does. Despite the leaps and bounds being made with the E-mount Alphas, both in terms of the on-sensor phase detection autofocus of the a6000 and the full frame sensors shoehorned into the A7 triplets, it has continued to develop its SLT cameras. The A77 Mark II features a new autofocus sensor, and it's much more than a refreshed version of an existing design. Instead the A77 II is built around the AF module with the most focus points of any camera on the market (79), covering an extremely wide area of the frame. It's also rated to work in lighting as low as -2EV. That doesn't necessarily make it quite as sophisticated at pro-grade DSLRs, since they have more cross and diagonal sensor elements, but it looks very impressive for a camera in this part of the market.

The autofocus capability combines with the camera's ability to shoot images at 12 frames per second to offer a compelling feature set. The A77 II also benefits from the autofocus tracking advances that have been included on recent Sony cameras, which use information from the main image sensor to identify and follow a given target.
Beyond that autofocus sensor, the A77 II gains an updated 24MP sensor (presumed to be a version of the sensor from the a6000, but without the on-chip sensor phase detection design) and all the benefits that the company introduced with its Bionz X processor. This means it gains three features: context-sensitive noise reduction, diffraction reduction technology and more-sophisticated sharpening.

Sony SLT-A77 II key specifications:

• 24MP CMOS Sensor with gapless, offset microlenses
• 12fps continuous shooting with autofocus (up to 60 JPEGs)
• 79 point AF module with 15 cross-type AF points, covering 40% of frame
• Increased control over AF behavior
• 1080p60 movies with autofocus
• Audio level monitoring during movie shooting
• 2.4M dot OLED viewfinder
• Pull-out three-hinge tilt/swivel 1.23m dot White Magic LCD screen
• Built-in Wi-Fi with NFC
• 1/8000th maximum shutter speed, shutter rated for 150,000 actuations
• ISO 100 - 25,600 (Extendable down to 50, and up to 51,200 with multi-image combination)
• Auto ISO customization
• Optional, profile-based correction of vignetting, chromatic aberrations and geometric distortion
• Top panel LCD
• Stereo microphone and external mic socket
• AF Micro Adjust

Focus advances

Although Sony stresses that the A77 II shouldn't be compared to pro-grade cameras (not least because it's much less expensive), it is starting to gain the kinds of paper specifications that suggest it could punch considerably above its weight. For instance, the improvements to the A77 II's autofocus system extend a long way beyond the focus sensor itself.
The Mark II gains a range of subject identifying technologies that Sony has introduced in recent models. As such, it offers Eye-AF, rather than just face detection. It also gains the most advanced version of 'Lock-On AF' that we've yet seen, which will use or allow you to specify an off-center starting AF point (previously most Sonys assumed your subject was the thing at the center of the frame, when you started tracking).
Unlike the A99, which used its on-sensor phase detection elements to track a subject's movement when it was between the focus sensor's focus points, the A77 II uses the focus points adjacent to the currently active point. In addition, the A77 II becomes the first Sony that lets you determine how doggedly the camera should stick with the current focus point - an option you'd usually only expect to find on very high level models. Better still, it lets you specify different values for video and stills shooting.
On top of this, the camera has an A99-style distance limiter that lets you specify the approximate range of focus distance over which you expect your subject to travel, to prevent the camera being distracted by near or distant subjects. Also added is an option to prioritise release or focus in continuous shooting, giving much greater control over the camera's continuous focus and shooting behavior. Overall, the A77 II represents a major step forward for Sony autofocus control.

What's in a name?

Interestingly, Sony's marketing implies that it is moving away from the 'Single Lens Translucent' name for the A77 II, instead adopting the phrase 'Translucent mirror DSLR.' This is a slightly unfortunate phrase to use, semantically, but only because the mirror is actually semi-transparent (translucence implies a diffuse image): the camera has all the elements implied by the term 'DSLR.'
The technology remains the same as before: a fixed, semi-transparent mirror redirects a portion of the light up to a dedicated autofocus sensor, while the majority passes through to the main imaging sensor. The light lost to the AF sensor has a slight cost in terms of high ISO image quality, but avoids the complexity of multiple moving mirrors, with the benefit that autofocus remains available at all times, including during video shooting.

