Sony A1 vs A9 II

[Tim Mayo]

I've put together a comprehensive list of the key differences between the new Sony a1 flagship and the a9II. Or have you already pulled the trigger?

Sony A1 vs A9 II – The Key Differences - Alpha Shooters

I take a look at the key differences between the new Sony A1 and Sony's previous flagship camera, the A9II.

www.alphashooters.com

 

[liggy]

If the A1 was out when I bought the A9II I might have chosen it instead. Don’t really need the megapixels but buy once, cry once.

i would like the bird eye AF as an update to the 9II

I do hope that readers understand that the images depicting rolling shutter etc. are not representative of the A9II

 

[etiennescamera]

I've put together a comprehensive list of the key differences between the new Sony a1 flagship and the a9II. Or have you already pulled the trigger?

Sony A1 vs A9 II – The Key Differences - Alpha Shooters

I take a look at the key differences between the new Sony A1 and Sony's previous flagship camera, the A9II.

www.alphashooters.com

I have now read so many reviews and comparisons and still cannot decide what to do. My options are to keep my a7riv and add an a9ii or trade the a7riv in and buy the a1. I do a mix of wildlife, dog, landscape and now starting to learn about astro. Any advice would be welcome.

 

[garuda]

I have now read so many reviews and comparisons and still cannot decide what to do. My options are to keep my a7riv and add an a9ii or trade the a7riv in and buy the a1.....

I'm in exactly the same boat w my sacred 7Riv sensor. Hate taking a money-hit selling 7Riv and then another $2K hit for some goodies I don't need, though getting a few goodies I do want w a1.

..... Any advice would be welcome.

I'm on the fence hoping/waiting for an a9iii w 50m sensor and a few of the features inherited from a1 --- like CF cards, PDAF+, etc. The real problem is determining whether Sony will eventually release a 9iii and if so, when. Unfortunately, I tend to suspect Sony's (unfair) strategy is to drop the a9 iterations and force users to pop for the extra $2K, and thus concentrating all their state-of-the-art technology into the a1. This then forces those wanting either a9 or Riv advanced/improved performance to settle for a1 only. A $2K ouch.... Except for those who use all the features or have ample money to spend.

The most upsetting part is Sony's convenient failure to mention the upcoming a1 on the drawing board when they released the 60m Riv (or a9ii). I'd give a $100 to have a contact deep inside the Sony empire.

 

[Tim Mayo]

I have now read so many reviews and comparisons and still cannot decide what to do. My options are to keep my a7riv and add an a9ii or trade the a7riv in and buy the a1. I do a mix of wildlife, dog, landscape and now starting to learn about astro. Any advice would be welcome.

Remember that the a1 is kind of 3 cameras in one (a7R IV, a9II, a7S III). If you have no need for the video features, then you might be better off just adding the a9II. If you haven't already, it might be worth hiring one just to see if this would be a beneficial addition to your gear bag or not.

 

[Tim Mayo]

I'm on the fence hoping/waiting for an a9iii w 50m sensor and a few of the features inherited from a1 --- like CF cards, PDAF+, etc. The real problem is determining whether Sony will eventually release a 9iii and if so, when. Unfortunately, I tend to suspect Sony's (unfair) strategy is to drop the a9 iterations and force users to pop for the extra $2K, and thus concentrating all their state-of-the-art technology into the a1. This then forces those wanting either a9 or Riv advanced/improved performance to settle for a1 only. A $2K ouch.... Except for those who use all the features or have ample money to spend.

I would of thought an a9III release is inevitable, if Sony dropped this I can't see many people finding the extra cash for the a1, that's quite the jump. They might start looking at the Canon R series instead which Sony will no doubt be trying to avoid.

 

[garuda]

I would of thought an a9III release is inevitable, if Sony dropped this I can't see many people finding the extra cash for the a1...

I pray you are correct, Tim. Your words are re-assuring and logical for Sony strategy, now that I think about it using your reasoning. I will patiently wait for a9iii.... IMPATIENTLY!

