Early reviews of the Sony Alpha 1 have been published, and while No Film School is waiting to get our hands on one, the YouTubers who received one right away collectively agree it's an impressive camera.
The A1 is Sony's new flagship camera. It has a 50.1-megapixel full-frame stacked Exmor CMOS and image processing that's 8x as powerful thanks to its BIONZ XR processor. The camera is also Sony's first dive into 8K on a mirrorless body. It's capable of shooting 8K 30p 10-bit 4:2:0 XAVC HS video with 8.6K oversampling. It can also shoot 4K 120p 10-bit 4:2:2 internally.
Sony says it also improved autofocus, added real-time AF for birds, and included S-Cinetone color matrix as seen in FX9 and FX6. The A1 carries over a lot of features from the a7S III, including 5-axis optical in-body image stabilization that can correct a 5.5-stops of camera shake.
But is the $6,500 price tag worth the price of admission? Let's find out what some reviewers have to say.
Keep in mind they've only had the A1 for about a week.
Potato Jet
"I'm pretty shocked how usable this 8K is... The only downside is that it's 4:2:0. You can't do active image stabilization or crop modes. Overall, this 8K is actually usable in this camera."
Sara Dietschy
"...With S-Cinetone, the skin tones are amazing. It's a good look all around."
Gerald Undone
"It's a better photo camera than the a7r IV, and it's a better video camera than the a7s III, but where it gets complicated is that it cost about as much as an a7R IV and an a7S III combined. And I think for the money, I would rather have those two separate cameras than this one camera by itself."
Julia Trotti
"...filmed some video tests in 4K and in 8K all on the Zeiss 35mm F1.4 on autofocus. We had no issues filming 8K on location even though it was a hot day in Australia. Plus, we were shooting with the camera all day."
Jason Vong
"When it comes to low light, the a7s III is still king."
Sony Alpha 1
- 50.1MP full-frame stacked Exmor RS CMOS
- 8x more powerful, next generation BIONZ XR image processor
- 8K at 30p
- 4K 120p
Have any thoughts on the Sony Alpha 1? Let us know in the comments below.
