VideoSony Alpha SLT-A55 DSLR Review

The SLT-A55 body looks pretty nice, the viewfinder along the top seems really long but sleek.  The SLT is very unique in that it has a translucent mirror, hence its not quite the same as a regular SLR.  

The 3" LCD flips out and rotates, and is widescreen format (16:9), and flips closed protecting the screen.  The A55 also has a built in GPS which I think is a first for cameras of this class.

The camera includes a panoramic feature and HDR, and can shoot 10fps continuous, which is ridiculously fast.  Sony is really becoming a leader in features like this, probably accommodating the average user more whereas Nikon and Canon often cater to the more traditional photographer.  

In HDR mode it takes 3 photos in sequence at different exposures and automatically combines them for you in camera.  It also has a twilight mode which takes 6 photos in low light, to combine them to reduce noise.

The camera has an external mic jack, which would be key for recording good quality audio, hopefully avoiding wind noise and other issues.  The reviewer comments that the camera is fairly small and fits well in his medium sized hands, but might not be great for someone with large hands.

He gives a nice tour of the menu system.  He shows the camera can do AVCHD or MP4 codec, both of which sound great (compared to larger MJPEG).