Sony α57 DSLR Camera Body

Over Delivers on Just About Everything!

Pros: HDR, Panorama, 12 FPS, A65-like design, IQ

Cons: Articulated screen w/ tripod, forget to turn off functions

Going on four weeks with the camera and it never leaves my side. This review may not end up being as extensive as some of the other excellent reviews that have been written, but I can confirm that this is a superb camera. It was amazing features that allow you to do some truly incredible things. First, what kind of consumer am I? I would consider myself an enthusiast photographer, I love having a DSLR (in this case a DSLT), composing my own photographs, but I am not about to start charging people for my services and unrefined skills. It is a great hobby of mine. I spent the equivalent of a few days (over several weeks) reading reviews, comparing, and learning about technologies before making my purchase. Sony really has been making leaps and strides in the their higher-end cameras, both the Alpha and the NEX lines. When considering cameras I was actually leaning towards the NEX-5N. I have had a Sony A100 since they were first released and, while I love it, I was very drawn to the small and sleek form factor of the NEX. It wasn't until I got a store and handled each of them and tested some of their abilities up-close that I (without any warning or looking back) chose the A57 over the NEX-5N. I am VERY satisfied with my choice. I have had the A57 for about a week now and have been blown away. The Multi-frame NR, Auto HDR, DRO, Panorama, and 12 FPS features of the camera are my favorites so far. They make taking photographs that you may not otherwise get, or have the time to properly compose/post produce SO easy! It is amazing how many useful features this camera has, ones that are far more refined than just a bunch of cheap point & shoot gimmicks for casual picture takers. The image quality of the camera is fantastic, colors are faithfully reproduced. The Auto WB may need a little tweaking now and again, but for the most part, that works great as well. The camera itself feels solid and of quality construction. Having a larger body, over the A55, is a very welcomed change. One thing that I am getting used to is having to frequently check to see if I have any of the many multi-frame functions turned on. The first couple days I kept forgetting that I had turned on the HDR or Multi-frame NR (through the ISO) for a previous shot and would end up finding out the camera again wanted to take six shots when I was only ready for and expecting a single shutter release. I have had to be constantly aware of the settings I am using; when I turn them on, and when i turn them off. Overall, I am extremely happy with this camera and with Sony. I plan to stick with them over Canon, Nikon, or Pentax for the next long while. Sony really has been raising the bar on what it means to be a truly DIGITAL-SLR and they are doing a fantastic job. I have and will continue to recommend this camera over its competitors, even those in the prosumer and semi-professional categories.

great features, poor cam execution

Pros: great freature set

Cons: performance is lacking i'm afraid.

Cant say enough good about the features offered on this line of cameras. Sony is setting hte standard high in this realm. However, the camera picture taking performance seems way immature to me. The jpeg engine is a joke relative to its peers, even relative to cheap P&S cams and there hv been a ton of complaints on this aspect but sony does little to address it, if at all. Noise abatement is overly agressive. The metering system is amateurish compared to more mature rivals. It often overexposes and clips sky details and other hi contrast scenes. Should be way better at metering these relatively common but tough exposures and at least not clipping anywhere near as much as it does. The auto and auto+ modes are completely worthless in my 1.5 months of experience with this cam. In auto (or auto+), the a57 rarely identifies the proper scene, rarely meters correctly except for really simple scenes, rarely gets the iso right on indoor shots (often chooses a really hi iso which will result in terrible noise, rather than pop the flash or lower the shutter speed), and rarely uses the flash with proper exposure (almost exclusively is too hot---not overexposed, just no background subtleties retained. Their metering seems to be, "make it bright to capture the subject, and lets not worry about the overall scene!"). Some affecionados may gripe that anybody uses the auto mode at all. Tough----sony offers it, i paid for it, i use it, and i EXPECT it to work far better than it does. Its really poor in this regard #and i've compared to nikon, canon, pentax systems and my comments are based on comparing to the competition, and are not personal based on my emotions#. In general, and in all modes, flash often tends to be too bright in nearly every use, even in program or A or S or whatever---at least in these modes, its compensation can be backed off to acceptable levels, but really no reason they can't get this right out of the box. Perhaps the most disappointing aspect of this cam line is sony's poor support in correcting these problems---there's a ton of commentary along the lines i've mentioned here,and sony doesnt appear to be very responsive to the criticism or suggestions, continuing to push these, shall we say, immaturities on a loyal buying public. They better wake up and deal with this stuff or they will find themselves losing market share as fast as they've gained it. Their features wont carry the day forever, afterall, its a camera and will ultimately be judged on its picture quality and performance relative to its peers. Overall, the features are great, as i've said, however, cam performance is 90% of what it should be in my opinion. sry, just how it comes down for me given the 8000 picts i've taken. Cant recommend it and I've returned it.

