Ken Rockwell (known as the Chuck Norris of the photoblogosphere) tested the new A9. And his conclusion in short is:

The Sony A9 is an obvious pick — possibly the pick — for sports, news and action. Nothing is as fast, it has an AF system to match, and it’s also silent. Sony is out to kill Nikon and Canon, and this certainly helps, at only 2/3 the price of the competitive DSLRs.

If Chuck Norris says so it must be true :)

One more bit of news: David Fliss spotted the A9 in the White House.

Sony A9:
Sony A9 at BHphoto, Adorama, Amazon, BestBuy. FocusCamera. Calumet.de. Park UK. Wex UK. Jessops.
Sony A9 with Grip Extension Kit at BHphoto, Adorama and Amazon.
Note: US readers preordering the A9 at BHphoto or Adorama using our links (and our affiliated links only!) have a chance to win a Sony A9.

And the fastest SD cards are now in Stock:
Sony SF-G 128GB: BHphoto, Adorama, Amazon. In EU: AmazonDE, AmazonUK, AmazonFR, AmazonIT, AmazonES.
Sony SF-G 64GB: BHphoto, Adorama, Amazon. In EU: AmazonDE, AmazonUK, AmazonFR, AmazonIT, AmazonES.
Sony SF-G 32GB: BHphoto, Adorama, Amazon.

The new Sony FE lenses preorders:
16-35mm GM at Bhphoto, Adorama, BestBuy, Focus and Amazon. In EU at Calumet DE, WexUK, Jessops.
12-24mm G at Bhphoto, Adorama, BestBuy, Focus and Amazon. In EU at Calumet DE, WexUK, Jessops.
Sony 100-400mm GM at BHphoto, Amazon, Adorama, BestBuy. Calumet.de. Park UK. Wex UK. Jessops.

Yesterday’s huge firmware upgrades brought some good news. With the exception of the new A9 all A7II series camera do no more have the “Star Eater” issue. I expect the same fix will be available soon with firmware 1.02 for the A9 too.

One of the major improvement has been seen on the A6300. With the new firmware it takes more than double the time before it overheats in comparison to the older firmware.

Firmware links:
A9: Sony Japan, Sony Support, Sony Australia.
A7rII: Sony Japan, Sony Support, Sony Australia.
A7sII: Sony Japan, Sony Support, Sony Australia.
A7II: Sony Japan, Sony Support, Sony Australia.
A6500: Sony Japan, Sony Support, Sony Australia.
A6300: Sony Japan, Sony Support, Sony Australia.

Our trusted sources told us that Sigma will announce the first FE lens this summer. And it will be a new 35mm f/1.4 FE autofocus lens. And Sigma will also another zoom FE lens shortly after. And why is this exciting news? Because Sigma makes lenses that are on par or even better than the bets Zeiss Otus lenses for a price that is 3-4 times less. One more proof of that is the new Sigma 135mm f/1.8 lens. The very severe reviewers from Photozone tested the lens and wrote:

In our review of the Sigma 85mm f/1.4 HSM DG ART we were pretty much stunned by its quality. However, the Sigma 135mm f/1.8 HSM DG ART tops that. Those who have followed us over the years know that we don’t easily come up with superlatives but this time it’s hard to avoid them really. The Sigma lens is the best lens that we have tested so far.

The new Sigma FE autofocus lenses will NOT be adapted DSLR lenses. These will be from ground up newly designed lenses. And if they will be as good as their current ART lens lineup it will make the Sony E-mount system much more attractive.a

Sigma 135mm f/1.8 store links: [shopcountry 59635].

ThatCameraGuy tested the new 1.01 A9 firmware. And as suspected it doesn’t fix the overheating itself. But it delays the overheating indicator warning time so that it doesn’t appear 10 minutes before the actual shutdown. Note that most people will not keep the camera all time on a 90 Degree Fahrenheit (32 Degree Celsius) hot day under direct sunlight and always on. Moreover even if you do it you will not let the camera standing alone. But you will cover it somehow with your hands while operating the camera, and also make some shadow with your body. Also note that it seems like having the battery grip completely solves the problem!

