Sony coming in hot! Announces Alpha a1 50.1 MP Full Frame

[MacNut]

Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera (Body Only)

Buy Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera (Alpha 1 a1 Camera Body) featuring 50MP Full-Frame Exmor RS BSI CMOS Sensor, Up to 30 fps Shooting, ISO 50-102400.

www.bhphotovideo.com

Alpha a1,

• 50.1MP Full-Frame Exmor R BSI CMOS Sensor
• BIONZ XR Image Processor
• Up to 30 fps Shooting, ISO 50-102400
• 8K 30p and 4K 120p Video in 10-Bit
• 9.44m-Dot EVF with 240 fps Refresh Rate
• 759-Point Fast Hybrid AF
• 5-Axis SteadyShot Image Stabilization
• Dual Drive Mech. Shutter, 1/400 Sec Sync
• 5 GHz Wi-Fi, 1000BASE-T Ethernet
• Dual CFexpress Type A/SD Card Slots

 

[Hughmac]

Better hide this from @Clix Pix

Cheers

Hugh

 

[Clix Pix]

Better hide this from @Clix Pix

Cheers

Hugh

Hoo boy!!!! That sounds like a sizzler of a camera!!! Gotta go pre-order right now!!!!

Oddly enough, just the other day I was thinking once again of buying an A9 II as a companion to my A7R IV particularly because of the ability to shoot faster in Continuous High, which is advantageous for a lot of the type of shooting I do and which is especially useful in shooting BIF. One thing which I especially love about my A7R IV, though, is that high resolution, which comes in very handy for obtaining greater detail when shooting macro and also for cropping as needed, which it often is when shooting the wildlife. This new camera sounds as though it might fit both my needs..... Hm......

ETA:

Just read all the specs and info on the B&H site, and WOW!!!! Just....WOW!!! From the description it sounds as though Sony has listened to their users, and some features that users have requested or complained about have been taken into consideration -- lots of refining of the best features and some adjustments and corrections of features and functions which some users felt needed improvement, along with additional new features and functionality. Something here for everybody from bird shooters (Bird Eye AF!) to cinematographers to sports shooters at the Olympics.....

Sony is continuing to surge forward, staying at the top of the heap, and this is a major move!

 

[MacNut]

The a7IV is rumored to be released soon as well as the a7rV.

 

[scubachap]

Once upon a time I used to think £300 was expensive for a camera body...

Mind you I'm looking forward to seeing what the A7IV brings... My A7R (which I've loved) is feeling a bit well, like me, (past it's prime)

 

[MacNut]

Once upon a time I used to think £300 was expensive for a camera body...

Mind you I'm looking forward to seeing what the A7IV brings...

This camera is aimed at the high end market.

 

[scubachap]

This camera is aimed at the high end market.

Yes, of course... It's just amazing how things have come on (and how well Sony have managed to redefine the Prosumer market a little further down the chain). Mind you I remember being amazed when I first came across a leaf digital back.

 

[MacNut]

Yes, of course... It's just amazing how things have come on (and how well Sony have managed to redefine the Prosumer market a little further down the chain). Mind you I remember being amazed when I first came across a leaf digital back.

Right now the race is between Sony and Canon. Sony still has big announcements this year. If this is the first shot they have some amazing stuff coming.

 

[Clix Pix]

Well, I'll tell you that I have never for one second regretted the move I made just over a year ago to Sony -- my A7R IV does everything I ask of it and more, and each of my lenses does as well. The quality of some of my images is sometimes better than I expected, and it's not due to me or my technique, but rather to the quality of the camera and whatever lens I put on it, which give me sometimes surprising results. Yes, as the saying goes, you get what you pay for, and Sony products certainly don't come cheap, but for me everything I have purchased and used so far is absolutely worth it. I've been very happy with the camera body and with the Sony system as a whole, from availability of the type of lenses I want to shoot with to the stellar quality of those lenses and the camera body to which I mount them.

 

[MacNut]

I'm glad I moved to Sony, they seem have the strongest roadmap going forward.

 

[scubachap]

I would agree with both of you. I remember the first time I loaded an in image from my A7R and started to play with it - the latitude in the image was amazing. It was like having a medium format camera I could slip into a coat pocket.

Sony have been so exciting - multiple products lines competing with each other and lots of brave clever cameras like the A7S. But I do think that not having a long standing SLR 'camera heritage' has really helped them.

