Sony A9 II

Sony camera A9 II | Price SONY A9 II

Discover all its secrets inSONY A9 II

The second-generation speed, SONY Alpha a9 II takes the impressive feature set of its predecessor and adds enhanced connectivity, refined body design, and even faster performance. Using the proven 24.2MP full-frame Exmor RS BSI stacked CMOS sensor and an updated BIONZ X processor, the a9 II has especially fast and responsive capabilities. It is possible to shoot up to 20 fps with a silent electronic shutter or up to 10 fps with a mechanical shutter, along with a wide sensitivity range that reaches up to an extended ISO 204800. The sensor design also incorporates a 693-point phase. Detection autofocus system, offering intelligent subject tracking and real-time eye AF to ensure critical focus on moving subjects. The BIONZ X also performs up to 60 AF/AE functions per second to accompany shooting at 20fps for reliable results in rapidly changing situations. In addition to still images, 4K UHD video recording supports up to 30fps and fast and slow motion recording is also available. In addition, the displacement image stabilization of the 5-axis SteadyShot INSIDE sensor is also available, which minimizes the appearance of camera shake in up to 5.5 stops.

Benefiting imaging capabilities, the a9 II receives a dramatic upgrade in its physical design, featuring a more ergonomic body shape, refined climate sealing and improved connectivity. A 3.69m dot OLED EVF provides a bright and clear display medium at eye level and enables no-dimming viewing to support continuous high-speed photography. The 3.0" 1.44m dot rear tilting LCD screen also has a touchscreen design for intuitive control over shooting settings and playback. Dual UHS-II SD memory card slots allow for flexible file storage and the a9 II has been equipped with an improved 1000BASE Ethernet T port for faster wired LAN sharing and remote camera operation. The 5.0 GHz wireless connection and Bluetooth are also integrated for wireless sharing and remote camera control. In addition, voice memos allow you to record sound clips of up to 60 seconds with each photo, which can then be automatically converted into text, using the Transfer and Tag app plugin, and then embed in the metadata of the files

• 24.2MP Exmor RS BSI Stacked CMOS Sensor and BIONZ X Image Processor

Designed for speed, the a9 II uses a 24.2MP Exmor RS BSI stacked CMOS sensor, along with an updated BIONZ X image processor, offering impressively fast and responsive performance. Continuous shooting of up to 20 fps with an electronic shutter is possible or 10 fps shooting with a mechanical shutter is supported. The sensor's backlit design also offers high sensitivity to an extended ISO 204800 with reduced noise for clean image quality in a variety of lighting conditions. In addition, raw uncompressed files can be recorded in 14-bit for greater color fidelity and post-production flexibility.

The BIONZ X processor also works in conjunction with a front-end high-speed LSI for faster processing times along with a wide dynamic range with smooth tonal rendering. Benefiting from the fast recording capabilities is an equally fast AF/AE measurement system that works at 60 times per second to continuously evaluate the scene to lock and track moving subjects. Anti-flicker auto shooting also recognizes and synchronizes shutter action to minimize the flickering effect and get more consistent results in still images. In addition, due to the use of an electronic shutter, totally blackout-free monitoring with the electronic viewfinder is possible to obtain more accurate compositions of moving subjects.

• Fast hybrid AF system

Covering 93% of the image area, a fast hybrid AF system incorporates 693 phase detection points along with 425 contrast detection areas for fast and accurate focusing in a variety of lighting conditions with sensitivity up to -3 EV. The focus point density of this hybrid AF system also enables high-density AF tracking technology, which is adept at tracking moving subjects in a variety of lighting conditions. Updated AF algorithms also benefit from maintaining critical focus on erratic or unpredictable moving subjects. In addition, the use of phase detection points allows the use of A-mount lenses via the optional LA-EA3 or LA-EA1 mount adapters with continuous AF/AE tracking support.

The apt focusing system also lends itself to a variety of focus functions for refined accuracy, including locking autofocus, which maintains focus on moving subjects by using a configurable frame that is set over the desired moving subject, and Expand Flexible Point, which employs neighboring focus points to maintain focus on moving subjects, even if the originally selected point loses focus. The color of the focus frame is selectable, between white and red, and AF tracking is possible with apertures narrower than f/16 with lenses selected when working in Focus Priority mode. In addition, Eye AF can be used to focus on the eyes of human subjects recognized for portraiture and is available in AF-S and AF-C modes, for both still images and video. Eye AF can also be used when photographing animal subjects, with any focus mode when taking pictures. Autofocus can also be used in conjunction with the Focus Magnifier function for critical focus when focusing on minute details of the subject. The rear touchscreen can also be used for Touch Focus control, and Touchpad Focus Control mode allows you to use the rear display intuitively while keeping your eyes on the viewfinder. In addition, when working in AF-C mode, the focus point can be moved while pressing the shutter button halfway, making it easy to quickly shift focus without losing sight of the action.

