A1 ii final specs

[Hotel Lonely]

I think no in-body focus stacking is the most surprising part taking into account the overwhelming computational power of the thing and now moreover supercharged by AI... Surprising to say the least.

The BionzXR is quite inferior compared with its competitors. The AI part is more like a cheap patch to the issue for autofocus but that works really well.

How is the BionzXR speed measured? Are there benchmarks out there? I have been wondering about the speed and if it has increased from the A! to the A1 II and if so how much? Any thoughts on how to quantify this? Thanks!

I'm personally torn apart with my mixed feelings about this camera, basically they're selling you a very well designed 2019 camera that should have been A1 OG. For photographers and reporters, it's almost perfect if not already perfect. But yes, the video capability is subpar when compared with competitors. However video isn't what I'm sad about. I'm sad about the subpar processor and software that limits the in cam post-processing.

It's much easier to transfer post processed JPGs to your phones, rather than transfering the RAW to phone and do all the heavy lifting there.

All BionzXR cameras are capped at 8K30FPS, 6K60FPS or 4K120FPS readout/sample rate for video in 12bit mode, no matter how fast the sensor is, I guess that's the upper limit of the processor's video encoder capability. it translates to roughly 1billion pixels per second.

Interestinglly, A1's 14bit 20fps raw also translates to roughly 1billion pixels per second. My speculation might be wrong, but I'm not even surprised when I see that A9iii can only do 6k60fps (downsampled to 4k60fps).

For the Expeed 7 it can handle 8k60fps which is basically twice as fast as the BionzXR. However it doesn't come with the AI chip and I doubt whether it ever would have one in the future (it's not something that's plug and play, rather, it needs extra resources pre-allocated on chip).

The true king of processors right now however I think is the Canon DigicX, it has rocked 8K60fps@12bit already, very impressive.

 

[Malling]

I think no in-body focus stacking is the most surprising part taking into account the overwhelming computational power of the thing and now moreover supercharged by AI... Surprising to say the least.

The BionzXR is quite inferior compared with its competitors. The AI part is more like a cheap patch to the issue for autofocus but that works really well.

Canon implemented a similar solution in their latest line so Sony ain’t really alone in that, I think there is some logic in that other than just being a cheap patch

I'm personally torn apart with my mixed feelings about this camera, basically they're selling you a very well designed 2019 camera that should have been A1 OG. For photographers and reporters, it's almost perfect if not already perfect. But yes, the video capability is subpar when compared with competitors. However video isn't what I'm sad about. I'm sad about the subpar processor and software that limits the in cam post-processing.

It's much easier to transfer post processed JPGs to your phones, rather than transfering the RAW to phone and do all the heavy lifting there.

 

[Waku Waku]

How is the BionzXR speed measured? Are there benchmarks out there? I have been wondering about the speed and if it has increased from the A! to the A1 II and if so how much? Any thoughts on how to quantify this? Thanks!

Bionz XR (CXD90057) uses 4x ARM Cortex-A35. Not sure if it can be benchmarked like smartphones. Probably has SoC customization to hardware accelerate specific task etc.

 

[Hotel Lonely]

I think no in-body focus stacking is the most surprising part taking into account the overwhelming computational power of the thing and now moreover supercharged by AI... Surprising to say the least.

The BionzXR is quite inferior compared with its competitors. The AI part is more like a cheap patch to the issue for autofocus but that works really well.

Canon implemented a similar solution in their latest line so Sony ain’t really alone in that, I think there is some logic in that other than just being a cheap patch

I'm personally torn apart with my mixed feelings about this camera, basically they're selling you a very well designed 2019 camera that should have been A1 OG. For photographers and reporters, it's almost perfect if not already perfect. But yes, the video capability is subpar when compared with competitors. However video isn't what I'm sad about. I'm sad about the subpar processor and software that limits the in cam post-processing.

It's much easier to transfer post processed JPGs to your phones, rather than transfering the RAW to phone and do all the heavy lifting there.

it is indeed a cheap patch, and a very smart one. Also the Canon chip (both AI and universal computation power) is much more powerful than their competitors, they can do things like in camera image stacking for 45mp camera and AI enlarge stuff... that's very impressive when considering how much performance it requires on PC.

