No More Reflex...

T he last four years have seen many camera manufacturers attempting to eliminate the ‘reflex’ with their innovative methods. While Nikon, Olympus, and Panasonic eliminated the mirror itself in their interchangeable systems, Sony adapted the concept of the pellicle mirror, which they call Translucent Mirror Technology, thereby retaining the mirror, yet eliminating the problems associated with the reflex action. The Sony SLT A-77 (also known as Alpha-77) is the first in the SLT (Single Lens Translucent) series reviewed by SmartPhotography.

Design and Build Quality The Sony A-77 has a tough engineering plastic exterior. It has a broad hand grip and incorporates some design elements reminding you of Nikon and Pentax cameras. Some of these are the command dials at the front and back of the hand grip and the power switch mounted along with the shutter release button, typical of Nikon. The fully articulated LCD screen is designed intuitively and can be rotated and locked. The camera features metal lens and tripod mounts and a well-mounted built-in flash.

Key Features The 24.3 megapixel Sony SLT A-77 uses an Exmor APS (23.5 x 15.6mm) HD CMOS sensor for imaging. The sensor unit features a dust reduction system using charge protection coating on the low pass filter along with image-sensor shift mechanism that dislodges any dust that may settle on the sensor. The camera features an in-body sensor-