It takes stunning 50.1MP photos, sharp 4K and 8K videos.
The Sony A1 II is the brands latest flagship professional hybrid mirrorless camera, succeeding the five-year-old first-gen model.
This is, hands down, one of thebest mirrorless camerasyou can buy today.
(Image credit: Tom’s Guide)
Find out more in my full Sony A1 II review.
The body weighs 1.45lbs, which is a little lighter than the A1 (25.99oz).
The sculpted grip offers fantastic handling, making it easier to hold the camera with just one hand.
All the ports are located on the left edge.
The A1 II has everything youll need when youre out and about.
The latter lets you shoot for longer before filling buffers, and comes with faster write speeds.
Youll find a 3.2-inch TFT touchscreen with a 2.09-million-dot display on the back.
The screen is highly responsive too, so you might quickly tap anywhere to track a specific subject.
Its large (0.64 inches) with a 0.9x magnification, and incredibly detailed.
The high resolution and large size are ideal for detailed focus checking.
For a pro camera, youd expect weather sealing and you get it.
I tested the kit in heavy rain and the camera and lens were unscathed.
The control scheme is near-identical to the first-gen models.
Most of the other controls are the standard ones you get on cameras of this calibre.
A new Auto subject-detection mode removes the need to switch between AF detection modes and potentially miss shots.
Just like the first-gen model, the A1 II uses 759 phase-detection points to deliver precise results.
Throughout my testing, the A1 IIs autofocus never let me down especially when photographing birds and animals.
It quickly recognized subjects and had no issues shifting focus to others as scenes changed.
it’s possible for you to see an example above.
The first photo is a cropped-in version of the second.
The A1 II had no problem detecting the robins eye among the twigs and locking onto it.
(Image credit: Tom’s Guide)
Check out how sharp the photo is too thats thanks to the high resolution 50.1MP Exmor RS CMOS sensor.
you’ve got the option to see the tiniest details in the robins fur.
The first photo above was shot at 2s and its very sharp.
(Image credit: Tom’s Guide)
The second was shot at a 5s shutter speed and is slightly blurry from camera shake.
This will be an excellent camera for handheld low light shots.
Sony A1 II review: Image quality
The Sony A1 IIs image quality is absolutely stunning.
I used it with the Sony FE 28-70mm F2 GM lens.
Color reproduction is extremely faithful and the images turn out crisp and vibrant and full of character.
you’ve got the option to see a few examples above.
The first photo is a crop of the second and demonstrates the color accuracy.
All four photos were shot in the standard color profile.
Cropping into images reveals the sheer detail of the A1 IIs 50.1MP sensor.
Theres plenty of resolution for extreme crops or large format printing.
But this is a fast camera, intended for action-packed sports and fast-moving wildlife photography.
Both photos above were shot at 30fps burst, at 1/10,000s and ISO 3,200.
The pigeons wings are sharp and each individual feather is distinguishable.
Both photos were shot at 1/20,000s, ISO 4,000 and f/4.5.
The camera has a native ISO range of 50-102,400 for stills.
It smooths out noise without massively affecting image sharpness.
The compilation above was recorded in 4K and the footage looks gorgeous.
The autofocus works extremely well here too, quickly focusing on subjects as they enter the frame.
you might also shoot in S-Log3 which captures a wide dynamic range of up to 14+ stops.
Both the Canon and the Nikon outshine the Sony here.
Battery life while shooting video will depend on the prefs.
I shot at 4K/25P indoors, and managed to drain the battery just before hitting the two-hour mark.
There were occasional periods of overheating butverybrief.
Shooting in 8K heats the camera a lot more though, so just be mindful of that.
Sony A1 II review: Verdict
The Sony A1 II is a mindblowing mirrorless camera.
Minor processing done in Adobe Lightroom.(Image credit: Nikita Achanta / Tom’s Guide)
Minor processing done in Adobe Lightroom.(Image credit: Nikita Achanta / Tom’s Guide)
2s shutter speed.(Image credit: Nikita Achanta / Tom’s Guide)
5s shutter speed.(Image credit: Nikita Achanta / Tom’s Guide)
(Image credit: Nikita Achanta / Tom’s Guide)
(Image credit: Nikita Achanta / Tom’s Guide)
(Image credit: Nikita Achanta / Tom’s Guide)
(Image credit: Nikita Achanta / Tom’s Guide)
(Image credit: Nikita Achanta / Tom’s Guide)
(Image credit: Nikita Achanta / Tom’s Guide)
VV2 color profile.(Image credit: Nikita Achanta / Tom’s Guide)
IN color profile.(Image credit: Nikita Achanta / Tom’s Guide)
(Image credit: Nikita Achanta / Tom’s Guide)
(Image credit: Nikita Achanta / Tom’s Guide)
(Image credit: Nikita Achanta / Tom’s Guide)
(Image credit: Nikita Achanta / Tom’s Guide)
ISO 6,400. JPEG export of RAW.(Image credit: Nikita Achanta / Tom’s Guide)
ISO 6,400. SOOC JPEG.(Image credit: Nikita Achanta / Tom’s Guide)
ISO 12,800. JPEG export of RAW.(Image credit: Nikita Achanta / Tom’s Guide)
ISO 12,800. SOOC JPEG.(Image credit: Nikita Achanta / Tom’s Guide)
ISO 51,200. JPEG export of RAW.(Image credit: Nikita Achanta / Tom’s Guide)
ISO 51,200. SOOC JPEG.(Image credit: Nikita Achanta / Tom’s Guide)
