All Models A1 or A9iii

[stevethewomble]

Hi all, new member here.
I’ve been pretty consistent with Sony (a100, a700, a99, a99ii plus a few Minolta before them) and I’m now looking to change kit.
I shoot mainly speedway and football so I’m currently looking a1 or a99iii .. what worries me is low light noise at higher ISO and wondered if it’s worth sticking with Sony or just moving to maybe Nikon.
Speedway is mostly evening, with poor floodlights, and football I want to use a fast shutter at higher ISO in evening games under lights.
It’s a lot to fork out (I’ll be changing from A mount), so need to get it right first time.

Anyone do similar and can give advice please?

 

[AlphaWorld]

If you are already shooting over ISO 250, then the A9III is comparable in noise / DR with other Sony bodies like the A1. Have a look at Photons 2 Photos to see the comparisons. I’ve been using a A9III since January, and I don’t see significantly more noise.

Do bear in mind that you are getting fewer pixels (half as many as the A1 / A1II). However, I do think there is a slight improvement in sharpness due to the capture of every pixel simultaneously.

I don’t have the A1 II yet, so I can’t say how well the new AF works eith the A1 sensor, but I expect it to be good. It’s extremely good in the A9III.

To be honest, I think either the A1 II or A9III will work well for you. I would get the A1 II, rather than the A1, because all the accumulated changes are good.

If you can, get to a camera store, and handle an A9III - I think you’ll like the body.

 

[Landshark99]

I do not do either but I would think the either one should be fine with the edge to the A9III for super fast capture. I do not see how the Nikon would be any better when it comes to noise, Sony should be fine.

 

[iamdlewis]

How much cropping do you currently do? If you do a lot then the A1 would be the better choice.

In terms of AF the A9iii is better than the A1. The A1ii might be better than the A9iii but the difference might be indistinguishable. Any of them will be vastly superior to the A99ii. Any camera that you get that was made in the last couple years will have superior noise handling to what the A99ii has, so if you just use the same settings you use today you will see cleaner images.

Don't forget you can get the Sony LA-EA5 A-mount to E-mount adapter (DP review here) so you might not need to sell those A-mount lens just yet.

 

[Richard A]

Apart from what those above have mentioned, there is so much good software available now that removing noise is pretty much trivial.

 

[spudhead]

How much cropping do you currently do? If you do a lot then the A1 would be the better choice.

In terms of AF the A9iii is better than the A1. The A1ii might be better than the A9iii but the difference might be indistinguishable. Any of them will be vastly superior to the A99ii. Any camera that you get that was made in the last couple years will have superior noise handling to what the A99ii has, so if you just use the same settings you use today you will see cleaner images.

Don't forget you can get the Sony LA-EA5 A-mount to E-mount adapter (DP review here) so you might not need to sell those A-mount lens just yet.

wow that is the issue with asking for advise

 

[iamdlewis]

wow that is the issue with asking for advise

If you are willing to put up the money for an A9iii the A1ii isn't much more plus I offered a way to save some money in the near term.

 

[spudhead]

If you are willing to put up the money for an A9iii the A1ii isn't much more plus I offered a way to save some money in the near term.

David I was not commenting on that, it was the comment about noise being better on the newer cameras, the fact is I still have the a99ii and had it from release day when we didn`t have AI and denoise tools, and the a99ii never gave me any images , with as much noise as I get from my current a1 mk1 at the same iso settings in any lighting, that why I still have the a9mk1 which I use in low light at this time of the year

 

[iamdlewis]

David I was not commenting on that, it was the comment about noise being better on the newer cameras, the fact is I still have the a99ii and had it from release day when we didn`t have AI and denoise tools, and the a99ii never gave me any images , with as much noise as I get from my current a1 mk1 at the same iso settings in any lighting, that why I still have the a9mk1 which I use in low light at this time of the year

Difficult for me to tell between the A1 and A9 for my files because it doesn't appear that many use the same lens. From the sensor testing that groups do the A9 does have slightly better high ISO performance (mostly above my max limit I set) than the A1 but the A1, A9, A9ii, A7iii, A7iv, and the A7rv all have better than the A99ii.

 

[KSP]

A1 hands down for all sports related photography - you can crop in all day with 50 mp.
A9iii if you work in a studio setting or use strobes often and want to kill the available light.

 

[AlphaWorld]

A1 hands down for all sports related photography - you can crop in all day with 50 mp.
A9iii if you work in a studio setting or use strobes often and want to kill the available light.

Sorry, but I'd rate the A9 III as a superb choice for a action and sports photography. And you can crop the images. Not as much as an A1, sure, but the difference is only a factor of 2 in pixel count, and that's not huge.

I've been using an A9 III for almost a year, and it's an extraordinary camera.