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Info on Sony SLT cameras (1 Viewer)

Hor Kee

Penang birder
Dear all,

Does anyone have experience using SLT cameras (especially the latest A77 or A65 models) with long telephoto lenses at slow original apertures of F/5.6 and below (e.g. with the Sony 300mm F/2.8 lens & 2x TC or the 500mm F/8 AF mirror lens)? If so, have you experienced any shortcomings with the beam-splitter technology or the EVF? How do you rate its performance if compared to shooting with a DSLR with an optical viewfinder? Is the in-body image stabilization usable on a tripod?

Thanks for the info :t:

Hor Kee
 
Hor Kee, I've not done any birding as yet with my a55 but have completed a wedding. The evf was fine, af moreso. Evf is bigger and brighter than other entry level gear. Dyxum has some birder members and their shots tho
 
I have the SLT33 and to be honest I don't really find it any different to use than a normal SLR. I have used mine for birding and done photos of the local brass bands.
 
I've had some test experience shooting with an A55 and my 300mm F4 APO & 1.4x TC with birding. As far as the viewfinder, it is bright and clear enough, so no problems to speak of there...and the camera has no problem achieving focus in normal light, no problem with medium ISOs through 1600, and handles well. In this regard, I didn't find it drastically different from my A550 in focus, speed, handling, etc (other than the body being smaller than I was accustomed to). The only area in which I had a problem was in shooting birds in flight...I wasn't able to adapt well to the color tearing effect I got when quickly panning the camera, and while firing burst shots found that the displayed frame was always 1 or 2 frames behind the real-time subject, making it difficult to track a fast moving or erratic bird...something I have no problem with on my A550.

However - do note that everything I've heard points to the EVF having been massively improved on the A65/77 - they by all accounts have solved the tearing issue with the OLED technology, and moreover seem to have addressed the frame delay while panning by either speeding up the refresh or figuring out a way to produce a live-feed stream. I've seen some videos of the viewfinder view in action while firing at 12fps, and there seemed to be no lag or subject delay that I could detect. So my one and only issue with the EVF on the A55 may have been completely solved on the A65/77.

I would like to get my hands on an A77 soon to try out with my long lenses and see how it responds - I'm torn between the A77 and an A580 currently to be my next camera. My A550 is wonderful but more than 2 years old and with around 80,000 clicks is just getting to replacement time.
 
Just another quick question. The SLT design is described as letting the camera lose about 1/3 stop of light that is diverted. does this affect the camera's AF and IQ when it comes to slow lenses? For instance, a shooting at full zoom on a Sony-mount Sigma 150-500mm lens will give an aperture reading of F/6.3 but the light actually hitting the SLT's sensor would be equivalent to shooting at a F-stop of F/7.1 or even less. Is shutterspeed also affected in any way? Thanks!
 
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