Sony SLT A57 Hands-on Preview: Digital Photography Review

Are you planning to post a review - 6 months after & still nothing. Seriously, few of us keep coming to see if anyone will bother to post a review, I see others even those reviewed after A57.

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2 upvotes

Leaving aside the jokes and bets, I don't understand why exactly this camera was chosen to try the readers patience...

1 upvote

deep into that darkness peering, long i stood there wonder, fearing, doubting if dpreview will ever review this camera.

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Part 6:

The final report:
If you want a camera that gives you fantastic pictures on a budget in the DSLR world. A camera that has blazing fast Continuous mode. A camera that shoots true 1080P 60 frames. A camera that has some nice onboard effects. A camera, that in my own opinion, is the best in its price range currently, the Sony A57 is the animal you want.

It seems that while Canon and Nikon are the two dogs on top of the pile, they are starting to skate by on their brand name. Sony wants some share in the DSLR world and is tossing in some features to entice buyers to converting over. Their biggest problem, in my opinion is that someone who has thousands of dollars in glass for a another brand is not going to be quick to jump ship. From what I know, you can get adaptors, but, you lose the AF features when you do.

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Nice review

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Part 5:

Sure, the T4i picked up a touch screen and a hybrid CMOS sensor for AF in video, and the DIGIC 5 processor, but, those do not contribute to the features that I need and looked for. Nice to have, but, not necessary.

The A57, as much as I love it, does have some things that may be of concern: First, is the AF camera noise when shooting video. There really is nothing you can do about this other than get an external mic or shut the audio off. Think about it, the mic is right next to the focus motor.

Next, I really love the display hinge on the Nikons and Canons better. I shoot video of myself because I am that sexy!! Not really, but, I do shoot videos of my self shooting bows and guns. Its nice to be able to hinge the disply out and flip it so I can see where I am in the shot. The Sony hinges off the bottom and makes this impossible as I use a tripod.

We did lose the GPS the A55 had, but, do you really need it? If you take pics of wild game, maybe, but I do not.

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Part4:
Sony A57 = happy camper! The camera just seems to have more features.....at least features I will use. It has some nice onboard effects. Sure, nothing compared to what I can do with Photoshop and the like, but, its nice to have simple onboard options.

The panoramic mode is amazing and I feel EVERY camera should have this feature. I have not tried out the 3D panorama mode yet, but, I will soon. The video is amazing, crisp, smooth and clear. Something the T3i could not give me. There was less noticeable pixel bleeding in Photoshop. ( Keep in mind, when I use Photoshop, it is usually with RAW format ). I can sing praises about the Sony A57 all night, but, there are some things I did like about the T3i and the D5100 better than the A57.

I did not consider the T4i simply because, while it does have some linear upgrades over the T3i, I feel like the T4i did not have the " Bang for the buck " feeling the A57 did.....it only shoots at 5 FPS.....not much improvement of the T3i.

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Part3:
Trying to justify keeping the Canon based on the brand. I took my pictures I had made and dumped them into Adobe CS6 Master Collection. There was quite a bit of bleeding within the pixels. Not a crazy amount, but, more than I would have suspected. I went out the next day with pretty good sunlight and a tripod. Reformatted the card in camera. Changed some settings and went back into Continuous mode shooting again. Same problem. Maybe a hair better, but, not by much. This was in JPEG only format by the way.

I knew immediately I had to return it....and I did. I brought the A57 home and charged it up, installed the same card that was in the T3i and formatted it. Right out of the box, I held the button down in Continuous mode and it took off like a bat out of hell! I had 23 good quality pictures in a very, very short time. Keep in mind, when you are in the 12 round burst, it is shooting at 8.0MP. In 16MP, it is a maximum of 10 shots per second. Still kicking the T3i in the pants

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Part 2:
The Canon T3i: I chose this over the Nikon D5100 simply because of the impressivness of the MP. A mistake all too often made, but, since they both had features and were missing features I really wanted, it seemed a no brainer due to price similarity.

