The advent of the first of the Sony new cameras a few years ago - the Alpha series - was quite a revelation for the shop. Sony Australia put on a comprehensive demonstration of the performance of their biggest DSLR here at a Perth studio and the CE staff trooped along to try it out.
It was more glamour than I could ever imagine. And I have always hoped that they would do it again when they were ready to release their new full frame Alpha 9 mirror-less camera.
The new camera is in the shop right now, and it represents the best of a developing technology for Sony. Mirror-less with full 24 x 36 frame is about as good a compromise of size and performance as anyone makes - pair it with Sony and Zeiss optics and you really can desire very little more. Here is a list of the attributes of the new camera:
- 24 x 36 full frame 24.2 megapixel CMOS sensor.
- Electronic/mechanical shutter - no vibration or noise. Up to 1/32000 second speed. 20 fps possible.
- 693 AF points and eye detection available. AF/AE re-sample at 60 fps. blackout-free viewfinder during continuous shooting.
- 5-axis stabilisation.
- 4K video recording - dual SD card slots - 100-51200 ISO capability.
In anyone's terms, a first-class performance. The fact that it happens in a toughened body with improved ergonomics is a bonus. The additional fact that the battery consumption has been lowered while, the battery capacity has been raised means that this is more than ever a professional camera for the long haul jobs.
The people who gathered lenses for the older Sony series are not abandoned with the E-mount of the Sony mirror-less cameras - adaptors are readily available that pass all the controls through and access all the capabilities of this new body. And current Sony fans know that there are enough other lens adaptors for this style of body to weld it to nearly everything short of the Burbank Telescope. And I'll bet that's been tried...
If your moral teachers allow you to lust, come down to Stirling Street or Murray Street and look through the cabinet windows of the Sony section and indulge yourself a little. We don't mind.
*Wait'll you see it with the new two-battery professional grip. A tiny skyscraper!
Click
here for full specs or to pre-order the
Sony A9 at Camera Electronic.
