Sony A77 camera is worth the hunt

The new and nearly sold out Sony SLT-A77 digital SLR is, hands-down, the best video camera I've used in years. And it's a fine still camera, too.

Video on digital SLRs such as the A77 has taken off the past few years, thanks to the ground-breaking Canon EOS 5D Mark II. DSLRs have image sensors 20 times the size of those found in most video cameras, making a huge, dramatic difference in quality.
You get a cinematic look, with blurry backgrounds and amazing sharpness, but there typically are issues.
Focusing tends to be manual, and it's hard to stay sharp while shooting. The $1,399 (body only) A77 is the first digital SLR I've used that not only has true auto focus during shooting, but also lets you compose the image through the viewfinder or the LCD.
The coolest feature of all: When you start composing on the LCD, then bring the camera up to your eye, the camera senses the touch of your face and switches from LCD view to viewfinder.
Sony achieves this with its translucent mirror technology, which bypasses the traditional camera mirror that's used to help compose images and show the photographer a true rendition of the scene. Instead, the A77 has an electronic OLED viewfinder that mimics what you see. It's not the real thing, in real time, but it's very close.