The Sony a9 Opinions: DSLR Killer? Best Sports/Wildlife Camera Ever Made?

Of course there is a LOT of attention on the Sony A9 announcement from yesterday (see our announcement post with all the videos etc)… but what are the prevailing opinions?

(Note, “DSLR killer” is not my phrase of choice here, but it is being thrown around – I still hate that there's really some “war” going on between DSLR and Mirrorless – they're both still essentially the same thing.)

Frankly, based on what I'm reading/seeing/hearing, this is a freaking cool camera that launches Sony to the front of the overall camera market. The good news is that tho the A9 is mainly for “sports and wildlife” it seems to me that much of this astounding technology is going to be coming to new models of other Sony cameras.

I've been doing some reading and watching (as I'm sure many of you have) and there are opinions all over the place… but most people are genuinely excited about this camera! Heck, after watching Patrick Murphy-Racey‘s video below with his comments about being able to use Canon glass with an adaptor that actually gives super fast autofocus (and he's tested pre-production Sony A9 so he should know!), it makes it all the more appealing to me.

The thing that slows me down? LOL – the $4495 price!

Things that really excite me:

93% coverage for the AF points – sure there are a ton of them (600+) but having the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV for a while now, i get frustrated when I want the focus point to be in the corner and there are none there.
No blackout when shooting – ok, this is just damn cool and Patrick really talks it up
The 3.6millon pixel EVF… I can't wait to see that!
Finally a decent battery on a Sony!
Finally 2 card slots on a Sony!
Silent shooting – so crazy that they had to add a sound and visual clues (if you want them) so you can even tell when you're shooting!

Negatives:

No picture profiles
No slog for video
Ok, so that tells us this is a photography camera! Right?
Price as I said before… but the key is that many of these features will filter down to other Sony cams!

First up, Hugh Brownstone interviews Sony Rep Mark Weir:

One comment from the video says a lot about what some people are also feeling… excitement but…

trevorpinnocky13 hours ago (edited)

I think this camera is a bit of a dichotomy. On the one hand it demonstrates that mirrorless cameras can have the features current dslr owners say they don't, things like fast accurate AF, no blackout, robust build, long battery life. (I'm talking the FF crowd here obviously). On the other hand it's unambiguously premium price point prices out the very DSLR owners most likely to migrate. I think the low hanging fruit are those owners who are on the cusp of buying a D5 or a 1DX II, but haven't. Current flagship ownerships are not going to buy this camera. And, it also prices out Sony's current owners who may very well want these features, like a7ii shooters or, in some cases, a7s ii shooters who really want to do stills but want top tier video as well. In some sense I feel like this is really a POC camera, a shot across the bow of Nikon and Canon to get a feel on the market. I would be very surprised if significant numbers of D5 and 1DX II shooters migrate to Sony. Why did they release the a99 II if this camera was so far along?