Sony Digital SLRs

Robert Correll

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Although you don't need Digital SLR Photography All-in-One For Dummies to use these pages, they are intended to supplement the book and provide you with current information as it becomes available. Camera lineups, prices, technology, and specifications are always evolving!

Sony has developed their digital SLR lineup to be a leader in Live View performance and price. They are constantly updating thier lineup. As a comsumer, don't fall in love with an entry-level camera from Sony and pine over it for six months before buying it. It won't be there, but will have been replaced with a newer model.

Sony implements Live View fantastically. It's as easy as looking at the monitor and taking the photo. Most other dSLRs have Live View implementations that make it more difficult to focus.

Technically, the new crop of Sony cameras are not dSLRs because they do not have a reflex mirror (that's what the R in dSLR means) inside that bounces light up to the viewfinder. Instead, Sony cameras, now designated Digital Single Lens Translucent (dLST), use stationary, translucent mirrors that don't have to flip up and out of the way when you take the picture. In addition, these cameras do not have traditional viewfinders. Instead, they have an electronic viewfinder (which is a tiny LCD monitor). I've used it on most of the new Sonys and have been very impressed.

Sony has some interesting shooting modes on their new cameras. There are a number of interesting scenes (like Night Portait) in addition to panoramas, 3D panoramas, and a very high-speed burst mode.

Model Year Price Type Sensor
Size
Crop
Factor
Mega
pixels
ISO Video Weight (g)
a99 2012 $2,799 Professional 35mm 1.0 24.3 100-25600 1080 Full HD 812
a77 2011 $1999 Semi-Pro/High-End Amateur APS-C 1.5 24.3 100-12800 1080 Full HD 732
a65 2011 $999 High-End Amateur APS-C 1.5 24.3 50-16000 1080 Full HD 543
a55 2010 $849 Mid-Range APS-C 1.5 16.2 100-12800 1080 Full HD 500
a37 2011 $599 Entry-Level APS-C 1.5 16.1 100-16000 1080 Full HD 448
a35 2011 $699 Entry-Level APS-C 1.5 16.2 100-12800 1080 Full HD 473

Note: I have included a limited number of specifications here to boil each camera down to it's essence. It's a great place to start, but there is much more information available. Visit each camera's Web page and look at the detailed specs to compare. I explain a number of specifications in more detail on a separate Digital SLR Specs page.

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