-- SUMMARY -- While the Sony a9 is marketed hard towards sports photographers, I find that FPS aside, the added features, upgrades and improvements the Sony a9 offers over the a7 series makes it a workhorse of a camera to suit a variety of photographers needs. Workhorse is a term used mostly for robust DSLR's and something you never really associated with a mirrorless system. All that changes with the Sony a9. It's most definitely capable of handling almost any photography assignment. -- BUILD & CAMERA CONTROLS -- The build quality of the body of the a9 feels very much like the a7R II with an unnoticeable gain in weight and grip size. With that said, that’s pretty much where the similarity ends. Everything else feels more robust in the hands, I’m assuming that has a lot to do with upgrading the buttons and dials which feel much more substantial and tactile. The back dial is much more firm so you won’t be accidentally turning the wheel when shooting. I do wish the dial was a bit bigger because now that it’s more robust, it does take a tiny bit of effort to turn and when it’s that small, it isn’t necessarily the easiest. Of course, that’s a minor complaint because in use, it’s totally fine. The buttons themselves aren’t as recessed as they are on the a7R II making them feel more clickable. It’s funny how such small details can really elevate a product to a more premium level. I never thought the buttons on the a7R II felt toy like, but as I go back and forth, the difference is undeniable. -- UI & OPERATION SPEED -- The a9 takes on Sony’s new menu UI. Like I’ve said before, I never really had issues with the organization of the older menus. They’re ugly but that was about all I thought about them. That thought process has chanced now that I have a camera like the a9, where it is so feature-packed, a good menu really is key. Add to that the ability to pretty much custom assign all the buttons, the quick access menu and the customizable “My Menu” configuration, you are absolutely covered in terms of finding key functions quickly. One of the few things I hated about the a7R II is how slow and unresponsive the camera can sometimes be. I rely a lot on photo review and zoom to make sure people’s eyes are open. For large important group portraits during a wedding, I want to make sure all eyes are open and reviewing that on the a7R II is painfully slow. The a9 is now almost instant when reviewing and really fast when zooming in. The screen on the back LCD, while only gaining a little bump in resolution, looks more clear and crisp than it does on the a7R II. You notice it when looking at the menu. It could be also because the menu in the a7R II is the older style UI, but still, the a9 looks more crisp and clear overall. Where there is a big difference however is the EVF. It’s much more clear and crisp. It’s not even that the a7R II has a bad EVF, it’s just the a9 is better. -- DUAL CARD SLOTS, THE JOYSTICK and NEW DIALS -- Yes! Dual slots! I have never had a memory card go bad on me, but I have heard countless stories of other photographers loosing images or paying for a third party to recover them, some even with just no luck. Just because it hasn’t happened to me doesn’t mean I don’t often think about it during a shoot. Thankfully, my mind is more at easy and I’m able to have a backup card. I’ve also run into companies that wouldn’t hire me unless I was using a camera with dual slots. The only gripe I have with the dual slots is the set up. For something like shooting Raw to slot 1 (faster slot) and JPEG to slot 2, it’s a bit confusing as you have to set the record media to slot 2 in order for the JPEGs to be stored there. Yea it’s weird and seems backwards. One of the only times I’ve ever actually had to read a camera manual. The new dial on the top left is a nice addition. Allowing for quick access to drive modes and AF modes. I do wish the locking button for that dial had an on and off switch. It would be nice to change those on the fly without first pressing in a button. And finally! The joystick! Why it took them so long to add an AF joystick is besides me. I, along with many other photographers, find that a joystick is the fasted and most convenient way to change your AF point while composing your shots. -- IMAGE QUALITY -- “But it doesn’t have the resolution and dynamic range of the a7R II…” Is what I kept telling myself to keep me from investing in the a9. It’s also what a lot of people are saying in reviews and forum posts and probably for the same reason. But in all honestly, aside from the dimensions of the file itself, it’s pretty hard to distinguish an a7R II file vs an a9 file unless you zoom in at 100%. But honestly, I sometimes can’t even tell when I’m working with an a6500 file. So if you have those reservations, you can put them to rest. The resolution is just fine and the dynamic range is plentiful. You can also be assured that the a9’s high ISO is really good. Some of the wedding images below show how it tough lighting (backlit, combination of harsh light and shadows, mix lighting, etc.), the a9 is capable of producing fantastic results with a lot of room to push and pull shadows and highlights. -- VIDEO QUALITY -- I am a super amateur videographer so I won’t go in depth about the quality or lack of S-Log. What I have read is that apparently the a9 downsamples 6k footage to 4k which makes the quality really awesome. They’ve also heavily reduced rolling shutter during quick panning. Nice!… But like I said, I’m just barely starting to get into video so I definitely don’t have much knowledge about this. -- ALL THE OTHER AMAZING FEATURES -- Eye AF has been game changing for portraits and it just got better on the a9. It tracks your eye flawlessly. I mean, the ability to shoot at f/1.4 and be confident that your subjects eye will be in focus is just crazy. I also love the fact that your AF selection changes whether you’re shooting in landscape or portrait mode. This I something that is super useful when dealing with portraits. Then there’s the 20 FPS. Honestly, I don’t think I’ll use it much, maybe just key moments at a wedding or cool action shots while traveling. I’m sure some of you are wondering why I’d buy an a9 if I don’t need the 20 FPS, but that’s just part of why this camera is amazing. Besides, when I got the a7R II, I said I didn’t need the resolution but here I am, holding onto the camera specifically for resolution. 09/05/17 Update: Wow. 20 FPS is DOPE. Yea, didn’t think it would be of much use to me but being able to shoot away as the bride walks down, during a sparklers send off, or even just while they’re dancing the night away at the reception has been a much welcome addition. Having that speed allows you to get that perfect shot. Was I able to get the shot before? Yea, I think there was always at least one shot good enough. But now, it’s more like 10 shots to choose from which in my opinion really takes away that margin of error. Silent shooting and no black out with the electronic shutter. It’s kind of weird, but awesome! In the two weeks I’ve owned the a9, I’ve already gotten use to the no black out, it’s pretty epic. However, I still have yet to get use to silent shooting and don’t think I ever will get use to it. I am excited though that I can use it during ceremonies at quiet churches and even more excited I can be super discreet while I travel. Other than that, I need the sound. Also, rolling shutter has been greatly improved when using the electronic shutter. 09/05/17 Update: I am still not use to silent shooting and I don’t think I’ll ever get use to it. Personally, I feel like I either need the sound or the black out. At a few weddings, I had to make sure I was taking photos by pressing the play button haha. I’m sure this is great for sports and nature photographers who are in a more controlled space while shooting and need to be silent (think tennis match point!). But for weddings I’m finding people are actually listening for the click to go off. There were a few awkward moments when I’d put the camera to my face, they’d pose for a photo and not hear a sound and I’d put the camera down. They’d ask, “Did you take a photo?” This camera of course has pretty much all the features carried down from their other cameras. Stuff like IBIS (still one of the best things ever), touch screen (I have mine off because the joystick is more than capable to change focus), 4k, S&Q (slo motion capture and play) and everything else great about the latest Sony mirrorless cameras. -- BATTERY LIFE -- 09/05/17 Update: I shot my first wedding with the a9 in 100F weather and thankfully, there was no heat warnings of sorts even though my camera was hot. Regarding battery life, I fired off over 2k shots with about 15% remaining after 7 hours. The only thing I really made sure to do was turn off the camera when not in use during those waiting periods. Amazing! -- CONCLUSION -- So to conclude, the a9 is awesome. It’s not just an awesome sports camera, it’s an awesome everything camera. I am most excited about the AF system (with the better Eye AF and joystick) as well as the battery life. I know people say, “just bring extra batteries”, but looking back at traveling through a place like India, I stressed over making sure I had enough charged batteries and portable battery packs and converters to last a long day of adventure and shooting. It’s in those moments that I look back and it becomes annoying and cumbersome and something I’d rather not have to deal. The a9 brings back some of what DSLR’s were only capable of doing. Lightning fast AF and really good battery life. It’s an exciting time to be invested in mirrorless and it can only get better from here. And two months in shooting with the a9, I can confidently say this is indeed, a game changer.

