A77 Alternatives – Sony A65

The Sony A65 was launched alongside the A77 and is expected to be available soon. As it shares a fair bit of technology with the A77 at a lesser price, quite a few people have been wondering whether the A65 might be an alternative. The answer, as always, is that depends on what you want to do with it.

First off with what’s the same. These are the key things the A65 shares with the A77:

• 24.3 megapixel APS-C Sensor
• Anti-dust system
• In-body Image Stabilization
• XGA OLED, 2,359,296 dots electronic viewfinder
• 1080p HD Video
• External Microphone jack

Here’s things the A77 has that the A65 doesn’t:

• Magnesium Alloy and high grade plastic body
• Main controls sealed against dust and moisture
• Memory Recall function saves three sets of camera settings
• AF fine tune
• Top LCD panel
• Flash Sync Socket

And here’s things the A65 has, but not to the same spec as the A77:

• 10 frames/second at full resolution with continuous autofocus (A77 does 12)
• Tilt/swivel, 921,600 dots TFT LCD bottom mounted rather than 3 way tilt
• Simpler AF sensor – 15 points, 3 cross types (19 and 11 with A77)
• 1 control dial rather than 2
• Auto ISO limits fixed at 100-1600 (Customisable in A77)
• Maximun shutter 1/4000 (1/8000 in A77)

The other big difference is the lenses supplied with the kit. The A77 gets the new 16-50 f2.8, whilst the A65 gets the same 18-55mm f.3.5-5.6 as the A35.

Looking at the above, the A65 ought to be capable of the same image quality as the A77 if you use the same lenses, but this is a big if. Add the price of the 16-50mm f2.8 to the A65, and the total is close to the A77 kit.

For me the weathersealing and f2.8 lens are two of the big features I wanted for the A77, so I’m sticking with it. But for those who don’t need these things, I think the A65 will be a fine camera.

Sony A65