Sony has been innovating in the full frame camera space for a number of years now. The first was the A7 producing the smallest full-frame camera on the market, this was quickly followed by the A7R the highest resolution full frame camera. Finally the A7S, a camera that could almost see in the dark and did some good video work as well. Since this time they have upgraded these cameras at a rapid rate, the current line up is the A7S II, A7II and the A7RII. All of these cameras are similar in size and much smaller than the equivalent Nikon or Canon Cameras, as you can see from the illustration below.
 |
Curtesy camerasize.com |
Sony's market share has been increasing steadily due to the compact size of the A series and its mirrorless features that DSLR camera simply do not have. The growing high-quality lens stable has also helped to increase the market share and being able to use Nikon and Canon glass on the A7 series has not hurt them either. So what was missing? It has not attracted the sports photographers and others who have similar needs. Sony has decided to close that gap with the introduction of the A9 on April the 20th, 2017. Reviewers are now referring to the A9 Sony has as a "DSLR killer."
The Sony A9
So why might this camera be a "DSLR killer?" A comparison of specifications with the four flagship cameras will help illustrate why. Here we are looking at the A9 compared to the Nikon's D810 and D5 and Canon's 1DX Mark II and 5D Mark IV all DPreview Gold Award winners.
Here are a few key specifications that put this camera out ahead of all of these gold winning cameras:
- Smallest and lightest full frame interchangeable camera on the market.
- World’s First full-frame stacked CMOS sensor, 24.2 MP effective resolution, which allows for 60 autofocus calculations per second.
- Blackout-Free Continuous Shooting at up to 20fps for up to 241 compressed RAW/ 362 JPEG images.
- Silent electronic shutter provides vibration-free shooting at speeds up to 1/32,000 sec. This means you can shoot with absolutely no noise coming from the camera. It also has a much higher speed than DSLR cameras that are limited to 1-8000.
- The electronic viewfinder is 3.6 million pixel providing essentially a 4K view of your shot without any blackout. Sony has added auditory or visual cues you can turn on if you need it.
- The viewfinder is WYSIWYG so you know before the shutter is pressed if the shot is correctly exposed.
- The autofocus also works in much lower light conditions than any other camera.
- The camera has built-in Bluetooth as well as the usual Wifi and NFC.
- No black out when shooting so you can see that you got the shot.
- It has a tilting articulating LCD screen.
- Extensive professional features including Ethernet port for file transfer, Dual SD card slots and extended battery life.
- Its 24-megapixel resolution provides a pixel pitch similar to the 1DXII and D5.
- It has an ISO range from 100-51,200 equivalent to the 1DXII and well above the D5.
- It is cheaper than the D5 or DXII but more expensive than the 5D IV or D810.
What it does not have when compared to the other DSLRs:
- The camera connectivity is still USB 2.0 when all the other flagship cameras are USB 3.
- The camera battery life is still the lowest in sustained performance, even with the battery grip attached, likely because of the EVF.
- It has a lower pixel pitch than the 1DXII and the D5 but it is higher than the 5D IV or the D810. The same relationship occurs with ISO range.
Clearing the A9 has features that are well above those of the other cameras in the full frame category but how important are these features to a sports, action or wildlife photographer? In reviewing a number of sites it would appear there are some features that are "make or break" features, for sports photographers. Of these features generally, the frames per second appear most important and related to that is the size of the buffer. A close second appears seems to be focus accuracy which has a correlation to focus points. After that, there is not as much consistency in what is important.
