Front View

When we picture a given camera, we always imagine the front view. That’s the view that your subjects see as you snap away, and the aspect that’s shown in product publicity and on the box. The frontal angle is, essentially, the “face” of a camera like the Sony Alpha. But, not surprisingly, most of the “business” of operating the camera happens behind it, where the photographer resides. The front of the Alpha actually has very few controls and features to worry about. In Figure 2.1, you can see the components revealed when the lens is removed:

Translucent mirror. This semi-transparent (not transluscent, despite Sony’s official terminology) mirror allows 70 percent of the light passing through the lens to continue on to the sensor. The remaining 30 percent is reflected upwards towards the camera’s autofocus sensor. This system gives the A77 the ability to automatically focus at all times, even while providing a live view of the sensor image and when shooting movies.