Live Blog: Sony Announcement
Are you ready for it? Join the Explora Team as we attend the Sony Electronics launch of the new Sony A9 mirrorless camera and live blog from the event in New York City.
12:23pm
12:23pm
12:18pm
12:15pm
12:14pm
12:13pm
The sensor.
12:13pm
12:12pm
12:10pm
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12:09pm
12:08pm
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12:07pm
"Feels bigger than the a7."
12:06pm
12:05pm
Shawn changing the settings already.
12:04pm
Shawn snapping photos
12:03pm
Stay tuned for hands on time!
12:02pm
COO back on stage.
12:01pm
Things are starting to wrap up here.
12:01pm
Combine that with updated PRO Support and pros will definitely be pleased.
12:00pm
Ben Lowy says that this camera is durable. Good news for those who put their cameras through heavy work.
11:59am
"This single body has everything I want in one camera."
11:58am
"In my 50 years of photography I never met someone that actually built a camera and wanted to know what I wanted. I was really impressed by that."
11:57am
My Favorites is a highly loved part of the new menu. These pros actually got to meet the engineers.
11:57am
"Truly is a wishlist come true"
11:57am
Also had a zoom torque adjustment ring. Interesting new feature but helpful for this type of lens.
11:56am
It will be compatible with the teleconverters, meaning you can get an 800mm reply easily.
Minimum focus distance of just 3.2' allows for really shallow depth of field.
11:54am
The 100-400mm has many features. And is now the longest native full-frame E-mount lens.
11:54am
Talking lens now....5th G Master lens.
11:54am
Now onto the fifth G Master lens, long awaited by many.
11:53am
This is critical to a live workflow.
11:53am
Ethernet is a huge feature for some pros, puts it in competition with Nikon D5 and Canon 1DX Mark II. Especially important to photojournalists.
11:52am
First Sony camera with an Ethernet port.
11:51am
Moderator says it's way more than 2x battery life...got 2200 shots and had 40% left.
Dual card slots. Only one is UHS-II
11:51am
Huge announcement, now a joystick.
Battery life is sounding really good. But anything is better than the original α7 cameras.
11:46am
Anti-DSLR discussion continues...emphasis on the small size and weight of mirrorless. "You can only carry so much stuff and still look around and be efficient."
11:44am
Silent shutter is a big deal, but there is also a mechanical shutter for those who prefer it.
11:38am
3.686m-dot 0.78x Quad-VGA Tru-Finder EVF Focusing is supposed to be about 25% faster than the α7R II.
11:38am
"Ability to shoot side-by-side with video teams [due to the silent shooting]."
11:37am
Anti-DSLR...emphasis on silence, size. "You want be invisible."
11:36am
Other specs from the announcement: ISO range of 100-51200, expandable to 204800.
11:34am
"Silent camera enables you to be that silent witness."
11:33am
Wildlife, action, sports: the a9 is designed for this, making it perhaps the first mirrorless to make a dent in this DSLR focused market.
11:33am
"Game changer."
11:30am
"The decisive moment on an SLR is the one you never saw."
11:30am
"Twice the number of photos [of an action sequence]."
11:30am
No blackout is a huge deal to anyone who has used an EVF.
11:29am
What attracted the pros:
Shooting speed
Auto focus accuracy
No blackout
11:29am
11:26am
Brian Smith leads the latest panel of pro photographers.
11:25am
4D auto focus system: "Not just fast...smart as hell."
11:24am
Looks very very similar to the α7 series. Though it seems a little beefier.
11:24am
"You cannot miss with this thing."
11:20am
Available in July. Preorders also start Friday for $2,499
Expansion for Sony PRO Support with huge upgrades for pros. Including walk-in locations.
It's looking like the a9 is the camera we have all been waiting for from Sony. I wonder if an S or R are on the roadmap?
Pros are really talking up the high res EVF
11:17am
Preorders 21 April - Friday
11:17am
$4,499 retail. Preorders start Friday! Available may 25.
Now onto the lens FE 100-400mm.
Still didn't get the resolution info on the camera. Weird.
Apparently it's 24MP.
Lightweight at only 49 oz...
11:17am
Silent shooting making a significant appearance. Sounds like it has been improved.
2.2x capacity battery! Huge upgrade for pros.
Dual SD card slots UHS-II compatible.
Quad VGA OLED EVF with 120 fps refresh rate.
Looks like it got the new menu system as well.
Huge applause from the crowd. Definitely an appealing camera.
11:15am
Big applause at vibration-free shutter. No more shutter woes.
SPEED is key aspect of the a9.
Shoot continuously for over 200 raw images.
AF system covers 93% of the frame.
Truly impressive specs if you ask me.
No blackout in the viewfinder.
