Available December 17: an incredible new mirrorless flagship from Sony. Combining high-resolution, speed, and powerful autofocus algorithms, the sum is unflagging performance at the highest level. Imagine: a ceaseless deluge of data, absorbed unfailingly by a 50.1 MP sensor—processed in real-time and intelligently shaped into rich, gorgeous imagery that will both satisfy and impress. You already know that the α1 II is the one you’ve awaited.
Flawless captures
Do you like to luxuriate in power? The α1 II‘s chipset, combining the BIONZ XR with an AI Processing Unit, should offer you plenty of opportunity.
Long at the forefront of development in mirrorless autofocus excellence, Sony’s Real-time Recognition tracking AF system is one of the biggest reasons behind the powerhouse in-camera computing system. “Pose estimation” technology recognizes bodies and heads, even when the subjects are small or faces obscured. You’ll be able to fine-tune performance using ten different modes (Auto, Human, Animal, Bird, Animal/Bird, Priority on Animals, Priority on Birds, Insect, Car/Train, Airplane), and performance has been dramatically increased over that of the original α1. For example, human eye recognition has been improved by ~30%, animal (that is, pet and pet-shaped critter) recognition by ~30%, and bird recognition by ~50%. There are 759 phaser detection AF points, covering 92% of the frame.
For speedy shooters, burst mode is now up to 30 fps with full AF/AE tracking, blackout free, with a buffer of up to 240 RAW frames at full resolution. The α1 II adds a Pre-Capture function, allowing you to capture an adjustable number of frames from the half-press before you start a burst (from 0.03 to 1 second). There’s also a Continuous Shooting Speed Boost—a temporary maximization of speed to be deployed at the most critical moments.
Refined imagery
The camera’s built around a 50.1 MP full frame stacked CMOS sensor. Sony claims note-worthy improvement of dynamic range (15 stops) and noise reduction processing, especially at higher ISOs. There’s also enhanced capability with respect to multiple RAW composite work: new focus bracketing options join impressive NR Shooting and Pixel Shift high-resolution modes.
Worried about all this RAW eating up your memory? There are five selectable RAW capture options to help you decide how in-control your hard drive usage is: Uncompressed, 3 levels of Lossless Compressed, and Compressed. Whatever you choose, be ready… the 5-axis IBIS rated for up to 8.5 stops combined with the shake-suppression built into compatible lenses means that more and more of your shots will be worth keeping.
Powerful moviemaking
It seems like nothing can succeed these days without offering a robust disposition for videography as well as stills, and, excitingly, Sony has not ignored this with respect to the α1 II.
- Max quality of 8K 30p 4:2:2 10-bit
- High frame rate 4k up to 120p
- 4K is oversampled from 5.8K—and look, ma, no pixel binning!
- S-Cinetone for out-of-camera excellence
- S-Log3 for full-service post-production
- Space for up to 16 user LUTs for real-time, non-destructive monitoring
- Shot Marks make it a breeze to quickly extract stills and keep the hype rolling mid-production
Real-time Recognition AF is, of course, fully functional for video mode. Between this guard against missing focus and Dynamic Active Mode in-camera stabilization, you’re bound to find yourself less and less frustrated by ruined takes. Plus, the α1 II fully supports focus-breathing suppression in compatible lenses.
Reliably functional
The α1 II supports high-spec external monitors/recorders for super-critical video work—obviously—but it’s nice to see some really deluxe TLC applied to the in-camera monitoring options. The large, 2.1-million-dot monitor has been expanded slightly to 3.2″ and is fully articulated, allowing easy flipping up and down as well as flip-out universal angling. As for the EVF, the 9.44-million-dot OLED finder offers blackout-free performance with an adjustable frame rate. Both standard and deep eye-cups are even provided, standard.
All grips, dials, and buttons have been carefully re-examined for intuitive, comfortable, and lightly-draining engineering and adjusted as needed. For intensive vertical work and/or extended battery life, the VG-C5 vertical grip is available; that being said, the included 155-minute dual battery charger should prevent battery problems from having more than a very minimal effect.
Weight has been reduced by a very impressive ~11% compared to the α1. And, yes, the α1 II is dust- and moisture-resistant, as one would hope of a professional flagship camera body.
Share and expand
Cameras are great, but they matter little in a vacuum. How does the α1 II stack up in the connectivity realm?
- Dual combination CFexpress Type A / SD slots (with seamless playback across both cards and marking features for quick searches through image-rich memory cards)
- Dedicated voice memo mic
- Transcribe voice memos using transfer app
- Up to 20 presets of IPTC metadata for a professional workflow
- 2.5GBASE-T wired LAN
- SuperSpeed USB 10 Gbps via USB-C
- 802.11ac 2×2 MIMO Wi-Fi
- Numerous other I/O ports—see detailed body images above
Sony’s gone all-out to make it as simple as possible to both translate reality (or your vision thereof) into the desired image as well as transfer that image to the desired end-game.
Click here or visit any of our locations to pre-order now—and remember, if you get your order in early enough, you’ll be able to receive that before the holidays… just in case you want to go all out on your photography this year, or even if you’re in the mood to give someone the gift of a lifetime!
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