Image of the three cameras via Focus Numerique.

The French site Focus Numerique (translation here) compared the top three Sports Photography cameras (Nikon D5 vs Canon 1DX Mark II vs Sony A9). On their site you can download all the JPG and RAW ISO test images to make your own testing. Focus Numerique conclusion is that the Sony A9 wins this test:

The additional 4 Mpx of the A9 and a less aggressive noise reduction allow the Sony to better render details at all ISO sensitivities.

UPDATE: After Angry Photographer criticized me I remade the comparisons between the A9 and D5. So here are some comparison crops between the two cameras. But really, I do invite you to download the images for yourself and do your own testings. I even saw some comments on SAR with people saying the D5 image is better and then people realized they switched the images. This is just to say you have to be careful when reading comments of people or following the rant of Angry Photographer ;)

This is the comparison at 12800 ISO

This is the comparison at 25800 ISO

Focus Numerique wrote about the 25.800 ISO result:

At this sensitivity, the Sony A9 clearly takes the advantage over its two competitors: the overall level of detail is superior thanks to smoothing less pronounced, while the granulation remains rather fine is aesthetic.

ISO 204800 comparison with 200% enlargement (this is the image criticized by AngryMan). Here I did note something strange. In the center of the image the D5 shows the numbers on the money bill more clearly while at the same time the A9 shows more detail on the Lion and on the face (see the beard on top of the mouth):

This is again the 204800 ISO image with the Canon (This is the image I posted yesterday):

And if you move towards the corners of the image the A9 is clearly sharper on the numbers (see the vertical 1 to 6 sequence on the right):

So my impression at 204800 ISO is the following:
1) Sony image has more detail (lion image, orange strip above the lion, beard of the face on the money bill…)
2) Nikon does a better job sharpening the details in low contrast situation (see numbers on bill). While Sony sharpening does a good job when contrast is high (see Black numbers on the white background)

To answer Angry Photographer: I don’t agree with him claiming the D5 wins just because of the numbers on the bill being better displayed at ISO 204800 ISO. Because he is cherry picking one specific detail of the numbers on the bill and the logo on the book. At the same time he missed to acknowledge that on the very same image the A9 shows more detail on the face and the lion and also shows the numbers and details better when there is clear contrast (see the Black numbers on white board). So yes, the A9 has one weakness: Sharpening applied on low contrast situation at 204800 ISO. But at all other lower (and useable) ISO settings the A9 wins.

UPDATE: Angry Photographer is also misleading you with that:

Link:  “https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/5481743472449b6395f2363169cadd4d66ecf96c924cd49e1fa8deed4a579648.jpg“. This is not 12.800 ISO image from Focus Numerique! This is the 204800 ISO comparison!
Of course he likely just made a mistake. But he would kill me if I would have done this mistake :) Also because at 12.800 ISo the A9 beats the D5 and that’s way more important than ISO 204800 which no one will EVER use for sports photography use.

And if you read me Angry Photographer, I am no fanboy, I do agree with you Sony service sucks in USA :)

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.

Imaging Resource posted the A9 Lab shots. And at first glance I can see that the new Sony 24MP sensor is definitely better than the “older” 24MP sensor from the A7II. This is good news also in the light of the fact that the A9 was primarily designed for speed.

And here are some new video tests from Alin Popescu:

Sony a9 versus a7RII EYE-AF AF-C Tracking

Running Towards the Sony A9 Lock-on AF: Expand Flexible Spot
Sony A9 Fast car tracking photo bursts
Sony A9 Slow Motion S&Q 100 fps
1/32000s on Sony A9 Lock-on AF Tracking
Beautiful Hover Flight – Sony A9 + 70-200 BIF
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjUXIcaAYFc

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.

The 100-400mm GM tested by CameraLabs

Gordon Laing from CameraLabs tested the new 100-400mm GM lens and the conclusion is:

Whatever I shot, the lens snapped into focus quickly and without fuss. Whether shooting sports or wildlife, portraits with face and eye detection, or close-ups, the FE 100-400mm felt very confident.
So far I’m very impressed. It feels very comfortable shooting a wide variety of subjects and so far has performed very well across the focal range and at all apertures and focusing distances.

