Sensory Perception

The 5D Mark III is an upgraded version of Canon’s 5D Mark II. This camera offers high-speed continuous shooting at six frames per second,which is more than what its competitors offer. It is great for low-light photography. Although priced high,its quality video makes it ideal for documentary filmmakers and photojournalists.

If you are a DSLR purist,the latest of Sony’s Alpha series cameras,the A57 will leave you feeling slightly disappointed. Press the shutter release button and the “click” sound,which is music to every purist’s ears,is missing. But once you get over the DSLR hangover,you will realise that the A57 is not to be taken lightly. It has enough features to make DSLR makers take it seriously.

The Sony A57 is an SLT (single lens translucent) camera where the semi-transparent mirror in front of the sensor does not move and lets light fall on the sensor all the time. This allows full-time autofocus,even while shooting videos,and 10 frame-per-second (fps) shooting. This is a combination yet to be seen in the market (Canon offers full-time auto focus with its brand new EOS 650D).

That’s not all. The A57 has a 16.1-megapixel CMOS sensor (image sensor) seen in the best of DSLRs. One can experience DSLR-style shooting with the A57. Though,when compared to DSLRs,its electronic viewfinder is disappointing. However,it is good if you think it’s better to have it,than not. Also,the A57’s rubberised grip feels nice to hold even if it’s encased in an all-plastic body.

The TFT (thin film transistor) screen on the camera is capable of both tilting and swivelling,making it convenient to take angled pictures. Since,Sony has included its image stabilisation technology (SteadyShot Inside) in this camera,photographers don’t need to invest in special lenses for image stabilisation. In video mode,A57 delivers super smooth Full HD recording capability and offers a choice of 1080p/60fps AVCHD format or the PC-friendly 1080p/30fps MP4 format.

Sony’s menu styling makes its wide range of features easily accessible,even to first-time users (like me). Beginners and enthusiasts will also experience sharper pictures in low-light conditions using the A57’s multi-frame noise reduction and hand-held twilight feature where it captures six images,combines them and creates a single picture with reduced blur.

The camera boasts of features such as Picture Effects with retro,pinhole and miniature options,Clear Image Zoom with digital zoom,sweep panorama mode,and 3D sweep panorama mode,besides auto-portrait framing. The Clear Image Zoom feature is very handy. Though the zoom is digital,it leaves little room for complaint (when there is enough light). I would like to have this feature on my DSLR. The sweep panorama mode is a delight. A word of caution though: avoid clicking moving objects in this mode. The kit lens (18-55mm,with aperture F3.5 to F5.6) that came with the review unit is good enough,but a faster lens is always better. The battery lasts for around a day,less if you shoot videos. Overall,the camera is good value for money at Rs 45,990.

Sony has been introducing new ideas to the market for a long time,such as the Betacam,memory stick,Universal Media Disc,and E-mount lens,but most of them failed because of poor marketing. The latest Sony idea is the SLT camera. The SLT A 57 has left me happy,but marketing this new technology in an already saturated DSLR market is an entirely different challenge.