Sony A9 body

Built to take advantage of the Sony Alpha 7 line of cameras, the Sony Alpha A9 full-frame mirrorless camera has entered the market to compete with the world's top shark DSLRs, the Nikon D5 and Canon EOS 1D X Mark II. And its first advantage over DSLRs is the presence of a 5-axis image stabilization system built into the matrix that works with all lenses.

Reporting qualities

The camera can shoot long bursts at 20 fps, buffering more than 240 frames in RAW format. During high-speed “shooting”, the auto-exposure and auto-focus modules update information at a speed of 60 fps. By the way, the camera's autofocus system is one of the most advanced on the market — 693 phase-type points cover 93% of the frame area and catch the subject at lightning speed in almost all situations.

Ergonomics

Separate flattering words deserve the ergonomics of the camera. Plenty of physical control keys and a tilting touch screen let you change shooting settings with just a couple of swipes. The dust- and moisture-proof housing of the Sony Alpha A9 turned out to be exactly such that it was comfortable to use top-end optics with it (for example, lenses of the G-Master series), which have rather big dimensions and weight. On the side of the camera there is a dual slot for memory cards, and from the bottom you can access the removable battery. Its battery life was pulled closer to the level of DSLRs (650 shots on a single charge).

Potential

Mirrorless has a huge potential for 4K video recording. Videos with a resolution of 3840x2160 pixels are created by reading the signal from the entire area of the matrix without skipping pixels in 6K format, which is further converted to 4K by the camera itself. The result is impressive image detail and avoids the rolling shutter effect. When shooting at a frame rate of 30 fps, the picture is recorded with a small crop (about 1.2x), while when the frame rate drops to 24 fps, it is not.

Flagship

Sony positions its best creation as a tool for professional photographers. Therefore, some mirrorless video capabilities are forcibly curtailed (there are no S-Log modes, you cannot shoot in Cinema 4K format, etc.). But even without all this, the Sony Alpha A9 is a real flagship, coveted by both real pros and advanced photo enthusiasts.