 

[etiennescamera]

Remember that the a1 is kind of 3 cameras in one (a7R IV, a9II, a7S III). If you have no need for the video features, then you might be better off just adding the a9II. If you haven't already, it might be worth hiring one just to see if this would be a beneficial addition to your gear bag or not.

Thanks for the advice, got hold of one to try out from a guy who is selling one of his a9ii's to upgrade to a1 because he wants the video capability and more pixels. Tried it out on the weekend and now buying it from him.

 

[AlphaWorld]

I didn’t wait

I had the A7R IV and I bought the A9 II to try to get better AF on birds In flight. I learned that I don‘t have the reflexes I’d need to track them with the A9 size sensor - need the bird occupying a fair bit of the frame, and my reflexes meant I kept chopping off wings.

For me the A1 meant that I could frame more loosely and crop. Plus the AF is insanely good. The A1 offered me what I needed to compensate for my lack of skill. You may not need the help, but it’s really nice to have it.

I sold the A9 II, but kept the A7R IV.

 

[Ralph]

I would love to buy the A9 in any form as I am sure this has to be the birders camera.
So for that reason alone I would be the A9 person. But putting it as simple as I can
I just can't find $6000 give or take a dollar.
So I think my option would be to go for the many more megapixel jobs.
I would swap my 2 camera's but not lens to get the maybe Sony A7rii

 

[J.Duffy]

I would do very questionable things to have an A1....lol.

 

[garuda]

I would do very questionable things to have an A1....lol.

Soliciting is prohibited on this forum.

 

[J.Duffy]

I didn't specify the questionable things.....maybe I would kick a puppy? (For the record I wouldn't!)

 

[garuda]

I would kick a gorilla in the shins if it got me an a1.

 

[Jeff A]

I didn’t wait

I had the A7R IV and I bought the A9 II to try to get better AF on birds In flight. I learned that I don‘t have the reflexes I’d need to track them with the A9 size sensor - need the bird occupying a fair bit of the frame, and my reflexes meant I kept chopping off wings.

For me the A1 meant that I could frame more loosely and crop. Plus the AF is insanely good. The A1 offered me what I needed to compensate for my lack of skill. You may not need the help, but it’s really nice to have it.

I sold the A9 II, but kept the A7R IV.

You mean you can spend more money to make up for a lack of skill? Uh-oh!

 

[Jeff A]

I would kick a gorilla in the shins if it got me an a1.

Shin? Best re-evaluate your target.

 

[garuda]

Shin? Best re-evaluate your target.

Using the "shins" for target delivery was intentional to emphasize the threat level I'm willing to risk to get a new a1. Come on man, Sony won't give you a free a1 for merely a well placed groin kick if it takes the gorilla to his knees upon impact, or renders him immobile. There's no risk in that.... USUALLY!

 

[AlphaWorld]

You mean you can spend more money to make up for a lack of skill? Uh-oh!

Not always, but sometimes, and this is one of those sometimes. Not just lack of skill, though, I’d call it making up for the ravages of time and deteriorating reflexes.

Arguably, some of the big changes in photography have been compensations for lack of skill: auto-exposure, auto-focus, and eye AF have all compensated for my own lacks. I am still waiting for the development of an auto-something that will compensate for me not having my camera ready for the critical shot, or having it pointed in the wrong direction

 

[garuda]

I've put together a comprehensive list of the key differences between the new Sony a1 flagship and the a9II.....

Tim, hoping you don't mind that I extracted from your comprehensive list, what I consider the only significant differences betw a1 vs. a9ii. I did this only to emphasize the extra benefits gained for the $2,000 premium in price. I personally used this comparison in considering to buy a1, or wait for a9iii (which will likely inherit the a1's 50m sensor). I'm waiting. Thanks Tim for your excellent comparison.

(All credit and thanks for this comparison goes to Timothy Mayo).

