Wednesday 5 June 2013

Sony a57

To keep it short and sweet - it's a bigger, more refined version of the Sony a55!

   To go into a bit more detail, I will outline the many positives this camera, in my eyes, possesses and then nitpick for a while within this review! However, I do feel this is a rewarding camera to use and is one of the best value cameras available at the moment.
  
   The positives:

   Firstly, and most importantly for me is the image quality. It is excellent for me, striking a good balance between resolution and noise at high ISO. It is very similar to the a55's image quality, however I find the high ISO to be slightly better in jpeg. The RAW files remain quite similar. Talking of RAW files I usually shoot in this format and the amount of shadow detail that can be 'opened up' I find outstanding. Finally, regarding image quality the colours are usually rich, with Auto White Balance doing an accurate job in most light (especially natural light).

   Secondly, for me are the ergonomics. While they are not perfect, after a bit of tinkering with the (few) customisable buttons, they are very intuitive, with good placement of most of the buttons and contoured parts to aid with the already comfortable operation. The exposure compensation button is placed particularly well - considering there isn't a rear control dial - this is the next best thing. I also think the electronic viewfinder that is equipped because of the translucent mirror technology helps a lot in difficult lighting conditions or when in manual mode.

   I find the camera to be very responsive and speedy. Little things like the electronic first cutrain shutter make a big difference and big things like the 12fps maximum shooting mode also make a big difference.

   I appreciate the articulating screen in landscape orientation only - it helps enormously with composition both high and low - but unfortunately isn't so useful in portrait orientation.

   Then there are a few extraneous features thrown in, which I think are genuinely useful and not just 'bells and whistles' like some other features this and other cameras possess. The first of these useful features is focus peaking - available in both the electronic viewfinder and on the LCD screen. This is very useful I think for macro photography/portrait photography where the depth-of-field is usually quite narrow. Another feature that has become prevalent within Sony cameras is 'Sweep Panorama', where in daylight and without many moving objects you can create impressive panoramas quickly.

   One feature, which is not that well documented but which I find invaluable, similar to the a55, is the focus magnifier in manual focus mode. Once you have assigned the focus magnifier to a more accessible button you can zoom in - notably using either the electronic viewfinder or the LCD screen - to aquire precise focus. This can also be used along with focus peaking and the fact both are available within the viewfinder is an advantage in my opinion over 'traditional' DSLRs with an optical viewfinder.

   For people who would use the camera for video, there are a lot of nice attributes, which could make it appealing to videographers. These include autofocus during capture, which is not a feature found implemented well implemented on 'traditional' DSLRs in my opinion. However, the aperture does reamin fixed at f3.5 during these videos shot with autofocus on the a57, which limits its usability somewhat I feel. Having said that, if you are willing to switch to manual focus there is no such limitation and you could use focus peaking to aid your focusing. Also there is the possibility of shooting at different quality levels, notably including the highest setting of 1080p at a couple of different framerates.

   The negatives:
  
   The depth-of-field/shot preview button stands out as the only non-logical placement as an accessible, useful button as well as the disappointing lack of any user memory spaces on the mode dial (although cameras at the a57's price point generally don't).
 
   Although the camera offers a few customisable buttons, a lot of these buttons are too valuable in my opinion to substitute. Also some other buttons which are not customisable, probably should be ie. the ? button.

   Although the electronic viewfinder has its merits, I don't think this version is as good as an optical viewfinder in a few areas. Manual focussing is not quite as easy using the electronic viewfinder but can be aided with the focus magnifier/focus peaking. Also the refresh rate is not as quick as some of the better electronic viewfinders that use different technology (notably some are in other Sony cameras). Obviously the refresh rate is much slower compared to an optical viewfinder because an optical viewfinder is, well, optical! However, the ability to get a good idea of what the exposure will look like before you take the picture offsets this, I feel.

   Comparison with Sony a55:
 
   Well, the most obvious change over the a55 is the size difference. This could be seen as a disadvantage but on the most part I feel it works - the augmentations include a larger handgrip and larger battery (which unsurprisingly holds many more shots), a larger LCD screen and a larger viewfinder. It also incidentally couples well with bigger lenses!

   Then there is the reliabiltiy. The a57 does not tend to (in my experience) overheat, either through making movies or through taking long exposures - like my a55 did.

   Finally, the ability to choose which displays/overlays you cycle through in both the LCD screen and in the electronic viewfinder is a seemingly small but welcome addition.

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