The Sony α55 (model variants SLT-A55V with GPS, SLT-A55 without GPS depending on country) is a midrange-level SLT camera, released in August 2010. Sony Alpha 55 at store

Its design is novel due to its being the first digital single-lens translucent camera (SLT), along with the Sony α33. As an SLT it employs a semi-transparent mirror instead of an opaque mirror, which enables

phase detection autofocus An autofocus (or AF) optical system uses a sensor, a control system and a motor to focus on an automatically or manually selected point or area. An electronic rangefinder has a display instead of the motor; the adjustment of the optical system ...

live view Live preview is a feature that allows a digital camera's display screen to be used as a viewfinder. This provides a means of previewing framing and other exposure before taking the photograph. In most such cameras, the preview is generated by ...

. The design also replaces the optical

viewfinder In photography, a viewfinder is what the photographer looks through to compose, and, in many cases, to focus the picture. Most viewfinders are separate, and suffer parallax, while the single-lens reflex camera lets the viewfinder use the main ...

present in conventional

DSLR A digital single-lens reflex camera (digital SLR or DSLR) is a digital camera that combines the optics and the mechanisms of a single-lens reflex camera with a digital imaging sensor. The reflex design scheme is the primary difference between ...

with a high-resolution electronic viewfinder. The translucent mirror is fixed in position so does not have to flip up to take a still image, enabling rapid continuous shots of up to 10 frames per second. The static mirror also eliminates "mirror slap", the noise produced by the movement of the mirror during a shutter actuation, making the A55 quieter than standard DSLRs. The A55 is one of the first four

Sony Alpha , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's la ...

DSLR / SLT cameras with video mode included, capable of

1080i 1080i (also known as Full HD or BT.709) is a combination of frame resolution and scan type. 1080i is used in high-definition television (HDTV) and high-definition video. The number "1080" refers to the number of horizontal lines on the screen. ...

. It is also capable of shooting 1080p at 30fps. The SLT design means that it is capable of using phase-detection autofocus during video recording. It has body-integrated

image stabilization Image stabilization (IS) is a family of techniques that reduce blurring associated with the motion of a camera or other imaging device during exposure. Generally, it compensates for pan and tilt (angular movement, equivalent to yaw and pit ...

, and a 16.2 MPx

APS-C Advanced Photo System type-C (APS-C) is an image sensor format approximately equivalent in size to the Advanced Photo System film negative in its C ("Classic") format, of 25.1×16.7 mm, an aspect ratio of 3:2 and Ø 31.15 mm field d ...

CMOS Complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS, pronounced "sea-moss", ) is a type of metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) fabrication process that uses complementary and symmetrical pairs of p-type and n-type MOSFE ...

sensor. The camera's body-integrated

produces heat, causing the camera to stop video recording after these recording times:

Features

* Konica Minolta A-mount lens bayonet.

Video

* AVCHD 1920/1080 50i or 60i (depending on region) * MPEG-4 1080 30p or 25p (depending on region)Manual
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External links

Reviews

dPreview

Imaging Resource

Digital Trends

References

{{Konica Minolta/Sony DSLR cameras Cameras introduced in 2010 55 Live-preview digital cameras ja:Α (カメラ)#ソニーαシリーズ第3世代