Sony has pulled out all the stops on this new flagship mirrorless camera—the Sony A1, and has quickly set a new bar for what full frame mirrorless can do. This is the first time Sony has come out with a single mirrorless camera with best-in-class features; from high-res stills, professional video specs, and high-speed sport shooting all into one glorious package. The A1 combines the high-resolution of the A7R IV, the low light and video prowess of the A7SIII, and the high-speed action recording found on the A9 series. It truly lives up to Sony’s teaser slogan, ‘the one never seen.’
A True Photo and Video Hybrid
The Sony A1 comes equipped with a 50MP full frame stacked Exmor RS sensor capable of 30FPS burst rate when combined with Sony GM lenses, setting a new standard for professional action shooters. It also features dual BIONZ XR processors with eight times the processing power than any camera previous. Not only that but now it also incorporates 8K/30p video and 4K/120p which thanks to the technology pulled from the proven A7SIII, can shoot up to 30 minutes in 8K without overheating. Filmmakers will be drooling over its ability to shoot 4K in 10-bit 4:2:2 video internally and output 16-bit raw video over HDMI.
Wildlife photographers can rejoice with the addition of real-time auto AF for birds and an overall improved autofocusing system with 759 autofocusing points that now cover 93% of the screen. Combining a black-out free OLED viewfinder, and the addition of a second processor allows the camera to calculate accurate autofocus up to 120 times every second, ensuring that no moment is ever missed.
This is certainly the first time we’ve seen all of these features packed into such a small hybrid camera, and executed to such a degree. With such high resolution and 8K video recording, you will need a high-capacity memory card. The A1 comes equipped with two CFexpress Type A card slots that also doubles as a UHS-II compatible SD card slot.
With such a high caliber camera, it is no surprise that it comes with a hefty price tag but we’re sure the creative community won’t be deterred by the $6,499 needed to create content the likes that one has never seen. It is now available for pre-order and will be available in-stores this March.