The Sony Alpha a1 Provides a Compressed Non-Lossy RAW File Format, But You May Not Want to Use It Yet
The Sony Alpha a1 provides compressed non-lossy RAW file format, but you may not want to use it — at least not immediately.
I stayed up late last night to capture nearly 300 Sony a1 noise and dynamic range test images. The non-lossy compressed RAW file format seemed a no-brainer to reduce the storage requirements (all of our test images are archived). After completing the tests, I attempted to load the images into Capture One, updated yesterday with support for the Alpha a1 affirmed. Troubling was that only a small number of RAW images and the JPG files would import.
I quickly determined that only the uncompressed and lossy compressed RAW images files were importing. As it turns out, Capture One is not yet compatible with the Sony a1 compressed RAW file format, and that's a show-stopper for my hours of work.
The next step was to attempt opening the files in Lightroom. After downloading the latest Adobe updates (Photoshop and Camera RAW updates were available), I attempted to import the test images into Lightroom. This time only the JPG images came in.
According to Adobe, the a1 is supported in Lightroom Classic version 10.2. The problem is, Lightroom 10.1.1 is the latest Lightroom Classic version available. Thus, at this moment, Lightroom does not support the a1 — unless you shoot in JPG format.
The good news is that yesterday's Adobe updates fully support the a1, including the compressed RAW file format, in Bridge and Photoshop. So, Lightroom should also support these files very soon. However, Lightroom is not the image processor we've used on the previous Sony cameras. So, for comparative reasons, Capture One is the required option.
I'm not patient enough to wait for another Capture One update, so tonight will be another late night of tedious camera testing — using the uncompressed RAW file format.
I should note that Sony's Imaging Edge supports the non-lossy compressed format.
The following table shows comparative RAW file sizes for a photo of a standard in-studio setup with a moderately-high amount of detail captured with the referenced camera.
| Model / File Size in MB @ ISO: | (MP) | 100 | 200 | 400 | 800 | 1600 | 3200 | 6400 | 12800 | 25600 | 51200 | 102400 | 204800 |
| Canon EOS-1D X III | (20.1) | 24.7 | 25.2 | 25.4 | 26.0 | 26.9 | 27.8 | 28.9 | 30.3 | 31.9 | 33.7 | 35.9 | 36.3 |
| Canon EOS 5Ds R | (50.6) | 65.2 | 66.4 | 67.6 | 69.8 | 73.0 | 77.2 | 81.9 | 88.4 | ||||
| Canon EOS R5 | (45.0) | 51.6 | 53.1 | 53.6 | 55.6 | 57.7 | 60.1 | 63.0 | 66.4 | 70.5 | 75.1 | 79.5 | |
| Canon EOS R5 CRAW | (45.0) | 28.1 | 29.3 | 29.9 | 31.5 | 33.3 | 35.5 | 36.2 | 35.9 | 36.0 | 36.9 | 37.7 | |
| Canon EOS R6 | (20.1) | 24.1 | 24.7 | 24.9 | 25.6 | 26.4 | 27.3 | 28.4 | 29.8 | 31.4 | 33.3 | 35.5 | 35.9 |
| Canon EOS R6 CRAW | (20.1) | 13.8 | 14.2 | 14.5 | 14.9 | 15.6 | 16.4 | 16.4 | 16.0 | 15.7 | 15.8 | 16.1 | 14.8 |
| Sony a1 Uncomp | (50.1) | 102.2 | 102.2 | 102.1 | 102.1 | 102.2 | 102.5 | 102.4 | 102.6 | 103.4 | 103.4 | 104.4 | |
| Sony a1 Non-Lossy | (50.1) | 64.0 | 64.7 | 65.7 | 67.1 | 69.1 | 71.6 | 74.4 | 78.2 | 80.8 | 96.0 | 93.9 | |
| Sony a1 Lossy | (50.1) | 54.4 | 54.4 | 54.3 | 54.2 | 54.4 | 54.6 | 54.5 | 54.7 | 55.6 | 55.6 | 56.4 | |
| Sony a9 II | (24.2) | 47.2 | 47.2 | 47.1 | 47.1 | 47.1 | 47.1 | 47.1 | 47.1 | 47.2 | 47.2 | 47.2 | 47.3 |
| Sony a9 | (24.2) | 47.2 | 47.2 | 47.1 | 47.1 | 47.1 | 47.1 | 47.1 | 47.1 | 47.2 | 47.2 | 47.2 | 47.3 |
| Sony a7R IV | (61.0) | 117.0 | 117.0 | 117.0 | 117.0 | 117.0 | 117.0 | 117.0 | 117.0 | 82.0 | 82.0 | 82.0 | |
| Sony a7R IV CRAW | (61.0) | 59.1 | 59.1 | 59.1 | 59.1 | 59.1 | 59.1 | 59.1 | 59.1 | 59.1 | 59.1 | 59.1 | |
| Sony a7R III | (42.4) | 81.9 | 81.9 | 81.9 | 81.9 | 81.9 | 81.9 | 81.9 | 81.9 | 82.0 | 82.0 | 82.0 | |
| Sony a7R II | (42.4) | 82.8 | 82.8 | 82.8 | 82.8 | 82.8 | 82.8 | 82.8 | 82.8 | 82.8 | 82.8 | 82.8 | |
| Sony a7 III | (24.2) | 47.1 | 47.1 | 47.1 | 47.1 | 47.1 | 47.1 | 47.1 | 47.1 | 47.1 | 47.2 | 47.2 | 47.2 |
| Sony a7C | (24.2) | 47.1 | 47.1 | 47.1 | 47.1 | 47.1 | 47.1 | 47.1 | 47.1 | 47.1 | 47.2 | 47.2 | 47.2 |
RAW file sizes increase with: 1. Resolution 2. Bit Depth (more is better/larger) 3. Detail (noise adds detail, so high ISO file sizes increase) 4. Lack of compression. Memory and disk are cheap – buy more.
At ISO 100, the Sony non-lossy compressed RAW format results in a huge file size reduction. This file is 63% as large as the uncompressed result, and similar in size to Canon's standard non-lossy compressed 50MP EOS 5Ds R RAW files. At the highest (noisiest) ISO settings, the compression savings is significantly reduced.
The lossy compressed file size is, as expected, smaller than the non-lossy compressed file size. However, the difference is small enough at all except the highest few stops of ISO settings that there is little incentive to drop down to the lossy option.
What I can see so far is that the Sony Alpha a1 images look excellent, including from a dynamic range standpoint.
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