Hello!
Sorry it took so long to get here but the end/start of the year always puts me in an off mood. Too much stress regarding expectations, resolutions and whatnot but I'm here now and here to bring you a most special way of ringing in the new year: by bringing you a review of one of the most lauded cameras of 2017
Sony a9
This review came to be only after Fariq, my brother and partner at QZ Photography, was to be in charge of photography and documentation for his dorm's SUKMUM 2017 outing, Universiti Malaya's annual campus-wide sporting event. The event would last one whole month filled with competitive sports such as football, badminton, rugby, and softball. We took this opportunity to get in touch with the fine people at Sony and requested a collaboration on this project with them providing their flagship mirrorless camera, the epitome of all things great about Sony: the a9.
Fariq and I both put the a9 through its paces, not only for sports photography but also for our photoshoot sponsored by Rastaclat Bracelets. It took us five weeks with the camera to make sure that we had gathered all necessary material and experience to truly give our opinions about the camera. This entry will pose as a summary of everything we learned, loved, and loathed about the a9. Check out the video below to hear us talk about the a9 in full depth:
The most important takeaway from the video above is how perfect the a9 is at virtually every aspect. Perfection is the infinite limit of all cameras' potential and it truly is a heavy feat to even think that a camera could achieve such an improbable level but trust me when I say the a9 has done absolutely that.
First of all the image quality is on par with other cameras in its class, if not exceeding them. The 24.2MP sensor isn't new tech per se, however 24.2MP on a sports camera definitely provides the a9 its cutting edge. Color rendition, sharpness, and overall quality brings sports photography to a whole new level, where speed isn't the only means of measurement for a sports camera. Sure, the camera tends to expose for a little more brightness and results in blown-out highlights, but this can remedied by bringing the details back from the RAW files; another joy of using the a9. Both the compressed and uncompressed RAW files offer a wide range of controls to suit the photographer's vision and intended product. Much of what we shot came to life in Lightroom.
Photos by Fariq
Besides that, the autofocus on the a9 was blazing quick. Speedy subjects were no problem for the camera and the 20fps burst in electronic shutter mode meant that we could produce high quality GIFs from our shots! The face recognition brought an extra dimension to the autofocus, a feature Fariq took advantage of when covering the sports events, though sometimes it proved to be too good when it would constantly jump focus from the intended subject to other subjects in the frame whose face is more pronounced. Hopefully this issue has been eradicated with the latest firmware update.
Photos by Fariq
Speaking of speed, the a9 is a beast at not only capturing quick shots but is also extremely responsive, a quality I hold in the highest regard above any other. These days, most cameras share the same specs; be it image resolution, sensor size, burst rate, max ISO, and so on. But not all cameras react as fast as the photographer wants. The a9 immediately snaps into action upon powering it on and does not slouch when triggering different menu items and settings. The experience of using the a9 compared to, say, the Nikon D850 was worlds apart. After being pampered and tended to by the a9 without delay, shooting the D850 felt like walking behind an old person going down the steps. As I had mentioned in the video, responsiveness is the next base of measurement of cameras that I'll be keeping a keen eye on from now on.
Another point of excellence for the a9 is its exceptional battery life. Fariq was able to shoot all-day events on one single charge and wasn't worried about not charging the battery for the next day if he only shot an event for a couple of hours the day before. Usually, mirrorless cameras would tap out after two or three hours of shooting but the a9 handled multiple consecutive events without blacking out. The battery is reportedly double the capacity of the a7 series cameras. It is evident this boost in juice makes the a9 a firm contender as a flagship sports camera.
Last of all, the only real reason the a9 may not obtain all tens across the board for some people is its lowlight performance. Don't get me wrong, it works a treat up to ISO-25600, a threshold not many reach, but does begin to fall apart here, especially when trying to bring back details from the shadow areas. Underexposing at ISO-25600 and above with hopes of bringing the image back in post-production is not advised as this introduces noise and "crunchy" pixels. Despite this, ISO-25600 is not an ISO you would reach that often and you will have no qualms whatsoever with the image quality at any ISO below it.
ISO-6400
In short, the Sony a9 outperforms any camera that I have ever used before it, including the likes of the Leica SL, Nikon D4s, and the latest Nikon D850. The control, speed, and quality embedded into the a9 justifies Sony's place in photographers' camera bags worldwide, deservedly threatening all other camera manufacturers. The fast and furious evolution of Sony cameras over the past few years has driven them to the pinnacle of the photography market and I am glad that I have been here witnessing such a rapid evolution first hand.
Here I would like to thank the great supportive people at Sony Malaysia for making this review happen. Massive gratitude also goes to Rastaclat Bracelets for sponsoring our editorial photoshoot.
And most importantly, thanks to Fariq for suggesting this collaboration and for shooting the a9 throughout SUKMUM 2017. Check out his work at his Instagram and Tumblr.
Check out all the photos from this entry and more at my Flickr gallery here.
Thank you very much for your patience and undying support for THE FEAR. I hope you've been having a wonderful 2018 and I wish you the best from this point forward.
Until the next entry, take care.
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