It took good stills. It felt good in my hands. The menu was easy...sorta...it was a left to right scrolling menu. In a field with 5 icons across and 4 icons down, I could not navigate directly to the icon I wanted.....I had to keep scrolling to the right to get there. I also plan on using my camera to shoot my kids playing sports. I was in continuous mode and the Canon started bogging down after 4 pictures. This was in good lighting on a fairly bright day with a brand new 16GB class 10 card. It would eventually start to pick up again, but, it sounded like an old " hit and miss " engine. It was at this point and time i started to kick myself in the can for not spending the extra $100.00 on the Sony. Continued....

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Part1:
Well, I am brand new to DSLR cameras. I asked mounds of questions and did so much online research it was crazy. Here is my camera background and what happened to me. what happened to me:
My last 3 cameras were point and shoots. Canon of some sort that was around 5 MP, a Nikon L120 that my 3 year used for baseball hitting practice while it was on a tripod and a Nikon L126 that I cursed out for a month for having real blurry pictures when all it needed was a higher class memory card. So there is my camera background.

I had the Canon for a day and after some real sketchy bursts in continuous mode and some choppiness in video mode in good sunlight, I already knew I made a bad decision.

Now. my problem with buying a Sony product is their history on how they do things. They used to be the brand you bought, you paid a little more for, but, had a rock solid product. Recent history has changed that perception.

Continuing into a nother paragraph due to space limitations....

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2 upvotes

It seems like Canon spent some $ of their enormous marketing budget for dpreview to have them delay a full review of the a57 as it would excel the EOS 650D for sure ...

Maybe, maybe not.
I'm not sure but something is strange here ...

3 upvotes

I believe that the main problem is image quality of A57 which easily can beat DSLR's "top" competitiors (in the same range, of course, and I don't give names, you know it better) and this issue cannot be handled so easy in order to not shown that... Maybe Pentax can do this, but Sony, and more than that SLT?!? Who will believe this? That is the main issue I think... Please do not judge me, but this is only my opinion...

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Maybe they will skip this and wait for a59, considering shelf life of sony cams

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Can we get a review on the a57 already please? Thank you.

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Now the a57 won the EISA award "Best SLR camera 2012/2013" and still no full review ?
It's not just some petty toy but the best camera in it's class!
A full review would be obvious...

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the sony cash back offer just expired and still no review on this camer... why was the 650d and d3200 reviewed before this camera??a57 been out sicne april!!!

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this camera came out in april and we are still waiting for a review... eos 650d came out last month and its already reviewed... d3200 as weill... please dpreview can you make a review in the next 2 days, before the sony cash back ends.

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DPREVIEW - please clarify so as not to waste any more time.

Many assume that a PRE-VIEW implies that there will be a RE-VIEW, no?

If that is not the case then please state so or tell us when a REVIEW will be posted.

thanks

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When I wondered recently why there was still no review in the Sony forum, some of the responses said it was because they don't review cameras that are similar to previous models. Well, today's review of the Samsung NX210 (which was announced a full month after the A57) blows that theory out of the water.

In any event, if a member submits a question to the editor, will a tree fall in the forest?

3 upvotes

Has dpreview ever responded to any of the complaints about how slow they are to review this camera?

By not responding they seem arrogant and aloof.

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I guess they never see what we posted here, they just know there're some discussions instead of complains.

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I've started to think that the camera had his own conscience and refused to be reviewed...

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In addition to a full review of the SONY, we are still awaiting an official take on the Canon Rebel 4ti. Any reason for the delay?

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Maybe the Nokia 808 review. LOL

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Meantime (until the full review will come) who wants to bet on the score?!?
I bet on 78% based on the DPR style and, of course, on my personal impression after one month of intense usage!

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80% + for sure

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From my experience since buying this camera, one would hope 90%+. It's truly excellent

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I write those words exactly after few minutes from DPRW notification message about A57 review... Finaly! and it seems that my bet fits with the conclusion of DPRW! Sincerely I'm not so sure that I am happy, because in some corners of my soul I hoped that the final result conclusion of DPRW to be higher than my expectation...

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when will the review come?? it has been over 3 months since the camera was released. also am waiting to the 650d and k30 reviews.

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650d is already reviewed.... and the camera came out last month... slta57 came out in april.. and we are still waiting for a review

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I'm thinking of upgrade from A55 to A57 for the better EVF, longer battery life, no overheating and a margin of picture quality. However, when I tested one A57 in Best Buy, I found it won't refocus when I used continue shooting, while A55 does well. I did notice that if you set shooting mode to sport then A57 can continue refocus. It's really disappointed since I use continue shooting a lot to capture my kids' moving. I'm not sure if there is one option to switch the continue refocus on/off. Please let me know if you have a solution. Thanks.

