After listening to feedback from its customer base of professional photographers, Sony has released the latest member of its Alpha full-frame interchangeable camera line. The new Sony a9 II sees performance upgrades that’ll vastly improve the connectivity and workflow needed by professional sports photographers and photojournalists.
“The Alpha 9 II is the direct result of our work with agency, sports and news photographers since the launch of the original Alpha 9,” says Neal Manowitz, deputy president for Imaging Products and Solutions Americas at Sony Electronics. “We have added connectivity and network capabilities that drastically improve the professional workflow, while also making enhancements to design, interface and processing power that complete the user experience. Complemented by our extremely versatile E-mount system — with 55 native lenses introduced at this point including super-telephoto 600mm and 400mm G Master series lenses — this new camera is a tool unlike any other for professionals, whether in the field or on the field.”
Like the a9, the a9 II features the brand’s impressive speed performance, as well as AF/AE tracking, but now also includes improved continuous shooting up to 10fps with mechanical shutter, and boosted AF performance, all in a new build.
Next-Level Professional Connectivity:
As an upgrade to Sony’s flagship mirrorless camera, the a9 II has a built-in 1000BASE-T Ethernet terminal — which means users get fast and secure data transfer options for gigabit communications. Sony has decreased the release lag time and live view screen delays via the Remote Camera Tool app and wireless LAN has been increased with an added 5 GHz (IEEE 802.11ac) band. SSL or TLS encryption file transfer is also supported, giving users increased security and tethering.
Additionally, the a9 II now has a Voice Memo function that meets the needs of those working with news agencies, and allows spoken information to be attached to the image files and played back when needed, an especially handy tool when photojournalists need to send editors images with information as quickly as possible. Users can also take advantage of the Transfer & Tagging add-on app to send voice tags to their mobile devices for conversion to text in the form of IPTC metadata.
Speed and Auto-Focus Performance:
The a9 II features the same 35mm full-frame stacked 24.2 MP Exmor RS CMOS image sensor as the a9, but can shoot silently at up to 20 fps for 361 JPEGs (or 239 compressed RAW files). There is no viewfinder blackout, and can also shoot up to 10 fps with mechanical shutter (about twice as fast as the a9).
New AF algorithms mean that even the most quick-moving and erratic subjects are tracked precisely — an especially added bonus for those covering wildlife or sports, when the action may not always be predictable. AF/AE is calculated up to 60 times per second, and Sony has added an anti-flicker shooting mode that compensates for fluorescent or artificial lighting in scenes.
The a9 II has 693 focal-plane phase-detection AF points covering about 93% of the image area, as well as 425 contrast AF points. Sony has also included Real-time Eye AF, with right and left eye selection options, Eye AF for animals and in video, and Real-time Tracking, plus selectable focus frame color and Touch Pad control via the viewfinder. Notably, it also continuously tracks even when greater than f/16, which gives accuracy even to shots with slower shutter speeds.
Build Upgrades:
Sony has upgraded the camera’s BIONZ X image processing engine, refined the dust and moisture resistance of the camera, and developed an image-processing algorithm that keeps noise to a minimum when used in medium-to-high sensitivity, all the while improving resolution and quality.
The 5-axis IBIS has a shutter speed advantage of 5.5 steps, and a reconfigured shutter suppresses the smallest movements. The camera also includes a USB-C connector (for USB 3.2 Gen 1 data transfer), has an improved grip for comfortable hold, a better button design, dual media slots for UHS-I and UHS-II SD cards, and an added digital audio interface.
The Sony a9 II camera will be available for preorder for on October 3, 2019 at 6PM EST.
