Steve Perry Loc: Sylvania, Ohio

In my experience, mirrorless tends to look good on paper but disappoint in the real world. I have yet to meet anyone in the field who prefers mirrorless to a DSLR. Maybe this will be the tipping point, but history is not on its side.

Either way, it's a monster and will maybe get Nikon and Canon innovating again - or at least get them to release technology they have but are sitting on for incremental updates.

twoods

A 2.2x battery life is an improvement, but still not great. I believe the shutter count was ~300 with the previous battery, so 600 clicks still isn't that great. I wish Canon glass could adapt more reliably to the Sony...it would make it an easier decision for me!

Mr.Ft Loc: Central New Jersey

Maybe this will push Canon to release their "rumored" mirrorless Full Frame camera that will use all Canon
EF glass??

John_F Loc: Minneapolis, MN

The A9 has 24 MP on a 24x36 sensor which is the same number of pixels on its APS-C sensor of the a6xxx line of mirrorless'. This means an A9 pixel covers a larger subject area. For its $4500 price wouldn't one expect a larger number of pixels. The camera has other whiz-bangs but all quality comes down to the sensor pixel count.

twoods

Larger pixels pick up more light. This is where your better low light capabilities come from.

Peterff Loc: O'er The Hills and Far Away, in Themyscira.

I can think of a lot of reasons to disagree with the statement that "all quality comes down to the sensor pixel count" and a lot of UHH contributors that would disagree also.

JohnFrim Loc: Somewhere in the Great White North.

If you approach photography from the "front" I think you have to conclude that mirrorless is the way of the future.

The most basic requirement for capturing a photograph is that an object/scene gets focussed by a lens onto a photosensor at an acceptable/optimal exposure. That's it!!! That's all you really need.

Of course we want to add some functionality for the user, so next you need a way of seeing what the lens is seeing, and that means a viewing system. An OVF with mirror box was the only way to go with film cameras, but today an EVF and/or LCD screen makes infinitely more sense as it shows exactly what the sensor is seeing (EVF time delays are, or certainly will be, irrelevant), so good-bye mirror box and hello mirrorless. Case closed.

Now, the "housing" for the sensor and viewing system can be anything, but has historically been a rectangular box with a grip of some sort and few buttons and dials to adjust a few parameters. Ergonomically this seems to make some sense, but it may not be the only approach. After all, cameras went from big boxes to handhelds to SLRs, but always dependent on the evolution of the technology.

I would submit that when the lens/sensor system (camera?) is coupled to our brain and we "see" the image and control the "camera" with our thoughts there will be absolutely no need for a mirror (except maybe on the front of the lens for shooting clandestinely at 90 degrees).

mas24 Loc: Southern CA

I finally found out this camera is an E-mount version, unlike the a99ii which is an A-mount version. The a7R3 has been rumored to come as an E-mount. Sony has said they will Co-produce these lenses. Sony does not make DSLRs anymore. Only mirrorless and Translucent mirrorless. It has been rumored that the upcoming successor to the Nikon D810 is to be a Sony 46 megapixels sensor camera. However, it won't be mirrorless. I'm wondering if Sony mirrorless full frame cameras will ever meet the challenge of becoming a pro sports camera like the Nikon D5 and Canon 1DX Mark 2. This Sony A9 may be the one to do it?

Peterff Loc: O'er The Hills and Far Away, in Themyscira.

It could be, but it could also easily cause Canon to wait and see. Sony is essentially testing the market for Canon. Canon clearly has the capability to produce such a camera if it wishes to, it has full frame sensors (not Sony), it has a fairly decent mirrorless APS-C camera now with the EOS M5, and things like Magic Lantern provide many "mirrorless" functions on several Canon DSLRs. On the other hand, since Canon is the market leader for Interchangeable Lens Cameras it also has to manage any such transition carefully.

If this new Sony offering lives up to its promise it may cause many more problems for Nikon and Pentax than it does for Canon. As with most things, we shall have to wait and see, but this does look like the herald of a new era of professional level digital cameras.

Fotoartist Loc: Detroit, Michigan

Waiting to see a shot at 1/32,000 sec.

Peterff Loc: O'er The Hills and Far Away, in Themyscira.

Looking between the lines this sounds like the death knell for Sony A-mount cameras and lenses. A-mount lenses can be used on E-mount cameras with an adapter but not the other way round, so it looks as though Sony is abandoning the A-mount. Think about all the pissing and moaning people on UHH still make about Canon's move to the EOS system and EF mount in 1987 - 30 years ago - a move that propelled Canon to a sustained market leadership position ahead of Nikon and all others. It will be interesting to to see how well Sony handles this transition.

JohnFrim Loc: Somewhere in the Great White North.

Like breaking glass or bullets penetrating balloons using only ambient light? Triggering might be a challenge.

RobbieAB Loc: UK

What? 20fps isn't fast enough?!

JohnFrim Loc: Somewhere in the Great White North.

Right. Forgot about that. I am generally a single-shot shooter and have not played much with continuous shooting.

ecurb1105

My issues with Sony are not with the A9, which sounds great,but with their product support. I was burned by both their BetaMax system and their eBook Readers. And I never liked Minolta cameras either.