William Brawley of Imaging-Resource.com just released the first part of his field test results for the Sony Alpha 1. He took it out with his Sony 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G lens to test the camera’s performance photographing birds – and his impressive results have him calling it one of the best cameras he’s ever used. "Overall, the Sony Alpha 1 is an outstanding camera. Given Sony's history of producing excellent cameras with fantastic image quality, excellent autofocusing and solid performance, I was expecting the flagship Alpha 1 to feel familiar and more of the same, really. Only better. And it is." See more of what he had to say from Part 1 of his field test below and catch the fullresults at Imaging-Resource.com.
"From an image quality standpoint, the Sony Alpha 1 is one of the best cameras I've ever used.” – William Brawley, Imaging-Resource.com
Build & Ergonomics
“Design-wise and ergonomically, the camera is comfortable and rugged with an array of physical controls, a nice photo-centric tilting touchscreen and a lot of user customization. It feels like a solid, modern Sony mirrorless camera. Sony has improved the usability of the touchscreen and menu system, which were two of the main usability criticisms from the A7R IV.”
Image Quality & Performance
"From an image quality standpoint, the Sony Alpha 1 is one of the best cameras I've ever used. With 50-megapixels at your disposal, you can capture images with a stunning level of detail, excellent dynamic range and vibrant yet natural-looking colors. And for wildlife photographers, you have plenty of leeway for cropping if needed. Of course, the downside to 50MP files is storage, which fills up quickly -- especially when you are shooting at 20-30fps. My folder of 2300 or so images quickly ballooned to over 300GBs. Performance-wise, the Sony A1 is a stunning piece of technology. The autofocus system is fantastic, offering fast performance and excellent subject tracking, even in very tricky shooting scenarios. Burst shooting, also, is bordering on excessive. But it's nice to have the speed when you need it. It's certainly faster-shooting than what I need; 20fps is more than enough, let alone 30fps. Though there are limitations to achieving that eye-watering "30fps" burst rate, the camera is still capable of outstanding performance for almost any photography situation."
Conclusion
"Overall, the Sony A1 is what I experienced with A7R IV but turned up to 11. I thought the A7R IV combined image quality and performance (and to be fair, it still does), but this new flagship Alpha 1 goes even further."
See the full field test results HERE.