Body & Design

The a77 II is a mid-size DSLR with a solid, weather-sealed magnesium alloy body, which has some weight to it, but not to the point of being heavy. The right hand grip feels 'just right' and gives easy access to the most important controls on the camera. Speaking of which, the a77 II is loaded with buttons and dials, but they're logically placed and usually serve one function at a time. That said, there are eleven customizable buttons on the body, with up to 51 assignable functions, so you can truly set up the a77 II to your liking.
The a77 II has traditional front and rear dials for adjusting exposure and navigating menus, and uses a 'joystick' rather than the four-way controller found on most cameras. The joystick can be used with both the Func. menu (which offers twelve customizable functions) and QuickNavi menus, though it's a bit too sensitive to inward pressure. One nice thing that Sony hasn't gotten rid of is the backlit LCD display on the top of the camera, which shows current settings, shots remaining, and battery life.
So what's changed since the original SLT-A77? The most obvious change is on the front: the giant red AF assist-lamp from the a77 is completely gone, with the a77 II's built-in flash now handling that function. The GPS receiver has been replaced with one for Wi-Fi, and there's now a spot for 'tapping' NFC devices on the opposite side of the body. The mode dial has been tweaked and the LCD now has extra white pixels (see below for both of those). Finally, the a77 II leaves the old Minolta hotshoe behind, and uses Sony's Multi Interface Shoe, which includes pins for optional microphones, in addition to a standard external flash connections.

In your hand

The a77 II is a decent sized DSLR, but ergonomically speaking its well-designed, with a nice grip and logically place controls (though there are many of them).

Despite being loaded with buttons and other controls, you won't accidentally press anything thanks to the good-sized thumb rest. The joystick is at the lower-left side of the rest and can be a bit fiddly at times.	The a77 II's grip is just the right size, giving it a secure feel in your hand. Most buttons on the top plate are easily reachable with your pointer finger, though the ISO button is a bit of a stretch.

Top of camera

The majority of the cosmetic changes between the a77 II and its predecessor can be found in the top-down view. The mode dial has been reworked, with the '3D' option on the a77 being replaced with three Memory Recall (MR) spots. There's also a locking mechanism which needs to be held down in order to rotate the dial.
At the center of the photo is the aforementioned Multi Interface Shoe, which supports 'regular' external flashes (instead of the old, proprietary Konica Minolta shoe) as well as accessories such as external mics. Oddly, though, it's not comptible with the XLR KM1 high-end microphone adapter unit. Above that is the stereo microphone, which records Dolby Digital (AC3) sound.
The buttons and display to the right are self-explanatory. The finder/monitor button can be used to override the eye sensor on the EVF, while the tiny button with the light bulb on it will illuminate the LCD info display.

Articulating LCD and OLED Electronic Viewfinder

The a77 II has the same, rather complex 3" articulated screen as its predecessor. It uses a swivel-and-tilt joint, that is itself affixed to an arm that folds out from the back of the camera. This allows a huge range of positions to be adopted, including setting the screen facing forwards over the top of the viewfinder housing or, for that matter, under the bottom of the camera.

The screen sits on an articulated joint, on an arm that can tilt up from the back of the camera

The a77 II now uses a WhiteMagic display, meaning that it has an extra pixel for white, in addition to red, green, and blue. WhiteMagic allows for better outdoor visibility and improved battery life. While the RGBW dot pattern boosts the total resolution of the display to 1.23M dots, the resolution (VGA) is no better than on the a77.
The electronic viewfinder, on the other hand, is unchanged. It's one of the best you'll find, thanks to its XGA resolution and OLED technology. The EVF is quite large, thanks to a 1.09X magnification, and frame coverage of 100% is just as you'd expect.
Because of the way viewfinders are measured (using a fixed lens, rather than a lens of equivalent magnification), you also need to take the sensor size into account, so the numbers in the diagram below are the manufacturer's specified magnifications divided by the respective 'crop factors'.

