Hey everyone!
I'm John Sison and today we're taking a look at the Sony a99 Mark II.
Now the a99 Mark II is the successor to the original a99 which was released way back in
late 2012 and since then, the photography landscape has changed quite significantly.
Many people questioned Sony's commitment to the A-mount and were left wondering if Sony
would ever replace its flagship full frame A-mount camera.
Much to people's surprise, they actually did with this new camera right here so I'm going
to jump right into it because there's so much to talk about with this camera, so stay tuned
because I'm going to talk about its build, handling, its main features, image and video
quality and of course what I personally think of it.
The Sony a99 mark 2 has a magnesium alloy body.
It is weather sealed to suit different styles of photographers who shoot in various weather
conditions.
Just make sure that the lens you use is also weather sealed.
Showing you around the camera, there is no AF illuminator on the front but Sony does
claim that it can focus very well in low light conditions.
You’ve got a custom button, the a99 badge with the lens release button right below it.
Underneath, you’ve got a little knob which you could customise for different settings
which has a click and declick option and that can also be very useful.
On the side of the camera you’ve got an NFC badge for one touch pairing and right
next to it there is a little door for dual SD card slots.
On the other side there is a flash sync terminal, microphone input, headphone jack, micro HDMI
port, micro USB port and finally a port for a wired remote and a DC input for external
power.
On the bottom there is a tripod mount with a battery door which accepts an M type battery.
This battery is rated from about 400 to 500 shots on a full charge but it really depends
on how you use the camera.
I actually managed to get about 600 shots.
On the top, there is a mode dial, hotshoe, two dials to change your settings quickly,
a few extra buttons for different settings, shutter button which is also shared with the
on and off switch and a little LCD screen which can be switched on.
Finally on the back, you’ve got a nice 3” high resolution screen which can tilt and
flip for different angled shooting.
A joystick makes setting your focus points easier but i do wish Sony had a touch screen
for this.
And of course there is a high resolution electronic viewfinder which I suggest you take a look
at it yourself just to experience it.
Now the a99 Mark 2 weighs approximately 849 grams and that's with the battery included.
So when you mount a lens onto it like this Zeiss 24-70mm F2.8, it ends up being a heavy
kit.
Now while its smaller than the previous a99, the good thing about this is that if you've
got the a77 Mark 2 grip, you can still use it on this camera but if not, you can always
find it online for a cheap price.
The articulating screen is a handy thing to have for different angled shooting whether
whether you're shooting from up high or from down low, but I only wish that for filming, the screen
would flip to the side so I could see myself.
Its not a huge problem but it does make things a lot easier.
A work around that I just did myself was to use my phone so I could see myself while filming.
For those that were complaining about Sony’s menu system before, it has been updated so
things like autofocus and movie modes are grouped together with headings on the top
so you know where to look for the function that you want to change.
You also have a number of programmable features and buttons which should make changing settings
a lot easier.
Now there's quite a few things that Sony have improved on with the a99 Mark 2.
Notably the startup time has improved, the overall responsiveness and overall usability.
And while its great to have a joystick here instead of a control wheel to control your autofocusing
points, I do sometimes wish that Sony implemented a good quality touchscreen just so I could
use touch to focus.
The camera can shoot an incredible 12 frames per second with 42 megapixel photos which
is a lot of information to process.
This is possible thanks to the LSI processor that is in the camera where the buffer lasts
for roughly about 60 photos in one burst in JPEG and about 50 in RAW.
Now the standout feature of me is the hybrid autofocusing system which offers a 79 point
phase detection autofocus points on a sensor and another 399 on chip phase detection autofocus
points and that's with the translucent mirror so in terms of autofocusing speed and capabilities,
its going to be very quick and very accurate.
The camera didn’t disappoint where I was able to lock on focus on a subject without
any issues.
I did miss a few shots in some instances but to be honest, I think it was really down to
user error.
There are a number of focusing modes and areas that you could use.
I actually used wide and centre for normal day to day shots and used lock on AF expand
flexible spot for action shots which I found very useful as the camera tracked the subject
and it continued to focus by using the surrounding AF area.
I don’t usually shoot action photos but after trying it out, it was very easy and
I think it was be very useful for people that shoot sports and wildlife.
Alright, so I just wanted to see how well the camera performed when there was a subject
moving towards it and see if it was able to keep my face in focus.
So I'm going to move to the side and again.
So I have face detection on so if anything that should have been able to keep focus and
I'm going to quickly walk up to the camera faster and see.
I'm going to see how well the camera did, so lets see.
Like the A7 II series cameras, the a99 ii has 5 axis stabilisation.
This is going to be very beneficial for those who shoot both stills and videos.
Now this doesn’t mean you will get shake free footage when walking around with it but
is more effective when you’re standing still and shooting at a slower shutter speed or
with longer telephoto lenses.
With the omission of an AF illuminator, it can be a bit tricky to focus in low light
conditions but Sony does claim that it can focus in EV -4 conditions.
