So. You need a new camera, right? Your old one is looking a bit… old. So you need a new camera. And that camera should be Sony’s brand new a9, a $6999 mirrorless full-frame monster that can shoot 20 frames per second without blacking out your view — your view, by the way, is through a brand new ultra-bright and high-res OLED electronic viewfinder. In-body image stabilisation, full-frame 4K video capture, a shutter speed of up to 1/32,000sec — this is the camera to end all cameras.
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The a9 is built around a new 24-megapixel stacked CMOS Exmor RS sensor which allows data read-out to the camera’s buffer 10 times faster than older sensors, allowing for that phenomenally fast 20 frames per second shooting at full resolution RAW for as many as 241 photos in a row, all while auto-focusing and auto-exposing in between each and every frame at the same time. And, because it uses an electronic shutter on top of that stupidly capable sensor, you won’t see any blackout in the viewfinder while the camera snaps away. With twin SD cards you’ll also be able to store a bunch of frames along the way.
There’s also a mechanical shutter in addition to the electronic one, which means the a9 will be just fine for studio work too — Sony says it’ll have a max flash sync of 1/250sec. The electronic shutter is capable of much faster 1/32,000sec captures, though, and that means the camera’s also completely silent and vibration free as it shoots. 693 autofocus points across the frame cover 93 per cent of its surface area, which means that with a good lens — one of Sony’s increasingly large family of full-frame capable G and G Master lenses, perhaps? — you’ll get crisp shots wherever you’re focusing.
The a9’s battery has 2.2 times the capacity of the last a7’s, too — which is going to come in handy given all that processing power and 120fps viewfinder and in-body stabilisation and full-frame 4K video capture. If you need accessories, there’s a grip, as well as a multi-battery adapter kit that holds four extra batteries and keeps them charged. The Sony a9 will be out on June 2nd in Australia, for that eye-bleeding $6999 price for the body alone. But it’s worth it. Because you need a new camera.