Sony has a new flagship digital SLR camera, and it is a stunner. The Alpha SLT-A99 has a much larger image sensor than its other models, meaning higher resolution and sharpness. It is a whiz in low light and shoots terrific video, too.
It's also very expensive, ($2,800 for body only) so the A99 will appeal to serious hobbyists and pro photographers who also might consider cameras like the Canon 5D Mark III ($3,500 body only) or Nikon D600 ($2,000 body only).
But if you've been looking to upgrade from an entry-level SLR to a more serious model, you'll get a whole lot of camera for your money. Let's explore. With the A99 you'll see:
• Better, more consistent autofocusing than either the 5D or D600 for stills and, especially, for video.
• Cool features like automatic panorama stitching (unique to Sony cameras) and auto HDR processing. With HDR, the camera snaps three instant shots, one at normal exposure, one over-exposed and the other under-exposed. It then patches them together to get richer colors, a darker sky and more details in the shadows.
• A terrific professional workhorse that compares favorably to the Canon and Nikon. The A99 is easily Sony's best SLR to date.
The camera has a full-frame image sensor — roughly twice the size of Sony's equally terrific A77 camera, which was released a year ago. And with more pixels (24MP), there's more room for resolution and color.
The A99 has Sony's "translucent" mirror technology, which basically ditches the familiar mirror used in SLRs since the earliest days. The result is faster focusing and rapid-fire 12-frames-per-second shooting. (Comparatively, the 5D Mark III can shoot six frames per second. Shoot lots of images of your kids making funny faces and you'll see how 12 frames a second pays off.)
In the past the mirror helped photographers compose images by presenting a true rendition of a scene. Sony SLRs use an OLED electronic viewfinder instead.
Anyone who has struggled with autofocus on SLRs in dark environments (think sports, school plays) will love the results on the A99. The focus clicks in within fractions of seconds.
For video, the improved autofocus is even more of a big deal.
Focus is the big issue on cameras like the Canon 5D, the most popular model for DSLR video. You can use autofocus when you start recording, but if the subject moves, you won't be able to change focus without stopping the recording.
The great news for making video with the A99: The autofocus is quick, and responsive, and continues to function even once the recording has started.
The bad news: You can only make use of autofocus features for video if you're willing to shoot in automatic exposure mode.
That is a huge negative for pros. I always shoot in manual exposure for video (and stills) because I want accurate exposure. Auto overrides tend to give you wild mood swings if there's, say, a window behind a subject, or bright light of any type.
Sony attributes the auto exposure snag to a quirk with the translucent mirror.
Your workaround: Flip the lens from auto to manual focus. And for those of you who don't trust your eyes, Sony has a "focus peaking" feature that adds a colored line on the focus point to help properly align you. But caution: It's not 100% accurate.
When I reviewed the Sony A77 camera in 2011, I noted three shortcomings, two of which have been addressed and fixed with the A99.
• The hotshoe atop the A99 is no longer proprietary. That means you can now put accessories such as microphones, video lights and off-brand flash units atop the camera, and have them fit.
• Low-light video shooting has vastly improved. The A99 is terrific in low light, and unlike the A77, you can increase the light sensitivity to shoot in a much wider range of situations.
• The third is the auto exposure requirement for video, mentioned above, which is still an issue.
Sony has pulled out the stops for this camera, which competes successfully with top-of-the-line Canon and Nikon models. It's got a wider accessory lineup of sharp Zeiss lenses than in the past, and a cool new flash unit that doubles as a video light.
Bottom line
If you're in the market for an amazing DSLR, you have to pay serious attention to the A99. The autofocusing for stills can't be beat, the image quality is stellar, and features like the Sweep Panorama mode and HDR may sound gimmicky, but they work really well.
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