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The A77 is a well-designed camera which spans the mid-range and semi-professional categories. Its headline features - high pixel count and blazingly fast continuous shooting - will attract a lot of interest.

There’s little not to like about Sony’s latest. It’s an SLT that could genuinely strangle the DSLR market dominance as it not only matches but outperforms in a number of departments. This is a camera for the new wave of tech-hungry shooters.

Making a major leap in the camera market, the Sony A77 reaches into pro territory, able to capture 12 frames per second with a 24.3-megapixel camera that feels great and handles like your typical enthusiast digital SLR. Its optional 16-50mm kit lens also delivers excellent quality for the money.

This top-end Sony camera ticks all the right boxes from image quality to blisteringly fast shooting. If only it had a better battery and was a little more snappy in everyday use, we would have no qualms in recommending it wholeheartedly.

With an OLED electronic viewfinder of unprecedented size and clarity, plus a variety of other advanced features, the Sony Alpha SLT-A77 brings the technical promise of the earlier Sony SLTs to fulfillment. With its arsenal of novel whiz-bang features, the A77 is a lot of fun to shoot with.

Superb level of image quality when shooting in most conditions, great handling, good build quality, industry-leading EVF, quick full-time phase detection AF system and a comprehensive set of exposure modes, we have little trouble with recommending this excellent camera.

Although on the expensive side, the Sony SLT-A77 is one of the best DSLRs we’ve reviewed in the past year or so.

At a time when compact system cameras are the centre of attention, it's great to see some real innovation in the DSLR world, and for that innovation to result in a truly exceptional camera like the new Sony A77.