Chad Wadsworth tested the new 16-35mm f/2.8 GM lens and writes:

The best thing I can say about the FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM is that it made me forget I was shooting a zoom both during the capture and more impressively, during the edit. Unless you absolutely need a faster lens for something like an ultra low-light concert environment, it easily handles a wide variety of conditions with results that will satisfy even prime snobs like myself. There was nothing about the GM that made me feel constrained in any way. Auto focus was quick and accurate, colors were neutral and sharpness was excellent. But most importantly, this lens, while “clean”, never felt clinical. That’s important to someone like me who cares less about ultimate specs and more about how the lens draws a scene. My eyes and my gut tell me that this is going to, deservedly, be a popular lens for Sony shooters.

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.

There was a concern among SAR readers that the impressive Eye AF from the Sony A9 might not work well if people were wearing glasses. Alin Popescu proved in this video that Eye Af works fine in such cases:

Alin also posted this 20fps Eye Tracking video and a 20 fps short burst on Birds flying.

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.

100-400mm GM:
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!

DxOmark tested the new Sony 85mm f/1.8 FE and concludes:

Large high-speed primes such as the 85mm F1.4 G Master are nice to have, but they are pricey, large, and sometimes intimidating. When it comes to moderate-speed lenses, it sometimes seems that manufacturers put price before outright optical performance. That’s not the case here. While not exactly cheap, the Sony FE 85mm F1.8 costs less than its premium G Master sibling or even the rival Zeiss Batis 85mm F1.8, yet it has a real nice balance of performance, with excellent sharpness and low lateral color and distortion. Apart from a little vignetting, with its unobtrusive size and low weight, this new lens looks to be an excellent alternative for all the right reasons.

This is troubling news for Zeiss as it seems there is little reason to buy the more expensive Batis unless you really need in lens stabilization. And for most people the 85mm GM will not be worth the much higher cost. The new 85mm G is a nice lens and I can only highly recommend it!

85mm f/1.8 FE at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama. Amazon DE. Amazon UK. Amazon IT. Amazon FR. Amazon ES.

The new 16-35mm and 12-24mm lenses

Kevin Raber from Luminous Landscape tested the new 16-35mm GM lens and wrote this:

I was impressed with this lens for the one day I had it.  It simply is a lens many of us have been waiting for, and once more proves that Sony is very serious about where they are heading in the Pro-Photography market.  I have placed my order for this lens to add to my Sony kit. I’ll do a follow-up review with a production unit when I receive my lens later this summer.  We were told that the lenses we were using were the final release products.

And Drew Geraci from out Sony A9 facebook group (join here) shared a set of RAW images shot with the new lenses:

For anyone interested in playing around with RAW Sony A9 Files (Astro and Daytime) with the 16-35mm F2.8, 12-24mm F4, and 24-70 – download my images directly from here: dropbox.com/sh/
***You’ll need Capture One V10.1 to view/edit them and I’ll only have the folder live for the next 5 hours***

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, Amazon IT, WexUK, Jessops.

Image by J.Claff from photonstophotos.net

William J. Claff posted the graph above showing the revised Estimate of Sony A9 Photographic Dynamic Range (PDR). It shows that at low ISO the A9 is around 1 stop behind the A7rII but 1.2 stops better than the much more expensive direct competition from Nikon (D5).
Yesterdays Dpreview article created some surreal discussions on the web. If you think cool minded it is obvious the A9 doesn’t have the same A7rII Dynamic range performance. With double the pixels the A7rII is also the class leader in the FF world.
Moreover: The A9 is made for sports photography! And sports cameras are by nature trimmed to perform best at mid ISO settings because they mostly use the camera at fast shutter speed. If you complain about the A9 not having a good performance as the A7rII at ISO 100 it would be like complaining the A7sII has no 50 megapixel :)
What matters is that REAL professional photographers shooting with the Nikon D5 or Canon 1D now can have a camera with much higher dynamic range and speed…the Sony A9!

Some more good news: Jeremy Smith tested the A9 under condition he would typically see banding. And his quick and dirty conclusion is that the A9 has no banding issues (see video below). But I would hold on judgments until we see more because some other tester reported some minimal banding in mixed light conditions.

Focus Numerique tested the A9 noise performance:

You can easily push to 1,600 or even 3,200 ISO without any hesitation and even at 6,400 ISO, the pictures are really impressive.

There is also a field test from London Camera exchange:

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.

100-400mm GM:
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!