When it comes to mirrorless camera’s, there is no other brand than Sony that can proudly command a leading innovation role. Sony Alpha’s have been trailblazing in the space for more then a decade, pioneering remarkable technology in full frame interchangeable camera’s. The company has yet again developed a camera specially taloired for professionals in the field of sports, sports photography and photojournalism with the Sony Alpha 9 II.
On the onset the Alpha 9 II looks like its predecessor but dont be fooled by the outlook as the new species is capable of delivering some exceptional features adding to the impressive functions found on the Alpha 9 like the blackout-free continuous shooting of up to 20 frames per second, 60 times per second AF/AE calculations and now with a redesigned body and better network connectivity.
In order to work seamlessly for the working professionals in the fields of sport, sending quality images to the pressroom within seconds is critical if the news agency wants to be the first breaking the headlines. It is this case scenario that prompted Sony to dig deep into their engineering prowess in fitting the Sony Alpha 9 II with an in-built 1000BASE-T Ethernet terminal, enabling gigabit communication for high-speed, stable data transfer operations. It has also included file Transfer over SSL or TLS encryption (FTPS) for increased data security and improved PC remote (tether) shooting, with decreased release time lag and reduced live view screen delay. The speed of the camera’s built-in wireless LAN functionality has also been increased, adding a stable and fast 5 GHz band, in addition to the 2.4 GHz provided in the Alpha 9. standards are all supported.
Whats New?
The unique feature that makes this mirrorless desired is the Voice Memo function, now photographers can attach voice memo to their photo’s when the send them over. Spoken information can now be attached to images in the form that can be replayed when the images are reviewed. Photo journalism can record critical information over the camera and send to their editor for more indepth data about the image they have sent. They can also use the ‘Transfer & Tagging add-on’ “Imaging Edge” application to transfer voice tags with the images to their mobile device and have the voice memos automatically converted to text and added to the JPEG images in the form of IPTC metadata. All of this can be done automatically or manually, selectable by the photographer.
By combining wireless voice / image transfer and automatic voice to text conversion with the ability to auto transfer images with attached voice memos via FTP, it is possible to shoot and transfer the results to an FTP server without ever having to operate a smartphone. FTP settings within the app can also be sent to a camera via Bluetooth®, allowing for a faster workflow.
The camera itself shares the same specification of the Alpha 9,, with 35mm full frame 24-2 megapixel, Exmor RS CMOS image sensor offering 20 fps for 316 JPEG images or 239 compressed RAW images.
Availability
The Alpha 9 II will be available in Malaysia from December 2019.
