Sony’s rested Alpha A77 DSLR packs some considerable opening boosts. With increased ISO light attraction and a new unclouded counterpart for softened autofocus, a 24.3-MP A77 II ($1,200) looks set to take a enthusiast DSLR marketplace by storm. Its autofocus opening rivals Canon’s much-praised EOS 70D ($1,350), that packs what Canon calls a “dual-pixel system” that delivered good subject-tracking and concentration in video mode during a recent review.
We tested a Sony A77 II and compared it to the Canon 70D during a Sony camera eventuality featuring a accumulation of low-light conditions and performances. The A77 II stood adult good to a competitor.
MORE: Canon EOS 70D Review
A77 II delivers high ISO for good low-light performance
You’ll find a A77 II prepared to constraint shots in super dim environments, interjection to a ISO light attraction of between ISO 100 and 51,200. Many new cameras exaggerate matching ISO capabilities (at slightest adult to 25,600), yet a A77 II indeed delivers on a promise. To exam it out, we began by photographing a expel member of live entertainment opening Fuerza Bruta in a dim dilemma of a room before a show. The A77 II delivered good detail and colors and impressively low noise (graininess) even during a really high ISO 25,600.Â
Meta: f/2.8, 1/40, ISO 25,600, multi-segment metering, orifice priority. (Sony A77 II)
Later, we shot a operation of the Dewdrop Society jazz band, illuminated usually by candlelight, and a A77 II was rapid and adept. With a camera set to Aperture priority and aperture settings between f/6.3 and f/3.2, we were means to discerning concentration and shoot. The A77 II bumped a ISO adult to between 10,000 and 25,600 for roughly all a pictures, which kept shiver speed during a comparatively protected operation of between 1/30 and 1/60 second to minimize blur.
Meta: f/3.2, 1/60, ISO 16000, Center weighted metering, shiver priority. (Song A77 II)
That high ISO capability came in handy when we set a shiver speed to 1/640 second to freeze a fit of the drummer’s rapid hands. The cinema held a musician‘s hands mid-motion with no blur. Despite a high ISO (25,600) required, a design was comparatively clean, with speckled chroma (color) noise display adult usually in another musician’s gray pants in a foreground.
Meta: f/2.8, 1/640, ISO 25600, center-weighted metering, shiver priority. (Snoy A77 II)
A print shot with a A77 II of a lead singer, illuminated by dual candles on any side, also seemed clear. We even prisoner a contemplative element of her sparkly orange dress along a hem. Despite a high ISO (16,000), a design was comparatively noise-free.
Meta: f/3.2, 1/60, ISO 16000, orifice priority, center-weighted metering. (Sony A77 II)
The A77 II also did good in awkwardly illuminated situations such as in a dim entertainment with splendid theatre lights. Our print of a trumpeter on theatre shot during f/6.3 on orifice priority was crisp. While some edges of a figure are hidden in darkness, we could clearly see a outline of many of his body. His white fit with a pinstripe settlement was somewhat overexposed, yet given a sharpened conditions it is understandable.
Meta: f/6.3, 1/60, ISO 10,000, center-weighted metering, orifice priority. (Sony A77 II)
In a default setting, a Canon 70D’s Auto ISO was set to not go above 6400, that led to a somewhat darker photo. But a 70D took it serve by also selecting a 1/80 second shiver speed vs. a A77 II’s choice of 1/60 second. The Canon design also had somewhat more contrast. This isn’t so startling for a 70D, as we found in a examination that it tends to somewhat underexpose images. As a result, the trumpeter’s light suit was improved unprotected in this picture, yet some-more of his physique was mislaid in a dim than in a Sony photo.
Meta: f/6.3, 1/80, ISO 6400, multi-segment metering, orifice priority. (Canon EOS 70D)
Video quality: discerning focus
Thanks to a unclouded counterpart that lets many light by onto a design sensor yet also leads a apportionment onto a autofocus sensor, a A77 II Â can maintain continual focusing during video capture. The camera also has a vast distribution of concentration points on a sensor, allowingittotrack a theme moving around some-more of your support than most competing cameras with smaller areas of focus. With AF sensors over 80 percent of a Canon 70D’s imaging chip, however, it also has a vast autofocus zone.
MORE: Camera Wars: Why Autofocus is a New Megapixel
We filmed several members of a Dewdrop Society rope while playing, and a camera discerning and accurately picked out faces in a support to keep them in focus. As we panned from a rope on theatre to a H2O bottle sitting in front of us, a A77 II shifted a concentration to a bottle in a separate second. We found this video concentration and theme tracking allied to that on a Canon 70D, and presumably even a tad faster.
Color rendering: really accurate
Overall a A77 II delivered true-to-life colors and plain contrast. You competence have to wait a second when observation playback on a LCD for a camera to finish estimate a colors though. In a cinema of a different expel of Fuerza Bruta in a dark, cruelly illuminated room, any member’s skin tinge was accurately rendered, and their colorful costumes popped. Color facsimile was accurate for a many part, with splendid red lipstick and an orange coupler station out opposite some-more neutral tones such as a pastel immature dress.
Meta: f/5.6, 1/80, ISO 8000, Multi-segment metering, orifice priority (Sony A77 II)
In matching (though not identical) shots, a Canon supposing warmer colors, that showed adult mostly in oranges and reds, Some people might like that effect, yet we found a Sony’s hues some-more accurate. This is many clear when we compared a immature coupler of a expel member in cinema taken with both cameras.
Meta: f/2.8, 1/50, ISO 1250, multi-segment metering. (Canon EOS 70D)
Design and handling: mostly good
We favourite a sloping LCD on a A77 II, that could be disfigured and incited in a far-reaching accumulation of angles so we can support peculiar shots. A nifty Function symbol subsequent to a LCD guard on a camera’s behind brings adult a customizable menu for discerning entrance to your favorite controls.
One probable downside to a unclouded counterpart record is that a a77 II uses an electronic viewfinder. Its true-to-life preview choice means that we see forward of time accurately what a shot will demeanour like, yet if we are sharpened during a delayed shiver speed, a preview will simulate this as well, with a somewhat stuttering design when we vessel opposite a shot.
The other choice is to set a viewfinder so that it prioritizes liughtness during a cost of correctness in a preview. An visual viewfinder like a 70D’s provides an sheer perspective that longtime photographers are many used to operative with.
One thing we found finicky: The sensor that triggers a viewfinder and turns off a LCD guard when we move a camera to your face is oversensitive. The guard would go off when we incidentally waved a palm about an in. divided from a screen. Switching between a LCD guard and a viewfinder also took a conspicuous pause. (We have seen this problem in a reviews of other new Sony Cameras, including a Alpha a7, a7R and a6000.)
Sony’s $1,200 A77 II packs higher light sensitivity, and appears to have equal or even better video concentration speed and a wider operation of intent tracking than Canon’s EOS 70D, for $150 less. We’ll haven judgement, however, until we get a section to run by a full battery of tests. Those who cite a normal viewfinder might still find a 70D a improved option, yet Sony clearly has a leader with a A77 II.
Follow Cherlynn Low at @CherlynnLow and on Google+. Follow Tom’s Guide at @tomsguide, on Facebook and on Google+.
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