A 24.3MP APS-C format sensor and 10fps continuous shooting at an affordable price

At a cost of $899.99 (body only), the Sony Alpha 65 is $500 cheaper than the Alpha 77 that was launched at the same time, but it has the same 24.3 million effective pixel sensor, making it the joint highest resolution APS-C format camera available.

Though it can’t quite match the Alpha 77’s 12fps continuous shooting rate, the A65 does notch up 10fps, making it a good choice for anyone wanting to shoot sports and other fast-paced action. This high shooting rate is, in part, thanks to the fact that the A65 is a single lens translucent (SLT) camera, which means it has a fixed translucent mirror where an SLR would have a normal mirror that has to flip up and down between exposures. As a result, the A65 has an electronic viewfinder (EVF), but don’t be put off by this—it’s the same 2,359,296-dot OLED unit as in the A77, and the very best available. If it weren’t for the slight delay when it starts up, you could even forget it’s an EVF rather than an optical viewfinder.

Images can also be composed on the hinged, 3-inch, 921,600-dot LCD screen, which provides a good view in all but the brightest light.

The A65 has features and controls suitable for novice and enthusiast photographers, and all will be satisfied by the quality of the images the camera produces. Shots have plenty of detail, natural colors, and respectable dynamic range, although the auto white balance system can struggle in artificial light, and a light-specific setting is often beneficial.

One of the advantages of the SLT system is that the A65 has full-time phase detection autofocusing in video mode and when images are composed on the LCD in live view mode. The 15-point AF system performs well in many situations, and the subject tracking mode does a good job of keeping up with moderately paced moving subjects, even managing to lock back on to subjects that temporarily disappear behind another object.

The bottom line. The Alpha 65 hits the sweet spot of advanced technology and a reasonable price for serious photography enthusiasts. It has a lot of features, yet it’s still easy to use and produces great results.