Hi guys it's Lizzy and Pete from the Academy team and we are in London
Southbank today testing out the brand new Sony a9 2 - it might seem a little
bit random that we've come into london to test out Sony's brand new pro
mirrorless camera and this time of year all the manufacturers are talking about
their Olympic launches Nikon, Canon. Sony have actually brought this to the market
early but it's middle of November it's freezing cold there's not a lot of
things to test the speed and performance of this camera so we thought we'd bring
it down to a skate park with skate skating going into the Olympics next
year and see what the the cameras capable of.
So we've come to the skate park then because it's all about speed. It is indeed. but em I mean the
a9 one was all about speed so what's different? The key improvements with the mark 2 have
been around performance for the pro level photographer. So the speed of Wi-Fi
transfers and how about 2.5 gigahertz. It's got a 1000 base FTP Ethernet
transfer so it's really built with that pro level sports pro level media
photographer. Well ahead of next year's Olympics. There's been improvements to
the mechanical shutter in the camera which personally I prefer the mechanical
over the electronic shutter. Mechanical now there's 10 frames a second which is
a big leap from the A9 mark 1. Most of the other tweaks are either economics
handling weather sealing or just subtle improvements. Things like little lock
buttons that you've really cried out for in the mark 1 that just improved the
handling for the pro photographer. So yeah Sony have received quite a bit
of stick about the improvements to the A9 and the fact the mark 2 wasn't
revolutionary like the the first edition but they've also made it no secret that
the cameras actually been released and has been specifically designed and
developed for the pro level photographer. You know it's not it's not being billed
as a camera for everyone. You know it's not an enthusiast camera. It's not the
entry-level beginner camera. they're very much targeting at the pro
audience ahead of the Olympics next year and the improvements very much tailored
to the needs of that type of photographer.
So can you explain the FTP in a little bit more detail because am I right in
thinking is that I guess is aimed at the people at sporting events kind of on the
sidelines who want to instantly transfer their stuff and whenever I've gone to a
sporting event or a stadium 4G that's a no-go.
Yeah so I mean it's a big factor especially with the Olympics next year
but as you say yeah the sidelines football matches for example most
stadiums you go to have got a direct Ethernet system so you can plug in hook
your laptop on one end your camera on the other end you get direct FTP
transfer from the camera to the computer it completely transforms the
connectivity and the speed of everything that you can do and how quickly you can
get everything to your editors and your publishers. Just having it built into a
camera makes your life so so much easier. Yeah it sounds pretty cool there's also
the one thing that I did notice when I was reading through some of the spec
was the voice memo, voice tagging? Yeah so once you've captured your video,
your images you can actually now through the A9-2 system you can create a voice
memo that tags into the metadata of the images so it automatically gives the
newsroom for example a little bit more of a context or background or
information about the images. Or even just for yourself later when you're
reviewing through and you're...not you know. You've shot so many events throughout
the day you can remember exactly what it is whether it's a guy from the javelin
or a guy that just fell off a high jump you don't know.
So we've got one of the guys he's gonna come shooting down here fairly quick
almost directly at me head-on and we're going to really just put the the
real-time tracking AF through its paces. see if we can get that eye detection to lock
on even if we don't just make sure that that tracking works and moves with him
as he comes down and then hopefully there's a nice wall ride right in front
of me. So it's really awkward when there's one between two people and one
of those people happens to be Pete who is a motor sports fanatic. I guess
skateboarding's very similar to motor sports in his eyes. So luckily I
brought the rx100 mark 7 with me. So basically an A9 on the inside may as well
just shoot with that one.
How's it looking? It's looking pretty good so we've tied
it up with a bit of flash just because we're undercover we just want to make
the images pop a little bit so we've thrown a little bit of flash there but
the tracking focus hasn't missed a beat so far he's appearing suddenly it's
snapping so him it's capturing as he flies through the air it's pretty
awesome. So the improvements sound great but if you are not a pro photographer
going to the Olympics then you may as well just get the A9? yeah absolutely I
mean the A9 mark 1 had so much in it 24 million pixel, you know 20 frames per
second zero blackout viewfinder. Okay the improvements in the mark 2 is a
mechanical shutter appeal to a very select pro level photographers. The a9
just an unbelievably powerful tool that pretty much any photographer can pick it
up whether it's wildlife fashion portrayed sports it's got something in
it that works for them so it's far more available and it's a lot cheaper now as.
Well I really like it. I said to Pete earlier I like, I know its notexclusive to the a9 - but I really like
the no black out viewfinder that Sony's have got. It does make it a lot easier
when you're doing sports to be able to keep your eye on the subject and not miss
it when you're taking a shot. I also actually just like the fact that
it's really fast and I guess that's a combination of
loads of things but take a sequence of images review it back instantly means
you can shoot again when the next skater is ready
grind on the pavement? I don't know what it's called. I really like it. It is a grind!
grind is not like a nose grind?
We've stepped into the sunshine to warm ourselves up a little bit because I
don't know about you Pete but I am freezing. it was getting a tad cold in there
definitely. And I think it's probably fair to say I am definitely not a sports
photographer. I don't know I don't know. I've been reviewing some of the shots and as much as I'd love to say
they were mine there's definitely some keepers in there for you absolutely.
Probably two maybe one. Four. and how did you find it? you use the A9 and
you love that don't you. I'm a big fan of the original mark 1 A9 I've
used it for loads of different things motor sports predominantly. So in honesty
A9, A9 2 ergonomically, performance wise that don't really feel
that different. You know if you're not a pro media photographer you're not a pro
sports photographer you don't need that Ethernet that high-speed connectivity
performance.
A9's an absolute bargain at the
moment in comparison so much speed so much performance and it appeals to so
many more photographers and everybody could love it as much as you did. Thats true
they probably could. SO if you are that person and you want to find out more information around the A9 2 - or just
the a9 then head over to Jessops.com now or pop into your local store where one
of our experts will be more than happy to help. If you enjoyed watching this
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watching guys and we will see you on the next one
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