Sony Alpha SLT-A33 Overview
Just three months after launching the NEX-3 and NEX-5 single-lens direct-view (SLD) cameras, Sony offers up yet another interchangeable lens alternative to the traditional DSLR, with the Alpha SLT-A33, and its closely-related sibling the SLT-A55. Instead of being mirrorless, the new digital cameras employ a "translucent mirror," more commonly known as a pellicle mirror. This advanced translucent mirror remains fixed in place during operation, allowing most of the light to reach the imaging sensor, while a small percentage is reflected to a dedicated autofocus sensor.
It's what this high technology allows that's so exciting: real-time, phase-detect autofocus while firing off up to seven 14-megapixel frames per second in the A33, and ten 16-megapixel images per second in the A55. Few other large-sensor cameras offer frame rates this fast. DSLRs rivalling the A33's speed are available for a little over $1,500, while only professional cameras that cost around $5,000 can match the speed of the A55 -- and they're still not capable of real-time autofocus between shots like the new Sony Alpha SLT cameras. Real-time phase-detect autofocus is also constantly available in Movie mode, something no current SLR can achieve.
While the translucent mirror design isn't quite as space-efficient as the mirrorless design of an SLD camera, it's still smaller than that of a traditional SLR, most of which need to provide room for the mirror to swing upward before image capture can commence. That translates to an uncommonly compact body by SLR standards, although it's still a bit larger than an SLD, especially in terms of body thickness. Unlike SLD cameras, though, the Sony SLT cameras all accept the entire line of standard Alpha-mount lenses, a significant advantage if you already own a large collection of Alpha-mount glass.
Since the translucent mirror only reflects enough light to provide for the autofocus sensor, not an optical viewfinder as most pellicle designs permit, Sony has adopted full-time live view in the Alpha A33 and A55. In place of the optical viewfinder from a traditional SLR, the SLT cameras have an electronic viewfinder with 1,152,000 dot resolution. The EVF LCD is time-multiplexed -- that is to say, it shows each color in sequence at every pixel location, rather than the separate, adjacent color dots of most electronic viewfinders. This makes it harder to distinguish individual pixels. The Sony SLT-series cameras also sport a wide-aspect 3-inch LCD with 921,600-dot resolution. Taking full advantage of the camera's full-time live view shooting, the super-slim LCD tilts 180 degrees vertically, and swivels 270 degrees for easy viewing from most any angle. The cameras also include TruBlack technology borrowed from Sony's picture frames.
Several hot features were brought over from Sony's NEX and Cyber-shot digital cameras, including Sweep Panorama, 3D Sweep Panorama, Auto High-Dynamic Range, and Handheld Twilight modes, each of which strategically combine and align several images into one seamless shot. It's pretty impressive stuff. As if that weren't enough, Sony has added an extra mode for the SLT-series cameras -- Multi-Frame NR -- which operates similarly to the handheld twilight mode, but allows the ISO sensitivity to be specified.
The Sony Alpha A33 lacks one feature found in the A55V (the only version of the A55 that's sold in the US market) -- a built-in GPS receiver. It's still possible to geotag images and movies from the A33, but doing so will rely on an external GPS logging device and PC software that can backtrack to calculate the location at which images and movies were shot -- not nearly as seamless a solution as the A55V's ability to geotag images and movies straight out of the box.
The Sony Alpha A33 accepts both Memory Stick Pro Duo / Pro-HG Duo, and SD / SDHC / SDXC media, and is powered by an InfoLithium battery pack.
The Sony A33 ships in the US market from mid-October 2010, with pricing of US$750 for the camera body and an 18-55mm kit lens, or $650 for the body only package.
| Resolution: | 14.20 Megapixels |
|---|---|
| Kit Lens: | 3.00x zoom 18-55mm (27-83mm eq.) |
| Viewfinder: | EVF / LCD |
| LCD Size: | 3.0 inch |
| ISO: | 100-12800 |
| Shutter: | 30-1/4000 |
| Max Aperture: | 3.5 |
| Mem Type: | MS PRO Duo / SD / SDHC / SDXC |
| Battery: | Custom LiIon |
| Dimensions: | 4.9 x 3.6 x 3.3 in. (124 x 92 x 85 mm) |
| Weight: | 25.6 oz (725 g) includes batteries, kit lens |
| MSRP: | $750 |
| Availability: | 09/2010 |
| Test Summary (Mouse over items for explanations) | |
|---|---|
| Power-on Time | 0.8 sec |
| Shutter Lag, Full Autofocus | 0.215 sec |
| Shutter Lag, Prefocused | 0.102 sec |
| Shot to Shot time | 0.98 sec |
| Continuous Speed | 7.06 fps (13 shots) |
| Best Macro | 2.56x1.69 in 65x43mm |
| Viewfinder accuracy (Optical) | 99% |
| Viewfinder accuracy (LCD) | 99% |
| Distortion (Wide Angle) | 1.1% |
| Distortion (Telephoto) | -0.0% |
| Battery Life (CIPA standard) | 270 shots |
| Pro: | Con: |
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