Sony has announced the launch of its latest full-frame mirrorless camera in India. Dubbed as Sony Alpha 1, the mirrorless camera comes loaded with a host of interesting features and specs.
Sony Alpha 1 is currently listed on the company’s Indian website but without the pricing details. The camera is priced at USD 6,500 (approx Rs 4,73,866) only for the body and is up for pre-orders in the USA and the UK. For the lens, consumers need to pay separately.
The Alpha 1 comes with 50.1-megapixel full-frame stacked Exmor RS image sensor, up to 120 AF/AE calculations per second and 8K 30p 10-bit 4:2:0 video. The Alpha 1’s shooting capabilities are further enhanced by a 9.44 million dot OLED Quad-XGA electronic viewfinder, with a refresh rate of up to 240 fps. Additionally, for the first time in an Alpha series camera, 8K 30p 10-bit 4:2:0 video is available. The Alpha 1 is also capable of 4K 120p / 60p 10-bit 4:2:2 recording and includes S-Cinetone color.
One can shoot up to 155 full-frame compressed RAW images or 165 full-frame JPEG images at up to 30 frames per second with the electronic shutter while maintaining full AF and AE tracking performance.
Sony says the Alpha 1 viewfinder features the world’s first 240 FPS refresh rate, for a super-smooth display. The 9.44 million-dot (approx.), 0.64 type Quad-XGA high-definition OLED display and refined optics deliver the highest resolution. It also offers 0.90x viewfinder magnification, a 41° diagonal FOV, and a 25mm-high eyepoint for clear, low distortion viewing from corner to corner.
The camera features 759 phase detection points in a high-density focal plane phase-detection AF system cover approximately 92% of the image area. The Alpha 1 also features AI-based Real-time Tracking that automatically maintains accurate focus. A subject recognition algorithm uses color, pattern (brightness), and subject distance (depth) data to process spatial information in real time at high speed.
Alpha 1 features an evolved Pixel Shift Multi Shooting mode that composites up to 16 full-resolution images. In this mode, the camera precisely shifts the sensor in one pixel or half-pixel increments to capture 16 separate pixel-shifted images containing a total of 796.2 million pixels of data, which are then composited into a 199 million pixel (17,280 x 11,520 pixels) image using Sony’s Imaging EDGE desktop application.
For the first time in an Alpha camera, the Alpha 1 offers 8K 30p 10-bit 4:2:0 XAVC HS recording with 8.6K oversampling. The Alpha 1 offers in-camera 4K recording at up to 120 frames per second which allows the user to shoot up to 5X slow-motion video.
The company also claims that its world’s first anti-flicker shooting with both mechanical and electronic shutter. The electronic shutter operates silently, without mechanical noise, and is vibration-free.
The Alpha 1 has two media slots that both support UHS-I and UHS-II SDXC/SDHC cards, as well as new CFexpress Type A cards for higher overall capacity and faster read/write speeds. It also features a durable magnesium alloy chassis, long battery life with the Z-battery which can be extended using the optional VG-C4EM Vertical Grip (sold separately), an improved dust removal feature, shutter close function on power-off to protect image sensor. It includes a durable, reliable HDMI Type-A connector, and USB PD (Power Delivery) support, allowing higher power to be supplied from an external source so that users can record for extended periods with minimal internal battery usage.