Features & Controls (cont.)

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Mounted on the back of the A33 is a large, 3-inch TFT Xtra Fine LCD with 921,600-pixels of resolution. This display can extend away from the body and be turned around for non usage and safety. This offers greater versatility in framing your images with Live View mode as well as allowing you to better see camera settings when shooting a fixed subject from a tripod. It can be used for accessing the menus, and is an excellent display for in-field review of your pictures.

The amount of time the display remains active is user selectable (10s, 20s, 1m, 5m, or 30m). When you put your eye up to the viewfinder it automatically turns off the LCD's backlight.



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Controls on the back: At the top left you will see the Function button, that takes you to a shortcut menu with access to various settings like drive mode, flash mode, AF-A mode, AF area, face detection, and smile shutter mode. In playback mode it's used to rotate photos. Next is the 4-way pad with the AF button in the middle. This is used to navigate through all the A33's menus and also a quick menu to frequently used settings. Up is the display button that scrolls through the display options, right is the white balance, down is the ISO shortcut button, and left is the Drive mode (self-timer/burst modes) shortcut key. The middle AF button is used to select options while in a menu, and also will show what the camera is focusing in on before snapping. The bottom two starting with the left are the Playback and Delete buttons. The playback button takes you to playback mode and the delete key will delete selected files.



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The A33 has several controls located on the top right side of the camera. At the front edge just below the shutter release is the control dial which controls a variety of settings depending on the camera's current mode of operation. The shutter release is inset and surrounded by the camera's power switch. Next you will see the D-range button next to the camera's speaker. Below that is the Finder/LCD button that allows you to select between the LCD and the electronic viewfinder. Moving down and left we see the red Movie button that starts and stops video recording, and to the right of that is the exposure button and the AEL key. These buttons also are used in playback mode as the zoom in and out keys and the exposure compensation button is also the index key in this mode.


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The Mode Dial is located on the top left, and has positions for Full-Auto, Auto+, Program, Aperture priority, Shutter priority, Manual, Continuous Priority AE, Sweep Shooting, Scene Selection, and Flash Off modes. The Menu key is located right below the Mode Dial and will give access to all camera menus.



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Images can be stored on either a Sony Memory Stick Pro Duo/ Pro HG Duo card or SD/SDHC/SDXC memory cards. Both may be loaded at the same time, but you need to set the camera to which media to use. Sony recommends using their Memory Stick PRO Duo cards with this camera. Shown above with an ancient 512MB SanDisk Extreme SD card.


Approx Storage Capacities

Chart reflects capacities for Memory Stick PRO Duo cards only.

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I/O Ports: Contained inside one compartment is the mini HDMI port (type C), and the (mass storage, PTP) USB 2.0 hi-speed digital port, which also handles standard Audio/Video output. No A/V cable is supplied with the camera. On the front of the hand-grip (not shown) is an infrared sensor for use with an optional wireless remote, and there is a port for use with either the RM-S1AM or RM-L1AM wired Remote Commanders (top right image above). On the bottom is the microphone jack for external microphones and the internal mic will always shut off when an external one in plugged in.



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The A33 is powered by a Sony NP-FW50 7.2v 1080 mAh "InfoLITHIUM" rechargeable battery pack. Sony claims the pack will allow you to capture approx. 270 pictures when using the optical viewfinder or up to 340 images with Live View (using CIPA standard.)

To charge the battery you will use the included BC-VW1 charger. This charger comes with no cord so you just fold out the prongs on the back of the charger, plug into any AC outlet, and insert the battery for charging. You can also purchase the optional AC-PW10AM AC Adapter to power the camera for extended use in a studio type situation.


Visitors of Steves can visit the stores below for real-time pricing and availability. You can also find hot, soon to expire online offers on a variety of cameras and accessories at our very own Camera Deals page.