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The new firmware fixes the AF issue in the Intelligent mode(s).

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Please doa full review I have 10 days to decide to buy this or not

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its been over three months... i am not sure if a review is even comming out. ..

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I wonder when dpreview.com is going to do a full review of the camera? It would help to make a buying decision!

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Just held onto one of these in a Best Buy. The larger size is much nicer to hold in my opinion than the A55, which was too small for my tastes. Not sure what this thing is the ever shrinking of the camera bodies down. Lets face it folks, EVF's and mirrorless (in whatever form) are the future. There's a whole younger generation that couldn't care less about OVF vs EVF, and then there is the quietness of not having that annoying (IMO) mirror slap in the traditional DSLR (and yes I do own a mirrored DSLR with an OVF). I'll wait a year or so and see what the big boys (Nikon, Canon) and Olympus come out with in the mirrorless, EVF in a DSLR body. But for now, Sony is the trend setter.

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At a graduation, pictures taken at 55mm of the graduation floor with the students, I tried several modes: Intelligent Auto+, and two scene selections: speed burst and the nighttime scene where it captures 6 quick images together. In all situations, the pictures were ISO 2400 or more, and every single picture was noisy and it was impossible to even consider trying to crop the picture at all. I also tried video at 24FPS and the quality was terrible.

Back home later, I took indoor pics in our family room with reasonable daylight coming into the room. This time, I left it in the intelligent Plus and Intelligent Plus+ modes. Again, every picture came in at around 2400 - 3200 ISO. It's not like the camera even attempted to take use a lower ISO and bump the shutter or aperture. The results were horrendous. Every picture was noisy and grainy. Full 16MP pictures that clocked in around 6MB file sizes taken 4-6 feet from the subject were noticeably grainy and had zero detail.

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I've had this camera for over a month and have shot maybe 1500 frames under a lot of different conditions including products in the studio. I really like it. Fast focus and tracking, fast start up, fast next shot and multi frame shooting. Only took about a day of study to figure it out and now I'm comfortable with it. Got a 18-250 lens & 18-55. Standard lens is pretty good. This camera really impresses me all the way up to 3200 ISO. Use the compare tool and check the test shot against the big boys at higher ISOs. The proof is in the pudding. Now maybe I'll get the new RX100 as an easy carry all.

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IMHO the increase in size and loss of the GPS are a plus. I don't need the latter and I don't get the fuss over the former when far too many cameras are too blasted small...hard to hold onto the little things! The A57 is small but not too much so, it feels good in the hand. The value for money proposition still looks pretty good from where I sit. The EVF surprised me most of everything when I tried it (and yes, I tried the OLED one in the A65 also, it's a bit nicer but the A57's LCD still looked really good.) I never thought I'd be impressed by an EVF...give me an OVF or give me death, and get off my lawn <vbg!> but Sony's making me into a believer. It looks to me like the fabled Mind of Minolta is alive and well, at least in part...just sporting a Sony hat nowadays. :-)

3 upvotes

I'm hesitating between slt-a57 and pentax k-5. K-5 is around $150 more. Which one should I get?

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K-5 is at $975.

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which memory card should i use to gain the 10 frame per second and maximum totals numbers of pictures?
Can this one do it?( SanDisk 64GB Extreme SDXC UHS-I Memory Card, 45MBps Read/Write Speeds)http://www.adorama.com/IDSSD64GE45.html

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i am thinking that this will be my next camera. i was willing to buy a pentax k-r but due to focus problems i read on various forums i think i made my mind for a57 or pentax k30 (waiting for first review)
but i want to ask you something about sample jpegs. i find the a bit 10% soft. especially the lady portrait. of course it could be the lens or default sharpening or focus point but anyway just wondering if its only me i spotted this.
thank you.
what about sony lenses? are there any good prime ones affordable? under 200$?

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I just picked up an A57 for the exact same reason and I love it. I got the SAL50F18 50mm prime for around $150 and it is drastically better than the kit lense. Is it a Zeiss lense? Not by a long shot, but it is remarkable for the price.

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Getting ready to get either the A57 or Nex 5N. Moving on from a Nikon D50.