While this is true, it wasn’t very fast to focus and I actually found it very slow.
Unfortunately there are a few features on this camera that I would have wanted that
is on my A7RM2 like silent shooting, usb charging which is really handy to have when you’re
shooting on the go and only have one battery and playmemories camera apps.
These things are what I use every now and then but from what I was told the reason why
play memories camera apps aren’t on any A-mount cameras is because the software is different
to the E-mount cameras.
It would be great if there could be some sort of firmware update to enable this although
I’m not holding my breath.
On the plus side you do have WiFi built in which is handy for transferring images to
your phone and to have a live view feed of what you are filming or photographing.
Also you can store your photos locations with your phone via bluetooth which I guess is
workaround for not having GPS on the camera.
The camera has a 42 megapixel back illuminated sensor.
Just like the one found in the highly rated A7RM2 which is one of the best cameras when
it comes to overall image quality.
When it comes down to the a99 Mark 2, the performance is similar but due to having a
translucent mirror, it does takes away a little bit of light, its not going to be the same.
The camera has wide dynamic range and reproduces good colour.
Paired with a high quality lens you can expect very sharp images.
Low light performance was good up to ISO 6400.
I wouldn’t push it any higher unless you don’t mind losing a bit of detail and colour.
Now in terms of video performance it definitely delivers but with a few quirks which I'm sure
people who are shooting in A-mount already are mostly aware of.
Shooting video in continuous autofocus will lock your aperture at F3.5 which won’t really
allow you to get much creative freedom when you’re shooting.
This may not bother everyone but it really depends on how you shoot.
Shooting in manual will obviously allow you to change your aperture, shutter speed and
ISO.
The camera does have SLOG3 which the A7RM2 does not have and in terms of overheating
I didn’t encounter any of that while shooting video.
The camera does have 4K video recording and has the ability to extract 8 megapixel still
photos from the footage.
You also have option called S&Q otherwise known as slow and quick motion video.
This allows you to select a frame rate from 1fps all the way up to 120fps to show different
types of movement in your video.
This is only available in full HD but I found this a good substitute to have for not having
time lapse.
Now the Sony a99 Mark 2 is a camera that a lot of A-mount photographers have been waiting
for and in fact after shooting with this for a while now, its sort of brought me back to
the days when I first started photographing and that was my a350 because there's nothing
like shooting with a larger camera with a solid grip.
Now if you're taking a serious look at this camera and you have a lot of A-mount lenses,
this might be a great option for you, especially if you're upgrading from a lower end model.
For stills, its fantastic especially if you pair it with a high end lens just to resolve
the megapixel count of the camera.
High ISO was decent but not the best.
That crown is still on the A7S Mark 2.
The autofocusing system though is insanely brilliant.
What I was able to capture with this was awesome and just the processing power of 42 megapixels
at 12 frames per second was insane.
Now for video people may be a bit disappointed because the camera will lock at F3.5 if you're
using autofocus in your videos.
Now this is a known problem with Sony's DSLT cameras and to be honest, after having this
technology for a long time its sort of a shame that Sony hasn't resolved this problem with
the autofocusing because like I said, they've had it for at least 5 years now so its a shame
that it hasn't been improved.
This is due to personal preference as well but it would've been great to have the LCD
flip from the side just so I can see what I'm filming.
Its not a problem that a lot of people may or may not find annoying but for videographers
its 90% of the time a must.
Obviously, I know I can flip the LCD screen up or I can make it go down like that but
if you have the camera mounted on a tripod or if you have a microphone on top of the
hotshoe then it becomes pretty much pointless.
The camera would have been great to have playmemories camera apps because there are a few apps that
I would have wanted to use on this camera but apparently there's something different
about the code from the A-mount to the E-mount so unfortunately you won't be able to use
that.
Ergonomically though, there's a lot of buttons and controls.
I didn't actually use this knob that much and I didn't really use this button as well
because its in an awkward place and I can't really push it but anyway, that's pretty much
it from me so if you have any questions about this camera, please feel free to leave a comment
below and if you already own one, let me know what you think of it and remember to like
this video if you found it helpful and subscribe to my channel for more Sony camera reviews
and tutorials.
You can also follow me on Facebook and Instagram for more sample photos and photo updates.
Don't forget to check out the description below for more information about the camera
as well as purchasing links.
Until then, happy shooting and thanks for watching.
Bye bye plane!
Alright.
Alright, alright, alright!
And ever and actually.. meow!
There's someone beeping.
Disappointment to some.
What was that?
Too many sounds man!
wee ohh wee ohh wee ohh
Ahh noo!
A-mount lenses, this might be a great option for you.
*Soul Glo ringtone*
Now there's a plane coming.
Baaaahh!!
Aw no its getting bright!
Aahhhhh!
So like things sing sings sings sings.
Now the camera features an.....
*chuckles to himself and make sure no one is watching*
79 phase detection auto...
*Angry face*
Eh!!