Sony has still not re-published the new firmware on their support site.

One more overheating test with new firmware by Ron Simon:

The Angry Photographer also tested the A9 overheating problem. He got no issue at all:

Sony A9:
Sony A9 at BHphoto, Adorama, Amazon, BestBuy. FocusCamera. Calumet.de. Park UK. Wex UK. Jessops.
Sony A9 with Grip Extension Kit at BHphoto, Adorama and Amazon.
Note: US readers preordering the A9 at BHphoto or Adorama using our links (and our affiliated links only!) have a chance to win a Sony A9.

And the fastest SD cards are now in Stock:
Sony SF-G 128GB: BHphoto, Adorama, Amazon. In EU: AmazonDE, AmazonUK, AmazonFR, AmazonIT, AmazonES.
Sony SF-G 64GB: BHphoto, Adorama, Amazon. In EU: AmazonDE, AmazonUK, AmazonFR, AmazonIT, AmazonES.
Sony SF-G 32GB: BHphoto, Adorama, Amazon.

The new Sony FE lenses preorders:
16-35mm GM at Bhphoto, Adorama, BestBuy, Focus and Amazon. In EU at Calumet DE, WexUK, Jessops.
12-24mm G at Bhphoto, Adorama, BestBuy, Focus and Amazon. In EU at Calumet DE, WexUK, Jessops.
Sony 100-400mm GM at BHphoto, Amazon, Adorama, BestBuy. Calumet.de. Park UK. Wex UK. Jessops.

ThatCameraGuy tested a second A9 camera and even that camera got the same overheating issue. At around 93-95 degrees, under direct sunlight and constant use the camera did shut down completely after 20 minutes. And when he used the battery grip with extending temperature option “ON” he had no overheating problem. ThatCameraGuy stressed to say that beside that one issue the camera “Is a Knockout”.
Note: He did not use the new 1.01 firmware update which should mitigate or in best case even eliminate the issue. The new firmware update that Sony released and then pulled off today will be re-released soon. Fingers crossed this will put an end to this story :)

–

Sony A9:
Sony A9 at BHphoto, Adorama, Amazon, BestBuy. FocusCamera. Calumet.de. Park UK. Wex UK. Jessops.
Sony A9 with Grip Extension Kit at BHphoto, Adorama and Amazon.
Note: US readers preordering the A9 at BHphoto or Adorama using our links (and our affiliated links only!) have a chance to win a Sony A9.

And the fastest SD cards are now in Stock:
Sony SF-G 128GB: BHphoto, Adorama, Amazon. In EU: AmazonDE, AmazonUK, AmazonFR, AmazonIT, AmazonES.
Sony SF-G 64GB: BHphoto, Adorama, Amazon. In EU: AmazonDE, AmazonUK, AmazonFR, AmazonIT, AmazonES.
Sony SF-G 32GB: BHphoto, Adorama, Amazon.

The new Sony FE lenses preorders:
16-35mm GM at Bhphoto, Adorama, BestBuy, Focus and Amazon. In EU at Calumet DE, WexUK, Jessops.
12-24mm G at Bhphoto, Adorama, BestBuy, Focus and Amazon. In EU at Calumet DE, WexUK, Jessops.
Sony 100-400mm GM at BHphoto, Amazon, Adorama, BestBuy. Calumet.de. Park UK. Wex UK. Jessops.

Sony A9 vs Nikon D5 (CameraSize).

Max Yuryev and Paul Nelson made the first A9 vs D5 Real World Comparison. Max sent me this comment on that test:

“The a9 really surprised us and performed better than the d5. This is the first mirrorless camera that can perform better than a DSLR while zooming and in super low light, such a huge step for mirrorless.”