The Sony SLT a77 II's electronic viewfinder is large - on par with the optical finders of full-frame SLRs. This makes it substantially bigger than those in its APS-C SLR peers such as the Nikon D7100 or Canon EOS 70D.

The green squares in the diagram represent that 15 cross-type AF points, out of 79 total. The red square at the center is for lenses with a maximum apertures of F2.8 or faster, which results in more precise focusing.

Auto ISO

The A77 II has the same two-mode Auto ISO system that's been common on recent Sony cameras: a normal Auto ISO system and a JPEG-only system that takes three shots then combines them to reduce noise. The main Auto ISO system allows you to set the upper and lower limits for the ISO settings the camera can use, but gives no option to change the shutter speed at which it increases the camera's sensitivity.
In manual exposure mode, the camera matches the behavior of recent Sonys in continuing to offer Auto ISO mode. This is implemented in such a way that you can continue to apply exposure compensation, so that you can set aperture, shutter speed and image brightness, with the camera choosing an appropriate ISO to provide the specified result.

Body elements

	This Semi-transparent mirror is at the heart of Sony's SLT cameras. Light hits this mirror and approximately a third of the is sent upward to the AF sensor, while the rest continues on to the CMOS.
	The a77 has a built-in flash, which is released electronically. The flash has a guide number of 12 meters at ISO 100. It's also used as a focusing aid in low light, replacing the dedicated AF-assist lamp on the original a77.
	This dial, at the bottom-left of the camera's front plate, switches between manual, continuous, auto, and single autofocus mode.
	The mode dial has been redesigned and now features three Memory Recall (MR) slots. There's also a locking mechanism that requires you to hold the center button down in order to rotate the dial.
	One feature that has become increasingly rare on DSLRs is an LCD info display on the top plate. This backlit display shows things like aperture, shutter speed, drive mode, shots remaining, and battery life.
	The a77's electronic viewfinder is one of the best you'll find, with 2.36 million dots and a magnification 1.09x. An eye sensor automatically switches between the LCD and EVF. The diopter correction knob can be seen on the far right side.
	The joystick on the rear of the camera is your main tool for menu navigation. It's movement is a bit tight, and pressing inward accidentally can be an issue.
	The a77 II has a wide selection of I/O ports, including flash sync, remote control, DC-in (covered here), microphone, HDMI, and USB.
	As with its predecessor, the a77 II supports both SD/SDHC/SDXC and Memory Stick Pro Duo cards.
	The a77 II uses the familiar NP-FM500H battery, which dates back to the A700. The battery contains 11.8Wh of energy, which translates into 480 shots per charge with the LCD, and 410 with the EVF. That's a 10% drop compared to the original a77.

Shooting with the Sony A77

by Shawn Barnett

Right away, I could tell something was different. We'd heard the presentation, which sounded pretty good, but it wasn't until I held the Sony A77 that I knew something had changed. I felt the same way when I used the Sony A700, the camera the A77 replaces. I won't go too much into detail about my disappointment that the A700 went so long without an upgrade or successor; suffice it to say that I thought that camera was Sony's best chance at making a dent in the Canon/Nikon hegemony, and instead of addressing its few flaws, Sony was spending too much time trying to appeal to the consumer market, a place where Nikon and Canon dominate even more pervasively. I've long thought that to be successful in this market, Sony needed to impress the enthusiast first: Give them a real reason to switch, and some of the masses would begin to follow.
That reason, of course, appeared however stealthily in two other consumer cameras, the Sony A33 and A55: the Translucent Mirror Technology that enabled a high frame rate (7 and 10 fps) and continuous phase-detect autofocus from two sub-$1,000 cameras. But I wasn't sure these would get the attention needed to make a dent, worthy as the technology was. It just didn't seem like the message would get out, and the two cameras looked so much like EVF long zooms, I didn't think anyone would take them seriously. Despite that concern, searches for this line of cameras is reasonably high. But the real difference will come with the Sony A77. Capturing 24.3 megapixels at 12 frames per second changes everything. I haven't been this excited about a camera in some time, but based on my experience with the Sony A77, I'd buy one.
I've already outlined most of the user experience at the top of this review. To recap: The Sony A77 is comfortable to hold and use, button placement is excellent, and its relative similarity to other SLRs on the market makes me feel right at home.

