Buy Canon 60D now or wait for Sony A77?

I suggest you wait, and pre-order the Sony. It's only about 4 weeks from delivery! The Sony is a superior camera in almost every way. The sensor is not only going to provide better image quality, because it will give you 33% more pixels, but it is the latest and greatest, and being delivered in the flagship model of Sony's APS-C line of cameras. Sony will definitely put their all into that new sensor (don't forget, the sensor in the Canon 60 D is made by Sony too). I have pixel-peeped at photos from the A77 pre-production models, and those photos look superior (in their noise levels and resolution), when compared to the photos I have looked at from Canon 60 D cameras.

I was using a Sony R1 for years (but I let it get doused with sea water by mistake the other day at the beach). The photos at base ISO settings and even ISO 200 were pretty good on the R1 (sufficient to print a sunset/sunrise photo at 20x30 inches with good quality. The new Sony cameras are far superior. I have played with a Sony A55, and while I may still get that camera now, because I do not want to wait for a month to replace my R1 (or have the funds to pay almost twice the price for the A77), if I had the budget to buy an A77, I would DEFINITELY get a Sony A77. I would get the Zeiss 16-80mm f3.5-4.5 or the longer Sony 16-105mm f3.5-5.6 though - not the new Sony 16-50mm f2.8 lens, because I prefer a more versatile kit (though I would not compromise quality so much to get an 18-250 lens, which gives pretty low quality over about 150mm and only decent quality at the wider zoom ranges).

Of course, the Sony 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 is a VERY crisp lens (high resolution), and might just make the A77 fit your budget better (it is good enough for the 24 megapixel sensor in the A77). Check the review link below and see the other lens reviews at that site for the lenses I have mentioned. There is some chromatic aberration, but not a lot, and the distortion and vignetting are low, especially at 35 through 55mm (zoomed in).

One thing you will find with the latest Sony SLT cameras is the fact that "live-view" focusing is FAR SUPERIOR to the Canon and Nikon cameras. The Sony performs the same, whether you are shooting in "live-view" or not (actually you are always in live-view mode, so there is no switching necessary, like there is with the Canon and Nikon cameras). I had a Nikon D5000, and the auto-focus in live-view mode was almost useless. I hear it's the same for the Canon 60 D. The D5100 is also no improvement. Another issue is the speed of shooting (reaction time), while composing shots with the fold-out screen (live-view). The Canon and Nikon cameras have HUGE LAG TIMES. The Sony cameras have NO lag time. That is very important for any type of action shots, whether you're trying to time waves at the beach, while shooting the sunrise, or capturing a spider on its web, while the wind blows the web back and forth. Catching a bee or some other insect on a flower takes perfect timing, and Sony is the only camera that will allow you to use the "live-view mode" effectively in such a situation. Trying to shoot kids or pets from low angles with live-view was almost impossible with my Nikon D5000. I think it would be much much better with one of the Sony cameras.

I won't even mention video, because I think everyone knows that the new Sony SLT cameras are superior for shooting video.

What I will mention is shooting speed. The Canon is faster than the Nikons with fold-out screens, but the Sony A55 is even faster than the Canon. The Sony A77 is the fastest of all. In fact, the Sony A77 is the fastest shooting 24 Megapixel camera in the World, and it matches the Canon 7 D for standard top shooting speed, while shooting even faster than any other digital camera can shoot full-resolution RAW photos, when shooting with its high-speed mode at 12 fps (which unfortunately does not give you full control over things like aperture and shutter speed).

Of course, you probably already know some of this stuff, but I thought I'd drive the major selling points of the camera home.

There is one more thing - there are no other cameras made with both a fold-out screen AND weather seals. Canon doesn't make one, and Nikon doesn't make one. The Sony A77 is the first "professional level" fold-out screen DSLR. All the others are pro-sumer models (even though Canon's 60 D is very close to being a pro camera).

Good luck with your decision!

I'd honestly prefer any Canon camera over a Sony camera due to the fact that Canon is known more for building cameras and Sony for building TVs. I feel better with the camera i get if the company is dedicated to making cameras.

For stills, which is my main interest, I would prefer a Canon or Nikon. However, if video is a high priority, it looks like the Sony's semi-reflective mirror could be a good feature.

http://www.cameralabs.com/reviews/Sony_Alpha_SLT_A...