Sony A1 - Almost the perfect Camera?
Sony have just released their new flagship full-frame mirrorless camera, the Sony A1 can shoot 50 megapixel images at 30fps, 8K at 30fps and 4k video at 120fps, its far to say its and absolute beast!!!
The camera has a brand new 50.1 megapixel stacked Exmor RE CMOS image sensor and an upgraded BIONZ XR imaging processing engine with eight times more processing power.
It features 15-stops of dynamic range, 120 times p/sec AF/AE calculations (double the speed of the Alpha 9 II), completely blackout free shooting and for all the Sony lovers it has all the S-Cintone features we love from the Sony A7S III and the FX9.
The Sony A1 has a 9.44 million dot OLED viewfinder with a refresh rate of 240fps, 0.9x magnification and an eye-point of 25mm, 5.5-stops of 5-axis IBIS, and anti-flicker shooting with both mechanical and electronic shutter.
The camera features 759 phase detection points in a high-density focal plane phase-detection AF system covering approximately 92% of the image area and provides Real-time Eye AF for birds for the very first time.
Sony A1
Key Features
50.1 megapixel Ехmоr RЅ СМОЅ full-frame sensor
Up to 120 AF/AE calculations per second
9.44 million-dot OLED Quad-XGA EVF wіth 240fрѕ refresh rate
Blackout-free continuous shooting аt uр tо 30fрѕ
Silent, vibration-free shutter
15 ѕtорѕ оf dуnаmіс fоr ѕtіllѕ & 15+ ѕtорѕ fоr vіdео
8K 30p 10-bit 4:2:0 XAVC HS video
4K 120p 10-bit 4:2:2 video
5-axis optical in-body image stabilisation
S-Cinetone colour matrix
It offers 8K/30p 10-bit 4:2:0 XAVC HS video recording with 8.6K oversampling, in addition to 4K 120p 10-bit 4:2:2 and FullHD at 240fps movie shooting capabilities, and can output 16-bit Raw video over HDMI.
There is a 30 minute time limit in the 8K/30p and 4K/60p video modes.
Flash sync is improved, with the Alpha A1 supporting up to 1/200 sec with the electronic shutter or 1/400 sec with the mechanical shutter.
The improved Pixel Shift Multi Shooting combines 16 different images into one 199 megapixel photo.
The Alpha 1 has two memory card slots that both support UHS-I and UHS-II SDXC/SDHC cards as well as new CFexpress Type A cards.
The Sony Alpha 1 will be available in Europe in March 2021 priced at £6,500 / $6,500 / 7,300Euros.
Conclusion
For all intents & purposes, and from 99% of the feedback from early reviews, this seems to be the best and most enjoyable to use camera that Sony has made! With most cameras that do high res video, overheating is always at the front of the concern list, but from what we’ve seen and read, it appears that this isn’t really an issue with the A1, even when shooting in 8k!
the biggest issue for most Sony users which they have learnt to love which is the flip out screen from the Sony A7SIII which was released last year. So have Sony missed a tick by not adding this feature to the camera and now have they missed out on making the ultimate camera for all uses only the individuals with deep enough pockets will know.
