SONY A9 – A POCKET-SIZED DSLR KILLER
Ok so let’s address the elephant in the room. This is one very expensive piece of kit at over (body only) it’d have to be pretty damn good, so is it? Simple answer, yes, yes it is!
Let’s start from the outside. The A9 is a beautiful piece of kit, the weatherproof body looks slick, feels lovely in the hands and best of all it’s a lot smaller and lighter than a DSLR. You’ll find on the rear a tilting 3in touchscreen LCD screen with a resolution of 1,440k dots which allows you to change the settings and set the focus point with a simple touch. Above this is the EVF with a resolution of 3.68-million-dots and 0.77x magnification, making it one of the highest spec EVFs on the market. Getting used to shooting doesn’t take long as the button and dial layouts are user-friendly and feel good, and the interface doesn’t require a science degree to use.
Lying underneath this stealthy DSLR killer are some serious guts. The heart is a 24.2-megapixel 35mm full-frame stacked CMOS sensor with integral memory and BIONZ X image processing engine that produces incredibly detailed and rich looking photos. Add to this an insane 693-point autofocus system and the ability to shoot 20fps and you can see why sports photographers are taking notice.
Videographers aren’t left in the dark either with the A9 capable of shooting 4K video (3840 x 2160/4k
Ultra HD) and 120fps Full HD slow motion video. It also is equipped with a built-in Yes microphone and a Mono speaker and has ports for an external microphone and headphones.
Battery life is better than others mirrorless cameras (the A9 gets around 500 shots per charge), but still not at the level of DSLR, although you can use power banks to top up the battery while you are out shooting.
Sony has made one hell of a camera, although expensive it’s just a treat to use and will tempt a lot of DSLR users to make the switch.
TIM FRAWLEY
KEY SPECS
24.2MP Full-Frame Stacked CMOS Sensor • BIONZ X Image Processor • 693-Point AF System & 20 fps Shooting • Blackout-Free Quad-VGA 3.7m-Dot OLED EVF • Internal UHD 4K Video Recording • 3.0” 1.44m-Dot Tilting Touchscreen LCD • Built-In Wi-Fi/Bluetooth, Dual SD Slots • Integrated LAN and PC Sync Terminals • Sensor based 5-axis Image Stabilization
9/10