Sony Alpha A9 announced

Sony has announced the full-frame mirrorless Alpha A9, with a 24.2MP sensor and blackout-free 20fps continuous shooting

Key features:

• Full-frame stacked CMOS sensor with 24.2 MP resolution
• Blackout-Free continuous shooting at up to 20fps for up to 241 RAWs or 362 JPEG images
• Silent, vibration-free shooting at speeds up to 1/32,000sec
• 693-point focal plane phase detection AF system, with 60 AF/AE tracking calculations per second
• Ethernet port for file transfer, dual SD card slots and extended battery life thanks to new battery
• 5-axis in-body image stabilisation providing a 5-step shutter speed advantage

Sony describes its Alpha A9 as a revolutionary new camera, offering imaging performance “unmatched by any camera ever created – mirrorless, SLR or otherwise.”

This includes such features as high-speed blackout-free continuous shooting at up to 20fps for up to 241 RAWs or 361 JPEGs, with no shutter blackout.

This combines with vibration-free shooting at speeds of up to 1/32,000sec, ensuring the Sony a9 should prove to be an exceptional camera for shooting fast action. The shutter is fully electronic and completely silent.

The fast shooting is further complemented by a focusing system with 693 phase detection AF points, covering approximately 93% of the frame. Sony says this innovative AF system will be able to track complex and erratic motions with superb accuracy, making up to 60 calculations a second. The Fast Hybrid AF system achieves approximately 25% faster performance than that of the A7R II The a9 also carries a new Z battery offering approximately 2.2x the capacity of W batteries, and comes packing dual SD card slots.

Housed within the A9 is a stacked 24.2MP Exmor RS sensor, new Bionz X processor and front end LSI. This combination is what provides the processing power necessary for the a9’s blistering speeds. The sensor is also back-illuminated for maximum light capture. It carries an ISO range of 100-51,200, expandable to 50-204,800.

An all-new 3,686k-dot Quad-VGA OLED Tru-Finder is the highest-resolution viewfinder ever incorporated into a Sony camera, and features a double-sided aspherical element in its optical design that enables superb sharpness and detail. It also utilises a Zeiss T*coating to reduce reflections and fluorine coating to repel dirt, and it can be set to 60 or 120fps depending on the scene’s requirements.

The camera carries 5-axis image stabilisation which Sony says will provide a shutter-speed advantage of up to five stops. Its effects can also be monitored in the EVD and on the LCD, allowing the user to get a realistic preview of their final image before capture.

Moving on to video: the Sony A9 offers 4K (3840 x 2160) video recording across the full width of its sensor, and uses full pixel readout without pixel binning to collect 6K of information, oversampling to produce high-quality 4K footage. It can also record super-slow-motion Full HD footage at 120fps.

It’s expected from June 2017.

Click here to pre-order the Sony a9

G Master 100-400mm Super Telephoto E-Mount Zoom

Sony has also extended its G Master lens range with the FE 100-400mm F4.5–5.6 GM OSS Super Telephoto Zoom, the furthest-reaching E-mount lens yet.

Producing outstanding corner-to-corner sharpness throughout the entire zoom range, the lens has a complex construction consisting of 22 elements in 16 groups, including one Super ED (Extra-low Dispersion) and two ED glass elements. It also has Nano coating.

For autofocus, the lens uses a combination of a double linear motor and a Direct Drive SSM actuator, allowing it to keep pace with fast action.

It also features a new zoom torque adjustment ring, allowing the user to vary the speed of the zoom depending on their shooting needs. It's also resistant to dust and moisture, and has a fluorine coating on its front element to aid with removal of dust or grease.

The new 100-400mm features built-in optical image stabilisation, weighs just 1,395g and offers a minimum focusing distance of 0.98m.

It's expected in June, with an approximate price of £2,500.

Click here to pre-order the Sony FE 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 OSS G Master Lens