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Sony A55
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NOTE: The A55 mirror is very susceptible to scratching. If you touch it with any type of brush, it will scratch. Replacement is $115.
Sony’s newest dSLR camera, the A55 is unique among current SLR bodies in using a translucent mirror. This allows the image sensor, viewfinder, and phase detection autofocus system to all see the image at the same time. (If you don’t understand what the phase detection autofocus system is, and have some free time on your hands, you can read about it here ). This allows the camera to continue focusing even while the actual shot is being taken, it doesn’t lose focus during the split second the mirror would be lifting for the actual shot in other cameras. This also lets the A55 shoot at a remarkable 10 frames per second.
The A55 has 16.2 Megapixels of resolution captured on a HD CMOS crop sensor, featuring built-in GPS, an incredibly sharp, bright 3" tiltable LCD screen with 921,000 pixels, and built-in flash. It also records full HD 1080/60i video. And it’s the only SLR right now that can use phase contrast autofocus while shooting video, rather than the slower contrast detection autofocus other bodies must use. This feature also enables you to zoom while maintaining autofocus, given the same effect as pulling focus on a top end SLR manual focus rig.
It can shoot at an amazing 10 frames per second, has a new 15 point autofocus system, automated sensor cleaning, and it maintains the Steady Shot in-camera image stabilization of its predecessors. It has the usual fancy effects stuff, but in this case some of them actually appear to be useful: there is a “sweep panorama” mode, face detection technology, a multi-frame noise reduction mode (which takes 6 photos in rapid succession and uses the best data from each to create 1 picture) and HDMI output built into the camera.
All of our cameras ship with one fully charged battery, instruction sheet, the battery charger and a bag. A lens does not come with the camera. Additionally, the software included with a new camera is copyrighted and we cannot send it with the cameras. You will need Photoshop or some type of image editing software to download and view your images.
Roger’s initial take: We all know what this is: a brand new type of camera with a pellicle mirror that allows constant phase-detection and live view focusing even while the camera is snapping an image—allowing it to shoot in the 10 frames per second territory that has only been visited by top-end Nikon and Canon bodies up until now. It’s a brand new type of camera, really, and one has to consider the theory stating that the early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.
After my initial look, this camera seems to be the early bird most of the time: the viewfinder is remarkably good, autofocus (in most cases) is very accurate, high ISO performance is the best of any Sony dSLR we’ve shot with, image quality is superb. For this price, it’s an excellent camera. At any price, it’s an excellent camera. But, while it will shoot 10 frames per second, there just aren’t enough autofocus points (or perhaps computer power), apparently, to allow AI servo to work really accurately at 10 fps. For shooting sports or moving objects, 6 frames per second appears to be about as high as you want to go.
NOTE: Sigma has announced that many of their lenses are not compatible with the A55
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- The spare battery for this camera is HERE
- We do not carry a battery grip for this camera.
- It uses any SD memory card.
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LensRentals.com offers rentals ranging in length from 4 to 90 days. The shopping cart will automatically update the quoted price as you adjust the length of your rental. Our most common rental periods are shown below:
| Rental Period | Waiver Price | Rental Price | Total Price | Approximate Day Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 days | $12.00 | $60.75 | $72.75 | $18.19 |
| 7 days | $16.00 | $81.00 | $97.00 | $13.86 |
| 10 days | $21.50 | $109.25 | $130.75 | $13.08 |
| 14 days | $28.00 | $141.75 | $169.75 | $12.13 |
| 21 days | $37.50 | $190.25 | $227.75 | $10.85 |
| 30 days | $47.25 | $239.00 | $286.25 | $9.54 |
| 45 days | $61.50 | $311.75 | $373.25 | $8.29 |
| 60 days | $72.00 | $364.50 | $436.50 | $7.28 |
| 90 days | $92.75 | $469.75 | $562.50 | $6.25 |
| Rental Period | Rental Price | Approximate Day Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 4 days | $60.75 | $15.19 |
| 7 days | $81.00 | $11.57 |
| 10 days | $109.25 | $10.93 |
| 14 days | $141.75 | $10.13 |
| 21 days | $190.25 | $9.06 |
| 30 days | $239.00 | $7.97 |
| 45 days | $311.75 | $6.93 |
| 60 days | $364.50 | $6.08 |
| 90 days | $469.75 | $5.22 |
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