Im not a professional photographer but photography has been my passion and hobby for years. The A7II was my transition camera from the smartphone/digital camera world to the DSLR/Mirrorless level of the game. It was my starter camera which I purchased at best buy on black Friday 2017 got a great deal and I've been taking pictures daily ever since. I decided to upgrade this year but was stuck between A7RIII and the A9. Im not going to go all tech talk here but the main difference between the two is 1. with the A7RIII you can take "bigger" pictures (at 42.4 mp it captures enough information so you can print pictures big enough to hang on the side of a building!) 2. with the A9 you can take "faster" pictures (you can basically stop time and at 20 frames per second you can select the shot with the best moment ). I went with the A9 because it can do everything the A7RIII plus more. The trade off is it has 693 point phase detection for auto focus vs 425 on the A7RIII, 20 fps vs 10 fps on A7RIII, and 24.2 mp vs 42.2 mp on the A7RIII. They both record movies at 4k but im not a video guy so i didn't read too much into the video spec. The reason I bring up the A7RIII on this review because it seems to be the topic all over the internet when people are deciding which mirror-less camera to get next. At the end of the day if you are into portrait photography - A7RIII, if you are into sports and nature photography A9. If you are rich, get both. I also went A9 because my son is into sports plus - it was on sale and i had gift cards and points saved from best buy rewards program, I basically got it at the price of the A7RIII with 24 month no interest financing on my best buy credit card. The opportunity was worth the sacrifice and budget adjustment. I don't regret it!!! I just need to save money for the FE 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 telephoto lens.