 

[Malling]

I think no in-body focus stacking is the most surprising part taking into account the overwhelming computational power of the thing and now moreover supercharged by AI... Surprising to say the least.

The BionzXR is quite inferior compared with its competitors. The AI part is more like a cheap patch to the issue for autofocus but that works really well.

Canon implemented a similar solution in their latest line so Sony ain’t really alone in that, I think there is some logic in that other than just being a cheap patch

I'm personally torn apart with my mixed feelings about this camera, basically they're selling you a very well designed 2019 camera that should have been A1 OG. For photographers and reporters, it's almost perfect if not already perfect. But yes, the video capability is subpar when compared with competitors. However video isn't what I'm sad about. I'm sad about the subpar processor and software that limits the in cam post-processing.

It's much easier to transfer post processed JPGs to your phones, rather than transfering the RAW to phone and do all the heavy lifting there.

it is indeed a cheap patch, and a very smart one. Also the Canon chip (both AI and universal computation power) is much more powerful than their competitors, they can do things like in camera image stacking for 45mp camera and AI enlarge stuff... that's very impressive when considering how much performance it requires on PC.

In camera stacking is not particularly high quality, it’s simply put nowhere near the quality of post, I never get the rave for such solutions.

 

[AlephNull]

The rumours were correct.

• Same 50 MP sensor as in the A1
• Same 30 fps
• A9iii body
• AI AF chip
• Pre-capture of up to 1 second at max. 30 fps
• 8.5 stop IBIS
• Pixel shift/composite with 2 modes, 200 MP or noise reduction
• No 4.0 CFExpress

https://www.dpreview.com/reviews/sony-a1-ii-initial-review

In other words, as expected. Sony also dropped the price of the original A1 by 1,000 USD to 5.5k.

You left out the new feature in the autofocus - subject recognition Auto - camera determines which subject type to look for. Apparently it's a little slower than using a specific type (understandable), but neat if you are shooting a variety of subjects.

That wasn't rumoured at all.

One other thing I haven't seen mentioned. It doesn't have 3 x 3 sets of custom modes (3 for each of stills / video / S&Q) - apparently when you go to S&Q it asks if you want S&Q or timelapse, and there's another 3 custom modes for timelapse. Not sure that I care, but it does mean that there a 4 x 3 = 12 custom modes. That's compared to a total of 3 in the original A1.

 

[Hotel Lonely]

I think no in-body focus stacking is the most surprising part taking into account the overwhelming computational power of the thing and now moreover supercharged by AI... Surprising to say the least.

The BionzXR is quite inferior compared with its competitors. The AI part is more like a cheap patch to the issue for autofocus but that works really well.

Canon implemented a similar solution in their latest line so Sony ain’t really alone in that, I think there is some logic in that other than just being a cheap patch

I'm personally torn apart with my mixed feelings about this camera, basically they're selling you a very well designed 2019 camera that should have been A1 OG. For photographers and reporters, it's almost perfect if not already perfect. But yes, the video capability is subpar when compared with competitors. However video isn't what I'm sad about. I'm sad about the subpar processor and software that limits the in cam post-processing.

It's much easier to transfer post processed JPGs to your phones, rather than transfering the RAW to phone and do all the heavy lifting there.

it is indeed a cheap patch, and a very smart one. Also the Canon chip (both AI and universal computation power) is much more powerful than their competitors, they can do things like in camera image stacking for 45mp camera and AI enlarge stuff... that's very impressive when considering how much performance it requires on PC.

In camera stacking is not particularly high quality, it’s simply put nowhere near the quality of post, I never get the rave for such solutions.

Yes, I do agree with that. Still that means that they have a ridiculously powerful chip (in the sense of cameras). I don't really care about AI processing in camera, but I really want a in camera raw processing tool to quickly adjust some stuff and make a jpg to send on phone.

 

[AlephNull]

I think no in-body focus stacking is the most surprising part taking into account the overwhelming computational power of the thing and now moreover supercharged by AI... Surprising to say the least.

The BionzXR is quite inferior compared with its competitors. The AI part is more like a cheap patch to the issue for autofocus but that works really well.