Wondering first and foremost about the difference in picture quality and secondly if I can do without the viewfinder.

I would appreciate any thoughts or comments.

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My dad just bought one of these and loves it so far. He says the feature set is intimidating though.

I still love my Nikon D50. Heading to Alaska for a couple weeks with my dad so I'll probably end up stealing his A57 to replace my D50 after seeing the difference in quality lol.

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Hallo, I am a photo enthusiast NO PRO and I am thinking about buying Sony a57 I am acually between this model ans a65 with Sony lenses 18-250 mm 3.5-6.3. I would appreciate any thoughts/suggestions.

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Personally, I just cannot accept the high ISO performance of A65. A57 seems perfect for my use.

I'm also think about the lense, really like the one go with A77 (16-50 F2.8), but also have the same thoughs as you one lense for traveling. The 16-50 really has a good picture qulity and can really help for in-door and low light during travel. The actual range on A57 will be 24-75 only, but plus the "clear image" feature, I can get same result as 150mm in some cases. Almost enough for travel.

For sony 18-250mm, I perfer Tamron 18-270 (B008). Provide at least same image qulity, but lighter and shorter and larger range.

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I agree. I bought the A77 with 16-50mm this past Wednesday. I was testing it for 3 to 4 hrs and I cannot accepted the noise and sharpening application on jpeg even at ISO 800. I returned it and ordered the A57.

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Hi DPR,

The Oly OMD-EM5 did already with full review...When is this a57 in deep review?
Looking forward..

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Looking forward DPR full detail review on this a57......

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Just bought this camera and plan to shoot video of a wedding in July. Any advise on what card to use and any other suggestions?

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Samsung SD class 10 Plus, which can reach over 20M write speed.
Note, nomal Samsung SD class 10, only can reach 10xM/s in write speed.

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Any class 10 card should work.. But the fastest cards right now are the 95MB/s one and they are not that expensive on Amazon

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can we edit pics in camera with those picture effects?? or we have to choose picture effect before clicking...

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Hello, Dpreview. Are you going to release a full review about this camera? I've been waiting for it before buying the camera. Thank you

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Is the Alpha 57 " Intelligent Auto/superior Auto" identical to the Alpha 65 "Auto/Auto+" mode ? And, is it identical to the Nex-5N Auto modes? (I returned the latter for the clicking noice in videos, though I very much liked the camera).

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Have a new question for you experts out there. I got some great advice and thus just bought a new Tamron 18-270mm lenses for my Sony a57. The 18-270mm is suppose to give you 15x at full 270mm.

But when I compare my 15X 270mm images to my ole cheap Sony H1 point & shoot at full 12X, the H1 full 12x images are larger in telephoto size compared to the Tamron 270mm 15X images. What am i missing here?

The Tamron 18-270mm is great IQ, but just wondering why 15x is less zoom than 12X? Thanks in advance, regards, Dan.

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Allowing for focal length multiplier due to a smaller than full frame sensor, the 35mm equivalent zoom for the 18-270mm Tamron on the A57 is 27mm - 405mm (X15). The lens on the H1 is X12 from a higher 35mm equivalent at the wide end - 36mm - 432mm (X12), taking the long end past the 405mm of the Tamron.

Take a picture on both cameras at the wide end of the zoom and the Tamron/A57 combo will show a wider scene than the H1.

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MM819, or anyone else -- I bought the a57 last week, and want to get a 18-200mm, or 18-250mm telephoto lenses .... do not want to change lenses etc, plus i am partial to 11-14x. How does, or what would you recommend regarding which lenses to get -- Sony, Tamron, or Sigma lenses. Sony's is $550 for 18-200mm, and $650 for 18-250mm.

I appreciate any input from this board re; which lenses and why, and price .. regards.

PS -got the a57 last week at Best, and downloaded the new firmware .. waiting to take it outside after i get a 18-200-250mm. I have the 18-55mm kit lenses, but need more telephoto for type images i like to shoot. A57 is awesome quick focus, and exceptional video & audio .... way way superior to the video on T3i or Nikon 5100 which i wanted to buy, but waited.

PS2 - thanks to you folks who posted info that Best had the a57 April 16th -last week. Got mine on 17th after Sony posted that the firmware was online to download. Regards.

