Sony Photography News and Rumors

DPRTV released its Sony Alpha 1 Review and below is a summary of their review and it is a lengthy one due to how capable the Sony A1 is:

• It feels just like a Sony a7SIII with the deeper grip
• Mode dial you have to hold to adjust settings and it should just be a toggle like the exposure composition dial
• The new AF joystick and AF button are excellent
• The new menus are nice and support touch screen
• This is a very responsive camera unlike Sony cameras in the past
• Not sure if we should call it the A1 or Alpha 1
• The new shutter is excellent and well dampened
• The box flashing to let you know that your taking photos is useful, but Jordan likes the shutter sound for feedback
• A1 finally has lossless compressed RAW
• Lossless compressed RAW gives you a 57MB file, but Uncompressed RAW gives you a 104MB file
• Lossless compressed only supports 20fps
• You have to shoot lossy compressed RAW to get 30fps
• NEW CFExpress cards are great, but it is also great to be able to use SD cards in those slots too
• Lossless compressed RAW at 20fps
  • CFExpress 111 images
  • v90 SD 82 images
• Lossy compressed RAW at 30fps
  • CFExpress 161 images
  • v90 SD 150 images
• Writing the files to the card on CFExpress is super fast though
• The camera never really locks you out, but you have to wait for the buffer to fill to switch to video
• Writing to a fast SD card is a lot slower
• Same rear LCD they have had for years
• Should have a higher resolution display with at least 2-way tilt
• New 9MP EVF at .9x magnification is very nice especially in high-quality mode, but then it drops to 60fps
• Using the new EVF at 120fps or 240fps reduces the image quality
• The EVF mode for 240fps also reduces the image size along with quality
• Does a fantastic job tracking people
• Can toggle between humans, animals, birds with a button press
• Animal-eye AF seems to have improved but it can jump between eye and body
• Bird-eye AF jumps between the eye and the feathers even when static
• Electronic sync with the shutter at 1/200th and mechanical at 1/400th in full-frame mode, but in APS-C mode you can sync at 1/500th
• High-speed sync is useful for overpowering the sun
• These sync speeds only work with hot shoes that can do TTL
• Dynamic range is better than the a9/a9II
• Still waiting for Adobe support to compare image quality
• 200MP multishot is great but it requires sony imaging edge
• Electronic shutter and mechanical shutter images are basically identical in all respects
• This seems to be the year of 8k
• The Sony Alpha 1 has manageable 8k files
• The 4k recording is quite good
• Super35 mode is much sharper
• 4k 120p even has manageable files
• Rolling shutter is almost nonexistent with stills and it is minimal when recording 8k
• A dual gain sensor like other Sony cameras
  • No Profile 100 and 500 ISO
  • Slog 3 800 and 4000 ISO
  • S-Cinetone 160 and 640 ISO
• S-Cinetone is jordans favorite profile from Sony
• 8k 24p at 200Mbps recorded for 1h 11m before shutting down
• After a 15 min break, it could record for another 1h 4m
• 4k 120p 200Mbps can record for 29m
• After a 15 min break, it could record for another 25m
• If you’re recording indoors overheating won’t be an issue
• The a9 is a targeted professional camera, but the A1 has no real compromises so it could be great for anyone
• For some, this is the greatest camera ever made

Sony A1: B&H Photo / Amazon / Moment / Adorama

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Sony Alpha 1 reviews are starting to be released and the camera is an absolute powerhouse by all accounts, but since reviewers just received cameras and won’t have them for long the testing is being rushed a little. Still Gerald Undone was able to do some comprehensive overheating testing and the Sony A1 did not disappoint.

During 8k recording the camera could film for up to 1h 19m with the camera set on high before overheating and then camera only took 5 minutes to cool down, but it was still usable 90 seconds after for an additional 24-minute recording session before the heat warning showed up again if you want to push the camera. Performance gets even better with a dumb battery where there doesn’t seem to be a limit, but USB charging seems to cause the camera to overheat faster so the camera will only run for 58minutes. Probably the best way to shoot is in 20-minute intervals with 1-minute breaks because the camera doesn’t seem to have any limits in this use case scenario or by working in 4k where the camera doesn’t overheat at all.

Reviewers will be releasing lots of videos in the weeks to come since Sony is only sending them out for a short period of time before they will be shipped to other reviewers. So far it looks like the camera lives up to the hype, but we will have to wait and see if there are any blatant weaknesses.

Sony A1: B&H Photo / Amazon / Moment / Adorama
Sony a9II: B&H Photo / Amazon / Adorama
Sony a9: B&H Photo / Amazon / Adorama

Follow SonyAddict on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube

Plus our owners’ groups
Sony a1 Owners Group
Sony a9 Owners Group
Sony a7 Owners Group

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