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Friday, April 21, 2017

Sony Alpha A9 May Persuade Canon To Announce Their Own Full Frame Mirrorless Camera


Sony Alpha A9 full frame mirrorless camera


Size Comparison - Canon EOS-1D X Mark II vs Sony Alpha A9


My readers know me as The Wildlife Ho-tographer. I have been using Canon equipment for over a quarter of a century. Over the years, I have migrated from film to digital cameras but still kept my EOS-1 V, the state-of-the-art Canon film camera announced back in 2000.

Through the decades, I have owned many Canon cameras. My first pro body was the EOS-1 in 1989. Then I bought the first Canon digital camera, the D30 in 2000 and the first 'affordable' full frame digital camera, the EOS-5D in 2005.

Currently, my main bodies are the EOS-1D X Mark II, EOS-1D Mark IV, EOS-5Ds and EOS-7D Mark II. You can follow my travels on Facebook and Twitter. See my equipment bag and works on MichaelDanielHo.com

I have been an observer of Canon for many years now. It is a conservative company and rarely aims to be the first in introducing new technology. Instead, they concentrate on being the brand with the most reliable and state-of-the-art performance equipment.

One area Canon has been lagging behind its competitors is in the mirrorless camera space. It is no secret Sony has been pulling ahead of every competitor. Their highly successful A7 series has now been followed by the introduction of the new Alpha A9 model.

Sony Alpha A9 camera major specs

  • 24.2MP Full-Frame Stacked CMOS Sensor
  • BIONZ X Image Processor & Front-End LSI
  • 693-Point AF System & 20 fps Shooting
  • Blackout-Free Quad-VGA 3.7m-Dot OLED EVF
  • Internal UHD 4K Video Recording
  • 5-Axis SteadyShot INSIDE Stabilization
  • 3.0" 1.44m-Dot Tilting Touchscreen LCD
  • ISO 204,800, Silent Electronic Shutter
  • Built-In Wi-Fi/Bluetooth, Dual SD Slots
  • Integrated LAN and PC Sync Terminals

On paper, the Sony Alpha A9 camera specs look impressive. Of course many of these 'jaw dropping' features are written by marketing folks and are designed to grab the attention of readers. Although, the majority of professional sports and wildlife photographers will not dream of using a mirrorless camera for their work (including yours truly), there is a case for owning a high-end pro mirrorless body for various reasons, as far as I am concerned.

Canon already has a few variants of high-end, full frame mirrorless cameras in their labs and is deciding when to release the final version. Perhaps, the announcement of the Sony Alpha A9 should concentrate Canon's mind and persuade them to finally pull the trigger some time next year.

I know Canon's management has a lot on their plates. They have made it a priority to upgrade their Super Telephoto line of lens and introduce more Diffrative Optics lens models in time for the World's Cup in 2018, Rugby's World Cup in 2019 and Summer Olympics in 2020, both events will be held in Japan.

They are a big enough company to juggle multiple projects at one time and their high-end mirrorless camera project should be one that takes high priority along with the other tasks. I will be very interested in buying their pro model with the EF mount once it is announced.  

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