Sony’s first flagship lands years later it’s previous juggernaut A900, the Alpha A99 is an improvement on every other Sony still camera in terms of capability, stills, and HD video and is a strong equipment that targets both professional photographers and filmmakers.
The centerpiece is a new 24.3-megapixel Exmor sensor, which features an increased photodiode area for boosted low light quality (up to ISO 102,400). The camera also features what Sony’s calling the “world’s first dual-AF system,” which includes two different phase-detect AF systems, including the same 19-point system on the A77, plus an additional 102 points on the imager itself.
Video shooters will find 1080/60p and 24p options with AVCHD 2.0, including uncompressed output through HDMI with simultaneous output to a monitor and phase-detect focus support in video mode. There’s also a 6 frames-per-second burst mode, 14-bit RAW output for stills, the same 921k-dot Xtra Fine twilt-and-swivel LCD included with the A77 with WhiteMagic and TruBlack, and the same OLED viewfinder found on the A77, NEX-6 and NEX-7, that offers slightly boosted functionality thanks to the full-frame sensor, letting photographers snag a realtime depth-of-field preview without dimming the finder.
It also offers a 34-degree viewing angle and color tone adjustment control as well as these connectivity options; a mini USB port, HDMI out, headphone and microphone jacks, power in, a remote control jack, PC Sync socket (for studio strobes) and GPS.
There are also dual SD card slots (one is Memory Stick compatible), letting you duplicate images, assign video and stills to different cards or copy folders without removing a card.
This will be the first-ever full frame camera to feature a translucent mirror, It also has the distinction of being one of the smallest full frame interchangeable lens cameras on the market.
Priced at $2,800, this baby ships in October.
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