well the mini review so far,
1st test was holding it in my hands, I am not small at 6'2" with big hands, so my concern was being able to hold it without getting hand cramps, in reality its not much smaller that the 450 and feels very comfy in the hand. 20 mins later and were talking deals for te 3 year warranty and extra battery (you need an extra battery trust me)
EVF, yes its different from an optical but thats to be expected, a huge bonus is the amount of information you can display on there, the same as the LCD screen on the back of the camera, you can set the lcd or the EVF to different display modes so thats a bonus.
A55 does ISO 100
A450 vs A55 LIVE VIEW!!!
I really missed live view when i brought the 450, i wear glasses and live view is a big help for quick shots, the EVF also sits proud so you don't squish your nose against the screen +1 again over the 450. the screens also better than the 450 IQ wise (and bigger) (and it rotates) (and it folds away)
the electronic balance is very handy as well, only downside is most other on screen info cannot be shown with the balance, no biggy and they may revise that with a firmware update, who knows, so far I am happy with the EVF showing most of the mode details and the LCD having the balance screen.
AUTO+ mode, well i have to say its bloody clever
does what it says on the tin most of the time and does surprise when it pops up a mode you wouldn't have thought to use and find yourself agreeing with the camera, if it spots a face it kicks into face detection mode and so on, low light it selects the correct mode without faffing about with the dial, turning it more into a point and shoot that takes A-mount lens tbh.
Movie mode is bloody fantastic, The wife said we really need a camcorder with a 1 year old and now i have one that can take a 70-300 sony g lens, a 50mm prime and so on. HA!
I will be buying a boom mic to sit on the hotshoe as its built in mic's are very sensitive, wear woolly gloves to stop the hand noise and hold your breath if you have a cold like me at the mo
I have not given the movie mode a good play yet but the IQ is great, shows up in windowz 7 as a blue ray folder so in theory you can burn it to BR disc as each movies stored as the next chapter in 1080 mode.
Panoramic mode works, you need a steady hand so I plan a tripod shot when i get the chance to see how well it can stitch together, so far indoors at night in the front room with the wife running away and it looked rather weird
10fps mode does what it says, you need a good lens to AF during and i will be giving that a workout when i get the time/opportunity.
Battery life is easily half or less than the A450, but without live view and a OVF its going to last a long time, hence buying the 2nd battery with it while the VAT back offers on!
