Sony SLT-A55 Review - Translucent Mirror DSLR with 10fps & 1080p HD Movies

I am so excited to write this review on the newly released Sony SLT A55 DSLR camera (Model number: SLT-A55V). On 24th of August, Sony has announced two new fixed translucent mirror DSLRs, the Sony SLT A33 & SLT A55. In this review, I want to go through all the features of the Sony SLT A55 DSLR. On later review, I will cover the other announced DSLRs. So let's get started and see why you should be excited about Sony's new digital SLR cameras.

Sony SLT-A55. World's First digital SLR with Translucent Mirror Technology

 Sony is the first company to release fixed translucent mirror cameras. So before we go into further in-depth detailed, let's first explain, what exactly fixed translucent mirror is?

Translucent Mirror Technology®

The fixed, translucent mirror is a technology that was used in the past on Canon Pellix cameras in the film days. Even so, when used in today's interchangeable lens digital SLR cameras, Sony has already put itself in front, in terms of technology innovation for 2010. 'SLT' in Sony's newly designed cameras stands for "Single Lens Translucent'. The difference between traditional DSLR's mirror design, is that in a translucent mirror, most of the light (70% in Sony SLT α55 & A33)  passes through the mirror. When the light passes through the translucent mirror, it goes straight to the recording device, the CCD sensor. On traditional DSLRs, all the light is being transmitted to other mirrors, that at the end, reflects the light to the viewfinder. So in translucent mirror cameras, the mirror needn't swung aside, and it is in a fixed in place.

Sony Digital SLR Alpha α55 and α33 cameras commercial/introduction YouTube video:

In the following video, the author of the video, compared Video AF in Canon 550D vs. Sony A55. The results are nothing but astonishing. You can see that the A55 as no trouble keeping the subject perfectly focus in all time.

The reason why the Sony Alpha SLT-A55 (and A33) can do a full-time AF, its because of Sony Translucent Mirror Technology. On the left side, you can see the Canon 550D mirror flips, whether on the A55 (right side, you can see that the mirror stays in place.

Thanks to Les Numériques for providing those videos.

By using this technology, the light who comes from the lens onto the mirror, continuously feeding the phase-detection auto focus system. That leads to full-time AF and Phase detection when shooting stills and also videos. Sony has built the Sony SLT A55 from the ground up, in order to enjoy the advantages of mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras, like in the Sony NEX-5 camera. Furthermore, the main advantage is that you can enjoy a full live-view of the targeted scene, much faster continuous shooting and AF.

Many rumors have suggested that such feature will be announced from Sony, and they were absolutely right on the spot. I have personally been very excited to see new technology innovations, and more excited when it comes from Sony. So far so good. However, let's go be more specific, and see why photographers should be excited about this new digital SLR camera?

Sony SLT-A55 with its articular LCD screen

Key Features of the Sony α SLT-A55

First of all, Sony SLT-A55 featured some very excited features. Here are the key features that you mostly be interested in:

• 16.2MP APS 'Exmore' HD CMOS sensor
• Built-in GPS receiver - Finaly, easily geotagging photos with a built-in GPS device, Hallelujah!
• Semi-translucent mirror - We waited for it, we wanted it, and now it's here.
• Up to ISO 12,800 - Sony also allow shooting up to ISO 25,600 in extended mode.
• An electronic viewfinder with 1.15MP resolution and 100% framing accuracy.
• Support for both Sony's Memory Stick & SD memory cards - A welcomed option that many photographers will appreciate for sure.
• 10fps continuous shooting - Now available due to the translucent mirror technology.
• Record HD movies in 1080p AVCHD with full continuous AF - The end of manual focusing in HD movies. Now you have the option to enjoy shooting HD movies without worrying about miss focus.
• Articulated 3-inch 912K LCD 'TruBlack' display - Can you ask for more. Shoot HD videos easily.

 Every feature can get you excited. It seams like a dream DSLR, at least from what we can see by going trough the key features.  Sony has just elevated the competition considerably, and I am eager to see how Canon and Nikon will react to that.

Wondering how 10fps sounds like on the α55? - Let's find out!

Newly Developed 15-point AF Array

In Sony α SLT A55 DSLR camera, the 15-point AF array sits at the top of the camera. The newly developed AF sensor gets 30% of the light which is being transmitted by the semi-translucent mirror. By using this technology, Sony was able to boost the continuous shooting to 10fps. This is one of the main advantages that the Sony α SLT A55 DSLR camera has over traditional DSLR cameras.

Super SteadyShot

As you probably know, Sony continues its tradition, offering an integrated Super SteadyShot in-camera image stabilization. Sony's Super SteadyShot allows photographers to shoot blurred-free handheld images, allowing up to four stops advantage. Now photographers can purchase cheaper telephoto lenses, which are smaller, light weight and less expensive compared to those with a built-in image stabilization system.

In-camera GPS Receiver

For me, this is probably one of the most awaited features in Sony α55. When I was writing my Geotagging photo article, I was surprised that none of today's leading camera manufacturers, haven't come up with their own implementation for in-camera GPS receiver. Now you can conveniently and automatically, Geotag you photos using the built-in camera GPS receiver. I must admit, I was sure Nikon will be the first to present a GPS receiver built into its reflex cameras, it turns out Sony was ahead of Nikon this time. GPS Receivers can record geo-location data, which later can be used to use those geotagged data with Google Earth and Google Maps. The alternative was to use an external GPS receiver or a mobile phone to do that. By implementing a GPS receiver in-camera, Sony has saved us the trouble combining the location data to images using software. Furthermore, Sony is also saved us the expenditure of buying an external GPS receiver.

