Going the Opposite Way

The overheat issue of Sony's a55, and less severely in the case of a33, has caused a stir in the camera (less so in photography) forums across the Internet.  Sony's equivocal explanation on the real meaning of up to 29-minute videoing duration, unfortunately,  doesn't help much to quell the discontent among the complainants.

Sony also suggests in the announcement that to take a video clip with the SLT for an extended period, users should refrain from operating it under direct sunlight, turn off the image stabilisation when not in use and rely on the tripod instead of the anti-shake function.

It is beyond question that Sony doesn't have a good case to argue for the seemingly cover-up of the issue beforehand.  But ain't the complainants as photographers going the opposite way with the fuss?

Rail at Sony as you can.  But, mark you, a camera is a camera which is unlike a camcorder that takes videos as a camcorder does.  Otherwise, do we think that Sony is being silly in moving the E-mount system over to its new camcorder product?

There is no immediate solution to the overhead issue arising from the heat generated primarily from the anti-shake function during videoing with the a55.  A suggestion is to tune up the camera's, er, "heat-stroke" threshold through a firmware.  That can extend the videoing duration a bit by possibly shortening the durability of the camera.

But if you use the camera for primarily taking photos and occasionally for short documentary videos, and appreciate that an entry level camera is as good as what the money is paid for, the overhead issue will never make you fuss and fume.