Important: Sony A9 is already available for preorder at Amazon US, Calumet.de, Park UK, Jessops and Wex UK.

Max and Manny agree that the A9 pricing is “affordable” when you compare it against the more expensive Canon 1DxII and Nikon D5 . Also because spec wise the A9 “kills the other” (so says Max). And it’s the first camera where the EVF is better than the classic optical viewfinder (again said by Max). Check out their full A9 talk:

Part One (about the Sony A9 video features):

Part Two (about the Sony A9 still features):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Na0N8xE7sPA

Sony A9 at BHphoto, Amazon, Adorama. Calumet.de. Park UK. Wex UK. Jessops.
Sony 100-400mm GM at BHphoto, Amazon, Adorama. Calumet.de. Park UK. Wex UK. Jessops.
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 image above shows the Canon 1DxII vs Sony A9 vs Nikon D5 (via CameraSize). To put this into perspective the Sony A9…

1. costs less than the two competitors,
2. weights less than half,
3. it’s obviously a lot smaller and more portable,
4. shoots at way faster FPS,
5. has a lot more Phase detection points 693(!) distributed over all the frame (1DXII has 61 points and D5 153 points),
6. on sensor stabilization,
7. no EVF blackouts
8. silent shutter
9. and superior video compared to the Nikon (Canon still offers 4K 60fps)

Of course we have to see some real tests to see if those incredible specs translate well into the real world. The new Sony A9 might not be a perfect camera and we can discuss for days about the good and the (very few) not so good aspects of the camera. But one thing is damn sure:
The A9 will go into history as the first PROFESSIONAL Mirrorless System Camera. And by that I mean this is the first camera that will challenge Canon and Nikon High End Cameras like the Canon 1DxII and Nikon D5.
This is the first mirrorless camera meant to be used in the very last market segment dominated by Canon and Nikon. From now on there is no turning back and this paths leads to Mirrorless taking over DSLR in a few years time.

Join our new Sony A9 Facebook group!

Preorders:
Sony A9 at BHphoto, Amazon, Adorama. Calumet.de. Park UK. Wex UK. Jessops.
Sony 100-400mm GM at BHphoto, Amazon, Adorama. Calumet.de. Park UK. Wex UK. Jessops.
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.

Sony a9 Hands-on: A $4,500 Canon 1DX Killer!

Hands-On with Sony a9: It’s Designed to be a DSLR Killer, Though Sony Demurs

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This is interesting: The video above is from the Spanish site Photolari. It shows a video shown by Sony in London. Just skip on minute 3.35 and you will see a comparison between a “Flagship DSLR” and the Sony A9 . Spoiler: We know this is the Canon 1DxII but Sony of course can’t say this :)

More Sony A9 news and tests:
9 Things You Need to Know About Sony’s New A9 (Digitalrev).
Sony Alpha A9 Hands-On Preview (ePhotozine).
Sony A9 Initial Hands On and Impressions (Dan Watson video).
The 10 Main Differences Between the Sony A9 and A7r mark II (MirrorlessComparison).
Which Sony A9 Feature Will Make Pros Switch? (Photoshelter).
Sony A9 Hands-on Review (Photographyblog).

Join our new Sony A9 Facebook group!

Preorders:
Sony A9 at BHphoto, Amazon, Adorama. Calumet.de. Park UK. Wex UK.
Sony 100-400mm GM at BHphoto, Amazon, Adorama. Calumet.de. Park UK. Wex UK.
Sony A9 battery grip at Adorama, Bhphoto, Amazon. Wex UK.
Sony A9 Glass screen protector at Adorama, BHphoto, Amazon.
NP-FZ100 battery for the A9 at Adorama, BHphoto, Amazon.
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 A9 with the new Sony 100-400mm GM lens.

The day after let’s get an overview of all Sony A9 hands-on reports. But first a reminder: Join our new Sony A9 Facebook group which allows you to dicuss the a9 further and to post your own stuff once you have your A9 in your hands :)

Preorders:
Sony A9 at BHphoto, Amazon, Adorama. Calumet.de.
Sony 100-400mm GM at BHphoto, Amazon, Adorama. Calumet.de.
Sony A9 battery grip at Adorama, Bhphoto, Amazon.
Sony A9 Glass screen protector at Adorama, BHphoto, Amazon.
NP-FZ100 battery for the A9 at Adorama, BHphoto, Amazon.
GP-EX1 grip at Adorama, BHphoto, Amazon.
FDA-EP18 eye cup at Adorama, BHphoto.
MQZ1 multi battery charger at Adorama, BHphoto, Amazon.
BCQZ1 Z-series Battery Charger at Adorama, BHphoto, Amazon.

Sony A9 hands-on reports:

Hugh Brownstone shows us the 20fps performance with no blackout:

Max Yuryev posted a great hands-on video and also shows the impressive 20fps:

Also check out the full A9 review by Patrick Murphy Racey:

The A9 represents not just the latest new camera from Sony, but a true departure from the collective denial of the DSLR giants who have pushed that old technology up to a massive wall that is unmovable.

He also posted a 47minutes video here:

Hands-on by Brian Smith:

Sony a9 offers AF-C Eye AF that’s 30% faster than previous Sony cameras.

Hands on by Dan Watson at Huffingtonpost:

“Overall, the A9 is a mirrorless camera finally ready to go toe to toe with the biggest and baddest DSLRs from Canon and Nikon.”