Canon implemented a similar solution in their latest line so Sony ain’t really alone in that, I think there is some logic in that other than just being a cheap patch

I'm personally torn apart with my mixed feelings about this camera, basically they're selling you a very well designed 2019 camera that should have been A1 OG. For photographers and reporters, it's almost perfect if not already perfect. But yes, the video capability is subpar when compared with competitors. However video isn't what I'm sad about. I'm sad about the subpar processor and software that limits the in cam post-processing.

It's much easier to transfer post processed JPGs to your phones, rather than transfering the RAW to phone and do all the heavy lifting there.

it is indeed a cheap patch, and a very smart one. Also the Canon chip (both AI and universal computation power) is much more powerful than their competitors, they can do things like in camera image stacking for 45mp camera and AI enlarge stuff... that's very impressive when considering how much performance it requires on PC.

In camera stacking is not particularly high quality, it’s simply put nowhere near the quality of post, I never get the rave for such solutions.

Yes, I do agree with that. Still that means that they have a ridiculously powerful chip (in the sense of cameras). I don't really care about AI processing in camera, but I really want a in camera raw processing tool to quickly adjust some stuff and make a jpg to send on phone.

Then this is not the camera you want. And quite possibly, no Sony will be, because it seems Sony isn't interested in implementing that.

I think the new Canons have some stuff to do things like "scale up in camera" - processing the image in the camera. Maybe you'd be happier with one of those? They also have some "noise reduction in camera" processing, too. Sony has a "capture a bracket to do external noise reduction", but it's post-processed outside the camera, so I guess that's not interesting to you.

One of the advantages of there being competing manufacturers is that you can choose to go with the one who offers an approach that suits you better. If they were all the same, that advantage would be lessened.

 

[duncang]

I think no in-body focus stacking is the most surprising part taking into account the overwhelming computational power of the thing and now moreover supercharged by AI... Surprising to say the least.

The BionzXR is quite inferior compared with its competitors. The AI part is more like a cheap patch to the issue for autofocus but that works really well.

Canon implemented a similar solution in their latest line so Sony ain’t really alone in that, I think there is some logic in that other than just being a cheap patch

I'm personally torn apart with my mixed feelings about this camera, basically they're selling you a very well designed 2019 camera that should have been A1 OG. For photographers and reporters, it's almost perfect if not already perfect. But yes, the video capability is subpar when compared with competitors. However video isn't what I'm sad about. I'm sad about the subpar processor and software that limits the in cam post-processing.

It's much easier to transfer post processed JPGs to your phones, rather than transfering the RAW to phone and do all the heavy lifting there.

it is indeed a cheap patch, and a very smart one. Also the Canon chip (both AI and universal computation power) is much more powerful than their competitors, they can do things like in camera image stacking for 45mp camera and AI enlarge stuff... that's very impressive when considering how much performance it requires on PC.

In camera stacking is not particularly high quality, it’s simply put nowhere near the quality of post, I never get the rave for such solutions.

Yes, I do agree with that. Still that means that they have a ridiculously powerful chip (in the sense of cameras). I don't really care about AI processing in camera, but I really want a in camera raw processing tool to quickly adjust some stuff and make a jpg to send on phone.

?? why not just send the RAW file to your phone and do the edits there. Seems crazy to contemplate turning your camera into a photo editing tool when you have far more capability right there on the phone you're going to send it to.

 

[abe4652]

If someone is going to spend $5,500, which is already a lot of money, and hold on to a camera for a while, why not spend another$1,000 and get the latest and greatest?

Even if someone doesn't need some new specialized feature, the general improvements like AF should mean one gets the mark 2.

Sony should have dropped the A1 price by $2,000, not $1,000

 

[ActionPhotoPassion]

I think no in-body focus stacking is the most surprising part taking into account the overwhelming computational power of the thing and now moreover supercharged by AI... Surprising to say the least.

The BionzXR is quite inferior compared with its competitors. The AI part is more like a cheap patch to the issue for autofocus but that works really well.

