What’s New? The Sony Alpha a9’s extremely fast performance makes it ideal for sports shooters. It boasts several improvements over the a7-series cameras, most notably continuous shooting with full-time live view, an expanded ISO range, an updated in-body image-stabilization system, faster autofocus performance, UHD 4K video capture, and streamlined ergonomics and controls.

24.2MP Full-Frame RS Stacked CMOS Sensor. This fast sensor gives you quick readout speeds, and lets you record uncompressed 14-bit Raw files for accurate color reproduction and post-production flexibility. Its back-illuminated design keeps image quality clean in a wide range of lighting conditions.

BIONZ X Image Processor. This processor works with the CMOS sensor to keep up with fast-paced shooting applications. You can shoot up to 20 fps for up to 362 consecutive JPEGs or 241 Raw frames, while the quick 1/32,000 sec. top electronic shutter speed lets you capture fast-moving subjects and work in bright light. The shutter and electronic viewfinder make blackout-free monitoring possible.

693-Point Phase-Detection Autofocus. The updated 693-point phase-detection/25-point contrast-detection autofocus system covers 93% of the image area and gives you faster, more precise autofocusing than the a7 series. There’s the option of flexible spot focus, which uses neighboring focus points to stay focused on fast-moving subjects even if the original point loses focus. The Eye AF feature lets you base focusing on a familiar subject’s eyes, making this camera great for portraiture, while Focus Magnification emphasizes minute details. At long last, the a9 sees the addition of an AF Point joystick and dedicated AF On button.

Five-Axis SteadyShot INSIDE Image Stabilization. The updated SteadyShot INSIDE image-stabilization system offers up to five stops of correction on to any lens mounted. This system compensates for five types of camera shake, including angular shake (pitch and yaw), shift shake (X and Y axes), and rotational shake (roll). All five stabilization axes are constantly engaged, even when using third-party lenses, adapters, or lenses with their own built-in image stabilization.

High-Res EVF and Tilting Rear Touchscreen LCD. The built-in 3.686M-dot quad-VGA OLED Tru-Finder gives you a clear and bright live preview of what the sensor sees with 100% frame coverage. You can also use the tilting 3.0" 1.44M-dot rear touchscreen LCD for image composition and review when shooting at arm’s length. You read that right, Sony touchscreen!

UHD 4K Video Capture. The a9 can capture UHD 4K video in multiple frame rates up to 30 fps, which is oversampled 2.4-fold from 6K footage to ensure that there’s no pixel-binning or line skipping. It can also capture Full HD 1080p at up to 120 fps. Both 4K and Full HD resolutions use 100 Mbps XAVC S format in an MP4 wrapper with 4:2:0 sampling. In addition to these high-resolution internal-recording options, the a9 offers uncompressed 4:2:2 video output via an HDMI connection. You can store a frame grab from a 4K recording as an 8MP still.

Improved Body Design. The a9’s durable magnesium-alloy body is similar to the a7 cameras’, but it feels more substantial and features improved dust and moisture sealing for shooting in less-than-ideal conditions. This camera features a slightly deeper grip than the a7s, which makes it easier to use with larger, heavier lenses. You also get reconfigured, more direct controls for ease of use, and dual SD card slots for flexible file-storage options. The lower slot supports UHS-II cards, and you can configure the slots for in-camera backup, overflow saving, or segregated Raw/JPEG recording.

Other Notable Features. There’s an NTSC/PAL-switchable Slow and Quick Motion mode, an enhanced Zebra function to help you monitor exposure values in high-contrast scenes, a Time Code feature that makes editing easier, hot-shoe and PC-terminal external-flash connections, and built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth capabilities for wireless image sharing and camera control. And rounding all this out is the new, higher-capacity NP-FZ100 Battery that’s rated for about 650 shots per charge.