My brother used to work for what was then one of the big three Japanese camera companies back in the early nineties. Back then they all had big semi auto SLR and lens ranges which were real money spinners but with the advances in electronics they introduced lots of clever little point and shoots (35mm and 110 etc) which turned out to be a curse in that they cannibalised their more much expensive hobbyist lines. (Auntie Mabel could take better pics with her neat little point and shoot than Uncle Ted could manage with his 'big' camera with all the separate lenses.) I remember my brother saying it was something of a ongoing profit disaster and the received wisdom following that period was that product ranges should be carefully considered, demarcated and the flagship products protected (at least from our own products). Sony just didn't care and blew all that away really and it should be applauded... The others are now having to run to keep up.. And stumbling at times...

 

[robgendreau]

Sounds like a nice camera. Nothing revolutionary, but that's probably the point for a camera that seems directed at pros in sports, wedding, and video, who just need to get the job done. A good response to the R5...although a lot more expensive, no?

And BTW, they missed the mark with the naming. A1? as in sauce? why not Sony Alpha Dog. Or A10, since better than A9? But of course the R5 must better than the R6 so obviously Canon's next will be the R1. Meanwhile, Nikon grabs the other end of the alphabet, where I guess the Z1 is coming. Sheesh.

 

[AlaskaMoose]

Right now the race is between Sony and Canon. Sony still has big announcements this year. If this is the first shot they have some amazing stuff coming.

It is rumored that Canon will be introducing a R1 this year, but I don't know the details. Sony has been nothing but outstanding, and is driving the mirrorless camera market.

 

[OreoCookie]

That sounds like a spec monster of a camera, Sony is really showing off it definitely is king of the hill. The 9+ MP viewfinder in particular caught my eye.

 

[Clix Pix]

Someone on another site where I also hang out noted the absence of a feature, one which has consistently not been included in Sony cameras but nonetheless it is surprising that it is not in this new flagship one: in-camera focus stacking/focus bracketing, whatever you want to call it..... Rather curious, actually, since focus stacking seems to be so trendy these days. Personally, I'm not the least bit interested in it so that is why I didn't notice its absence.

 

[OreoCookie]

On further reflection, it seems that there is one glaring omission: GPS. Why isn't GPS included by default these days? Is the problem really battery life?

 

[Clix Pix]

I thought I saw mention of GPS being available -- then again I've read so many different things today I easily could be mistaken. GPS isn't something in which I'm interested, either, any more than I am the focus stacking thing, so its presence or absence is not a deal-killer for me. That said, though, since it IS important to many photographers it would be surprising if it has been omitted.

 

[OreoCookie]

I thought I saw mention of GPS being available -- then again I've read so many different things today I easily could be mistaken. GPS isn't something in which I'm interested, either, any more than I am the focus stacking thing, so its presence or absence is not a deal-killer for me. That said, though, since it IS important to many photographers it would be surprising if it has been omitted.

I googled it and got no hits. I didn't see any mention of it either. (If I am wrong, please let me know.)

It is not a deal killer, but IMHO all modern digital cameras should come with a GPS. It is certainly a feature I'd love to have. One of the biggest advantages that my iPhones had as a camera is that I can search for location. GPS also gives accurate date and time information, which is relevant if you travel across time zones. And it seems like such an obvious feature, GPS isn't new or niche, and given that smartwatches and other fitness equipment with small batteries are able to give full-day battery life with GPS enabled, it shouldn't be a battery life issue.

Even when my D7000 was released 10 years ago, I thought to myself “Why didn't Nikon add GPS?”

 

[tizeye]

And BTW, they missed the mark with the naming. A1? as in sauce?

My first thought was the A1 name was already taken. The Canon A1 was their Pro/Prosumer 35mm film camera.

 

[AlaskaMoose]

I googled it and got no hits. I didn't see any mention of it either. (If I am wrong, please let me know.)

It is not a deal killer, but IMHO all modern digital cameras should come with a GPS. It is certainly a feature I'd love to have. One of the biggest advantages that my iPhones had as a camera is that I can search for location. GPS also gives accurate date and time information, which is relevant if you travel across time zones. And it seems like such an obvious feature, GPS isn't new or niche, and given that smartwatches and other fitness equipment with small batteries are able to give full-day battery life with GPS enabled, it shouldn't be a battery life issue.

Even when my D7000 was released 10 years ago, I thought to myself “Why didn't Nikon add GPS?”

The problem with GPS is that it uses battery battery power. Mirrorless cameras use a lot of power when using both the electronic viewfinder, and the screens as you change shooting modes and settings. Maybe future cameras would be manufactured to consume less electricity.

 

[OreoCookie]

The problem with GPS is that it uses battery battery power. Mirrorless cameras use a lot of power when using both the electronic viewfinder, and the screens as you change shooting modes and settings. Maybe future cameras would be manufactured to consume less electricity.

I don't buy that. Bad battery life was certainly an issue with GPS tracking >10 years ago. The GPS tracker I bought sometime in the 2000s lasted about 7ish hours on a single AA battery — not enough for an all-day hike. But I don't think it is true now. In fact, I know that Sony knows better (you will see why below).

