A33 - A Very Brief Hands-On at Sony Style KLCC - 17 September 2010

As Thursday was a public holiday, most people opted not to work on Friday (17/9/2010). As me and my buddy were in the office - we work in KLCC, and did not have much work to do due to lack of people, we decided to make a trip to Sony Style - hoping that either the A33 or A55 had arrived.

To our delight, there was an A33 available for testing. We came prepared with a 8GB SDHC card so that we could pixel peep later. Since the camera was tethered to the display base, we could only shoot within the shop. However, our initial impressions of the camera were good, and I would like to share some with you guys here.

A33 - Size and Build

First thing we noticed was the size of the camera. It was really smaller than expected. The grip was comfortable enough, with the little finger tending to curl under the body. I have long fingers and the grip seemed decent.

The finish was OK, a bit rubbery to the touch, and I hope it doesn't wear with time.



A33 - EVF

The thing I was personally most skeptical about was the EVF. Therefore, I was really pleasantly surprised by the quality of the viewfinder. I do not know how to describe it properly or take a photo of it, but I urge you to go and try it out. While panning, there is a kind of blur, sort of like the view on those old LCD monitors with slow response times. However, IMHO, this is not a major concern. Also, I wear glasses, and still the EVF was comfortable to use. The pixels are hardly noticeable, and I was instantly comfortable with it.

I also found that the menus are accessible from within the EVF. I was able to change ISO on the fly with my eye glued to the EVF. Also, the review image pops up immediately and you can review it in the EVF. I did notice a slight delay however after the shot was taken, and the review image pops up. Whether this is due to the slow memory card or camera issue I am not sure.

Overall I am quite satisfied with the EVF quality and can imagine myself using one in the future.

A33 - Performance

Here I will let the images speak for themselves. All were shot in fine JPEG mode, STD colour setting.

Camera: Sony A33
Lens: 18-55 SAM
Aperture: F5
Zoom: 18mm

ISO comparison (100% crops from the center of the image):



As you can see, ISO800 is still useful, ISO1600 gets softer but I believe is passable with RAW and good processing. Above ISO6400 there is a yellowish tint to the image. I'm not sure why this happens, actually.

Full size photos are available here:

ISO800 - http://www.flickr.com/photos/20607955@N05/...57624854158311/
ISO1600 - http://www.flickr.com/photos/20607955@N05/...57624854158311/
ISO3200 - http://www.flickr.com/photos/20607955@N05/...57624854158311/
ISO6400 - http://www.flickr.com/photos/20607955@N05/...57624854158311/
ISO12800 - http://www.flickr.com/photos/20607955@N05/...57624854158311/

Some more full size photos for pixel peepers - close up of the teddy bear at 55mm F5.6:

ISO800 - http://www.flickr.com/photos/20607955@N05/...57624854158311/
ISO6400 - http://www.flickr.com/photos/20607955@N05/...57624854158311/

HDR Effect:

The camera can increase its dynamic range by either resorting to DRO or HDR mode. In HDR mode it fires a burst of shots, which are then merged. This can lead to some interesting effects, if the subject is not stationary (see below).

HDR/DRO Off:



DRO Level 5:



HDR Level 6:



Another example:

HDR/DRO Off:



HDR Level 6:



Note the effect of HDR Level 6 multiple shots on this guy:



Panorama:

The burst shot mode is also used to great effect to shoot panoramas. Tried it out and got this on my first attempt.



Of course, nothing is perfect and there are some errors, such as these.

Error 1: http://www.flickr.com/photos/20607955@N05/...57624854158311/
Error 2: http://www.flickr.com/photos/20607955@N05/...57624854158311/

However, the overall effect is still kind of pleasing. Note the crop though, a normal picture is 3056 pixels high, but the panorama is only 1856 pixels high. The full shot is available here - http://www.flickr.com/photos/20607955@N05/...57624854158311/

Here is one last shot using the pop up flash and ISO100 (that is my friend!): http://www.flickr.com/photos/20607955@N05/...57624854158311/

Conclusion

It's up to you! 

Parting Remarks

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#5

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This me! My sister take turn to shoot me with everything properly set for her
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My first outdoor shot with the 24-50mm on the A900! The vignetting is pretty spectacular, and an effect I'd like to leave in. The classic Minolta color is all there in all its glory.



This lens supposedly has better bokeh than the Minolta 24-105mm F3.5-4.5(D). I am just seeing a fair bit of barrel distortion, which always happens on the wide end of a zoom especially at close focus.


50mm F4, at MFD, giving a maximum magnification of 1:5.55x. While the Minolta 24-105mm F3.5-4.5(D) does slightly better, at 1:5.49x maximum magnification, I I would rather have the close focus capability at 24mm, than the magnification at 105mm. The 24-50mm is already very versatile when shooting at close range, like stuff on your table, or food on your plate - I don't have to lean back excessively in order to focus anymore!


The lens has a decent amount of contrast, but not too much to kill it for the sensor. Then again, the A900 has always had excellent dynamic range.


And here's a street shot.