Sony a9 – Announced

Posted on Apr 22nd, 2017

by Thierry

Blog
Sony

Once in a while, something comes along, and things start making more sense.

I have been a mirrorless user for a while now, starting with micro four thirds cameras, Olympus and Panasonic, to the Fuji Xt series, and also with Sony a7 and Leica M cameras.

The main reason for me to go mirrorless was mainly the size (more or less the weight). It is so easy to pack one or two mirrorless bodies with a selection of 3 or 4 lenses, in a bog that would only carry one SLR body with one lens.

I have been using so Olympus and Sony a7 cameras for all sort of assignments, on location and studio, anytime of the day, using ambient of flash.

The Sony a7 series is so good I actually have the a7, a7r, a7s, a7 Mark II and a7r Mark II.. Lenses are mainly Leica M lenses using Metabone adapters.

Rather than climbing the Mark numbers, Sony has just released a new camera, designed from the ground up, with the pluses from the a7 series and without the minuses.

A new sensor with all sort of new goodies.

The layout of buttons has been vastly improved and locations are more natural to access (video recording button).

One particular dedicated button that I find useless is the exposure compensation dial. Especially when there are the front and rear dials that could be set to do this.

Anyway, it’s just my personal preference.

Specs as follow:

Imaging
Lens Mount	Sony E-Mount
Camera Format	Full-Frame
Pixels	Actual: 28.3 Megapixel Effective: 24.2 Megapixel
Max Resolution	24 MP: 6000 x 4000
Aspect Ratio	3:2, 16:9
Sensor Type / Size	CMOS, 35.6 x 23.8 mm
File Formats	Still Images: JPEG, RAW Movies: AVCHD Ver. 2.0, MP4, MPEG-4 AVC/H.264, XAVC S Audio: AAC LC, AC3, Dolby Digital 2ch, Linear PCM
Bit Depth	14-Bit
Dust Reduction System	Yes
Memory Card Type	SD SDHC SDXC Memory Stick Duo
Image Stabilization	Sensor-Shift, 5-Way

AV Recording
Video Recording	Yes, NTSC/PAL
Video Format	3840 x 2160p at 24, 25, 30 fps (100 Mbps XAVC S) 3840 x 2160p at 24, 25, 30 fps (60 Mbps XAVC S) 1920 x 1080p at 100, 120 fps (100 Mbps XAVC S) 1920 x 1080p at 100, 120 fps (60 Mbps XAVC S) 1920 x 1080p at 24, 25, 30, 50, 60 fps (50 Mbps XAVC S) 1920 x 1080p at 50, 60 fps (28 Mbps AVCHD) 1920 x 1080i at 50, 60 fps (24 Mbps AVCHD) 1920 x 1080i at 50, 60 fps (17 Mbps AVCHD) 1920 x 1080p at 24, 25 fps (24 Mbps AVCHD) 1920 x 1080p at 24, 25 fps (17 Mbps AVCHD) 1920 x 1080p at 50, 60 fps (28 Mbps MP4) 1920 x 1080p at 25, 30 fps (16 Mbps MP4) 1280 x 720p at 25, 30 fps (6 Mbps MP4)
Aspect Ratio	16:9
Video Clip Length	Not specified by manufacturer
Audio Recording	Built-In Mic: With Video (Stereo) Optional External Mic: With Video)

Focus Control
Focus Type	Auto & Manual
Focus Mode	Continuous-Servo AF (C), Direct Manual Focus (DMF), Manual Focus (M), Single-servo AF (S)
Autofocus Points	Phase Detection: 693 Contrast Detection: 25

Viewfinder/Display
Viewfinder Type	Electronic
Viewfinder Size	0.5″
Viewfinder Pixel Count	3,686,400
Viewfinder Eye Point	23.00 mm
Viewfinder Coverage	100%
Viewfinder Magnification	Approx. 0.78x
Diopter Adjustment	-4 to +3 m
Display Screen	3″ Rear Touchscreen Tilting LCD (1,440,000)
Screen Coverage	100%

Exposure Control
ISO Sensitivity	Auto, 100-51200 (Extended Mode: 50-204800)
Shutter	Type: Mechanical Speed: 30 – 1/8000 Second , Bulb Mode Type: Electronic Speed: 30 – 1/32000 Second in Bulb Mode
Metering Method	Center-Weighted Average Metering, Multi-Zone Metering, Spot Metering, Highlight Weighted
Exposure Modes	Modes: Aperture Priority, Auto, Manual, Program, Shutter Priority Metering Range: EV -3.0 – EV 20.0 Compensation: -5 EV to +5 EV (in 1/3 or 1/2 EV Steps)
White Balance Modes	Auto, Cloudy, Color Temperature, Custom, Daylight, Flash, Fluorescent (Cool White), Fluorescent (Day White), Fluorescent (Daylight), Fluorescent (Warm White), Incandescent, Shade, Underwater
Continuous Shooting	Up to 20 fps at 24.2 MP for up to 362 frames in JPEG format Up to 20 fps at 24.2 MP for up to 241 frames in raw format Up to 10 fps at 24.2 MP Up to 5 fps at 24.2 MP Up to 2.5 fps at 24.2 MP

Flash
Built-in Flash	No
Max Sync Speed	1 / 250 Second
Flash Compensation	-3 EV to +3 EV (in 1/3 or 1/2 EV steps)
Dedicated Flash System	P-TTL
External Flash Connection	Hot Shoe, PC Terminal