Sony A57

Pros: Great features and performance.

Cons: None

After reading a lot of reviews and asking questions in the store the A57 was the best bang for my budget. No matter how much or little you spend on a camera its only as good as the person who uses it. My first lens I bought for this camera is a prime lens SAL50F18 it takes great pictures and you have to move around if you want to be closer or farther away this makes you really think about the shot your about to take. When I am out on the go and need to be able to zoom from a distance I use the SAL18250. It gives me great versatility. For anyone that wants proper white balance and color never trust any camera entirely. Cameras come with presets for example white balance tungsten, cloudy etc they are never correct. Lighting situations are constantly changing. I recommend purchasing an xrite color checker passport when used correctly youll always have the correct white balance and the very best color your camera is capable of taking.

Sony a57

Pros: good pictures, battery life, videos, nice fit

Cons: focusing noise during video recording

Overall the camera is great! The HD videos are very clear and crisp. The area in which the a57 fails, is in video mode. The micrphones picks up the sounds of the camera auto focusing during recording. I have an 18-250mm sony lens without SAM and it is loud. SAM lenses perform a little better, but the noise is still there. I Did not have an SSM lens to try, but I can only guess that using an SSM lens would be the solution. This camera is going back. I will purchase again (a59?) when the sound problems have been resolved.

A great step up

Pros: Versatile, great quality photos, fast focus

Cons: bad placement of the digital zoom button

I am 2 months in to using this camera and I still haven't run through all the features. It is very easy to pick up and shoot after having the a200. The speed of focusing and shooting is amazing. Using 2 sony flashes in wireless is very easy and produces great photos. Just starting to do studiowork with it. So far it works great with my flash triggers and studio lighting. This was the perfect combination of features for my use. I have not found much opportunity to use the video features, just not a video person. I have a video camera for that. Time will tell if I find video a useful feature for me.

satisfied customer

Pros: easy for beginners/dummies

Cons: no xlr input

This is my first DSLR. I bought it for video. Being a noob to this level of technology I'm happy there are so many automatic settings. I prefer manual focus but as for the rest I let the camera handle it--ISO, white balance, all that jazz which I hardly understand. So far I've only shot indoors and once outdoor at night to see how it handled low light. I paired it with a 35mm f1.8 lens hoping for better low light. I guess I was hoping it to be as good as my eyes but not quite. Still, with a little outdoor light nearby it looks great. Maybe I just need to learn a bit more about low-light shooting. Anyway, I highly recommend this camera. I also purchased Sony's Vegas 11 Platinum HD Movie production suite, which so far has been very user-friendly. Next move will probably be a field sound recorder.

camera body and optional lens

Pros: high speed shots, button locations, battery life, workability

Cons: AVCHD too new for media players, lens cap not tethered to body, processing bulb shots time consuming

whether your a professional or amateur this cmera works for both, I like to talk to the people getting into DLSR's this camera has a help button that anything you do and don't understand all you have to do is press the (?) button and you'll get a description of whatever function your working with including a how to guide in the camera. I bought the body and ordered the 55mm- 200mm lens for $249, great overall lens, great auto focus, the zoom along with the digital zoom is excellent on color and distance, however for pics in small areas you have to back up quite a bit as this is a lens starting at 55mm. I really wish Sony would let us post more than 2 pics to show different aspects of this camera. The best video format is the AVCHD very silky smooth videos, but I have found no media players that will open or view the video as this format is so new media players haven't caught up with the technology yet. Only solution is to convert the video to mp4 which is really easy even for the novice using a program called Handbrake which can be downloaded for free. Over all nobody could possibly be unhappy with this camera.

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Wonderful camera

Pros: Low noise @ high ISO, well balanced body, clear image zoom, excellent battery life

Cons: EVF is a little hard to get used to

Bought this as an upgrade from the a380 and couldn't believe the difference in picture quality, especially at high ISO. Less noise @ ISO 3200 than the a380 had a ISO 800. Easier to handle (larger grip), much longer battery life (almost twice as long), and love the Sweep Panorama. Have even been able to take hand-held shots as slow as 1/5 of a second shutter speed. The only worry I had when I bought this was whether my Sigma lenses would work, especially the older ones, but they work perfectly. Sony has really hit a home run with this camera.

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