I'll start by saying I've been a professional wedding photographer for 17years. I've shot Nikon for the vast majority of that time.(short time with canon). I can honestly say this is the best camera system I have ever had the pleasure to shoot with. I was expecting a couple shining points to stick out to me but after shooting 6 weddings with the gear I can't find an area where I am less than thrilled. Focus system is amazing, low light..amazing. Coming from the d5 I was a bit nervous about stepping into a small frame camera but it feels great in the hand even with the 70-200 2.8. For me it was a great change and would do it again without question.

This is my first mirrorless. I am using this camera alongside my Canon 1Dx II for sports, concerts, events (I usually carry two cameras). The A9 has incredible focus capabilities - face tracking is superb, eye auto-focus seems to work very well. I am accustomed to using single-point focus and manually moving the point around the screen (for example, placing the focus point near to top center to fill a frame when focusing on someone's face). The 1Dx has a limited set of auto-focus points, whereas the A9 allows me to put that point anywhere on the screen. It's not ideal switching between two different cameras during fast-action shooting, but I like having two cameras so capable and different.

The Sony a9 is arguably the best camera on the market right now, tied with the A7Riii. The only downfall to the a9 would be the fact that it lacks picture profiles for better color correction during video recording and editing. Granted, the a9 is targeted for wedding and sports photographers who don’t have vigorous video requirements. The 20 FPS, joystick, and extremely high quality EXMOR RS sensor and Bionz X processor are all amazing features. The new sensor’s sharpness and low light ability are astounding. All in all, this is close to the perfect camera.

I’m new to mirrorless cameras since shooting with a Nikon DSLR for 6 years. But I know mirrorless cameras seem to be the way of the future with the outstanding sensors, Eye AF which tracks the human eye still and in motion, plus Sony even has Animal AF tracking animals eyes. I am so excited to be learning the Sony A9 and in awe of its performance! There are great videos on the mirrorless cameras to watch and do your homework before buying but yes go mirrorless.

I'm fairly new at photography and the A9 has left me speechless with the photos I've captured. It's everything I need. Video is amazing. Size is perfect since I'm always on the go. It was a great investment. One thing I would say that might bother me just a little bit every now and then is not having a full touch screen. But I have to give it to Sony... It pricey! but it's really an awesome product.

This camera is state of the art. Completely amazing. It's shallow depth of field is crazy, and the shutter is super fast. I've been able to get some really awesome stuff so far. Plus the wifi capabilities are very useful. I've been able to take pictures on set, send them to my phone, and give them to clients right then an there. They loved it! Buy this camera. It's well worth the cost.