A77 owners opinions wanted please

[Jinden]

Hello everyone thank you in advance for your opinions.....​

Ok so I am looking at a new DSLR purchase and seem attracted to the Nikon 7100 and the Sony a77 and would love to know if you wonderful Sony people looked at the Nikon camera when you made your buying decision and would love to hear why you chose the Sony.


I have held both in well lit stores and must say the Nikon certainly feels more "traditional" with its optical viewfinder etc but the Sony has me interested with some of the non traditional things it can do like panoramic shooting and 3d etc.


I will mainly be shooting family activities and children sport and can see the Sony's LCD screen as more helpful here for taking shots holding the camera above my head or low to the ground but feel that the Nikon was more responsive so feel it is better for making sure I do not miss anything and also I shoot a lot indoors so feel the low light on the Nikon may be better.
Having said that the high burst mode on the Sony is appealing for school sport etc....




Anyway my current camera is an old old cannon DSLR and see this next purchase as another 5 - 10 year investment and Sony still seems so unknown at this level. In every store I go into they know about cannon and Nikon but not the Sony so much, so sorry for the wall of text I am just hoping that some current A77 owners can help tell me why they chose that camera.


Cheers

 

[skieur]

Hello everyone thank you in advance for your opinions.....​

Ok so I am looking at a new DSLR purchase and seem attracted to the Nikon 7100 and the Sony a77 and would love to know if you wonderful Sony people looked at the Nikon camera when you made your buying decision and would love to hear why you chose the Sony.


I have held both in well lit stores and must say the Nikon certainly feels more "traditional" with its optical viewfinder etc but the Sony has me interested with some of the non traditional things it can do like panoramic shooting and 3d etc.


I will mainly be shooting family activities and children sport and can see the Sony's LCD screen as more helpful here for taking shots holding the camera above my head or low to the ground but feel that the Nikon was more responsive so feel it is better for making sure I do not miss anything and also I shoot a lot indoors so feel the low light on the Nikon may be better.
Having said that the high burst mode on the Sony is appealing for school sport etc....




Anyway my current camera is an old old cannon DSLR and see this next purchase as another 5 - 10 year investment and Sony still seems so unknown at this level. In every store I go into they know about cannon and Nikon but not the Sony so much, so sorry for the wall of text I am just hoping that some current A77 owners can help tell me why they chose that camera.


Cheers

On the website www.imaging-resource.com, when comparing test images at ISO 1600 low light, the Nikon 7100 showed slightly more picture noise than the A77.

On the A77:

1. No flipping mirror, so the shutter is quieter for shooting during ceremonies and the lack of vibration means you can handhold the A77 at slower shutterspeeds and therefore lower light than the Nikon 7100
2. In camera panorama shooting
3. In camera HDR shooting
4. Multi-shot low noise reduction
5. Playback and what you see is what you get in BOTH the viewfinder, and the live view screen
6. GPS location recordable on photos
7. HDMI out to TV for tethering and playback
8. Multiple picture and scene modes that are customizable to shoot your style
9. Camera buttons can be programmed/changed to what you want, if you have different preferences.
10. Bracketing exposures can be done in high speed mode.
11. Depth of field preview on screen

 

[KmH]

3. In camera HDR shooting. Nikon D7100 too.
6. GPS location recordable on photos. Nikon D7100 GPS is at least recordable in the image EXIF metadata and on the rear LCD when a suitable GPS unit is attached to the camera.
7. HDMI out to TV for tethering and playback. The Nikon D7100 has HDMI output too for tethering and playback/display.
9. Camera buttons can be programmed/changed to what you want, if you have different preferences. At the least some/several of the D7100 buttons have settings options.
10. Bracketing exposures can be done in high speed mode. Yep. D7100 also.
11. Depth of field preview on screen. DoF preview can be seen in the viewfinder of the D7100, but by stopping the lens down the view gets darker. I'm not sure about DoF preview and using the D7100 rear LCD in Live View.

 

[Jinden]

Thanks for the feedback Skieur, as I said its hard finding people close to where I live that know the Sony product that well.

I have 5 children so lots of birthday parties etc where there is a lot of movement etc so I feel on paper at least the Sony would have the advantage with its AF and stabilisation built in.

I guess for me Sony is a little unknown but the features that are for those "count on one hand uses" really appeal to me.

Time to go invest some more time at the local camera store

 

[cosmonaut]

The Nikon will most likely give you better noise control at high ISO. You would no doubt love the EVF on the a77. I never would have thought I would prefer one. I also, being a senior, love the a77s articulating screen as I can get that low angle shot without crawling on the ground. I can also hold it over my head, over fences ect.
Also try and see what lenses you may want in the future and figure the overall cost for lenses. After all you are buying into a system and as you grow into it economics will be a factor of future upgrades.

 

[skieur]

3. In camera HDR shooting. Nikon D7100 too. 9 different HDR adjustments on the A77
6. GPS location recordable on photos. Nikon D7100 GPS is at least recordable in the image EXIF metadata and on the rear LCD when a suitable GPS unit is attached to the camera. No GPS attachment necessary on A77
7. HDMI out to TV for tethering and playback. The Nikon D7100 has HDMI output too for tethering and playback/display.
9. Camera buttons can be programmed/changed to what you want, if you have different preferences. At the least some/several of the D7100 buttons have settings options.
10. Bracketing exposures can be done in high speed mode. Yep. D7100 also.
11. Depth of field preview on screen. DoF preview can be seen in the viewfinder of the D7100, but by stopping the lens down the view gets darker. I'm not sure about DoF preview and using the D7100 rear LCD in Live View.
View does not get darker on the A77 perhaps because of the different mirror system.

 

[Stevepwns]

I know I am late this but I would like to add if the questions still stands. Being able to see what you will get is a big plus to me. Looking at your view finder and seeing what the camera will record is important to me. Mainly because I am new and cant fully picture what the changes will be when I adjust a setting.

 

[skieur]

I know I am late this but I would like to add if the questions still stands. Being able to see what you will get is a big plus to me. Looking at your view finder and seeing what the camera will record is important to me. Mainly because I am new and cant fully picture what the changes will be when I adjust a setting.

There is a preview button on the A77 which will allow you to see what you will get with a few exceptions. Multi-shot noise reduction, multi-shot panoramas, and multi-hot HDRs for example cannot be previewed BEFORE shooting.