Technology has evolved quite a bit since then. I have plenty of GPS devices with way smaller batteries and very long GPS tracking battery life. My Wahoo Elemnt Bolt lasts >10 hours when refreshing its GPS position every second. A modern sports smartwatch like Garmin's Forerunner 745 has 16 hours in GPS mode. The Forerunner 945 has up to 36 hours and 60 hours in a special mode where you record your GPS position less often. And smartwatches have way smaller batteries than dslrs or mirrorless cameras.

You might say that “well, Sony doesn't know all that.” Oh, but they do. That's because they make what is probably the best GPS chipset for modern sports smartwatches on the market today, which is the chipset featured in the Forerunner 745 and the Fenix 6-series.

I get that maybe you want to make GPS tracking optional to conserve battery life, that's alright. But it is nowhere near the battery drain it once was and IMHO should just be standard on any serious camera, including the lowest of low-end fancy cameras. Having GPS data included in your EXIF data is a huge boon. And adding them after the fact is just so much faff that I just don't do it.

 

[Ray2]

I don't buy that. Bad battery life was certainly an issue with GPS tracking >10 years ago. The GPS tracker I bought sometime in the 2000s lasted about 7ish hours on a single AA battery — not enough for an all-day hike. But I don't think it is true now. In fact, I know that Sony knows better (you will see why below).

Technology has evolved quite a bit since then. I have plenty of GPS devices with way smaller batteries and very long GPS tracking battery life. My Wahoo Elemnt Bolt lasts >10 hours when refreshing its GPS position every second. A modern sports smartwatch like Garmin's Forerunner 745 has 16 hours in GPS mode. The Forerunner 945 has up to 36 hours and 60 hours in a special mode where you record your GPS position less often. And smartwatches have way smaller batteries than dslrs or mirrorless cameras.

You might say that “well, Sony doesn't know all that.” Oh, but they do. That's because they make what is probably the best GPS chipset for modern sports smartwatches, including the Forerunner 745 and the Fenix 6-series.

I get that maybe you want to make GPS tracking optional to conserve battery life, that's alright. But it is nowhere near the battery drain it once was and IMHO should just be standard on any serious camera, including the lowest of low-end fancy cameras. Having GPS data included in your EXIF data is a huge boon. And adding them after the fact is just so much faff that I just don't do it.

Is there a reason smartphones don’t exhibit any of the life you allude to? Use gps in my iPhone or iPads and battery life is crippled? One would think Apple could do as well as the companies you mention.

 

[r.harris1]

Very definitely a "kitchen sink" and "bragging rights" camera. Should set them up well for the Olympics should they occur and with their fancy new exclusive agreement with AP. Wading through Sony's Marketing Speak get tedious, as always, but two things stand out. First is the sensor read-off speed. If they can read off 30 fps of their notoriously large uncompressed raw files, clearing the buffer quickly, that's awesome for people who are in situations who need 30 fps and who aren't already shooting video. The other standout is the view finder refresh and associated iteration of no-blackout from the A9. Interesting that they went with SD and CFExpress A, rather than two CFExpress since that can slow down sensor read-off, plus given the fact that CFExpress I believe comes in larger sizes to handle people rattling off 30fps of raw files.

 

[OreoCookie]

Is there a reason smartphones don’t exhibit any of the life you allude to? Use gps in my iPhone or iPads and battery life is crippled? One would think Apple could do as well as the companies you mention.

I don't think it is crippled at all. When I switch off cellular, I was able to record my GPS data for >10 hours on my then-aging iPhone 5. So I think lackluster battery life doesn't have to do with GPS. Some apps can be quite inefficient. And disabling cellular defeats the purpose of having a smartphone with you.

Smartwatches designed for fitness first are designed for longer events such as triathlons. For some ultradistance events you need >24 hours. The Apple Watch does not do as well as its competition, though. I am not quite sure why. Perhaps it is related to the chipset. However, battery life with GPS enabled is still good enough for most people. Even when you go on a long run, you don't normally go longer than 2 hours.

To be honest, I'd be happy with >15 hours on my dslr, because I am willing to recharge the battery. And when I was with my X100s, I always had spare batteries with me anyway.

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

They also co-announced an Xperia Pro smartphone that connects to this camera. Maybe that is their solution to the GPS and focus stacking questions? The shocker is that they want $2500 for the phone, which is way more than the most expensive iPhone you can buy. Maybe I’m missing something regarding what that phone offers, and it’s more about what it can do as a camera companion, but it looks like an attempt at vertical integration. I guess it just comes down to how many Pro-level photographers/videographers will find those features appealing for that price.