Sony Alpha SLT-A37 review

Prices and image quality mentioned in this review are of the Sony Alpha SLT-A37 with 18-55mm lens kit

The A37 is Sony’s latest entry-level Alpha camera, but while its petite dimensions are in keeping with the low price, some of its specifications suggest otherwise. Continuous shooting is at 7fps, and the video mode captures 1080p videos with full-time autofocus – something that very few SLRs are able to do. There’s even full manual control in video mode, plus a microphone input.

The key to the fast burst mode and video autofocus is the fact that this isn’t technically an SLR. The SLT in the name stand for single-lens translucent. A single-lens reflex (SLR) camera uses a mirror that directs light to the viewfinder and autofocus system, and flips out of the way to let the light reach the sensor to take a picture. The A37 uses a translucent mirror that sends light to both the autofocus system and the sensor at the same time. That effectively prohibits the use of an optical viewfinder, though, so the A37 – like all the cameras in Sony’s SLT range – uses an electronic viewfinder (EVF) instead.

That shouldn’t be seen as a bad thing, though. An SLR’s optical viewfinder may seem more upmarket but the A37’s 1.44-million dot EVF is bigger than any SLR’s optical viewfinder at this price, and to our eyes it’s just as detailed. Its picture struggles in dimly lit scenes, but that’s a reflection of the sensor rather than the screen. We find it useful to see a live preview that reflects how well the camera is coping with the current lighting conditions.

This is the third generation of Sony’s SLT cameras, and it’s good to see that some problems we experienced with the first-generation Sony Alpha SLT-A33 have now been ironed out. There was no sign of the sensor overheating after recording an hour of video. We’re also happy to report that it’s now optional whether the LCD and EVF screens reflect exposure settings in their live previews. On the A33 this caused serious problems when using off-camera flash systems, as the screens became pitch black. There’s a welcome improvement to battery life, too, up from 340 shots to 450.

Shot-to-shot times are much improved over the A33, down from 1.3 to 0.5 seconds for JPEGs. Full-power flash shots are over twice as fast, at 2.5 seconds between shots. There’s a speed-priority continuous mode on the mode dial, which delivered 15 frames at 7fps before slowing to 3.5fps. That’s a fine achievement, but it’s disappointing that the image is cropped to 8.4 megapixels – the A33 managed 7fps shooting at its full 14-megapixel resolution. Outside of this dedicated mode, continuous shooting was at 5.5fps, but slowed after just six frames to 2.7fps for JPEGs and 1fps for raw. However, disabling lens distortion correction in the menu gave a massive boost to the continuous JPEG mode’s staying power, lasting for 20 frames at 5.5fps before slowing to 4.2fps. It’s a shame that this correction can’t be made to switch off automatically when continuous mode is selected.

Sony’s excellent Peaking feature makes a welcome appearance. This assists with manual focus by highlighting parts of the image that are sharply focused in the live preview, and it’s available while composing photos and during video capture. There’s the usual assortment of advanced shooting modes that we’ve come to expect from Sony: automatic panorama stitching in both 2D and 3D, automatic HDR, multi-exposure noise reduction plus a wide array of creative effects.

There’s barely any change to the layout of controls compared to the A33. The button to change the dynamic range settings now accesses the digital zoom function. For us this is a step in the wrong direction, but overall the controls remain well laid out and compare well with entry-level SLRs. We like the Help button, which imparted genuinely informative context-sensitive advice. It’s nice to have this information within easy reach but not plastered throughout the interface as the Nikon D3200 does. More importantly, it doesn’t come at the expense of quick access to the most commonly used controls. ISO speed, white balance, drive mode, autofocus point, exposure compensation, exposure lock and depth-of-field preview all have dedicated buttons.

The A33 used a 3in 921,000-dot fully articulated screen, but the subsequent A35 lost the articulated design. This time around the screen is articulated once again but only to tilt up and down, and the size and resolution have plummeted to 2.6in and 240,300 dots. This was immediately apparent as soon as we picked up the camera. The picture looked course and its colours were washed out except when viewed head on. It’s particularly unfortunate because Sony’s SLT cameras are perfect for people who want the ergonomics and image quality of an SLR but prefer to compose shots on the screen rather than the viewfinder. Thankfully, the EVF is much better quality, and there’s a sensor just below it so the camera switches automatically from LCD to EVF when it’s raised to the eye. It’s a little slow to respond, though, taking around 0.6 seconds.

Video quality was excellent, although it’s best to avoid the 1080/50i mode, which gave the same strange take on interlaced footage that we saw from the Sony NEX-F3. The 1080/25p mode was better, and delivered rich colours and crisp details. The lens’ focus motor spoiled the soundtrack a little and zooming was clunky, but with full-time autofocus and clip lengths up to 30 minutes, it’s in a different league to consumer SLRs’ video modes. It’s great to see priority and manual exposure modes for video, but they’re not available at the same time as autofocus.

If we were to split hairs, there could be a little more texture definition in these feathers, but by any sensible measure, detail levels are excellent

Our image quality tests left very little to be desired. Brightly lit shots were packed with detail, and colours were rich and punchy on default JPEG settings. The translucent mirror means not all of the light entering the lens reaches the sensor, so noise levels are a little higher than they would be if this were a true SLR or a compact system camera (CSC). Comparing it with the NEX-F3, which we suspect uses the same 16-megapixel sensor, noise levels were a little higher but we had to go looking for differences to find them. More importantly, noise was lower than from the Canon EOS 1100D, and significantly lower than from the Nikon D3200.

There’s no hint of noise in the darker recesses of this ISO 100 shot

Not for the first time, this Sony SLT camera demands that users take the rough with the smooth. Image and video quality are as good as you’ll get for the price, and compare well with SLRs costing twice as much. Continuous performance is way beyond any entry-level SLR, but you do have to jump through a few hoops to make the most of it. People upgrading from compact cameras will appreciate the ability to use the LCD screen without having to put up with the lethargic autofocus that most SLRs’ live view modes suffer, but it’s frustrating that the screen quality has been downgraded. The controls are a resounding success, though, catering well for both beginners and more experienced users.

Skin tones come out a little mottled in subdued lighting, but noise levels are lower than on competing SLRs

It’s not the most lovable camera but it gets the basics right and has plenty of extras to keep users entertained. As such, we’re pleasantly surprised to find that this is the best SLR-like camera currently available under £500.