| Sony A9 | Canon 1DX II | Canon 5D IV | Nikon D810 | Nikon D5 | |
| Frames/Second |
20
|
14
|
7
|
5
|
12
|
| Buffer jpegs Fine |
362
|
Unlimited | Unlimited |
57
|
200
|
| Buffer uncompressed RAW |
128
|
Unlimited |
19
|
23
|
183 |
| focus points |
693
|
61
|
61
|
51
|
153
|
| Battery Life |
650
|
1210
|
300
|
1200
|
3780
|
| Weight |
673g
|
1530g
|
890g
|
980g
|
1415g
|
| DSLR/Mirrorless | Mirrorless | DSLR | DSLR | DSLR | DSLR |
| Technical Age |
Apr 19, 2017
|
Feb 2, 2016
|
Aug 25, 2016
|
Jun 26, 2014
|
Jan 5, 2016
|
| Effective Pixel Res. |
24
|
18
|
30
|
36
|
21
|
| Pixel Pitch |
5.97
|
6.95
|
4.13
|
4.87
|
6.45
|
| Price Apr. 2017 |
4500
|
6000
|
3500
|
3300
|
6500
|
| ISO Range |
100-204800
|
50-409600
|
50-102400
|
64-12800
|
50-3280000
|
| Min/Max Shutter |
1/32000
|
1-8000
|
1-8000
|
1/8000
|
1-8000
|
Let us look at someone upgrading to full frame sports shooting which of these cameras would meet their needs and which would fall below today's standards. Given today's standards, I would suggest somewhere between 8-10 frames per second adds a very useful feature to this sort of photography. So I am going to set the cut off at 10 frames per second which will exclude some cameras but includes enough for a diverse choice. Although this may seem an arbitrary cutoff, given what today's cameras can do, anything below 10 frames per second seems out of step with the market.
The next decision is around focus, which is a much more difficult as focus points do not tell the whole story. However, given the enormous advances in this area, I am going to suggest a minimum standard of 150 focus points, again this allows for some exclusions but enough cameras fall above this threshold to provide a selection. This would, of course, exclude Canon's 1DX II, but as this might seem too controversial I will leave it in for the moment.
The hit rate on the Sony with 693 focus points has been reported to be well above that of the D5 at almost 100%. (This was using Sony's expanded flexible focus.)
If we look at the chart above this has now reduced the selection in the flagship category to the A9, and the D5, and a free pass the Canon's flagship camera.
APSC and Full Frame Cameras
Sports photographers also use APSC cameras so let's include them in the discussion. APSC cameras provide a distinct advantage when using the critical sports lenses such as the 200mm f2.8, 300mm 2.8 and other such prime telephoto lenses. Clearly, if you can place you 200mm f2.8 camera on an APSC camera and instantly have a much lighter 300mm equivalent, this is why the APSC cameras need to be considered.
| Sony A6500 | Fujifilm X-T2 | Sony A9 | Sony A99II | Nikon D500 | Nikon D5 | Canon 1DX II | |
| Frames/Second |
11.11
|
14
|
20
|
11
|
10.2
|
12
|
14
|
| Buffer jpegs Fine |
231
|
42
|
362
|
61
|
200
|
200
|
Unlimited |
| Buffer uncompressed RAW | 110 | 25 |
128
|
25 | 200 | 183 | Unlimited |
| focus points |
425
|
325
|
693
|
399
|
153
|
153
|
61
|
| Battery Life |
350
|
340
|
650
|
490
|
1240
|
3780
|
1210
|
| Weight |
435g
|
507g
|
673g
|
849g
|
860g
|
1415g
|
1530g
|
| DSLR/Mirrorless | Mirrorless | Mirrorless | Mirrorless | Translucent Mirror | DSLR | DSLR | DSLR |
| Technical Age |
Oct 6, 2016
|
Jul 7, 2016
|
Apr 19, 2017
|
Sep 19, 2016
|
Jan 5, 2016
|
Jan 5, 2016
|
Feb 2, 2016
|
| Effective Pixel Res. |
24
|
24
|
24
|
42
|
21
|
21
|
18
|
| Pixel Pitch |
3.9
|
3.9
|
5.97
|
4.51
|
4.2
|
6.45
|
6.95
|
| Price Apr. 2017 |
1400
|
1600
|
4500
|
3200
|
2000
|
6500
|
6000
|
| ISO Range |
100-51200
|
100-51200
|
100-204800
|
50-102400
|
10-1640000
|
50-3280000
|
50-409600
|
| Min/Max Shutter |
1/4000
|
1/32000
|
1/32000
|
1/8000
|
1/8000
|
1-8000
|
1-8000
|
If we apply the same minimum criteria to the flagship cameras of both APSC and full frame you get a selection of six cameras. It is probably useful to also see a size comparison between these six cameras. |
| camerasize.com |
Narrowing the Field
One of the big problems with shooting sports over a long period is the size and weight of your gear. In order address this issue we might consider dropping the D5 and the 1DX II. This leaves us with five cameras, likely the next consideration might be to look at the focusing ability of the camera and the one with the least focal points would be the D500. It is also the lowest resolution, heaviest and largest of the ones left. So this could be dropped from the list as well.
