This is the only reason to buy an 880,000 yen camera. Sony "α1"

"α1" which Sony started selling in the middle of March. The price at the Sony online shop is 880,000 yen

Inherited compact and lightweight body and unique shutter sound

The first thing that surprised me when I got my hands on the actual α1 was that the exterior didn't change much from the existing model. Before the announcement, there was a prediction that it might be a professional model that Sony is ready to introduce, and it might be integrated with a vertical grip like the Canon EOS-1D series and Nikon D single-digit series. If you open it, there is no major renewal of the design. The compact and lightweight body common to the previous α series has been inherited, and the basic form that makes use of the corners and surfaces has also been inherited.

In this appearance, I don't feel the strong push of "a camera over 800,000 yen". Even if you put them side by side with the α9 II, it would be difficult to distinguish the two immediately. On the contrary, from a distance, it is not much different from the popular α7 III. At first glance, the 880,000 camera and the 250,000 camera give the same impression. It's a bit unsatisfactory for someone who wanted to use an expensive camera with a triumphant look, in other words, a camera geek like me.

The second surprise came when I released the shutter. Kotto, Kotto, a small, short sound like a knock on the door. I'm sure I'm not the only one who is surprised that this is the shutter sound!? The electronic shutter can still be silenced, but even with the normal mechanical shutter, the sound is very soft and muted.

By the way, the shutter sound of the full-size mirrorless α series started with the loud and shrill sound of the first-generation model α7/α7R. I've become more modest. In particular, the high-end models after the α7R IV released in 2019 are significantly quieter than their predecessors.

The shutter sound of the α1 this time has changed to a shorter and gentler sound while inheriting the trend of quietness and low impact. The use of a new carbon fiber material for the shutter curtain has created a soft shutter sound that is unlike any other camera to date. It may be a sound that people like and dislike. Personally, I was confused at first, but as I used it, I gradually got used to it comfortably.

However, it is not suitable for traditional shooting methods, such as raising the tension of the shooting site with a loud shutter sound, or raising the tension of the person being photographed. On the other hand, it is suitable for snap shots, wild animals, landscapes, etc., and for shooting portraits while talking without the shutter sound echoing.

As you can see, my first impression of the α1 is the exterior design of "△" and the shutter sound of "○". Well normal. To be honest, just by touching the body, I didn't feel the value of 880,000 yen or excitement, and I didn't have any desire to buy it.

However. Such a feeling gradually changed after going out and actually shooting. The more I shoot, the more the materialistic meter in my brain gradually rises, and in the end, it turns 180 degrees, "I definitely want to buy it as a camera for work! No, I'll buy it!!"

What attracted you to the α1? From here, I would like to introduce four points that made me decide to buy.

Fusion of 2 units of "number of pixels" and "continuous shooting number"

The first attraction is the compatibility of high pixel count and high-speed continuous shooting. By installing a newly developed stacked CMOS sensor and image processing engine "BIONZ XR", the α1 can shoot high-pixel data of 50.1 million pixels at a high speed of 30 frames / second.

Up to now, the high-end models of the α series have been divided into products for each field of expertise. For this reason, if you want to emphasize the reproducibility of details, the α7R IV (61 million pixels, 10 frames per second), which is the "largest number of pixels", comes into play. 20 frames per second), it was necessary to change players. However, depending on the shooting scene and purpose of use, you may want both detail and speed.

For example, when shooting sports scenes, animals, wild birds, etc. that move rapidly, in order to keep the subject in the frame in a well-balanced manner, I capture it slightly and trim it during RAW development. I often take pictures by arranging the composition. In such cases, the α1, which has a pixel count close to that of the α7R IV and a continuous shooting speed exceeding that of the α9 II, will be useful.

In advertising photography, in order to increase the freedom of layout and copy space, designers often prefer a composition in which the main subject does not occupy the entire screen, leaving space around it. . In that sense as well, I'm grateful for the α1's high cropping resistance, as it can maintain a practically sufficient number of pixels even if a horizontal photo is cropped vertically.

The following photos are comparisons of the same location taken with α1 (50.1 million pixels), α9 II (24.2 million pixels), and α7R IV (61 million pixels). Comparing the letters on the signboard in the background, you can see that the resolution increases in proportion to the number of pixels. How much resolution is required depends on the application, but in my case, the α9 II is not enough, and the α1 and α7R IV are sufficient.

Taking advantage of 8K movies to capture both video and still images at the same time

The second point is 8K video support. The α1 is the first in the series to be equipped with an 8K (7680 x 4320 pixels) 30p video function, and can record 8K with color sampling 4:2:0, bit depth 10bit, and format XAVC HS.

For some people, even 4K video isn't really in demand yet, so why bother with 8K? You may feel. Until recently, I myself thought that the introduction of 8K was still in the future. In fact, most of the videos I shoot at work stop at full HD. Even if we shoot in 4K for panning and zooming during editing, most of the cases so far are delivered in full HD.

The reason why I am still drawn to the α1 8K is because I want to keep still images at the same time as moving images. Recently, I have been receiving more and more requests to shoot video at the same time as taking photos. In such a case, if you shoot in 8K, you can record videos and still images at the same time with a single camera.

Of course, video requires a slow shutter speed, so there is a general problem that is not limited to the α1, such as not being able to capture sharp still images in scenes with movement. In addition, there are disadvantages such as the optimal lighting for video and still images is different, and it takes time to capture still images later. Even so, I find it interesting and possible to shoot two birds with one stone, even if it is limited to scenes with little movement.

The following are three cameras, α1, α9 II, and α7R IV. You can see that only α1 has a higher resolution.

In addition, in terms of video, it supports 4K / 120p high frame rate recording as with the previous movie number "α7S III", and it is now possible to record 4K RAW video on an external recorder. Don't miss it.