Sony has just announced it’s latest full-frame mirrorless camera, the Sony Alpha 1 Full-Frame Mirrorless Camera, and it is bound to set gearheads hearts racing. Billed as “The One,” the Alpha 1 can shoot up to 30 frames per second with no blackout. It can maintain autofocus and autoexposure while shooting by performing a staggering 120 calculations per second. And it can shoot up to 155 RAW images in a single burst.
The word “beast” is bandied about a little to often for my liking nowadays, but make no mistake my friends, the Alpha 1 is truly a BEAST!
What I didn’t mention above is the fact that the sensor is a whopping 50 megapixels, which makes those specs all the more impressive. We have never seen a camera in this price range with that kind of processing power.
Film in 8K with the Sony Alpha 1
While a high-resolution camera is not typically a filmmakers preference, there are some notable video features included in the Alpha 1. The headline feature is the 8K video at 30fps, but you also get 4K video at 120fps, and both are available with 10-bit color. And if you shoot to an external recorder you can get 16-bit RAW output. Those are some pretty powerful videography tools right there. Plus you get built-in 5-axis image stabilization with a new Active Mode that promises better results when shooting handheld.
One of the coolest autofocus features around is Eye AF and the Alpha 1 has it for humans and pets, and also birds. This will excite a lot of wildlife shooters who will also be pleased to hear that Eye AF comes with tracking, which means that if a bird takes off suddenly focus will be maintained on the eye.
Some other notable features of the Alpha 1 include the highest refresh rate of any OLED viewfinder, at 240Hz, and a higher flash sync speed that has been pushed up to 1/400sec with mechanical shutter and 1/200sec with electronic shutter. I was also pleased to notice that the new, touch-enabled menu system that was unveiled with the A7S III is also included with the Alpha 1.
Read my review of the Sony A7S III here.
Additional features that add to the impressive Alpha 1
Sony upgrades are notable for the details as well as the headline features, and I’m impressed to see that Sony has added a dust protection feature to the Alpha 1. When you power off the camera to change lenses, the shutter comes down to protect the sensor. I’ve noticed that my A7III is more susceptible to dust ingress than my old Canon 5D, so this feature makes a lot of sense to me.
Sony has been at the forefront of the most impressive advances in digital photography of late, and with the announcement of the new 50 megapixel Alpha 1, Sony has further cemented it’s position as top dog in the mirrorless camera world. There are so many new features and tweaks to old features that it’s hard to do this camera justice in a short piece like this. Be sure to check out this piece from AlphaUniverse.com if you want to dig a little deeper.
Click here to pre-order the exciting new Sony Alpha 1, shipping in early March.
This is impressive! Excited to see what this beast can do!
I Love The Cameras, And this The “Sony Alpha 1” Is So Good In Its Configuration And Design. Great Review.
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