A full-frame mirrorless for professional photogs
SONY’S new a9 full-frame mirrorless camera which made its debut worldwide in April is finally available in Malaysia.
Aimed at professional photographers who are looking for top notch speed and performance, the a9 is Sony’s most advanced mirrorless camera to date.
Key to the a9 is Sony’s new stacked 24.2-megapixel Exmor RS image sensor along with the Bionz X processor.
The stacked Exmor sensor, the first of its kind in the world according to Sony, enables data speed processing of up to 20 times faster than previous Sony fullframe mirrorless cameras.
Not only that, the sensor is back-illuminated, allowing it to capture more light and produce true-to-life image quality.
The sensor has an ISO range of 100-51,200, expandable to 50204,800 for optimum image quality.
Sony says that the processing power from the new components used allow for faster AF/AE (autofocus and auto-exposure) calculations at up to 60fps (frames per second) while also reducing EVF (electronic viewfinder) display latency.
In short, the camera shoots really fast – the company claims it’s one of the fastest full-frame mirrorless cameras you can get your hands on at the moment.
It’s also capable of shooting blackout-free continuously at up to 20fps for up to 241 RAW or 362 JPEG images straight.
“The a9 offers a new shooting experience for professionals and hobbyist,” said Sony Malaysia digital imaging marketing senior manager Chou Bing Han.
“Despite its compact body that is less than 680g, the a9 packs heavyweight features such as 20fps continuous shooting, 60fps autofocus and autoexposure, blackout-free images and silent vibration-free shutter.”
Speed is not its only forte. The a9 also features a focusing system with 693 phase detection AF (autofocus) points.
With coverage of approximately 93% of the frame, Sony says that the focusing system ensures that even the fastest moving subjects are reliably captured and tracked across the frame.
Sony also claims that a9’s Fast Hybrid technology means that autofocus performance is 25% faster compared to the previous a7R II model, making it easy to capture fast-moving subjects.
Other new features include a five-axis image stabilisation system, full-frame 4K video capture support, dual microSD card slot and a new larger battery with up to 2.2 times more capacity than previous models.
The Sony a9 is available now at RM21,799 (body only).
The super-telephoto Zoom Lens (SEL100400) is priced at RM12,699, while the wide-angle zoom lens (SEL1635GM) and compact wideangle lens (SEL1224GM) are priced at RM10,899 and RM7,899 respectively.