SONY Alpha A1
ILCE-1/B
A flagship in the truest sense, the Sony Alpha a1 is the one camera designed to do it all. Built without compromise, this full-frame mirrorless offers high-resolution for stills shooting, impressive 8K video recording, speed and sensitivity, and connectivity for the most demanding professional workflows.
At its core, the a1 is distinguished by a newly designed 50.1MP full-frame Exmor RS BSI CMOS sensor and the BIONZ XR processing engine. Pairing the efficient stacked sensor design with optimized processing means the a1 is capable of 30 fps continuous shooting at full-resolution, 8K 30p and 4K 120p 10-bit video recording, and still offers versatile sensitivity up to ISO 102400 for low-light shooting. The sensor’s design also includes a 759-point Fast Hybrid AF system, which offers advanced subject tracking and Real-time Eye AF on humans and animals, even including a dedicated Bird Mode.
Despite the connotations of a high-resolution sensor, the a1 is a strong contender in the video arena, offering 8K and 4K recording resolutions along with full pixel readout, internal 4:2:2 10-bit sampling, and 16-bit raw output via the full-size HDMI. No recording limit allows for extended takes and, matching with professional cine cameras, the a1 includes S-Cinetone support for smooth skin-tone rendering along with well-controlled highlights and soft colors.
Physically, the a1 has a familiar shape, but internally it reaps the best tech of the Alpha series with some notable upgrades, including a 9.44m-dot OLED EVF that touts a 240 fps refresh rate for fluid motion rendering and greatly reduced blackout when shooting continuously. The camera’s shutter design has also been revised and now offers full-frame flash sync speeds up to 1/400 sec, and flash sync up to 1/200 sec is even supported when working with the silent electronic shutter. At the rear of the camera is a 3.0″ tilting touchscreen LCD and both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity, with 2×2 MIMO support, offer wireless remote control and file transferring capabilities. Additionally, the a1 includes dual memory card slots, both of which support working with CFexpress Type A or SD UHS-II memory cards for flexible and high-speed file storage.
50.1MP Exmor RS BSI CMOS Stacked Sensor
Newly developed 50.1MP Exmor RS full-frame sensor features a stacked back-illuminated design with integrated memory that maintains high image clarity, expandable sensitivity up to ISO 102400, and a 15-stop dynamic range while also enabling fast 30 fps shooting and and phase-detection AF. The 50.1MP resolution not only benefits stills shooters as it also offers full-frame 8.6K oversampling for 8K video recording.
BIONZ XR Processor
A revised BIONZ XR engine greatly benefits image processing capabilities throughout the camera system, including up to 8x faster processing, greatly reduced rolling shutter, and more fluent interface and file management handling speeds.
Up to 30 fps Shooting and Updated Shutter
- Efficient sensor design and processing enables high-speed shooting up to 30 fps at full 50.1MP resolution, with full AF and AE capabilities, when working with an electronic shutter. When working with the mechanical shutter, speeds are still kept high at 10 fps. Also, a large buffer memory permits recording up to 155 compressed raw frames, or 165 JPEGs, in one single burst at 30 fps.
- Suiting fast-paced continuous shooting is a blackout-free viewfinder experience, which makes use of a 240 fps refresh rate for fluent eye-level viewing.
- Updated electronic shutter offers silent, vibration-free performance and also supports anti-flicker shooting for working under fluorescent, LED, or other flicker-prone types of artificial light, even while shooting at 30 fps with 120 fps AF speeds.
- Due to quickened readout speeds, electronic shutter flash sync is possible up to 1/200 sec. Even faster flash sync speeds are available when using the updated mechanical shutter, too, which can sync at 1/400 sec in full-frame or 1/500 secwith an APS-C crop.
8K 30p and 4K 120p Video Recording in 10-Bit
- Making use of the high-resolution sensor and fast processing capabilities, UHD 8K 30p XAVC HS video recording is possible with 8.6K oversampling for impressive sharpness and realism. This high-res recording also benefits 4K editing processes and low bit-rate proxy files with HD resolution can be simultaneously recorded with 8K footage for easier playback.
- Recording up to UHD 4K is possible with frame rates up to 120p, using full pixel readout without binning. Internal 10-bit 4:2:2 sampling is also possible in all recording modes and, if recording externally via the full-size HDMI A port, 16-bit raw output is also possible for even greater tonal reproduction and post-production flexibility.
- The a1 employs a pair of codecs to suit different workflows: XAVC HS, which uses HEVC/H.265 encoding to retain more detail at smaller bitrates and XAVC S-I, which is an intraframe codec for consistent performance and quality at bitrates up to 600 Mb/s.
- High-speed, 120 fps recording also enables 4x and 5x slow-motion movie recording with the frame rate playback set to either 30p or 24p or, if moving down to Full HD resolution, an effective 240p frame rate is also available for even greater motion control.
- No recording time limit allows for unlimited clip lengths and the camera’s physical design features an improved heat-dissipating structure to promote longer possible recording times; longer than 30 minutes for 8K 30p or 4K 60p videos, or recordings done at 10-bit 4:2:0.
- S-Cinetone can be used to deliver distinct colors and healthy-looking skin tone rendering that matches the FX9 and FX6 cameras and is based on technology from the professional Cinema Line cameras, such as the VENICE. This color profile offers natural mid-tones, soft colors, and especially well-controlled highlights.
- Affording extensive customizable color and gamma controls, the you can adjust the gamma, black level, knee, color level, and more. Also, users can use the same S-Log2 Gamma Curve that is found on high end Sony Cinema cameras that squeezes up to 1300% more dynamic range into the video signal then traditional REC709, for increased post-production flexibility.
- HLG (Hybrid Log-Gamma) support is also available, along with the BT.2020 color space, for recording within a wide color gamut and, in addition to S-Log2, S-Log3 is also available for producing a 15+-stop dynamic range with increased grading control in the shadow to mid-tone regions of the image.
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