This leaves us with two full frame cameras and two APSC cameras. All mirrorless except for the A99 II with the translucent mirror.
| Sony A6500 | Fujifilm X-T2 | Sony A9 | Sony A99II | |
| Frames/Second |
11
|
14
|
20
|
11
|
| Buffer jpegs Fine |
231
|
42
|
362
|
61
|
| Buffer uncompressed RAW | 110 | 25 |
128
|
25 |
| focus points |
425
|
325
|
693
|
399
|
| Battery Life |
350
|
340
|
650
|
490
|
| Weight |
435g
|
507g
|
673g
|
849g
|
| DSLR/Mirrorless | Mirrorless | Mirrorless | Mirrorless | Translucent Mirror |
| Technical Age |
Oct 6, 2016
|
Jul 7, 2016
|
Apr 19, 2017
|
Sep 19, 2016
|
| Effective Pixel Res. |
24
|
24
|
24
|
42
|
| Pixel Pitch |
3.9
|
3.9
|
5.97
|
4.51
|
| Price Apr. 2017 |
1400
|
1600
|
4500
|
3200
|
| ISO Range |
100-51200
|
100-51200
|
100-204800
|
50-102400
|
| Min/Max Shutter |
1/4000
|
1/32000
|
1/32000
|
1/8000
|
 |
| camerasize.com |
If one considers weight, image IQ, silent shooting, enormous buffers and perhaps most important no blackout. Then the A9 seems to sail above all the rest of the cameras. Of all the features that seem to be DSLR killer features the key ones seem to be the silent shutter with no blackouts. In the reviews below this comes up over and over again as a game changer.
So why would people still consider using large DSLR cameras, I can think of a few reasons:
- DSLR manufacturers have extensive marketing reach and many professionals have their equipment purchased for them by their companies.
- They believe customers won't take them seriously if the camera is not large.
- They feel the larger DSLRs will survive more abuse.
- They are under a misconception that the DSLR lens selection might be of higher quality.
- They wrongly fear the cost of conversion might be too great.
- They are not convinced the lens stable is large enough but don't realize they can also use Nikon and Canon lenses on the camera.
A9 with no Blackout is a Revelation
SonyAlphaRumors a collection of announcement day videos.
Mirrorlesscomparions.com a comparison between the X-T2 and A9.
DPreview Gold Award winners
Fuji Rumours a comparison between the A9 and Fujifilm's GFX 50s full frame
TheCameraStore TV: says hell yeah DSLR are dead!
Apha-better: Sony A9 versus A7RII DPreview
Here's how much it would actually cost a pro to switch from Canon to Sony DPreview
Sony A9: Why being better might not be enough DPreview
Sony A9 Shooting Experience: Here's why I'm impressed DPreview
Sony A9 First Look at Video DPreview
Professional Powerhouse: hands-on with the full-frame Sony Alpha A9 DPreview
The Sony A9 is a 24MP Sports-shooting Powerhouse DPreview
Sony Annouces FE 100-400mm F4.5-5.6 GM OSS Lens DPreview
Photo Rumors coverage of the A9
