Sony is the leader of the full-frame mirrorless camera race. Sony has launched its flagship 8K, 50 MP model at $6500. The Sony A1 is too expensive if you are not a person living with your camera. It has the latest sensors, autofocus, and much more. It is a powerhouse for video and photos.
Body and Build
Sony has used a couple of fresh parts in the A1. Sony A1 comes with a lot of ports. For example, microphone port, headphone port, USB-C, HDMI port. It has an A9-style stop dial on the left side. Sony A1 is great because of its good buttons, size, and grip. The controls include shutter and aperture dials, Joystick control, Wheel mode, and three programmable buttons. It is nicely sized. As a result, you will get a good grip.
It has a tilt screen. The screen does not flip around. It comes with Sony’s unique dual-slot system.
Specifications
Sony A1 has a 50.1 MP camera sensor. It delivers high-resolution photos and extremely fast speeds. It is also the first camera with a 240 Hz OLED electronic viewfinder. The EVF is fast and responsive. Sony A1 is more rugged and weather resistant than previous cameras.
You can also use the touchscreen with the menus. However, you cannot touch a display setting to change it.
Performance
You can shoot 50 MP photos at 30 fps in electronic shutter mode. You can do it with continuous auto-focus and auto-exposure. Sony claims that you can shoot 155 compressed raw files before the buffer fills. You can restart shooting again in a short period of time. Sony A1 offers very respectfully low light capability.
Battery
The battery of the Sony A1 depends upon your recording quality. The 8K mode consumes a battery about 30% faster than the 4K mode. You can use replaceable batteries. Charging it has a negative effect on overheating. It uses the FZ100 battery like other recent Sony cameras. You can click 530 shots without an EVF. You are able to shoot photos all day on a single charge. You can also record 8K 30p videos for 75 minutes. You will get 2 hours of recording time in 4K.
8K Resolution
Sony has an amazing photo camera. The 8K looks a lot better at 200% compared to other camera images. However, the 8K actually feels like a real usable feature. There is no limit for recordings. You will get a different file format for recordings.
- XAVC HS 8K
- XAVC HS 4K
- XAVC S 4K
- XAVC S HD
- XAVC S-I 4K
- XAVC S-I HD
In 4K, you will get two modes. You can use APS-C crop mode. It provides you an oversampled 5.8K image. You can record full-frame 4K using pixel binning.
Autofocus
The autofocus on Sony A1 is better than other cameras. It is very sticky. The autofocus is reliable and smooth. It also has refined controls for speed and response. It comes with a real-time eye autofocus function to track and focus on animals and humans. This function is very helpful for bird-life photography.
Pros
- Mirrorless camera
- 8K @30FPS
- Improved Autofocus
- Electronic Viewfinder.
- Better battery life
Cons
- Overheat on 8K.
- The screen only tilts, does not flip around.
Conclusion
This is a very interesting and better photo & video camera. In short, the Sony A1 is the most powerful mirrorless camera. The only thing about the concern is that it is costly enough. However, it is the only mirrorless camera deserving of this price tag. Sony A1 is a usable 8K camera.
Read Official Blog Post – Sony A1: The Mirrorless Camera, Details, and more
