Review Date: July 4, 2011
Category: Family DSLR – Beginner Amateur
Sony SLT-A35
HANDLING & FEEL
The Sony Alpha SLT-A35 is compact and light as far as DSLR goes. The grip is deep enough for a comfortable 4-finger grip and the viewfinder thankfully projects well away from the LCD so you don’t have to squash your nose against it. It’s a well-built camera and handles beautifully.
The "SLT" stands for "Single Lens Translucent" and means that the reflex mirror in the A35 is translucent. In other words, the mirror allows most of the light through to strike the image sensor (thus giving us Live View) but reflects part of it up onto a Phase-Detect AF sensor (thus giving us full-time and lightning-fast AF). And because the mirror is translucent, there is no more any need to move it, so it is fixed, allowing for some fast continuous shooting performance. The viewfinder is electronic, covers 100% of the frame and can superimpose important exposure information just like is done on the LCD screen. Live View on the Sony SLT-A35 is a pleasure to use.
The Sony SLT-A35 is styled as a DSLR [technically, we don’t need the “prism” bulge since there is no optical prism] with a deep handgrip for a comfortable hold (though not tall enough for your pinkie to rest on it). The body feels solid and well constructed. There are quite a few buttons that make the Sony A35 easier to use if you are an advanced DSLR user, and can be just a bit overwhelming if you are coming from the point-and-shoot world, though you can simply leave it on AUTO mode.
On the front of the camera, you’ll find the Infra red sensor on the grip for an optional remote control, the Command Dial above it and the Depth-of-field Preview button bottom left of the lens mount. The SLT-A35 has an AF Assist light but since it is flash-based, you have to pop up the flash first to use it.
Included in the box is a rechargeable Li-ion battery NP-FW50 (440 shots, CIPA standard) and a Battery Charger BC-VW1.
Sony SLT-A35 Top View
From right to left, the Shutter Release Button has the Power ON/OFF switch around it. The Power switch is a bit on the low side, making your finger search around a bit to find it by touch; adding a few extra mm to the height would be ideal.
The D-Range button brings up the dynamic range feature. The Finder/LCD button switches between EVF and LCD. The hot shoe atop the prism is proprietary to Sony. Flanking it are the stereo microphones. On the left side of the prism is the Mode Dial.
On the slanted top/back deck, you’ll find the AEL button, the Exposure Compensation button, the dedicated Movie button and, on the left side of the prism, the Menu button.
Sony A35 Back View
The back of the Sony A35 is dominated by the large 3.0-inch high resolution (921k-dot) LCD screen. Because the Sony A35 uses an electronic viewfinder, it is possible to display a Live Histogram on both the LCD and the EVF, which is not possible on a DSLR using an OVF.
The Function button (Fn) button activates a quick menu of commonly used settings. The Multi-Selector has UP-Display, RIGHT-WB, DOWN-ISO and LEFT-Drive. The center button is AF.
The last two buttons on the back are Delete and Playback. Delete unfortunately deletes only one picture at a time; to delete more than one picture or to delete all, you have to access the Menu.
I was before skeptical of the translucent mirror (or pellicle) functionality, especially since only about 30% of the light is reflected up to the viewfinder which would result in a dark view when using an optical viewfinder. However, this problem does not occur here for the simple fact that the SLT-A35 uses a high-resolution electronic viewfinder which takes its image from the main image sensor, not the reflected light. With an EVF, you can simply boost the picture for a clear and always bright image. Because Live View AF is so fast, it is also available full-time for movie recording.
[I wonder if a tiny translucent mirror could not be used in a compact “mirrorless” camera to enable fast Phase-Detect AF. The translucent mirror would occupy only the central portion, which would therefore provide a cross-type phase-detect AF at the center point. The rest of the screen could use Contrast-detect AF.]I used to be a stickler for an optical viewfinder, but now with the high resolution EVF, you get to see exactly what will be recorded on the image sensor as well as any exposure compensation, WB and picture effects you may choose to apply. If you love Live View (as I do), and want a DSLR, then do try the Sony SLT-A35 to see if it meets your requirements. It’s easy to like this camera, especially once you experience the fast Live View AF.
Next: Sony A35 User’s Experience