Sony Alpha SLT-A37 First Impressions Review

Lens Mount & Sensor

The Sony A37 features a Sony Alpha A lens mount, compatible with Minolta and Sony lenses, as well as a variety of adapters. The camera has a new 16-megapixel EXMOR image sensor, with an ISO range of 100-16000 (expandable to 25600 with multi-frame noise reduction).

LCD & Viewfinder

The rear display on the A37 is actually a lower spec than the A35, surprisingly. The 920k-dot display has now become just a 230k-dot display, and it's shrunk from three inches down to 2.6. It's a bit of a surprise, though it may be a cost-saving move by Sony. The 230k-dot display isn't terrible, but it's a step down from the higher resolution displays from last year.

The A37 has a 0.46'' LCD electronic viewfinder, with 1.44 million dot resolution. The EVF has 100% coverage with an eyepoint of approximately 19mm. It is actually fairly good, as far as electronic viewfinders go, though it lags a bit compared to the Sony Alpha A77.

Flash

The A37 features a built-in flash with a guide number of 10 meters at ISO 100. That puts it around average as far as built-in flashes go. The camera does feature flash exposure compensation (at +/- two stops), with red-eye reduction available if you're taking photos of people. If you want to use external optional flashes, the camera is compatible with Sony Alpha strobes, with wireless control and high-speed flash sync also available.

Jacks, Ports & Plugs

The left side of the A37 has several ports behind small rubber flaps. The ports include a standard mini-USB input/output, HDMI output, and a mic input. Next to that the A37 also provides a remote terminal port, something that isn't always found on other entry-level DSLRs. Either way the standardization is a nice touch.

Battery

The A37 uses a typical FW50 battery from Sony. It's a rechargeable Lithium-ion battery that is removable from the body. It slots into a dedicated compartment on the bottom of the camera, within the grip itself. The battery is rated to approximately 500 shots by CIPA standard when using the rear LCD display, though that drops to 450 when using the viewfinder standard.

Memory

The Sony A37 can make use of SD/SDHC/SDXC memory cards, in addition to Sony's own proprietary MemoryStick Pro Duo and HG-Pro Duo cards. The cards slot into a dedicated compartment on the bottom of the camera. While this surely saves space (rather than putting it into the battery compartment), it's location on the bottom still prevents hot-switching while the camera is on a tripod plate.