ThatCameraGuy is testing the A9 and reports:

I take the Sony a9 out for a test run at a swim meet. The overheating indicator turned on within 20 minutes of use in 81 degree Fahrenheit temperature. Not exactly what I would call “Pro” like. There are a lot of positive things about this camera, but this is actually a big deal for what I do, considering Sony marketed this as an actual sports camera.

SAR note:
So far most of the early testers did not have the issue reported by ThatCameraGuy. The few who had this issue all did report about the “indicator warning” turning on while in ZERO cases the camera did actually shut down because of overheating. In the best scenario Sony’s “warning” system is simply turning on way too early (which is annoying anyway).

Star eating:
Jim Kasson confirms that the A9 is a “star eater” too (just like the A7 cameras with the latest firmware version). He tested the electronic shutter only, so maybe in mechanical shutter mode this is not going to happen. This is 100% a problem that can be fixed via firmware issue.

While all this is disappointing news I also do know that it is perfectly normal to find issues on newly released cameras. And I bet Sony will take note of those of these issues and fix them (or at least mitigate them) soon

To sum up: Dear Sony please do this on the next A9 firmware update:

1) Fix the banding issue on the red channel of your images when shooting on electronic shutter mode
2) Mitigate overheating (or delay the indicator warning to activate when it’s really super necessary).
3) Fix the star eating bug
4) Add S-Log

But still my suggestion to Sony remains the same: For the next A7rIII and A7sIII please do make a larger body for the following reasons:

1. Eliminate any overheating issue (particularly important for the A7sIII model which is mainly used for video purpose)
2. Better ergonomic for people with big Hands like Donald Trump…sorry for the bad joke :)
3. Better handling with bigger lenses (you should not be forced to buy a battery grip to fix this)

At the end I believe the Camera Size gets less important on pro cameras. Pro’s don’t really care about that…

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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.

Sony A9 accessories:
Sony A9 battery grip at Adorama, Bhphoto, Amazon. Wex UK. Jessops.
Sony A9 Glass screen protector at Adorama, BHphoto, Amazon.
NP-FZ100 battery for the A9 at Adorama, BHphoto, Amazon. Jessops.
GP-EX1 grip at Adorama, BHphoto, Amazon. Wex UK.
FDA-EP18 eye cup at Adorama, BHphoto.
MQZ1 multi battery charger at Adorama, BHphoto, Amazon. Wex UK.
BCQZ1 Z-series Battery Charger at Adorama, BHphoto, Amazon.

Join our new Sony A9 Facebook group!

Nikon photographer Lars Ronbog tested the new Sony A9 on a soccer field and the conclusion is:

The AF worked fine – better or worse than my Nikon? Not better, but it was acceptable for a first time use – more games and photographing other kind of sports would be needed to draw the final conclusion.

Is the A9 a game changer?
No – but it is probably the beginning of a game changer. Within 5 years a pro-sportsshooter could very well be working with mirrorless cameras.

Would I change my Nikon for this camera?
No!

Three reasons to why not:
– Not enough pro-lenses
– No IPTC in the camera ( this could be solved with a firmware-update)
– Not enough accessories 

We also got a new A9 tests video from Wex:

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.

Sony A9 accessories:
Sony A9 battery grip at Adorama, Bhphoto, Amazon. Wex UK. Jessops.
Sony A9 Glass screen protector at Adorama, BHphoto, Amazon.
NP-FZ100 battery for the A9 at Adorama, BHphoto, Amazon. Jessops.
GP-EX1 grip at Adorama, BHphoto, Amazon. Wex UK.
FDA-EP18 eye cup at Adorama, BHphoto.
MQZ1 multi battery charger at Adorama, BHphoto, Amazon. Wex UK.
BCQZ1 Z-series Battery Charger at Adorama, BHphoto, Amazon.

Join our new Sony A9 Facebook group!

This is a Guest Post from Hamza Küçükgöl:

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For all SAR readers how I experienced shooting the UEFA CUP Final with the [shoplink 59286]Sony A6500[/shoplink] and [shoplink 59287]a7RII[/shoplink], I just want to invite them to 2 things.

Focusing with AF from side to side (sideways) will find Sony’s camera 100% focus. But the big nakedness, yes, felt where the player ran toward me or away from me. Then I tested with both [shoplink 59289]Sigma MC-11[/shoplink], [shoplink 59288]Sigma art 135mm F/1.8[/shoplink] on the Sony a6500. And with the [shoplink 59290]Sony G Master 85mm F / 1.4[/shoplink]

Then the first 2-3 pics took good while all the other pictures that were in series (11b / s) dropped that focus or did not hang out. Certainly these two lenses are NOT a sports lens so it should not be wrong at the camera houses, there are many people thinking about my recension. But then I would like to answer with all SAR readers that I have photographed the Sony 70-200mm F / 2.8G Master also at a previous football match and experienced the same sad thing there with. That it fits perfectly sideways but when the players bounce towards me, it did not hang out.

I occasionally let my finger out of the trigger and do interval printing instead and see if it helped and certainly it was a bit better but not that they made a big difference.

 But in conclusion, I was still pleased with what I got for results from the match with both sharpness and depth, and the colors and noise levels were perfect.

You who want to see EXIF from these pictures can visit my, https://www.flickr.com/photos/93738709@N06/albums/72157684173971206

Many of the pictures are cropped to get close to the pictures. So there are no 1: 1 pictures.

