Sony Alpha a57 review

The sharp-shooting DSLT that clocks up 12fps

Sony Alpha a57
The a57 is the latest SLT from Sony to use its translucent mirror technology

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Sony Alpha a57 review

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Sony's high-speed 12fps Tele-zoom Continuous Advance Priority AE - coupled with subject tracking - makes light work of freezing action.

Sony Alpha a57 review

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Sony Alpha a57 review

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In Standard colour mode, JPEGs straight out of the camera are imbued with faithful hues and a pleasing level of saturation.

Sony Alpha a57 review

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The ability to fine-tune the AF point prioritised by the responsive 15-point system allows for more precise focusing.

Sony Alpha a57 review

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The Sony Alpha a57's metering system generally copes well - even with trickier lighting situations such as this.

Sony Alpha a57 review

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JPEGs taken straight out of the camera display a pleasing level of detail and sharpness, with scope to improve performance further by investing in additional high-quality lenses.

Sony Alpha a57 review

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The Sony Alpha a57 is capable of capturing highly detailed landscapes with a wide dynamic range.

Sony Alpha a57 review

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Sony's superb Sweep Panorama mode makes a welcome addition to the Sony Alpha a57's feature set, and is capable of producing excellent results.

Sony Alpha a57 review

HDR Auto switched on

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The Sony Alpha a57's easy-to-use HDR Auto mode takes several shots in quick succession and automatically combines them to produce a final shot with an expanded dynamic range.

Sony a57 sample image

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Even when shooting with the kit lens, an impressive amount of background blur can be achieved.

Sony a57 sample image

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A good level of detail is captured by the camera, even in mixed lighting situations.

Sony a57 sample image

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This image was captured just as sun was about to set - at around 7.50pm. You can see that the camera has coped well in the low light situation, but it has been slightly underexposed.

Sony a57 sample image

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This is the same image as the above shot, but we have made some simple edits in Photoshop Elements to show you what can be achieved with the images taken from the camera. We have adjusted Levels and increased Saturation.

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