Sony A9 II: The mirrorless for sports and journalism

Sony has announced the launch of the new Sony A9II to replace the previous Sony A9 model. This mirrorless camera model was launched with users focused on photojournalism, nature and sports for its speed of operation and changed the game in the industry.

A couple of years later Sony announces its new high-end camera even faster increasing its productivity in professional workflows. It features a 24.2-megapixel full-frame sensor with integral memory and ultra-fast data readout. Coupling the sensor with the BIONZ X image processing engine gives the new model great digital freedom.

What makes it great in the world of nature and sports photojournalism, among others, is its speed. It is capable of continuous burst shooting at 20 frames per second, which, together with its electronic autofocus and fast object tracking, makes it possible to capture the key moments of every situation, with its 693 phase detection points and 425 contrast points, it provides a wide autofocus that covers 93% of the image and performs up to 60 calculations per second.

Unlike other cameras, the Sony A9II keeps the image visible even during shutter release to avoid going black for at least 60 fps and minimizing display lag during burst shooting.

The electronic shutter also allows images to be captured at speeds up to 1/32000, images with shallow depth of field in bright situations and without the need for an ND filter.

At high shutter speeds it is able to eliminate image flicker by detecting artificial lights and synchronizing the shutter to eliminate color and exposure differences.

The new object tracking system includes artificial intelligence that allows real-time tracking with the shutter release button pressed halfway. In this way, reframes can be made with the assurance of having the object tracked at all times.

Sony A9II allows 4K and full HD video recording at up to 60 frames per second in XAVC and AVCHD format. Depending on the type of shutter used, the sensitivity range varies from 100 to 51200 ISO in mechanical shutter and from 100 to 25600 ISO in electronic shutter. Focus tracking is also possible during video recording. Simply mark the object to be tracked on the touch-sensitive LCD monitor and the Touch Tracking technology will keep the focus on the indicated point.

Being focused on work systems such as photojournalism, they have added functions to facilitate connections in the field. It allows wireless transmission over 5.1 GHz bands, LAN transfer to connect to FTP and USB 3.2 ports.

With the previous release of its DSLR Sony A7R IV and now the new Sony A9II, Sony is trying to cover more and more markets, but we will have to wait until November to see the first models of the A9II, which will have a starting price of 5,400€.