1080p HD Movies with Continuous AF

This would be a lie, saying that I was fully satisfied with current DSLR's HD movie functionality. Even though that imaging technology has come a long way, still, something was missing. This missing feature was continuous AF. Shooting HD videos, while manually focusing, was really a pain for me. I was trying that on my friend's Canon 5D Mark II and Canon EOS 7D cameras. Because Sony has used a translucent mirror with the α55, you can shoot 1080p HD videos with full-time AF and Phase Detection.

Sony's new 16.2-megapixel Exmor ASP HD CMOS sensor, combined with Sony's BIONZ image processing unit, really upgrade the video and image quality all together. With the Sony SLT-A55, you can shoot 1920 x 1080p HD movies in AVCHD format in 59.94i video (60i) frame rate (sensor output: 29.97fps). Furthermore, you can shoot videos in QuickTime Motion JPEG at 1440x1080 resolution, in 29.97p or 25p and in 640x480 resolution at 29.94fps.

Let's not forget another surprise, and this is the Tilt/Swivel 3-inch LCD screen (180°). With this articular high resolution LCD screen, you can frame your image while shooting for high and low angles. Have you ever wanted to capture a video of your dog or cat playing around at the garden? - Now with the new articular screen, you will be able to shoot low-angle movies with ease. With the new 921K dot TruBlack™ LCD screen on the Sony SLT-A55 camera, you view menus and liveview images in bright sunlight. The new TruBlack™ LCD screen has a special resin layer that helps surpass reflections. Canon has used this technology in the Canon EOS 7D DSLR, and the results are very impressive indeed.

The Sony SLT-A55 DSLR camera has a dedicated (red) movie button at the top-right side of the camera, That means that you can easily switch to movie shooting mode, without driving yourself into the menu. Sony Alpha SLT-A55 has a built-in stereo microphone, but also offers an option to connect an external microphone for better sound quality.

ISO 12800 for Low-Light Photography

Sony STL-A55 boast ISO sensitivities, starting from ISO 100 and goes up to 12800. You can also shoot images with ISO 25600, but this is available only in multi-shot NR mode (JPEG). I was very interested to see how the camera handles noise in high-ISO. Luckily, dpreview has written a Sony SLT-A55 in-depth review. In dpreview's Sony SLT-A55 Noise comparison page, you can see how the Sony SLT Alpha A55 compared to Canon EOS 550D, Panasonic Lumix DMC-G2 and Sony Alpha NEX-5 mirrorless camera.
I was hopping for a big surprise here, but unfortunately, Sony SLT-A55 didn't exceed my expectations.

Image quality was very good at up to ISO 3200. In ISO 3200 it can compete against the Canon EOS 550D. At ISO 6400 and above and according to my observation, Canon 550D produce better results overall. ISO 12,800 image quality was not good, but still usable. I think that the overall image quality in high-ISO is very good, but don't expect miracles from higher ISO settings.

In terms of sharpness, Sony SLT α55 was equal to Canon 550D and a bit ahead of Nikon D90, according to dpreview's lab testing. Dpreview has given the Sony A55 the Gold Award, and I think that it really deserves it. Another positive review of the Sony Alpha A55 was posted by luminous landscape. The editor even mentioned that he might buy the A55 for himself.

Its Not Over Yet!

Sony A55 is packed of amazing features. You can find an Auto HDR & Sweep Panorama features, the same that was used on Sony NEX-5 mirrorless cameras. The Sweep Panorama allows photographers to easily capture panoramic photographs without stitching them using software. All you have to do is sweep you camera from one side to the other, and you get a high resolution panorama images, automatically!
The Auto HDR feature, allows photographers to create in-camera HDR photos, by combining identical photos, taken in different exposure settings. HDR photos can better expose highlight and shadow details.

Canon, Watch Out!

This is the DSLR camera that many of us have been waiting for. The Sony Alpha SLT-A55 is packed with technology innovations. Offering new APS-C Exmor HD CMOS sensor with 16.2MP, 1080p 60i HD movie capture with full-time AF & Phase detection, articulate LCD screen, translucent mirror technology, 10fps continuous shooting, small and compact & a built-in GPS. All carefully packed in a compact body (124x92x85mm, 500g). Sony Alpha SLT-A55 support both high capacity SDXC  & MemoryStick Pro Duo memory cards. It has already gotten great reviews on the Internet, and I think that both Canon and Nikon should watch out from this innovative company. By releasing a Translucent Mirror Technology™ DSLR camera, Sony has put itself high in the technology innovation scale. I am sure that this camera will help Sony achieve its goals, and attract new amateur and enthusiast photographers, that otherwise, would probably have chosen Nikon or Canon DSLR cameras.

But we will still need to wait and see what Nikon and Canon are preparing for us. Who knows, maybe Canon or Nikon will also innovate and announce some great new DSLRs in the 4th quarter of 2010. I am personally thinking of getting one myself. Bravo Sony!

Still waiting for SLT-A55 video samples...