Viewfinder versus LCD. Sony's fundamental translucent mirror technology means there's no optical viewfinder to use when framing your images, so Sony draws a live image off the sensor and displays it on a relatively large OLED screen inside the viewfinder. The effect is more advanced than you're used to seeing from LCD electronic viewfinders. Instead of the distracting grid of pixels that normally greet your eye, the OLED in the Sony A77 is smooth and fairly high resolution.
It's pretty good for framing images when indoors, and it even gains up nicely to help you see detail that you can't see with your eye (though the refresh rate slows a bit). But outdoors it's a different story. While we normally turn to optical viewfinders and even EVFs in bright light, I find my eye taking a little more time to adjust to the OLED EVF in the A77's viewfinder. A sensor over the viewfinder detects my eye and makes the switch between the LCD and EVF, but usually doesn't make the switch fast enough, leaving me first in the dark, then I see a screen that's a little too dark at first, then my eye adjusts. It's not a comfortable set of changes, going from very bright to very dark, then to somewhat bright, so most often I and my colleagues shied away from the EVF when out in daylight, preferring the LCD.

Shadow detail. I got much better shadow detail than the optical viewfinder suggested.

The other problem I had with the electronic viewfinder is a tendency for shadows to appear plugged in high-contrast situations like the one at right. All of the foreground shadow was quite black in the EVF, which is partly why I took this shot: I wanted to see how the sensor would handle the deep shadows. Turns out the sensor did just fine, but I had discovered another limitation of the OLED viewfinder. Because I was thinking about the shadows, I don't remember if the sky in this shot was blown, another common problem among EVFs in high-dynamic-range situations.

Play. The Sony A77's quick nature is great for getting the family at play.

The good news is that the Sony A77's articulating LCD is excellent in both bright and dim light. Its 921,600 dots make another smooth image, one that seems to be transflective, or both transmissive and reflective. Sunlight striking its surface reflects back in relatively bright color that is quite a bit better than trying to read some LCDs through a dark cover-glass. Its unique swiveling mechanism is tough to describe, but I found myself using it a lot as I shot both cars and kids, because both benefit from shooting at a lower angle. At first it seems to be hinged at the bottom like past Sony designs, but then a horizontal hinge not unlike that used on Sony's NEX cameras swings out from the back, allowing the LCD a much greater range of motion. It can even face forward from the top or bottom. The joints are hinged with enough stiffness that the LCD stays where you leave it, so it's versatile. Figuring out which way to turn it for maximum effectiveness isn't obvious at first. When shooting low and vertically, I first swiveled the the LCD down, then to the right, so that the LCD faced upward with my right hand on the grip. However, it was often very difficult to frame images, because when I moved the camera left or right, the image moved in or out. The key is to use the second hinge. Swiveling that out presses the left edge of the LCD up against the EVF's rubber cup, and the image then matches: moving the camera left moves the image left, and moving right moves the image right.

Source
DPReview Sony SLT-A77 II Reviews
Imaging-Resource Sony SLT-A77 II Reviews
Official Website

Where to Buy
Official Website $1.399,99 - $1.699,99 Sony a77 DSLR Camera and Lens
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