master news
SONY has launched a new type of camera – high power (10X to 20X, depending on the model) digital-imaging HD video binoculars with 3D and still shot functions.
The basic DEV-3 model are on sale now for around £1400, the higher power DEV-5 with digital zoom and GPS satellite location tracking cost around £2000. But deliveries will not be until later in the year even if Park Cameras have been taking orders.
The digital binoculars shoot
photography
1080/50p video, and actually zoom right back to normal shots like groups of people or close- ups as the heart of the system is simply a regular 3D camcord- er model repackaged with twin eyepiece viewing.
Image stabilisation is included (essential) but stills are a mere 7.1 megapixels and JPEG-only, without any proper control of settings or ISO sensi- tivity. In short they are great for the intended watch-the-birdie use, not of great interest to the professional photographer.
OF MUCH greater interest is the Sony Alpha 77, left. This is a compact but semi-professional magnesium body, environment- proofed ‘SLT’ – a pellicle mirror variant of the SLR with a very large, bright OLED electronic viewfinder and outstanding focus and capture speed. As with Nikon’s expected models, the heart of the camera is a 24.3 megapixel APS-C Sony CMOS sensor and in the A77 it can achieve 12 frames a second and ISO 16,000. The A77 also has built-in GPS, a new 16-50mm ƒ2.8 lens option, improved in-body stabilisation working with all lenses. It uses a first-curtain electroni- cally gated shutter, so that the only mechanical shutter action is to terminate the exposure
TO THE RIGHT is Sony’s final item of professional interest launched this summer – the NEX-7. It shares the 24.3 megapixel sen- sor found in the Alpha 77, and puts this into a slim magnesium body slightly larger than the existing NEX-5 camera. NEX bodies have only 18mm between the wide lens bayo- net and the APS-C size sensor, making them ideal for use with a full range of lens adaptors accepting everything from old Leica screw through to Contax G, Canon EF, Nikon, and even ciné C-mount optics. This one is capable of the new AVCHD 50
MASTER PHOTOGRAPHY 8
(Europe) or 60 frames a second true progressive HD1080 video, but it’s not able to capture more than 6 frames in a 10fps burst. Continuous focusing is possible during video when using SEL type AF lenses.
The NEX-7 adds an OLED viewfinder similar to the A77, and restores the Minolta-Sony type flash shoe with is missing from all other models of NEX body. It has dual control wheels and a fast user interface. Also launched is a 24mm ƒ1.8 Carl Zeiss SEL lens, equal to a fast 36mm in terms of full frame view angle.
(1/8,000th minimum) before opening again to restore the live view. Combined with a solid build, this makes the camera unusually quiet and with no loud noise to disturb subjects before the actually exposure is made. It’s almost a new type of camera, with a finder view resembling a full-frame model because of the size and scale of the OLED display. The A77 also allows full 1080/50p HD video with all Minolta AF or Sony Alpha lenses, including those driven from the body, provid- ing AF during video. Positioned in the sub-£1000 price bracket (body only) it has many features which, for the moment, make it unique amongst its competitors.
www.sony.co.uk
Not shown is an alternative pancake 16mm lens which makes the NEX-7 pocketable – though not as pocketable as its stablemates. The new sensor achieves a maximum ISO 25,600.
Photo: Shirley Kilpatrick
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