• Body design

1. An EVF Tru-Finder OLED Quad-VGA is featured and has a resolution of 3.69m point and a magnification of 0.78x for bright and clear viewing with great detail, and a dedicated high-quality setting allows for a 120fps refresh rate for especially smooth playback of moving subjects. In addition, a fluoride coating has been applied to the outermost viewfinder element to benefit cleanliness.
2. In addition to the EVF, a 1.44m dot 3.0" rear LCD display is also available, which has a touchpad design for intuitive operation and focus control. The screen also tilts up and down to benefit work from high and low angles.
3. The magnesium alloy chassis ensures rigidity, durability and stability while remaining lightweight. The lens mount has also been improved to better support heavy lenses, and grip stiffness has been improved for more comfortable hand hold.
4. Extensive weather sealing, including improved sealing around the battery cover, terminal cover and chassis gaskets, has been employed to resist dust and moisture for reliable operation in adverse weather conditions.
5. Using the same NP-FZ100 battery as its predecessor, the a9 II's battery life has a capacity of about 500 shots per charge with the EVF or 690 shots with the rear LCD screen.
6. Dual SD memory card slots allow you to flexibly save and handle files and can be configured to partition RAW and JPEG files or can be used for overflow recording. Both card slots are rated to support UHS-II memory cards for faster transfer speeds.
7. A USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-C port has been added, in addition to a micro-USB port, for faster and more reliable anchoring support. The USB Type-C connection allows the camera to charge from the host's power supply while connected.
8. Built-in PC sync terminal for wired flash sync with strobe light packs or wireless radio remotes.
9. The durable shutter design has been tested for 500,000 drives.
10. The updated multi-interface hot shoe supports working with the optional ECM-B1M shotgun microphone or XLR-K3M XLR adapter kit, which provide enhanced and clear audio recording sound by sending a digital audio signal to the camera, rather than an analog signal.
11. The a9 II also features a 3.5mm microphone input jack for compatibility with external microphones.
12. Compatible with optional VG-C4EM vertical grip.

• Connectivity

1. Built-in Wi-Fi allows the a9 II to instantly share images to mobile devices for sharing directly online, and support for 2.4 and 5.0 GHz bands also allows for connected wireless shooting support. NFC (Near Field Communication) is also supported, allowing one-touch connection between the camera and compatible mobile devices; No complex configuration is required. Once connected, the linked mobile device can also display a live display image on its screen and remotely control the camera shutter.
2. Bluetooth connectivity enables the acquisition of location data.
3. The integrated Ethernet port has been upgraded to 1000BASE-T speed for fast wired LAN sharing and remote operation.
4. When working on a wired LAN, the Remote Camera Tool 2.1 application has now been enhanced to reduce release time and live viewing delays, as well as support for remote SD card formatting, FTP server switching, and changes to the still image storage destination. Wired or wireless LAN transfers can also occur in the background, while continuing to shoot.
5. Imaging Edge Remote for Desktop now supports the a9 II for PC Remote Shooting via Wi-Fi connection or tethered by the wired USB Type-C port. An updated data transfer control now allows you to transfer files from an SD card over Wi-Fi using the Imaging Edge Mobile app, even when the camera is turned off.
6. The Transfer & Tagging companion app can send FTP configuration parameters from your mobile device to the camera, offers automatic data upload to an FTP server with metadata attached, and can perform automatic speech-to-text conversion.
7. Voice memos can be recorded along with still images and allow sound recordings of up to 60 seconds in length to individual images to be attached. Saved as WAV audio files, these memos can be attached to files and played back when images are reviewed. Using the Transfer and Tag plugin on a smartphone, you can convert this audio automatically or manually into text to embed it in the image metadata.
8. Up to 10 different FTP settings can be saved and stored on an SD card, or up to 20 different settings can be saved via the Imaging Edge Mobile app.

• 4K UHD video recording in XAVC S format

Internal recording of 4K UHD movies is possible at multiple frame rates of up to 30fps and, depending on the Super35mm recording area and the effective resolution of 6K, oversampling offers greater detail and full pixel reading is possible, which lacks pixel clustering, for higher quality images with reduced muaré and aliasing. Full-frame 4K recording has also been drastically improved to improve quality when working with medium to high sensitivities to allow full use of the full width of the sensor. Full HD 1080p recording also supports frame rates up to 120fps, and both resolutions use the 100Mbps XAVC S format contained in an MP4 container with 4:2:0 sampling. High-speed recording at 120fps also allows 4x and 5x slow-motion movie recording with the frame rate set to 30p or 24p. In addition to high-resolution internal recording, the uncompressed HDMI output also allows the use of an optional external recorder for clean 4K recording with 4:2:2 sampling.

4K video recording also takes advantage of the ability to produce 8MP still images during playback by taking a frame capture of a movie and storing it as a separate file.
SteadyShot INSIDE 5-axis image stabilization
The a9 II incorporates an improved 5-axis, 5.5-stop SteadyShot INSIDE image stabilization system, which compensates for the five different types of camera shakes found during manual still image and video capture. This allows users to confidently use any lens, even adapted lenses, to get critical images without finding blurriness from camera movement.

For long focal lengths, the system will correct tilt and yaw settings. Macro and high-magnification images, on the other hand, will benefit from the inclusion of horizontal and vertical scrolling compensation. All shooting styles will get the use of roll compensation. The 5-axis stabilization will work at all times, even when used with third-party lenses and adapters or lenses with built-in optical stabilization.

• Other camera features

It is possible to save/load the camera settings on the camera as well as on an SD card to work with the same shooting settings with multiple camera bodies.
The customizable Fn button can be configured to handle separate tasks depending on whether you work in fixed or video modes.
A ratings feature allows you to assign star values, from 1 to 5, to images in the camera for faster editing and rating at home during post-production.
An advanced 1200-zone evaluative exposure measurement sensor delivers consistent and accurate results using multi-segment, center-weighted, or point-in-time measurement modes.
Highlight and Average measurement modes help avoid off reflections and provide stable auto exposure, respectively.