Alpha A1 II review: Sony's hybrid flagship gets its upgrade

Getting started

The A1 was a very compact and lightweight body. An astonishing compactness at the time, but which corresponded well to the DNA of Sony, a Stakhanovist miniaturization company. That said, this camera is partly aimed at sports and nature photographers, its size clashed in a landscape more accustomed to large models, in particular because of the bulk of powerful telephoto lenses, the target optics for this type of practice. Even with a grip, the A1 was still small and did not offer a grip comparable to the one-piece bodies from Canon and Nikon. But that was before…

Greatly improved grip

If the A1 II visually resembles its predecessor and seems to offer the same ergonomics, we perceive a major difference when first handling it. While it only weighs 6g more, it benefits from a longer and wider grip. This overweight does not only affect the grip; the case body also grows, going from 82mm to 93mm deep. Engineers didn't inflate it to add electronics, but to improve grip. For most hands, especially Western hands (generally larger than Asian hands), this sounds like good news. The grip is more massive and reassuring, especially with large optics.

If it can shake up users with small pockets, its weight, much lower than that of a Nikon Z8, for example, will help it stay in their good graces.

In terms of control layout, the two boxes again seem similar until we look at the details and improvements. Thus, a mode selection ring appears around the PASM dial, the shutter button is now on a more inclined slope, a C5 programmable button appears on the front (next to the optical mount), the exposure dial is now graduated, while the video record button is realigned with the AF-ON button and easier to press, etc.

These small-scale improvements reflect the feedback from users of the first A1. Proof of an evolution at Sony, from the status of a market disruptor moving forward at a forced pace to that of a “big” name in photography obliged to pamper its professional customers.

Viewfinder further improved, LCD (finally!) vari-angle and better defined

With a definition of 9.44 Mpx, one might believe that the Oled panel of the A1 II is the same as that of the A1. This is not the case. Certainly, its image quality at normal frequency (60 Hz) is identical, but it performs better at high speeds. For extreme situations, it reaches up to 240 Hz so as not to miss any action, but at the cost of a loss of image quality. The new 120 Hz mode, on the other hand, is a marvel, because it is lossless.

To these unique definition and frequency, let us add that the rubber piece is wider and more comfortable than in the past. If you think that's a detail, it's because photography is not your livelihood. Indeed, this element of comfort is a real plus for photographers who spend hours at sports meetings with the viewfinder to their eye. Subjectively, it seems to us that the viewfinders from Canon and Nikon are still a little more comfortable, but Sony is making good progress here.

Another (double) big progress: after an A1 limited to the traditional screen that can only be rotated vertically, the A1 II recovers the vari-angle screen of modern boxes. A much more versatile mechanism, equally suited to photography and video. In addition, the LCD panel goes from 1.44 Mpx to 2.1 Mpx for an image precision gain of 45%.

Ready for the stadiums

Like its ancestor, the Sony A1 II is equipped with an RJ45 network socket dedicated to sports photographers, particularly those installed in stadiums during major competitions. This connection allows them to directly send the captured photos to the image editors' workstations, who can then publish the photo of a goal or the finish of a 100m race a few minutes, or even seconds later.

Sony offers this type of user a big boost, since the A1 II benefits not from a 1 Gbit/s socket, but from 2.5 Gbit/s. An important consideration for circulating 50 Mpx images as quickly as possible!

The only disappointment in terms of network is that wifi is limited to 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, i.e. wifi 5. While wifi 7 is developing at great speed, only wifi chips 6 and 6E see their prices drop, Sony engineers rely on a 10-year-old protocol. Damage…

Stabilization in clear progress

The mechanical stabilization of the sensor is an area in which this model brings real progress. We thus go from 5.5 to 8.5 speeds in the center of the image, and 7 speeds in the corners (read below). And you can feel it: we happily shoot at 1/6 s, or even 1/4 s in low light without being afraid of the photographer's camera shake.

As with the AF, the A1 II benefits from the progress of recent Sony bodies, such as the A9 III, being even more demanding with its 50 Mpx sensor. Note here that the mechanical stabilization is very good in photo mode, but is brilliant in “active” mode in video, since it incredibly absorbs the operator's movements.

