Sony Announcement: Anyone other than me excited to see more details about the new A9 mirrorless? Faster focus with more points and 10 FPS. I have been using the A7 series for landscape...

John Howard Loc: SW Florida and Blue Ridge Mountains of NC.

Anyone other than me excited to see more details about the new A9 mirrorless? Faster focus with more points and 10 FPS. I have been using the A7 series for landscape and retained my Nikon gear for wildlife, time lapse and multi-exposure. The new offer may allow me to let go of my Nikon gear.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

I'm not. I'll stick with what I have.
--Bob

John Howard wrote:

Anyone other than me excited to see more details about the new A9 mirrorless? Faster focus with more points and 10 FPS. I have been using the A7 series for landscape and retained my Nikon gear for wildlife, time lapse and multi-exposure. The new offer may allow me to let go of my Nikon gear.

Quantus5

I just posted about an hour ago on UHH. I'll echo your excitement!!

Jakebrake Loc: Broomfield, Colorado

rmalarz wrote:

I'm not. I'll stick with what I have.
--Bob

Ditto!

rook2c4 Loc: Philadelphia, PA USA

I'm sure it is an amazing camera in many ways, but for that price... no, I simply cannot justify spending that much for it.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

John Howard wrote:

Anyone other than me excited to see more details about the new A9 mirrorless? Faster focus with more points and 10 FPS. I have been using the A7 series for landscape and retained my Nikon gear for wildlife, time lapse and multi-exposure. The new offer may allow me to let go of my Nikon gear.

I'm always interested to read about new gear, but I'm staying with my D750.

John Howard Loc: SW Florida and Blue Ridge Mountains of NC.

Looked but could not find the price.

Quantus5

John Howard wrote:

Looked but could not find the price.

$4,500 U.S. (5,300 Euros). I think B&H will have it available for pre-order on Friday.

I know a ton of event photographers that have been waiting eagerly for this. My guess is it may actually be hard to get one even at this price.

It is not inexpensive -- but some of the specs are mind boggling.

John Howard Loc: SW Florida and Blue Ridge Mountains of NC.

Quantus5 wrote:

$4,500 U.S. (5,300 Euros). I think B&H will have it available for pre-order on Friday.

I know a ton of event photographers that have been waiting eagerly for this. My guess is it may actually be hard to get one even at this price.

It is not inexpensive -- but some of the specs are mind boggling.

Thanks for forwarding. All I can say is "yikes". Did not see any description of durability like the D3x with mostly metal body. I figure they will upgrade it in a year with more pixels and then the price could fall. I know a few pros that believe the 24 more is the sweet spot in sensors unless you are printing murals. Wait and see the test reports.

chaman

Quantus5 wrote:

$4,500 U.S. (5,300 Euros). I think B&H will have it available for pre-order on Friday.

I know a ton of event photographers that have been waiting eagerly for this. My guess is it may actually be hard to get one even at this price.

It is not inexpensive -- but some of the specs are mind boggling.

That price is nothing short of ridiculous. Considering how fast Sony puts out new equipment (to the point of making existing ones almost obsolete or non compatible with previous offerings) it makes it almost unbelievable. What I always find strange with Sony is the lack of high quality glass like Canon or Nikon or the range of focal lenghts and f/stop offerings the 2 big ones have. They are riding the wave now but they need to expand their glass offerings.

Quantus5

chaman wrote:

That price is nothing short of ridiculous..

Yes, for a hobbyist photographer I agree -- it is extremely expensive.

But for a Pro -- who makes a living with his/her camera -- for the features as listed -- this camera IMHO is an incredible value. A few of the features can't even be touched by other cameras -- for example: 20fps (full frame) with no blackout in the view finder.

Sony is clearly going after the Professional market with this camera, i.e. event, portrait, sports, photo-journalism, ...

This camera I would almost go so far to say is a game changer for the professional camera market.

JPL

Quantus5 wrote:

Yes, for a hobbyist photographer I agree -- it is ... (show quote)

Yes, you are spot on. Sony is challenging the Canon 1Dx and Nikon D5 cameras with this A9. If it lives up to the specs it will be a big step ahead of Nikon D5 and 2 steps ahead of Canon 1Dx for the pro market. The only thing the competitors will still be doing better is the low light capabilities of the Nikon D5. Canon has nothing in their high fps cameras that challenges Sony A9 capabilities. So this camera is actually a big step forward for the pros in terms of camera capabilities and at a lot lower price than the competitors offer.

I know that many of the folks here do not understand the importance of the features of this camera as most of them would never need those features or the speed of the camera. But for professional use this is a game changer if it lives up to the specs or almost lives up to them.

rook2c4 Loc: Philadelphia, PA USA

Quantus5 wrote:

But for a Pro -- who makes a living with his/her camera -- for the features as listed -- this camera IMHO is an incredible value. A few of the features can't even be touched by other cameras -- for example: 20fps (full frame) with no blackout in the view finder.

Depends on the type of professional. For many, this camera won't offer much advantage over the camera they are already using. For example, a product photographer may not care that much about the 20fps or no blackout in the viewfinder features. I'm not all to sure typical family portrait photographers really benefit from this camera either. Certainly not the photographer working at the Department of Motor Vehicles licensing center! It is commonly believed that professional photographers are generally involved with capturing fast-paced action. But most Pros actually do not specialize in that stuff at all.

Quantus5

rook2c4 wrote:

Depends on the type of professional. .

Agreed. No camera fits every need. Essentially there are three things you need to balance: light sensitivity, fast autofocus/speed, and high resolution. It is hard to do all three of these well at the same time (and then there is keeping the price of the camera to a reasonable level). This camera was targeted as a clear shot across the bow to the Canon and Nikon flagships, the Canon 1DX II and the Nikon D5. With the Sony a9 the Sony photographer can now stand proudly on an even keel with his peers that use the 1DX II and the D5. -- Now it just about ability. :-)

For my needs -- I still prefer the higher resolution of the a7R II for portrait photography and event photography.

The a9 is a fantastic camera, but I'm going to hold out for either the a9R or the a7RIII, whatever they decide to call it. I really hope the next "R" model has the superior ergonomics and the slightly larger body of the a9 and -- please two memory card slots and the larger battery of the a9.

Quantus5

We just had an a9 party tonight!! Watched over 2 hours of YouTube videos on the a9 over some beers with friends.

Watched Sony a9 videos from some of my favorite Photography YouTubers: Chelsea and Tony Northrup, Max Yurev, Jason Lanier, Matt Granger, Jared Polin, David Oastler, and a few others. The reviews and comments are phenomenal, and almost nothing negative!! The main one that Sony dropped s-log profiles for video with the a9. Something that is a bit puzzling as this camera would make an incredible hybrid video/stills camera.

This camera is just AMAZING!! 20fps, silent shutter, and no Blackout, and does AF/AE calculations 60 times per second. -- When you really stop and think about what this means. This is earth shattering!!

This was a day and evening truly worthy of celebration!!