Great to see the A9 perform that well. That said…I am no sports photographer and am patiently waiting to get a new A7rIII (rumors coming soon).

UPDATE: because of my screaming kids I did publish (instead of saving in draft) this article unfinished with wrong name and missing video link. Sorry folks! Shit happens when you have two small kids being annoying all day long :)

Sony A9:
Sony A9 at BHphoto, Adorama, Amazon, BestBuy. FocusCamera. Calumet.de. Park UK. Wex UK. Jessops.
Sony A9 with Grip Extension Kit at BHphoto, Adorama and Amazon.
Note: US readers preordering the A9 at BHphoto or Adorama using our links (and our affiliated links only!) have a chance to win a Sony A9.

And the fastest SD cards are now in Stock:
Sony SF-G 128GB: BHphoto, Adorama, Amazon. In EU: AmazonDE, AmazonUK, AmazonFR, AmazonIT, AmazonES.
Sony SF-G 64GB: BHphoto, Adorama, Amazon. In EU: AmazonDE, AmazonUK, AmazonFR, AmazonIT, AmazonES.
Sony SF-G 32GB: BHphoto, Adorama, Amazon.

The new Sony FE lenses preorders:
16-35mm GM at Bhphoto, Adorama, BestBuy, Focus and Amazon. In EU at Calumet DE, WexUK, Jessops.
12-24mm G at Bhphoto, Adorama, BestBuy, Focus and Amazon. In EU at Calumet DE, WexUK, Jessops.
Sony 100-400mm GM at BHphoto, Amazon, Adorama, BestBuy. Calumet.de. Park UK. Wex UK. Jessops.

Sport Photographer Sean King is testing the A9 and noticed this:

I used a 32 gig slower card on Slot 2 instead of the 64 gig sony 95 meg per sec card in Slot 1. Guess what happened? I was able to get the heat warning. I got it in both of my A9’s. Now it did not effect my shooting. I worked one Soccer Match with the warning on both my A9’s using the slower card in slot 2. During the second match, I switched back to using the Sony 64 gig cards in slot 1 and no more heat warnings. Interesting…

Rueben commented on this:

It could be a filled buffer (ram) waiting to write to flash memory that’s causing the heat

It sounds possible that using non-Sony and/or too slow cards is actually causing the overheating when you are using the A9 in hot conditions. It would also explain why the early A9 reviewers had no such issue even when shooting under direct hot sunlight in California. They all had the new fast Sony SD cards!

I ask A9 owners to do this kind of testing. Because this really sounds like it could be the right path to solve the mystery!

And the fastest SD cards are now in Stock:
Sony SF-G 128GB: BHphoto, Adorama, Amazon. In EU: AmazonDE, AmazonUK, AmazonFR, AmazonIT, AmazonES.
Sony SF-G 64GB: BHphoto, Adorama, Amazon. In EU: AmazonDE, AmazonUK, AmazonFR, AmazonIT, AmazonES.
Sony SF-G 32GB: BHphoto, Adorama, Amazon.

–

Sony A9:
Sony A9 at BHphoto, Adorama, Amazon, BestBuy. FocusCamera. Calumet.de. Park UK. Wex UK. Jessops.
Sony A9 with Grip Extension Kit at BHphoto, Adorama and Amazon.
Note: US readers preordering the A9 at BHphoto or Adorama using our links (and our affiliated links only!) have a chance to win a Sony A9.

The new Sony FE lenses preorders:
16-35mm GM at Bhphoto, Adorama, BestBuy, Focus and Amazon. In EU at Calumet DE, WexUK, Jessops.
12-24mm G at Bhphoto, Adorama, BestBuy, Focus and Amazon. In EU at Calumet DE, WexUK, Jessops.
Sony 100-400mm GM at BHphoto, Amazon, Adorama, BestBuy. Calumet.de. Park UK. Wex UK. Jessops.