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Hi dand5100, I've been using the Sony SAL18250 since my first Sony DSLR, the A350 around 2007/2008, the Sony SAL18200 is quite difficult to find because the 250's extra reach (although not by much) made it so much more attractive to people looking for a very flexible walkaround lens. I believe Tamron has a 18-270 zoom for minolta mount, at around the same price as the Sony's 250. What I can tell you about the 250 is that it is a very good all-around zoom, considering its impressive zoom power, and in terms of both CA and distortion supression, and sharpness. Granted, at 18mm things will look somewhat distorted, but from around 30mm onwards, the lens is almost distortion free, with sharp images from the center to the corners, all the way up to 250mm with very little CA. The smaller apetures however mean you won't get much bokeh unless you do some extra framing work (and putting your subjects really close to you, the lens can lock focus at 45cm from the sensor at all focal lengths).

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Maddrew -- Thxs for your input .... sounds like you endorse the 18-250mm Sony. I have compared via dpreview the different 18-250's and 18-200's, and 18-270 etc, but wanted to get some hands on experience regarding which of these different brand 18-200-250-270 lenses was best with sony's Alpha series cams.

Again, thanks for the input regarding sony 18-250 ... may go that way unless i hear from some other folks ... regards

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Just ordered an A57 with Tamron 18-200mm lens. Bought a Nikon D5100 a week ago, what a waste of time. I didn't like that Nikon at all. I've had a Sony A560 and a A55, sent the 55 back after I saw some ghost images in a couple of night shots, it was a shame, because I really liked everything else about it. This 57 looks solid. I really like the way the Sony's process the colors, a tad warmer than Canon, I prefer them.

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Hello, DPreview. When are you going to post a full review about this new Sony. I'm anxious to read it. Thank you for such a great site.

6 upvotes

Hi all
I like the photografi but also I like to make videos.

I want to buy a reflex camera to make photos and also to film,
something important to me is the fps (frames per second) that can film the camera, because I like to film fast things, and I want to make slow motions, and I'm looking for a camera which can film at 60fps, but I can't spend a lot of money, at most, 800 or 900€.
I have found the canon EOS 550D and the 600D that both are bery similar (if I have to choose probably I would choose the 600D, because it has a litle more qualiti and the regulable scren) both can film at 1080p at 30fps or 720p at 60fps.
however recently I have found the Sony Alpha A57 which can film at 1080p at 60fps, and this price isn't too expensive.
The people says that Canon or nikon are the best for reflex cameras but what's up whith sony?, and that I want to ask you is:
which of this cameras can you recomend to me?

Thanks, Eric

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I think it is a really individual decision you have to make by yourself in the end. Canon and Nikon has a better reputation, but keep in mind that Sony started by buying Minolta, so they have some good technology and competence as well.

If you don't currently own a DSLR, you are really free to choose whichever you want. Many people already have for instance Canon lenses, and would rather stick with that "system", but if you start fresh, that is not an issue.

Decide what is more important to you, video or photos. Personally, I think the video capabilities of the A57 are better than the Canon/Nikon you mention. It does utilize a translucent mirror which means that it is able to constantly focus quicker during video than the other ones.

On the downside, the translucent mirror means some light is lost, so it is a little bit worse in low light conditions (more noise).

All cameras are ultimately good. Sony tends to add more features to break into the market, but some may be gimmicky.

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I was fixing to pick up the A35 mainly because I have some fine minny glass but after reading this I think I will wait for the A57.

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Creative Style
Give your photos and movies a creative look with Creative Style settings. Depending on the scene and your creative intentions, simply select any of 6 customizable settings (Standard, Vivid, Portrait, Landscape, Sunset, or Black & White) and the camera will adjust color and other image parameters accordingly. You can also fine-tune contrast, saturation6 and sharpness to suit your personal preference and achieve just the right finishing touch.

Picture Effect
Ordinary scenes become extraordinary photos and movies with Picture Effect. Choose from 11 customizable modes and 15 effects that significantly increase visual impact by adjusting camera parameters and applying advanced processing techniques. Settings include HDR Painting, Richtone Monochrome, Soft Focus and a Miniature mode that makes subjects look like miniature models. You can even monitor most effects in real time while shooting.

More Detail :
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B007ILK234/tipfla-20

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