My friend, good to hear from you! Hope you are well.
The camera has been in development for about 3.5 years. Pre-production copies have been in use since just before last summer's Olympics where several Sony Artisans Beta tested it during the Games.
I type that to say that the performance and features have been demonstrated in the field under actual conditions.
And unlike MOST new camera announcements, this is actually a roll-out with orders for new units possible this FRIDAY for delivery in June.
As for comparison with the A99II?
Well...
A99II is of course, an A mount camera using legacy Minolta/Konica Minolta/Sony AF lenses. The A99II has a higher resolution sensor (42 mp compared to the 24 of the A9), but a slower max frame rate (12 compared to 20fps) and limitation of 8 fps without blackout where the A9 can shoot 20 without blackout.
Both can be used as sports shooters... but the A9 has a much deeper buffer for both RAW and JPEG bursts.
Additionally, the A9 has an electronic shutter without the normal distortion; the A99II lacks an electronic shutter.
BOTH cameras offer class leading features, and "punch way out of their weight class".
And while the A99II could compete in limited ways with the Nikon D5 and Canon 1DXII, the A9 EXCEEDS their performance in EVERY respect and does so for SIGNIFICANTLY LESS MONEY.
My friend, good to hear from you! Hope you are wel... (