PHOTO QUALITY. This 24-megapixel SLR camera captured images with good quality. Pictures were sharp though not as much as the better models, which means you can see much but not all details and subtle patterns in the image. In low-light situations without a flash, pictures were sharp. We judged this model very good for outdoor performance, such as shooting landscapes in the daytime; very good for indoor performance, such as photographing a well-lit basketball game in a gym. And very good for low-light performance without a flash, such as capturing a birthday party. Photos taken in our low-light performance tests displayed little image noise; subjects retained most of their correct detail and color.
FLASH. The SLT-A77 II w/ 16-50mm f/2.8 with the 16-50mm kit lens captured flash shots that were very good. In our distance test, we found the camera's flash could illuminate subjects very well, both near and far. The flash also has very good, even coverage.
LENS. This camera has a standard 3x optical zoom lens. The lens also has very wide-angle (24mm) capability that's very useful for landscapes and group portraits, although you may notice a bit of distortion when you're shooting faces up close, for instance.
IMAGE STABILIZATION. This is an important feature; taking hand-held shots at the telephoto end of the zoom range can generally blur or soften images due to the slight movement of your hands. In low-light settings, its performance was fair and often produced blurry photos. Overall, the shake reduction results from our tests were fair.
SPEED. In terms of performance, the Sony SLT-A77 II w/ 16-50mm f/2.8 powers up instantly. It has a short interval between shots, which can be important when shooting fast-moving or unpredictable subjects.
VIDEO. The Sony SLT-A77 II w/ 16-50mm f/2.8 takes excellent video. It captures full HD video at 1920 x 1080 60p. As for sound, it captures very good audio in stereo.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS. Like all SLRs, it also includes an electronic viewfinder, helpful when composing in bright light; this viewfinder has excellent quality. Although it has a display with 1,228,800 pixels, which should make it sharper than most in its class, we didn't find that the display stood out from the pack. The display also swivels; this can be helpful when shooting self-portraits or hard-to-reach shots.
