SONY α9 / SHOOTING REPORT

The "Alpha 9" was an emblem for Minolta's flagship film camera ("Alpha-9" with a hyphen to be exact). The maximum shutter speed was 1/12000sec and the viewfinder featuring "acute matte" screen was amazingly clear and the focal peak was easy to find. Actually, it was so good that it was used for Hasselblad V series as well. Anyway, the Minolta Alpha-9 was a masterpiece because it was also designed to provide good feeling in operation. Now, does the new "SONY Alpha 9" inherit the emblem? I feel this camera is designed to eliminate the negatives of mirrorless camera. I'm not saying they hadn't been trying it because they have made many breakthroughs with the new 24-megapixel sensor and transformed the weaknesses to strengths.

This camera can shoot 20 frames per second. The AF points cover almost the entire sensor area and the performance is high enough to shoot moving subjects. it minimized the distortion of subjects moving at high speed, which was inevitable with an electronic shutter. It features silent shutter and there's no finder black out between shots. What a list of achievements!

The image quality of EVF is far beyond the one of older generations and you can shoot while looking at the exact image the camera is recording. And, the absence of a mirror box realized the compact body.

This camera should appeal to professional photographers. Just by checking the specifications, I feel this camera won't make any excuses because of being a mirrorless. And, it never didn't during my testing. Actually, it even realized shooting which was impossible before.

( Photography & Text : K )

Shocking 20fps

It shoots as many as 20 frames in just one second, which is something unprecedented. This video shows all the moments captured in one second just like a slideshow. Of course, it ends like a flash because of the short duration. But, what's even more shocking is that they are not extracted from video output shot with a camera primarily designed for shooting video, but still images shot with a camera primarily designed for still photography. So, just by connecting the 20 still images, you can create a 20fps video like this one. In the meantime, you can also go to the menu to shoot a 35mm full frame video. Confused? But, this is what this camera is about: it's borderless. By clicking the thumbnails below, you can view images at 1920px. With the wide range AF mode, the super-imposed focal points move like a jellyfish chasing the subject. All I have to do is keep pressing the shutter button. If you have shot motor sports, you know how crazy it is!

Sufficient buffer space

I kept pressing the shutter button for abut 11 seconds shooting at 20fps to get 220 shots for the video above. Just to show you the difference of motions captured in one second, the video below was made by connecting images shot at 1fps. I can shoot for a good amount of time even when I kept pressing the shutter button and this is impossible without the synchronization of data readout speed and image processing speed. And, there's no viewfinder blackout. What a monster.

This one made with images shot at 1fps lasts for 3 minutes and 40 seconds. Free free to stop it whenever you want. I just want to show you how often you can freeze motor cycles per second.

Rolling is almost non-existent.

When I heard about the release of the Alpha 9, I wanted to try shooting golf swinging because the speed of 20fps is close to a high-speed camera and I don't have to disturb players thanks to the silent shutter. The time for one swing is so instant. So, the viewfinder without blackout assists me to shoot more efficiently. The video above was made by connecting images shot at 1fps and you can see the rolling is almost non-observable. * Naturally, the shaft bows during swinging. So, this image shows bowing rather than rolling. (Click to watch another movie with a normal speed)

This one was shot with the Alpha 7S also featuring an electronic shutter. While rolling is quite obvious, the player on this video says he prefers this one to the one shot with the Alpha 9 because he appears to be using the bowing more effectively. Makes sense.

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Speed for everyday shooting

Image quality is excellent presumably because of the fine matching between 35mm full frame and 24 megapixels. The quiet shutter helps shoot everyday scenes without distracting the atmosphere. Also, the viewfinder image without blackout helps capture precious moments. With conventional mirrorless cameras, refreshed images after shooting were completely disconnected from the view just before shooting. The Alpha 9 is a powerful snapshooter as well.

While the sensor has a lowpass filter, the drawing line is natural, beautiful, and free from ambiguity. I think the sensor for the very first Alpha 7 and the RX1 is a masterpiece and this sensor inherits the blood.

The houses with black shining roof tiles built around hills make me feel I am in Setouchi. This is Kure-city and you can see a tangerine field in the foreground. Including the coastlines in Kyushu and Setouchi, they grow tangerines outside of Shikoku.

Tonal reproduction is rich from highlight to shadow. While it's true that image quality of recent digital cameras is determined by the total coordination of all devices, I believe pixels with a wide opening area is always effective.

The calm hazy Setouchi ocean makes me want to keep looking at it forever. Compared to a contrast scene, this scene may be more difficult to reproduce. However, this image has a good contrast and expresses the actual scene faithfully.

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High sensitivity performance and built-in image stabilization help shooting.

I never used the tripod I brought with me because I felt it wasn't necessary after shooting several images in the dark situation. At ISO 800, the noise is invisible. While some shininess is lost at ISO 6400, it still looks good enough. For experienced film photographers, even ISO 800 sounds quite high. But with the powerful sensor-shifting image stabilization, now we can shoot handheld more easily. I just thank the technological advancement.

* Large proportion of distortion is of the window frame rather than of the lens.

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The Alpha 9, the safest choice.

The only negative is the range of lens lineup, even though it has expanded to be wide enough. While you can also use A-mount lenses via converters, I wish if we had more FE lenses to fully enjoy the benefits of this system. As mentioned earlier, this camera has overcome the weaknesses of mirrorless camera and now ready to outperform traditional DSLR cameras This camera is perfect not only for sports, but also for performances where silence is most appreciated. In the past, we could shoot professional golfers only after impact. With this silent shutter and continuous shooting speed, the "rules" for shooting may change though getting permission from the group is another story.

The EVF without blackout and silent shutter are powerful weapon for snapshooting. And, the AF points covering almost the entire frame are more than convenient for portrait, still-life, and macro photography.

The target users are almost all users and people who want to compactize their system. The capability of this camera reminds me of the period when SONY used the slogan, "It's a SONY."

In our office, one staff member has already bought this camera.

Future reports will including exploring new fields of shooting this camera has opened.

( 28.05.2017 )