Canon implemented a similar solution in their latest line so Sony ain’t really alone in that, I think there is some logic in that other than just being a cheap patch

I'm personally torn apart with my mixed feelings about this camera, basically they're selling you a very well designed 2019 camera that should have been A1 OG. For photographers and reporters, it's almost perfect if not already perfect. But yes, the video capability is subpar when compared with competitors. However video isn't what I'm sad about. I'm sad about the subpar processor and software that limits the in cam post-processing.

It's much easier to transfer post processed JPGs to your phones, rather than transfering the RAW to phone and do all the heavy lifting there.

it is indeed a cheap patch, and a very smart one. Also the Canon chip (both AI and universal computation power) is much more powerful than their competitors, they can do things like in camera image stacking for 45mp camera and AI enlarge stuff... that's very impressive when considering how much performance it requires on PC.

In camera stacking is not particularly high quality, it’s simply put nowhere near the quality of post, I never get the rave for such solutions.

Yes, I do agree with that. Still that means that they have a ridiculously powerful chip (in the sense of cameras). I don't really care about AI processing in camera, but I really want a in camera raw processing tool to quickly adjust some stuff and make a jpg to send on phone.

?? why not just send the RAW file to your phone and do the edits there. Seems crazy to contemplate turning your camera into a photo editing tool when you have far more capability right there on the phone you're going to send it to.

That would depend on the phone also. Not everyone is replacing the phone every year. I don't, hence my phone is already full in-memory. And not because of images or videos, but because apps have become exaggerately hungry in terms of space (like if sw devs don't care anymore something called "optimization" or maybe those new devs don't even know this concept)

 

[Hotel Lonely]

I think no in-body focus stacking is the most surprising part taking into account the overwhelming computational power of the thing and now moreover supercharged by AI... Surprising to say the least.

The BionzXR is quite inferior compared with its competitors. The AI part is more like a cheap patch to the issue for autofocus but that works really well.

Canon implemented a similar solution in their latest line so Sony ain’t really alone in that, I think there is some logic in that other than just being a cheap patch

I'm personally torn apart with my mixed feelings about this camera, basically they're selling you a very well designed 2019 camera that should have been A1 OG. For photographers and reporters, it's almost perfect if not already perfect. But yes, the video capability is subpar when compared with competitors. However video isn't what I'm sad about. I'm sad about the subpar processor and software that limits the in cam post-processing.

It's much easier to transfer post processed JPGs to your phones, rather than transfering the RAW to phone and do all the heavy lifting there.

it is indeed a cheap patch, and a very smart one. Also the Canon chip (both AI and universal computation power) is much more powerful than their competitors, they can do things like in camera image stacking for 45mp camera and AI enlarge stuff... that's very impressive when considering how much performance it requires on PC.

In camera stacking is not particularly high quality, it’s simply put nowhere near the quality of post, I never get the rave for such solutions.

Yes, I do agree with that. Still that means that they have a ridiculously powerful chip (in the sense of cameras). I don't really care about AI processing in camera, but I really want a in camera raw processing tool to quickly adjust some stuff and make a jpg to send on phone.

?? why not just send the RAW file to your phone and do the edits there. Seems crazy to contemplate turning your camera into a photo editing tool when you have far more capability right there on the phone you're going to send it to.

That would depend on the phone also. Not everyone is replacing the phone every year. I don't, hence my phone is already full in-memory. And not because of images or videos, but because apps have become exaggerately hungry in terms of space (like if sw devs don't care anymore something called "optimization" or maybe those new devs don't even know this concept)

Managing files on phone is a PITA. And also the camera's in cam jpg engine is quite lovely, I really like it's overall performance, just hope that i can fine tune a little bit afterwards with the roughly similar settings.

 

[Impulses]

If someone is going to spend $5,500, which is already a lot of money, and hold on to a camera for a while, why not spend another$1,000 and get the latest and greatest?

Even if someone doesn't need some new specialized feature, the general improvements like AF should mean one gets the mark 2.

Sony should have dropped the A1 price by $2,000, not $1,000

100%, that's the biggest issue I see with this whole launch. The A1 II is fine where it's at, not aggressively priced but it is what it is and there's a market for it. The original A1 could fill another hole in their lineup (and likely will eventually) but right now it's still priced way too closely to the Mk II, when it should be priced closer to it's direct competition (Z8).