News Sony A1 II + 28-70mm F2 Announcement & Discussion

[Tim Mayo]

The Sony A1 II along with the FE 28-70mm F2 GM lens have now been announced. Let's try and keep all of the discussion in a single thread.

The A1 II will cost $6,498 in the US, €7,500 in Europe and £6,299 in the UK.

The FE 28-70mm F2 GM will cost $2,898 in the US, €3,600 in Europe and £3,049 in the UK.

Pre-orders are already open in Europe and will start in the US at 9:30am ET, Wed Nov 20. Shipping will start in December 2024.

A1 II Key Features:

• 50.1 МР Ехmоr RЅ ѕtасkеd СМОЅ ѕеnѕоr
• 8.5-ѕtор сеntrаl аnd 7.0-ѕtор реrірhеrаl іmаgе ѕtаbіlіѕаtіоn
• ВІОNZ ХR іmаgе рrосеѕѕіng еngіnе wіth 8х рrосеѕѕіng роwеr
• АІ рrосеѕѕіng unіt fоr Rеаl-tіmе Rесоgnіtіоn АF іn ѕtіllѕ аnd mоvіеѕ
• Ассurаtеlу dеtесtѕ а wіdе vаrіеtу оf ѕubјесtѕ fоr fаѕt-расеd АF
• 759-роіnt hіgh-dеnѕіtу рhаѕе-dеtесtіоn АF соvеrѕ 92% оf іmаgе аrеа
• Rаріd, blасkоut-frее соntіnuоuѕ ѕhооtіng uр tо 30 fрѕ
• Рrе-Сарturе аnd Соntіnuоuѕ Ѕhооtіng Ѕрееd Вооѕt
• 8К 30р аnd 4К 50/60р 10-bіt 4:2:2 mоvіе rесоrdіng
• Ніgh frаmе rаtе rесоrdіng аt 120р іn 4К аnd 240р іn Full НD
• Ѕ-Сіnеtоnе аnd іn-саmеrа LUТ іmроrt fоr сіnеmаtіс lооkѕ
• Тwо nеw Соmроѕіtе RАW funсtіоnѕ fоr hіgh-rеѕ lоw nоіѕе іmаgеѕ
• 4-ахіѕ multі-аnglе LСD mоnіtоr wіth 3.2-tуре lаrgе ѕсrееn
• 9.44 mіl dоt ОLЕD ЕVF wіth rеduсеd dіѕрlау lаg
• Вuіlt-іn WіFі, ЅuреrЅрееd UЅВ 10Gbрѕ, аnd 2.5GВАЅЕ-Т wіrеd LАN
• Dеdісаtеd mісrорhоnе рrоvіdеѕ thе орtіоn fоr сlеаr vоісе rесоrdіng
• Тwо ЅDХС/СFехрrеѕѕ Туре А соmраtіblе ѕlоtѕ

 

[NightBreed]

Just got the price - £6,299

 

[Unframed Dave]

Go on, someone explain a 4 axis monitor to me please?

 

[Tim Mayo]

Go on, someone explain a 4 axis monitor to me please?

Just skip to 4:33 in the video: https://youtu.be/xYMNPvgWcdY?si=HhiZqBemPHH-9Jlk&t=273

 

[RogerSmith]

It will be a great camera for someone jumping to the flagship, but not tempting me off my mark 1 for the time being. Was surprised at the 30FPS remaining the same even with a C5 boost button coming over from the A9III body.

 

[iamdlewis]

Does it actually have the faster CF-A card slots? Doesn't seem to be any documentation and the boys at PP didn't mention it.

 

[Tim Mayo]

Does it actually have the faster CF-A card slots? Doesn't seem to be any documentation and the boys at PP didn't mention it.

I've not seen anything either. You'd think it would be mentioned if 4.0 was supported.

 

[iamdlewis]

I've not seen anything either. You'd think it would be mentioned if 4.0 was supported.

Jared Polin mentions that it is still the CF-A 2.0 and not the 4.0

 

[Tim Mayo]

Jared Polin mentions that it is still the CF-A 2.0 and not the 4.0

I'm not sure if it's such a big deal anyway. At 30 fps the 2.0 cards are fast enough, I've never felt the need for faster cards in my A1. If they had upgraded it to 120 fps like the A9 III then the faster cards would be more beneficial. The 4.0 cards will still work just at 2.0 speeds, so you can still take advantage of the faster offload speeds if you are using a 4.0 reader.

 

[Angus Cameron]

Marc Galer has some interesting comparisons https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2waK5Bc2tAg
At 48.30 in the video he compares the buffer speeds of the A 1, A1 II and A9 III

Not sure if that answers the CF-A slot question?

 

[Tim Mayo]

Marc Galer has some interesting comparisons https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2waK5Bc2tAg
At 48.30 in the video he compares the buffer speeds of the A 1, A1 II and A9 III

Not sure if that answers the CF-A slot question?

He just mentions the buffer depth. The A1II might have a slightly larger buffer to allow for an extra 11 shots.

 

[AlphaWorld]

OK, the disappointments first:

• 30fps still requires lossy compressed - does not support lossless. Lossless still tops out at 20fps - that's my biggest disappointment
• V4 CFeA not supported

The unrumoured changes:

• auto subject recognition - this could be useful
• the 8.5 stop IBIS - rumour was 8 stop
• the composite RAW functionality also supporting Pixel Shift
• 2.5GbE wired Ethernet - not that I have ever plugged my camera into Ethernet (but I do have 2.5GbE)

The unclear:

• whether 120Hz refresh on the EVF is full res. 240Hz is definitely reduced
• whether the voice note transcription into text metadata happens in camera or not

The cute but unimportant:

• dual battery charger in the box (it didn't say if they included the required power source)
• choice of two eye cups in the box (I am using a third party one on the A9III - this one is Sony supplied)

 

[AlphaWorld]

Go on, someone explain a 4 axis monitor to me please?

It's the screen that debuted on the A7RV. It's on the A9III, too. It's very good. You want it!

 

[AlphaWorld]

@Tim Mayo - I just noticed that the Sony supplied image says "120 AF/AE calculations" - wow! I think I'll use all of those up while I'm setting up the camera. What will I do after that???

</sarcasm>

You'd think they's have put "/ second" or "/ s" after it!

 

[iamdlewis]

dual battery charger in the box (it didn't say if they included the required power source)

Are you hoping for a portable nuclear reactor or just a slow solar panel? If it is the nuke this would make it a deal even if you never used the camera.