Dpreview says the Sony A9 real problem is the color output

Paul Bunyard says A9 focus fast on the huge Canon 500mm lens. Info and images here:  facebook.com/groups/sonyalphacamera/
Sony A9 at BHphotoAdorama, Amazon

Dpreview analyzed the A9 RAW files (note: pre-production camera!). First the good news:

Noise appears to be well-controlled, and they’re very malleable, even at the high ISO values we found ourselves shooting at.a

And now the bad news:

These issues with color are exacerbated with auto white balance that struggled under artificial light (see the skaters at the top of the page). Sure, it’s not difficult to dial in a custom white balance for a sideline photographer shooting under the same light all evening, but it’s something to note nonetheless as auto white balance can be valuable for fast-moving photographers in fast-changing situations.

While this is also in some measure a matter of personal taste I kinda have to agree that Sony still is a tiny bit behind the great color quality of Canon. Of course this isn’t something to worry about if you have time to work on files. But I do hope Sony will further improve the color performance via future firmware upgrade so that we have to spend less time on post processing.

Sony A9:
Sony A9 at BHphotoAdorama, 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

Funny Sony A9 autofocus and buffer test…really impressive!

The video on top shows a quite funny autofocus and buffer test. During the A9 presentation (in Hong Kong?) a guy tries to fool the A9 AF tracking by moving a black card around the frame as fast as he can. But as hard as they try the A9 keeps the AF points right on the card. Really impressive!

We also got a bunch of new Sony a9 High ISO Examples by Spencer Pablo.

Sony A9:
Sony A9 at BHphotoAdorama, 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.

 

Stick together ten Sony FF cameras and you get this…


Image by Cinema5d

At the NAB show Sony did announce the new S3CA E-mount camera which is basically a stripped down version of the Sony A7sII. If you stick 10 of those on the new VR rig created by Radiant Images you get this 360 degree tool.

The S3Ca has no screen, no EVF and nearly no buttons. And you wanna know how much this camera cost? Just click over at Adorama for a big “oh shit” experience :)

Here is an intro of the new S3CA E-mount camera:

Sony Introduces the S3CA – A Sony a7S II Without Recording Limit from cinema5D on Vimeo.

Good news: Sony A9 buffer unload time is 36 seconds and not 2 minutes

The reviewers of the Sony A9 found that the weakest point of the A9 is the buffer unload time of 2 minutes. But there is good news. There seems to be a bug on the A9 (that will be fixed). And if you unload all pics on the faster UHS-II card it will take 36 seconds “only”. In my opinion 36 seconds is still too much but the good news is that we can expect this time to be reduced with the use of future faster SD cards.

The current world’s fastest cards are the ones from the Sony SF-G series:

Sony SF-G Series 128GB card:
In USA at BHphoto, AdoramaAmazon. In EU: AmazonDE, AmazonUK, AmazonFR, AmazonIT, AmazonES.
Sony SF-G Series 64GB card:
In USA at BHphoto, AdoramaAmazon. In EU: AmazonDE, AmazonUK, AmazonFR, AmazonIT, AmazonES.
Sony SF-G Series 32GB card:
In USA at BHphoto, Adorama, Amazon.

 

Dynamic Range comparison between the new Sony A9, A7rII and Nikon D5


(Click on image to enlarge).

Based on the Sony A9 RAW images we got so far Bill from Photonstophotos made this Dynamic Range comparison. The estimated Sony A9 Dynamic Range is right in between the A7rII and the Nikon D5. That’s a very good result if you consider the A7rII has nearly twice the amount of pixels (and that helps to increase DR).

I bet the future A7rIII or A9r will take the lead here :)

We have our own Facebook groups and pages you can join:
Sony A9 group and Sony A9 page
Sony A9r group and Sony A9r page
Sony A9s group and Sony A9s page
The difference between group and page: On The Group you are an active member that can post own stuff. On the page you will find our own A9r or A9s news only.

Sony A9:
Sony A9 at BHphotoAdorama, 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.

Win an AMEX card ($4,500) at BHphoto:
US readers preordering the A9 at BHphoto using our links (and our affiliated links only!) have a chance to win an AMEX card mathching the value of the Sony A9 ($4,500). The winner will be randomly selected by BHphoto by end of June after the preorders shipped out!
The conditions and legal notes of the sweepstake can be read here: sonyalpharumors.com/official-bh-sonyalpharumors-a9-launch-sweepstakes-rules/

Win an A9 at Adorama:
If you preoder the Sony A9 at Adorama through our affiliated links only (it doesn’t work on links of other sites!) they will refund one lucky customer their $4,498 price on the A9! This will be for pre-orders. Once the orders start shipping (some time the end of May) Adorama will filter all the orders that came from SAR, and randomly select one A9 order and refund the customer their money. This is for the camera only and not the new 100-400mm lens or accessories.
The conditions and legal notes of the sweepstake can be read here:  sonyalpharumors.com/official-adorama-sonyalpharumors-a9-launch-sweepstakes-rules/

 

 

Kai tests the Sony A9 and is impressed!

Kai (video on top) tested the Sony A9 and is quite impressed by its performance. And we also got many more test and first impression reviews by other reviewers:

First Lok by Lok on Photogearnews
Hands-on by Fstoppers
Image samples at Fstoppers.
First look – Hands-on with the Sony A9 (Wex UK video)
The Sony A9 is much more than just a sports camera (Manny Ortiz Video)
Sony A9 vs Sony A7 II: What are the Key Differences? (CameraJabber).
I just sold my Nikon D5 and made the jump to Sony! (Dpreview Forum).
The Sony a9: A Wedding & Portrait Photographer’s Perspective (Movetomirrorless)
¿Sony A9, la cámara que lo cambia todo? Encuesta (Photolari).

Sony A9:
Sony A9 at BHphotoAdorama, 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 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.

Please support SAR:
You know me, I work my ass off to get the best news and rumors on SAR :) And this is the right time to reward me by using these affiliated links for your purchase! I will get a small commission and you don’t have to pay a cent more for that. Thanks!

Win an AMEX card ($4,500) at BHphoto:
US readers preordering the A9 at BHphoto using our links (and our affiliated links only!) have a chance to win an AMEX card mathching the value of the Sony A9 ($4,500). The winner will be randomly selected by BHphoto by end of June after the preorders shipped out!
The conditions and legal notes of the sweepstake can be read here: sonyalpharumors.com/official-bh-sonyalpharumors-a9-launch-sweepstakes-rules/

Win an A9 at Adorama:
If you preoder the Sony A9 at Adorama through our affiliated links only (it doesn’t work on links of other sites!) they will refund one lucky customer their $4,498 price on the A9! This will be for pre-orders. Once the orders start shipping (some time the end of May) Adorama will filter all the orders that came from SAR, and randomly select one A9 order and refund the customer their money. This is for the camera only and not the new 100-400mm lens or accessories.
The conditions and legal notes of the sweepstake can be read here:  sonyalpharumors.com/official-adorama-sonyalpharumors-a9-launch-sweepstakes-rules/

Join our new Sony A9 Facebook group!