Thumbnail: (click to enlarge):

 

[AlphaWorld]

Tim, hoping you don't mind that I extracted from your comprehensive list, what I consider the only significant differences betw a1 vs. a9ii. I did this only to emphasize the extra benefits gained for the $2,000 premium in price. I personally used this comparison in considering to buy a1, or wait for a9iii (which will likely inherit the a1's 50m sensor). I'm waiting. Thanks Tim for your excellent comparison.

(All credit and thanks for this comparison goes to Timothy Mayo).

Thumbnail: (click to enlarge):
View attachment 10776

While I sympathise with the list you've culled, I think you missed a few:

• lossless compressed RAW - this makes a big difference on a camera which can fill a card in a matter of minutes!
• even faster autofocus (120 calculations/second over 60)
• bird eye AF
• e-shutter flash at 1/200
• mechanical shutter flash at 1/400
• 8k, etc video - yeah, I don't shoot video either!

You did include 30 fps vs 20 fps, but you omitted the one that really matters to me: 20 fps with lossless or uncompressed vs 10 fps uncompressed.

You got the higher resolution EVF, but omitted that it can run faster, or have a larger magnification.

Last one is a slight negative - the A1 is slightly heavier.

 

[garuda]

While I sympathise with the list you've culled, I think you missed a few:

• lossless compressed RAW - this makes a big difference on a camera which can fill a card in a matter of minutes!
• even faster autofocus (120 calculations/second over 60)
• bird eye AF
• e-shutter flash at 1/200
• mechanical shutter flash at 1/400
• 8k, etc video - yeah, I don't shoot video either!

Please take this as merely a friendly, playful joust.

Response to your bullets:

Bullet #1 – If you can afford an a1, you can also afford a bigger/faster SD card.
Bullet# 2 – you’re splitting hairs comparing a half-second over a one-second AF lock. If a half-second matters to you, practice raising your camera up to your eye faster.
Bullet# 3 – If bird head is in-focus, then the eye is also in-focus; and I contend the algorithm can find a head faster than the eye. (Remember the old adage: the head is faster than the eye…. Or maybe it was “hand is faster.”
Bullet# 4 – If this is a real issue for you, you need stronger meds, not a stronger camera.
Bullet# 5 – Same as #4.
Bullet# 6 – If you need 8K, buy some AI software that easily takes 1080 up to 8K with no strain.

 

[AlphaWorld]

Please take this as merely a friendly, playful joust.

Response to your bullets:

Bullet #1 – If you can afford an a1, you can also afford a bigger/faster SD card.
Bullet# 2 – you’re splitting hairs comparing a half-second over a one-second AF lock. If a half-second matters to you, practice raising your camera up to your eye faster.
Bullet# 3 – If bird head is in-focus, then the eye is also in-focus; and I contend the algorithm can find a head faster than the eye. (Remember the old adage: the head is faster than the eye…. Or maybe it was “hand is faster.”
Bullet# 4 – If this is a real issue for you, you need stronger meds, not a stronger camera.
Bullet# 5 – Same as #4.
Bullet# 6 – If you need 8K, buy some AI software that easily takes 1080 up to 8K with no strain.

With all due (lack of) respect:

• the largest high speed SD cards are 128GB (larger than that, and they are slower), and I already have those in my camera (and 160GB CFexpress, too) - with lossless compressed files I can shoot longer before filling them
• it’s not 1/2 a second vs 1 second to autofocus, it’s how quickly the camera can adjust focus in a rapidly changing shot - if you have the camera to your eye and your subject changes direction, then all the practice you have done lifting the camera is of no use whatsoever
• if the camera doesn’t recognise that it’s a bird’s head (because it doesn’t recognise the eyes) then it may choose to focus on something else…
• The A1 is, as far as I know, the only camera capable of shooting flash with an electronic shutter at all - no idea what your medications have to do with that…
• 1/400 flash sync matters when balancing flash with ambient light - makes a big difference compared to cameras stuck with much slower sync
• 8k? Yeah, I am not going to argue that one - I have no proof the camera can shoot video

 

[garuda]

Sometimes when we get stuck thinking too technical, we miss the satire or humor in someone's response --- even when warned it's a friendly, playful gesture. Then we miss the subtle point of the message.