Action Packed SONY A9 II
It’s been three years since Sony caused a stir with the launch of its original A9 mirrorless camera speedster. It set a number of specification targets for sports/action-orientated cameras and it’s taken all this time for the competition to get close.
The A9 showed just how seriously Sony was working at being taken seriously in the professional camera market and, subsequently, it’s been the mirrorless brand making the most inroads into the stronghold of DSLR. It’s certainly been helped in this endeavour by a frenetic program of lens system building so the FE mount lineup is now not far off 40 models. Significant among the recent Sony lens arrivals are the 600mm f/4.0 and 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 which are, obviously, also aimed at sports photographers, joining the existing 400mm f/2.8 supertelephoto.
These give Sony’s mirrorless camera system even more appeal so, just to make the point even more strongly, the A9 has been given a major upgrade to keep the competition on its toes. Clearly, Sony is primarily targeting DSLR users here, and it’s a big challenge because the optical viewfinder still has a strong following among sports photographers. It’s the main reason Canon has built the EOS-1D X Mark III, although it will also have the EOS R5 competing in the same sector, with specs that look specifically designed to take on the A9 II.
Where Sony has possible advantages is in its telephoto lens range that don't require a mount adaptor and the fact that it builds the some of the most compact full-frame mirrorless cameras compared to some rivals.
The A9 II has a redesigned body, but it’s still roughly the same size as a midrange DSLR and only marginally bigger than Fujifilm’s APS-C format X-T3 and X-T4 (but actually smaller than the X-H1). The external covers are still magnesium alloy with a chassis of the same material beneath, but the weather sealing has been upgraded which is obviously important to anybody shooting outdoors a lot. This includes a more substantial gasket around the lens mount and a new cover arrangement for the memory card compartment which now has a doublesealed opening. The handgrip has been resized and reshaped, making it more