Sony a9 First Look by DPReview

Sony a9 AF demo: Lock-on AF, joystick, AF area instant switching

The Phoblographer’s Hand on Video with the Sony a9

Sony A9 | First Look by Engadget

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Camerasize added the A9 in their database and you can compare the size with any other camera. Compared to the current A7 series the grip is slightly chunkier grip.

Preorders:
Sony A9 at BHphoto, Amazon, Adorama. Calumet.de.
Sony 100-400mm GM at BHphoto, Amazon, Adorama. Calumet.de.
Sony A9 battery grip at Adorama, Bhphoto, Amazon.
Sony A9 Glass screen protector at Adorama, BHphoto, Amazon.
NP-FZ100 battery for the A9 at Adorama, BHphoto, Amazon.
GP-EX1 grip at Adorama, BHphoto, Amazon.
FDA-EP18 eye cup at Adorama, BHphoto.
MQZ1 multi battery charger at Adorama, BHphoto, Amazon.
BCQZ1 Z-series Battery Charger at Adorama, BHphoto, Amazon.

Join our A9 Facebook group now!!!

Press release:
Full Sony A9 press release here: sonyalpharumors.com/full-sony-a9-press-release.
Full 100-400mm GM press release here: sonyalpharumors.com/sony-announces-the-new-100-400mm-super-telephoto-e-mount-zoom/

Just recently Meike introduced the new A6500 Battery Grip with Remote Controller whichis now in Stock at Amazon US, Amazon DE, Amazon UK.

ThatCameraGuy tested it:

Two astrophotographers sent me these messages. I am absolutely no Astrophotography expert but Sony may take note of their issues:

Nico (creator of the image on top): “As an occasional starscape photographer, I was impatient to see what i could get with the superior low light performance of my new Sony α7s Mk2. But unexpectedly, all my results were definitely worse than on my « theoretically inferior » previous Canon body. Searching the web, it appears that Sony has implemented the star eater, which was quite infamous among the small astrophotographers community on Sony α7s Mk1.
The star eater is a filtering aimed at removing any hot pixel on the picture. Simply put, it is a median filter on the raw signal. Such median filter erases any hot pixel, thus preventing the appearance of any chroma noise. But for people who want to photograph stars, that are 100% similar to a hot pixel on the raw signal, the star eater erases them too. This is especially bad when using a camera body like the Sony α7s with large pixels and sharp (and expensive) optics that deliver star images smaller than a pixel.
All my trials on the Sony α7s Mk2 show that the star eater is activated for any exposure larger or equal to 4s, and in any mode, any ISO. I have made a comparison by taking exposures of 3.2s and 4s to show the difference and stacked them. The effect is pretty disastrous with the vast majority of weak star totally erased on 4s images compared to 3.2s images. The same conclusion was also obtained by a deepsky astrophotographer on Sony α7R Mk2 (https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/58706594).
This is really bad news for the whole community of starscape photographers, who typically use exposure duration from 5s to 30s and have access to very sharp optics. Therefore I wanted to share this in order to warn starscape photographers that if they use the Sony α7s Mk2, they will not be able to avoid the star eater, which will very strongly affect their images.
Sony has been aware of the star eater issue on Sony α7s Mk1 for years by the small community of disappointed deep sky astrophotographers (examples) who need bulb mode for getting exposure duration from 30s to 4 minutes. But Sony engineers have not fixed the issue, and they have even made the things infinitely worse on Mk2, because the star eater is activated for any exposure longer than 3.2s, and therefore affecting the much larger community of starscape photographers.”

Romain: “That’s not really a rumor, more of a “complaint” towards sony. But a huge and important one, and I think more people need to know the problem.
A lot of astrophotographers including myself made the evidence that sony is cheating on RAW files, adding what we call a “star-eater” algorithm to erase hot pixels.
It’s probably makes the image better for usual photography, but it essentially removes stars from astronomy pictures and induces a significant sensivity drop
When A7s was released, astronomers immediatly found out about that algorithm, but it was not that big of a problem because it only applied on shoots taken in BULB mode. Even in astronomy, 30s is enough for most purposes, so community was kinda fine.
Then, sony announced “uncompresed RAW” for its future line up of cameras, and we thought this stupid stuff was over. However, even in this mode, nothing changed and BULB mode was still unusable.
And recently, sony “patched” their algorithm with the most recent firmware ( 3.3 ) and extended the bad stuff to any exposure time above 3.2s on the A7R2. I have no data about the A7S2 and it may be concerned too, but luckily for us, our community is mainly using A7S ( since version 2 didn’t improve sensitivity ) and firmware didn’t come on that model.
So what, where is the real “RAW” file we all want ? Yeah, sony is providing “uncompressed cheated raw files” now. And it may be better looking at first for usual photography, but there may be some stuff we loose too, since no one really tested that. Furthermore, you can still apply that algorithm afterwards if you want.
Or something like an on/off switch in the menu would be perfect.
But I think many people would agree on the fact that sony should provide us “real” RAW files if we want it.
So I think this deserves to be known, and maybe then sony will react. Because we tried to contact them, and it didn’t do anything for now, probably because there is less than 10.000 astrophotographers…
Here is some links to prove what I say :
http://blog.kasson.com/the-last-word/sony-a7rii-long-exposure-spatial-filtering-with-fw-3-30/
http://www.cloudynights.com/topic/498339-sony-a7s-star-eater-algorithm/
https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/58706594
https://community.sony.fr/t5/appareils-photo-alpha/a7s-pas-de-pose-longue-et-des-brutes-bidouillees/td-p/2049681“