Camera
Sony Alpha 1 II press conference, LIVE report
We’re at Sony’s ‘Creative Space’ event in New York, which happens to coincide with when the company said it would announce the Alpha 1 II. We’ll be reporting from the event as it happens.
“Authentication technologies, that protect photographers are high on our list of priorities,” says Masaaki Oshima – Head of Imaging Entertainment Business.
He’s discussing the role played by the different models in the company’s lineup.
The Alpha 1 provided extraordinary resolution and speed, he says, and feedback from its users has been incorporated into its new products.
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As previously teased, he has revealed the Alpha 1 Mark II and a 28-70mm F2 G Master zoom.
In the a1 II, features for workflow efficiency have been updated and improved, he says.
He claims the lens rivals the quality of primes, without the use of digital compensation.
The a1 II has a dedicated “AI” processor, allowing what Sony says is “the best human detection, the best animal detection.” It includes a technology Sony calls ‘Human Pose Estimation’ which tries to recognize human bodies in a wide range of poses, so that it can find the face and eye.
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The AF system has 759 points, with 92% coverage and works down to -4EV when using an F2.0 lens. The system can perform 120 autofocus calculations per second.
The camera also gains pre-capture, allowing it to capture up to 1 seconds-worth of images at up to 30fps, with Raw. The a1 II also gains the ‘Speed Boost’ function from the a9 III, letting you boost the burst rate when you hold down a custom button.
The camera’s in-body stabilization now performs 3 stops better than the Mark 1, now rated at 8.5EV. It co-ordinates with in-lens stabilization to maximise performance with OSS lenses.
In addition to the multi-shot pixel-shift mode, the a1 II also has a Raw compositing mode to boost noise performance by combining multiple images (in off-board software).
As with the Mark 1, the a1 II shoows 8K at up to 30p, derived from 8.6K capture. It can also shoot 4K/60p from an APS-Cregion, taken from 5.8K oversampling. It can also capture full-width 4K at up to 60p, though this isn’t taken from the 8K feed.
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It also gains the ‘Auto Framing’ and ‘Framing Stabilizer’ modes from the ZV-E1 vlogging camera: punching in to the footage and following your subject around the frame, to give dynamism to locked-off shots, or maintaining your chosen composition if you’re presenting to camera, hand-held.
The a1 II has the same 0.9x magnification viewfinder as its predecessor, with 9.44MP dot resolution, and can be operated at up to 240 fps. It also comes with a second, alternative “squishy” eyepiece cup in the box.
The camera has a 2.5Gbps Ethernet port with improved FTP capabilities, 2.5x faster than in the a1 or a9 III.
The a1 II will be available in Decemeber 2024.
Read our initial review of the a1 II here
Sony FE 28-70mm F2.0 GM
The FE 28-70mm F2 is the company’s 77th E-mount lens, the 56th full-frame E-mount lens and the first constant F2.0 zoom.
The company says it give “prime levels of performance” for both stills and video.
We’re told the lens doesn’t rely on digital correction. It weighs 981g (2.16lbs). Its autofocus is designed to work up to 120fps on the a9 III or 240fps for video. It uses four linear motors to drive its autofocus.
It has almost no focus breathing, Sony says, but you can add focus breathing compensation on compatible bodies to correct what breathing there is.
They say it has “the best image quality we’ve ever produced in a zoom lens.”
It will also be available in December 2024.