Sony Alpha a1 Mirrorless Digital Camera Body

Despite the connotations of a high-resolution sensor, the a1 is a strong contender in the video arena, offering 8K and 4K recording resolutions along with full pixel readout, internal 4:2:2 10-bit sampling, and 16-bit raw output via the full-size HDMI. No recording limit allows for extended takes and, matching with professional cine cameras, the a1 includes S-Cinetone support for smooth skin-tone rendering along with well-controlled highlights and soft colors.

Physically, the a1 has a familiar shape, but internally it reaps the best tech of the Alpha series with some notable upgrades, including a 9.44m-dot OLED EVF that touts a 240 fps refresh rate for fluid motion rendering and greatly reduced blackout when shooting continuously. The camera's shutter design has also been revised and now offers full-frame flash sync speeds up to 1/400 sec, and flash sync up to 1/200 sec is even supported when working with the silent electronic shutter. At the rear of the camera is a 3.0" tilting touchscreen LCD and both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity, with 2x2 MIMO support, offer wireless remote control and file transferring capabilities. Additionally, the a1 includes dual memory card slots, both of which support working with CFexpress Type A or SD UHS-II memory cards for flexible and high-speed file storage.

• Efficient sensor design and processing enables high-speed shooting up to 30 fps at full 50.1MP resolution, with full AF and AE capabilities, when working with an electronic shutter. When working with the mechanical shutter, speeds are still kept high at 10 fps. Also, a large buffer memory permits recording up to 155 compressed raw frames, or 165 JPEGs, in one single burst at 30 fps.

• Suiting fast-paced continuous shooting is a blackout-free viewfinder experience, which makes use of a 240 fps refresh rate for fluent eye-level viewing.

• Updated electronic shutter offers silent, vibration-free performance and also supports anti-flicker shooting for working under fluorescent, LED, or other flicker-prone types of artificial light, even while shooting at 30 fps with 120 fps AF speeds.

• Due to quickened readout speeds, electronic shutter flash sync is possible up to 1/200 sec. Even faster flash sync speeds are available when using the updated mechanical shutter, too, which can sync at 1/400 sec in full-frame or 1/500 secwith an APS-C crop.

• Recording up to UHD 4K is possible with frame rates up to 120p; when recording up to 60p the a1 offers full pixel readout and at 120p it uses a 10% crop. Oversampled 4K recording is also possible, via a 5.8K capture area, with a Super 35 crop. Internal 10-bit 4:2:2 sampling is also possible in all recording modes and, if recording externally via the full-size HDMI A port, 16-bit raw output is also possible from a 4.3K capture for even greater tonal reproduction and post-production flexibility.

• High-speed, 120 fps recording also enables 4x and 5x slow-motion movie recording with the frame rate playback set to either 30p or 24p or, if moving down to Full HD resolution, an effective 240p frame rate is also available for even greater motion control.

• Enhanced 5.5-stop effective 5-axis SteadyShot INSIDE image stabilization system compensates for five different types of camera shake encountered during handheld shooting of stills and video and allows users to confidently use any lens, even adapted lenses, for critical shooting without encountering blur from camera shake.

• For long focal lengths, the system will correct for pitch and yaw adjustments. Macro and high-magnification imagery, on the other hand, will benefit from the inclusion of horizontal and vertical shift compensation. All shooting styles will get usage out of the roll compensation. All 5 axes of stabilization will function at all times, even when used with third-party lenses and adapters or lenses with built-in optical stabilization.