As you might guess, the Alpha 77 II replaces the Alpha 77, which is now discontinued, and it has an almost identical shape and design. As before, the new camera is aimed at enthusiast photographers who want a step up from an entry-level model. It sits under the full-frame Alpha 99 in Sony’s SLT line-up.
FEATURES
Like the Alpha 77, the A77 II has a 24-million-pixel sensor, but this is a new device that benefits from the progress that has been made with sensor design in the two-and-half years since the A77 first arrived. Also, for the first time in an A-mount camera, the sensor signal is processed by a Bionz X engine. This has given Sony the confidence to allow sensitivity to be set in the native range ISO 100-25,600 for still images, with a low expansion setting of ISO 50 also available.
One of the benefits of the SLT design is that there can be full-time phase-detection autofocus during movie shooting and when composing images on the rear screen. Sony has used a newly developed phase-detection sensor with 79 AF points (15 of which are the more sensitive cross-type) in the Alpha 77 II. Sensor development means that the A77 II’s CCD AF sensor produces less electronic noise than previous devices and this helps with autofocusing speed and accuracy, as well as boosting low-light performance.
Spot AF performance is also claimed to have been improved, with weighting given to the centre of the spot. There’s a collection of AF-point selection options including Wide, Zone, Flexible Spot, Local, Expanded Flexible Spot and Lock-on AF. In Expanded Flexible Spot mode, you select one AF point and the camera supports this with the surrounding eight points, which is useful when shooting a moving subject.
It’s also possible to adjust the AF tracking duration across five levels via the menu. The low settings are useful when the subject distance isn’t expected to change quickly, while high levels suit shooting subjects at different distances. In addition, a new AF Range Control option allows you to restrict the AF to working within a specific distance range – useful when there are objects between the camera and the subject.
According to Sony, almost all of its A-mount lenses are compatible with the 79 AF points, although only 61 are available when you’re shooting at 12fps. Sony’s 500mm f/8 lens is a notable, but not surprising, exception: it will allow only the centre AF point to be used.
As suggested above, the A77 II can shoot a maximum rate of 12 frames per second with AF tracking, and the buffer has capacity to allow up to 25 raw and JPEG images to be captured in a single burst, but aperture is locked at the start of the sequence.
Other pleasing additions to the A77 II’s featureset include an HDMI port, which can supply clean video output to external storage devices, and Wi-Fi connectivity. As the A77 II has an NFC chip, owners of NFC-enabled smartphones and tablets can connect to the camera by touching the two devices together. Interestingly, despite the presence of Wi-Fi connectivity, the A77 II cannot make use of Sony’s PlayMemories Camera apps.
BUILD AND HANDLING
Sony has given the Alpha 77 II the same tough feel, overall shape and control layout as the A77, and the vertical grip that was produced for the original model can be used with the new camera. There are a few differences, however: there are 27 features that can be assigned to one of the 12 slots in the Function menu, for example. It’s also possible to customise the function of many of the buttons, but the default settings work well.
If you like using Picture Effects (Toy Camera, Pop Color, Posterization, Retro Photo, Soft High-key, Partial Color, High Contrast Mono, Soft Focus, HDR Painting, Rich-tone Monochrome, Miniature, Watercolor and Illustration are provided), it’s worth assigning this and image quality to the Function menu so that you can quickly turn off raw recording “Almost all of Sony’s A-mount lenses are compatible with the A77 II’s 79 AF points” Zooming in on the… sony Alpha 77 II Sony’s made important changes from the A77 The hotshoe has changed from the Sony (Minolta) proprietary shape to the more common universal style. It also has contacts for a wide range of accessories.