Still wondering what the resolution is...
11:14am
Silent vibration free shutter 1/32,000th max shutter speed
11:14am
Alpha 9
20fps continuous shooting
60fps AF/AS calculations
This looks to be he dream camera everyone has been waiting for.
11:12am
"Better, faster, smaller, and lighter camera. Welcome to the true digital age"
Exmor RS Stacked CMOS Sensor.
20 fps continuous.
Full frame 4k video.
Blackout free.
693 Af points!!!
11:11am
"Photography has been held back by the limitations of last century's technology"
11:09am
A9
Full frame stacked image sensor
FE 100-400 f/4.5-5.6
GM OSS lens
"New era of digital imaging."
Neal Manowitz - Digital Imaging North America
"the dawn of the true digital age."
11:06am
"dream image sensor to create new digital imaging era"
"A dream led to history-making innovation"
New camera. New sensor.
Sports and action photos...
Looks like α7 series.
New 100-400mm g master lens being shown.
11:06am
"dream image sensor"
11:06am
Currently discussion effort put into restoring factory after earthquake.
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11:04am
Market has shown increased interest in full frame cameras and lenses.
11:04am
From Engineering and Global Marketing -Kenji Tanaka, Senior general manager of digital imaging
11:04am
Panel of pro photographers coming, along with engineers, and marketing.
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"We are genuinely listening to our customers."
11:03am
45-minute presentation starts soon. Send an order of Bravo pizza.
And drinks
11:02am
Sony has taken the number two position in the full-frame market.
11:01am
"FILLED WITH INNOVATION"
11:00am
COO of Sony Electronics is speaking.
11:00am
Multiple announcements! Globally!
10:34am
Arriving at the event. What will it be?
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9 Comments
I will NEVER biuy a Sony camera. TV yes, camera no. Actually I'd buy an LG OLED TV not a Sony at this point
Ooooohh aaaaaahhh..."the mother of all cameras". I heard the same with the D5, the Canon 5d mark x whatever. And believe me...I will hear it again when the next upgraded version of a new camera arrives.
The PR on these new camera introductions are just sickening now...having people scrambling for their pockets while drooling on all the stunning new features of these equipment. All of a suddent...you MUST have it...NOW.
I think, these things make us forget about the actual creativity involved in making images and focus instead on a slew of technical concepts that make a certain gear the item in the spotlight while putting your older gear to shame.
Quit with all the hoopla and the show and just indroduce the camera so that we can use it (those who have the money now) to do the real exciting stuff - creating imagery. I hope those preorders do not have to be recalled for defects and firmware updates.
It is very sad to see that sony and abandon the mount A, however, every day becomes more present that although you can buy better and more powerful equipment, you can not replace the creativity
Have they finally eliminated the "STAR EATER" problem with excessive NR in RAW for BULB, which became even worse in the A7IIx line where it automatically became activated after an exposure greater than 3.2 seconds. Makes these bodies generally useless for night landscapes or astrophotography. I went to Pentax K-1 and never looked back, although I still own an A7S ...
Articulating screen or same as A7?
Unfortunately Sony still cannot bypass it's 'Minolta factory lens legacy' of bland/cool color rendition of it's lenses, I own Sony cameras(Nikon and Leica too), I know. Even the 'Zeiss' lenses in the Sony line share the same color rendition, we are not talking about the same classic Zeiss Planars from the old film-era Hasselblads. This is the same Sony company that gave us the color-gorgeous 'Trinitron' TV's in the past(their current LED TV's are quite excellent, color-wise. Maybe their photo engineers should talk to their television people about color?
Are they not listening to the right segment of the market or are they producing a flatter spectrum that is more set up for post processing and work flow? Raymond
At that price point, for the body alone, they are clearly ( as I see it) solely aiming this market at the dedicated professional market.
Whilst that may be reasonably large taken from a global perspective, I find it difficult to belleve that experienced Nikon and Canon pros will ditch their valuable body and lens gear for a camera that I do not think will enable to take photographs that they could not in the past.
Additionally, Sony have little credibitllity in the lens line, significantly relying on Zeiss to provide quality glass . And that raise another vexed question, being the very , very high price of lens geaar.
This camera will not attract a waitingn legion of Canon and Nikon owners who are still waiting for full sized sensor cameras to drop to a level that tempts them. The Sony exists in another pricing world.
Not for me
I have an early Canon eos1 ds, which makes it about 10 years old. I still get plenty of oohs and ahs with that camera. I was a Sony "super shooter" with one of their products that felt like a toy. Wonder what this feels like. Anyway, the whole thing makes me think there's got to be a huge market for hyped up product, innovative or not. Just wish there was a market for picture buyers like there was when I bought my Canon system.