So Sony recently announced their new flagship beast of a mirrorless camera dubbed the Alpha 1 (A1). Not only is this the new top dog when it comes to mirrorless cameras, but it also boasts a slew of next-gen features currently not found on any mirrorless camera currently on the market.
Photography
The Sony a1 sports a full-frame 50 megapixel Exmor RS™ sensor combined with their all new BIONZ XR image processor to provide a blistering fast continuous shooting of 30 frames per second. This is made possible part in part thanks to Sony’s implementation their electronic shutter. Optimizations made over the previous generations of the shutter have improved anti-distortion as well as a flicker free shutter experience. You can also now use flash sync with the electronic shutter.
Sony has also made improvements to their real-time eye auto-focus system. Not only have they improved it to work more seamlessly in real time, but using subject recognition technology, Sony has added the ability to use Real-time Eye AF on birds as well as other animals across 92% of the sensors available space.
Cinema
With the new image sensor and processor, the Sony a1 can record 8K video at 30 frames per second as well as 4k video at 120 frames per second. This is achievable all while using real time tracking and eye auto focus. Sony has also brought over their cinematic S-Cinetone color matrix from their cinema line cameras.
Another update to the camera is the implementation of Sony’s new Active image stabilizations. Primarily designed to be used for video recording, the active image stabilization will prove incredibly steady shots when when shooting handheld.
Tech
The Sony a1 sports a plethora of groundbreaking including the, all new OLED viewfinder that refreshes at 240hz and the “industry fastest” built in MIMI 2×2 Wi-Fi.
On top of this you have:
- Tiltable Rear touch display
- Two CFexpress media slots
- Improved dust and moisture resistance
- IR white-balance sensor
- USB C charging and data port
- 1000BASE-T ethernet port for gigabit speed transfer
- Lossless compressed RAW files
Final thoughts
On paper, this camera looks like a god, but only once we get our hands on one will we be able to see if the speculations measure up to reality.
The Sony Alpha 1 is slated to be released worldwide in march at a price of $6,499.99 USD. This might be the most expensive mirrorless camera on the market, but time will tell if its price matches its value.