The vari-angle mechanism on the rear LCD screen seems a little over-complicated. As SLTs have a fixed translucent mirror, the A77 II has an electronic rather than optical viewfinder. The mode dial has been updated with a lock button to prevent it from being knocked out of position. Strangely, Sony has continued with having the 12fps shooting option located on the mode dial. FOr TEST IMAgES AnD rESOlUTIOn CHArTS, vISIT WWW.teCh rADAr.COM/ CAMerAs Canon eOs70D Price £849 / $1,099 This 20.2MP SLR has a responsive vari-angle touchscreen, and captures great images. reviewed:Issue 144 Meet the rivals… There’s a choice of SLRs and CSCs at this price point Fujifilm X-t1 Price £988 / $1,299 This SLR-style CSC has an excellent electronic viewfinder and traditional exposure controls. and access the effects. As with other Sony cameras, the Creative Style options (Standard, Vivid, Neutral, Clear, Deep, Light, Portrait, Landscape, Sunset, Night, Autumn, Black & White and Sepia), which give JPEG images a particular appearance, can be used when shooting raw images simultaneously.
While the three-inch 1,229k-dot vari-angle screen is useful for composing images from awkward angles, the articulating hinge seems unnecessarily complicated, and it takes a while to get used to its quirks and limitations. The hinges on cameras such as the Canon 70D and Nikon D5300 are much more straightforward.
As on the Sony A7 and 7R, the 2.3-million-dot electronic viewfinder (EVF) is bright and clear, with plenty of detail visible. As usual with an EVF, this brings the benefit of seeing the image as it will be captured. However, when the brightness is set to Automatic rather than manual, the extra gain applied in dark conditions can mean that the viewfinder image looks significantly brighter than the final image, so it’s best to set the brightness to Manual.
PERFORMANCE
Even at the highest selectable sensitivity setting of ISO 25,600, noise is controlled well in raw files, having a fine texture with no banding or clumping visible at 100% on-screen. With careful processing, it’s possible to conceal most of the coloured speckling in raw files and produce an image with just luminance noise giving some grain. Simultaneously captured JPEG files look softer than their raw counterparts, and close examination reveals a painterly texture with slightly sharpened edges. They generally look acceptable viewed at A3 size, but we prefer the slightly sharper, grainer look of the raw files. As you’d hope with a 24MP sensor, the A77 II is capable of recording a high level of detail at the lower sensitivity setting.
While the A77 II’s AF system struggled a little more than the Canon 5D Mark III in the low, flat light of an unlit music gig, there were no such problems with a fast-moving subject in good light. It was positive, fast and accurate. In continuous AF mode with AF selection set to Expanded Flexible Spot, it got rowers sharp in a flash and was able to keep them sharp by using the surrounding points when panning. When AF selection was set to Lock-on AF: Flexible Spot or Lock-on AF: Expanded Flexible Spot, it also tracked them around the frame if the original AF point wasn’t kept in the correct location.
As usual, AF performance varies according to the lens that’s mounted, and a good optic is required to get the best from the Alpha 77 II. It performs very well with the 70-200mm f/2.8, for example, but is a little more hesitant in low light with the 85mm f/2.8 – which also has a much noisier focus mechanism.
We used the Multi-segment metering system almost exclusively during this test. Although we shot in a wide range of conditions, there were only a few when a little exposure compensation was required. The system isn’t easily thrown by large bright or dark areas within the scene. Colours are also good straight from the camera, and the white balance system general does a good job when set to the Automatic setting.
VERDICT
While the changes made to the Alpha 77 II may not seem dramatic, Sony has worked on the most important aspects – the sensor and processor – to boost speed and image quality, as well as the autofocus performance. Many will recognise that it’s sensible to stick with the same pixel count as with the Alpha 77: 24 million pixels capture enough detail for most purposes and allow big prints to be made. The files are large without being unmanageable by the average modern computer.
The AF system improvements and the A77 II’s ability to control noise at high sensitivity levels, combined with the general high quality of the images, makes it a versatile camera that will be attractive to enthusiast photographers who want to shoot a wide range of subjects in a variety of conditions.
OVERALL
We sAY: The A77 II’s image quality is excellent, even at high sensitivity settings, and the autofocus system is fast and accurate. It’s a great choice for enthusiasts who want versatility from their camera.
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