A9 vs D5 Real World Comparison by Max Yuryev and Paul Nelson: “a9 really surprised us and performed better than the d5.”

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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.

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You can now preorder the newly announced Rokinon 35mm f/2.8 FE autofocus lens!

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You can now preorder the new Samyang/Rokinon 35mm FE lens at BHphoto (Click here).

Yesterday Sony US launched new savings on many cameras and lenses (overview at BHphoto). I missed to highlight that for the first time there is a price drop on the A6500 too! You save $100 on the body only at Amazon, BHphoto and Adorama. You save even more if you buy the kit options.

More savings:
$200 off on the A7rII at Amazon, BHphoto and Adorama.
$100 off on the A7sII at Amazon, BHphoto and Adorama.
$50 off on the A7II at Amazon, BHphoto and Adorama.
$50 off on the A7 at Amazon, BHphoto and Adorama.

Adorama is running a blowout sale on Rokinon Lenses. All prices include free shipping with 2% Adorama Rewards. Prices are live until 6/6:

Rokinon Auto Focus 50mm f/1.4-16 FE Lens for Sony E-Mount – $499
Rokinon 12mm f/2.0 NCS CS Manual Focus Lens -$289  Sony E Mount, Black  – Sony E Mount, Silver
Rokinon 50mm T1.5 Cine DS Lens -$399 Sony E Mount
Rokinon 50mm f/1.2 Manual Focus Lens – $399 Sony E Mount, Black  – Sony E Mount, Silver
Rokinon 50mm T1.5 Cine DS Lens for Nikon F Mount -$369.95
Rokinon 20mm f/1.8 ED AS UMC Wide Angle Lens -$429 Sony E Mount
Rokinon 24mm T1.5 Cine Lens – $449 Sony E Mount

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.

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Sony will add S-log on the A9 and also improve touchscreen functions

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Sony support at the BHphoto Q&A page confirmed the Sony A9 will get S-Log. We should get this soon with the next firmware update.

And CameraJabber had a chat with Sony manager Aoki and added that new information:

Sony would listen to market advice and assess the need for additional touch-control along with ‘other function’ enhancements.

Again CameraJabber:

I strongly suspect (hope) that Sony might also take the opportunity to add Picture Profiles and S-Log mode to make the camera more appealing to videographers.

If SAR readers have more suggestions feel free to add your firmware wishlist on our comment system!

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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.
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.

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Samyang announces the new 35mm f/2.8 autofocus FE lens!

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Samyang announced the new 35mm f/2.8 FE autofocus lens. The Korean pricing is ￦349000 (about 299$). This is $500 cheaper than the Zeiss 35mm f/2.8 FE lens ([shopcountry 59629]). And apparently the image quality is on par with the Zeiss!

UPDATE: You can now preorder the new Samyang/Rokinon 35mm FE lens at BHphoto (Click here).

Press text:

Tiny but Mighty

A tiny lens with a mighty performance, Samyang AF 35mm F2.8 FE is ideal for daily photography as well as travel photography. This new compact and lightweight lens, together with the existing AF 14mm F2.8 FE and AF 50mm F1.4 FE lenses, now expands Samyang’s autofocus lens line-up to three.

The AF 35mm F2.8 FE weighs just 85g and measures 3.3cm in length, without the hood and rear cap. Thanks to Samyang’s exceptional optical technology, its compact size is packed with features for outstanding image quality. Featuring seven elements in six groups, two aspherical lenses and one high refractive lens plus Ultra Multi Coating to minimise aberration and unnecessary light dispersion, the lens delivers high resolution from the centre to the corners of the image.
Perfect Partner for Everyday Photographer

This new lens is specifically designed to work in harmony with full frame mirrorless cameras in Sony E mount. For full frame sensors, the focal length resembles the human eye the most. For APS-C types for Sony alpha 6000 and 5000 series users the lens is equivalent to approximately 52mm, which is also one of the most popular focal lengths among photographers.

Portability with mighty performance and a 35mm focal length makes this lens the best choice for daily photographers who want to capture every memory as a high quality image. The autofocus is fast and accurate and is ideal for the capture of outdoor events such as hiking, sports events and landscape photography. It also has a minimum focusing distance of 0.35m and is ideal for street, portrait and close focus photography.

Image samples at Samyanglensglobal and at Gippsland.

Le Minh compared the MTF graph of the Zeiss and the Samyang:

“The MTF looks nice, at f/2.8 it looks as good as Zeiss, but weaker at the far corner. The mid-zone are looks even better than Zeiss.”

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Sony Tidbits…

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Sigma 50mm F1.4 ART Review on Sony A7RM2 | John Sison

Chipworks reveals the E-M1II uses the “Sony IMX270” sensor (43rumors).
Sony | PXW-Z150 | HDR sample clip HLG/BT.2020 (Sony Channel).
Never say ‘zoom with your feet’… (PhotoClubAlpha).
Things We Love: Flip-Out (Articulating) LCD Screens on Digital Cameras (Explora).
NAB 2017: Sony highlights with Richard Scott (Sony Youtube).
The Defiant Girl and Gender Diversity In the Camera Industry (ALC).
Testing Your Camera’s Tolerance for Long-Exposure Noise (Explora)

Join the new Sony Alpha Camera Facebook group.
To get news from our Forum subscribe that RSS feed.
To write a guest post on SAR follow the instruction on that page
I kindly invite you all to follow our RSS feed, follow us on Facebook and Twitter to not miss news and rumors!

We have our own Facebook camera groups and pages you can join to discuss the upcoming new cameras in detail:
Sony A9 group and Sony A9 page.
Sony A7rIII group and Sony A7rIII page
Sony A7sIII group and Sony A7sIII page
Sony A7III group and Sony A7sIII page
Note: In groups you can post your own stuff like images, news and questions. While on pages you will read the specific camera news from SAR.

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New Sony bundle deals: Save up to $500!

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You save up to $500 on Sony E-mount camera kits sold by BHphoto (Click here to see the full list). The great camera savings are back in USA:
$200 off on the A7rII at Amazon, BHphoto and Adorama.
$100 off on the A7sII at Amazon, BHphoto and Adorama.
$50 off on the A7II at Amazon, BHphoto and Adorama.
$50 off on the A7 at Amazon, BHphoto and Adorama.

Adorama is running a blowout sale on Rokinon Lenses. All prices include free shipping with 2% Adorama Rewards. Prices are live until 6/6:

Rokinon Auto Focus 50mm f/1.4-16 FE Lens for Sony E-Mount – $499
Rokinon 12mm f/2.0 NCS CS Manual Focus Lens -$289  Sony E Mount, Black  – Sony E Mount, Silver
Rokinon 50mm T1.5 Cine DS Lens -$399 Sony E Mount
Rokinon 50mm f/1.2 Manual Focus Lens – $399 Sony E Mount, Black  – Sony E Mount, Silver
Rokinon 50mm T1.5 Cine DS Lens for Nikon F Mount -$369.95
Rokinon 20mm f/1.8 ED AS UMC Wide Angle Lens -$429 Sony E Mount
Rokinon 24mm T1.5 Cine Lens – $449 Sony E Mount

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.

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Interesting A9 test: Do slower SD cards cause the overheating?

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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.

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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.

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