When asked about the different stabilization values ​​between the center and the edges of the sensor, Sony told us that “this difference is normal [et se retrouve] on all stabilization systems based on the movement of the sensor, because the correction provided by the movement of the latter is more effective in the center than at the edges”.

And if Japanese communicates on it, it’s because“a new CIPA standard […] now asks to publish both figures. Sony has made the decision to follow the recommendations of the CIPA procedures and its validation on stabilization, therefore to publish the two values ​​in complete transparency for the consumer”.

Reactivity

The A1 was a beast, the A1 II remains a beast. If its burst speeds in mechanical shutter are modest (Lo at 3 fps, Mid at 6 fps, Hi at 8 fps and Hi+ at 10 fps), its stacked sensor offers higher speeds in electronic shutter (Lo at 5 fps, Mid at 15 fps, Hi at 20 fps). In Hi+ mode, the box can go up to 30 fps, but only in compressed raw mode – it caps at 20 fps in uncompressed world, probably because of the congestion of the data flow to the memory card.

These superb flow rates make it a weapon of choice for nature photography and sports photography, but be careful with the latter, because the A9 III remains the benchmark for Sony E-mount cameras. The reason for this is the greater depth of buffer and the peak burst is much more generous, since it goes up to 120 fps.

18 images

The real progress in terms of speed comes from the AI ​​chip present in all Sony devices for more than a year and a half, a coprocessor dedicated to the execution of advanced algorithms in autofocus and which makes the difference on moving subjects. Sony claims a 30% gain in AF speed in animal and human eye detection, and up to 50% in bird eye detection.

33 images

Having tried the camera in very bad weather conditions, the reality on the ground is that the A1 II actually manages to capture subjects. Some errors were noticed when the flow of flakes was too intense, but the birds and other deer were caught by the AF, but with the appropriate optics!

One of the weapons that will please photographers who work on very fast-paced sequences is the arrival (finally!) of a pre-capture mode. This is a mode in which the device continuously records in a buffer of up to 1 s. Pressing the shutter button therefore allows you to recover the shots after the action has occurred, a very valuable function which avoids missing fleeting actions. Be careful, it drains the battery much faster.

Image quality

30 images

Sony has not developed a new sensor, it is the same component as the A1 in a slightly improved version. The manufacturer nevertheless communicates slight improvements which we have not been able to detect. Disappointment? Not really, because the sensor was and remains excellent.

The level of detail in the shots is truly impressive, especially with lenses like the FE 24-70mm F2.8 G Master II that we used a lot. We were unable to find fault with the case regarding the moiré effects, as well as the default color reproduction (very neutral tones, a Sony trademark). If you want more punch, raw development is mandatory, with the default built-in renders not having too much character.

In terms of dynamic range and digital noise, it's difficult to see the difference with its ancestor. This means that it is very good, but that we cannot measure the developments with the naked eye, nor yet develop the raw files in Lightroom. We will therefore amend this test as soon as Adobe updates its Camera RAW module.

Sony announces gains made possible by offloading part of the AF calculations from the two Bionz XR chips to the AI ​​chip, but undoubtedly also by some electronic improvements in the production of the sensor. If the gains are indeed present, they should be moderate, although still appreciable.

Video mode

While not matching the A9 III's global shutter sensor, the stacked one in our body is still one of the fastest of its kind. The deformations of rolling-shutter are very mastered in 4K. And if they are more noticeable in 8K, it is still very good. To do better, it will be necessary to recover the technology from the A9 III, or even accelerate the reading speed for a future generation of sensor.

As with the previous model, the video mode benefits from excellent AF – further improved here thanks to the AI ​​chip – and above all from a double ISO circuit which limits digital noise. With a recorder, demanding videographers will be able to benefit from a 16-bit raw mode ideal for grading professional productions.

The video score of this box benefits from many small touches of improvement: addition of 1/48 s and 1/96 s modes, support for LUTs and AI automatic framing, more LOG parameters, etc.

One of the most important additions is not to be found in the electronics, but in the mechanics of the tilting screen mentioned above. This screen can always be oriented vertically to shoot subjects, but also allows operators to shoot themselves thanks to sideways positioning. A detail for photographers, but in the world of video, this capacity is increasingly important for making vlogs.