I can, despite the lack of telephoto lens, recommend the A6500 and A7RII to sports photography with the right eye-catcher

SINCERELY
Hamza Küçükgöl
Freelance Press photographer
www.hkfoto82.wix.com/hkfoto

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZTV_64VPKU

If you watch from minute 5 on this video you can see how well the A9 autofocus tracking works. I can see sports photographer being excited to see such results. But we need Sony to release that 400mm FE lens soon ;)

New reviews:
The α9 is Fast, But Is It A Fashion Camera? (Philip Edsel).
A9 video review by TheSlantedLens.
Review by RoseAndCharles.
Bend Oregon in 4K! Completely ungraded SOOC footage from the Sony A9 using 5 different lenses (Jason Lanier).
Dutch review by KameraExpress.
Plenty of A9 user reports on our official Sony A9 facebook group.

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.
Sony A9 battery grip at Adorama, Bhphoto, Amazon. Wex UK. Jessops.
Sony A9 Glass screen protector at Adorama, BHphoto, Amazon.
NP-FZ100 battery for the A9 at Adorama, BHphoto, Amazon. Jessops.
GP-EX1 grip at Adorama, BHphoto, Amazon. Wex UK.
FDA-EP18 eye cup at Adorama, BHphoto.
MQZ1 multi battery charger at Adorama, BHphoto, Amazon. Wex UK.
BCQZ1 Z-series Battery Charger at Adorama, BHphoto, 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.

Digglloyd shared a worrying finding on the Sony A9 he is testing:

I noticed some unexpected streaking in an image with a good exposure at ISO 100. The red channel is overlaid with horizontal lines/streaks in 12-pixel-high bands. Pattern noise is disturbing in any case, but to have it at ISO 100 with a good exposure is a huge negative for any camera, high speed shooter or not.
I’ve not seen noise this egregiously bad for years now. Possible diagnosis: the high-speed readout of the A9 sensor does not read out groups of rows evenly; there is some difference in gain between the rows. The pattern noise repeats in row groups that are 12 pixels high.

I have no way to verify his detailed test yet as you have to pay to read the full article. And I have to say I have found none such issue on the RAW files shared by DPreview and Imaging Resource.

I find it strange none of the reviewers so far has ever found any banding issue on the A9 at low ISO. My bet yet is that either he got a faulty production camera or he made some sort of setting error. I ask testers and readers to peer review this. Thanks!

If indeed his findings prove to be a general issue I am sure Sony will work to fix this very soon via the next firmware update. It’s very normal that new camera may have some issues that will be fixed quickly. Don’t panic yet ;)
By the way, that firmware update will likely bring S-LOG on the camera too. This is what Sony support wrote on the BHphoto Q&A page:

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.
Sony A9 battery grip at Adorama, Bhphoto, Amazon. Wex UK. Jessops.
Sony A9 Glass screen protector at Adorama, BHphoto, Amazon.
NP-FZ100 battery for the A9 at Adorama, BHphoto, Amazon. Jessops.
GP-EX1 grip at Adorama, BHphoto, Amazon. Wex UK.
FDA-EP18 eye cup at Adorama, BHphoto.
MQZ1 multi battery charger at Adorama, BHphoto, Amazon. Wex UK.
BCQZ1 Z-series Battery Charger at Adorama, BHphoto, 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.

Skip this post if you don’t like unboxing videos :)

Sony A9 Unboxing and First Look (TheDigitalDigest)
Sony a9 Unboxing & Size Comparison With Alpha A6500 & Alpha a7R II (Brandon Meek)
Quick Unboxing of Sony A9 (TagTheShooter Photography)
Sony a9 Unboxing (Mike’s Camera TV)
A9 unboxing (Jonathan Richards Photography)
A9 Unboxing (Eseven).
Plenty of owner experience sharing on our Sony A9 Facebook group.

Sony A9:
Sony A9 at BHphoto, Adorama, Amazon, BestBuy. FocusCamera. Calumet.de. Ringfoto Dockhorn. Park UK. Wex UK. Jessops.
Sony A9 with Grip Extension Kit at BHphoto, Adorama and Amazon.
Sony A9 battery grip at Adorama, Bhphoto, Amazon. Wex UK. Jessops.
Sony A9 Glass screen protector at Adorama, BHphoto, Amazon.
NP-FZ100 battery for the A9 at Adorama, BHphoto, Amazon. Jessops.
GP-EX1 grip at Adorama, BHphoto, Amazon. Wex UK.
FDA-EP18 eye cup at Adorama, BHphoto.
MQZ1 multi battery charger at Adorama, BHphoto, Amazon. Wex UK.
BCQZ1 Z-series Battery Charger at Adorama, BHphoto, 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.

Note: Today the Sony A9 is in Stock for the first time at BHphoto, Adorama, Amazon, BestBuy. FocusCamera.
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How well does the $9,000 Canon 500mm f/4.0 lens work on the new Sony A9? Well, check out this video from Paul Bunyard (first posted on our A9 facebook group). Note that he used the Sigma MC-11 adapter which officially doesn’t even support the Canon lens!

This is an image captured straight via Camera Wifi

All credit goes to:
Paul Bunyard
Freelance Camera Operator
http://www.wildaboutimages.com/