Sony A1 II & A9 III group review

What are the Sony A1 II and A9 III and who are they for?

Sony sits at the cutting edge of technology with its priciest, flagship full-frame mirrorless cameras. Still, buying the wrong one could be an expensive mistake. The £5099 A9 III and £6299 A1 II might share virtually identical bodies, processors and clever AF systems, but offer something very different. And it might not be as obvious as it seems.

The A1 II might seem the best all-rounder, as it offers twice the resolution in stills and 8K video, as well as high-speed capture – although not in the same league as the A9 III. But its ace could be its lower-base ISO that lets you open up your lenses more for creative effect. Its higher maximum ISO means it works great at low light, even compared to the lower pixel count of the A9 III.

Meanwhile, t’s easy to write off the A9 III as being purely a camera for fast-action shooting thanks to its incredible speed in terms of frame rates. But for flash users and strobists, its clever global sensor offers something no other mirrorless camera does: no limit on flash sync speed. So if you want to shoot fast lenses wide open, using flash or not, on portrait or fashion subjects, then the A9 III could be the optimal buy for you.

Testing the Sony A1 II and A9 III

This is a test that delves deeper than most. This time, we’ve been using both cameras for lots of different shoots over many months. As members of the Technical Image Press Association (TIPA), we also have full access to some of the most high-tech test facilities in the world. So we also had the cameras put through their paces by independent experts to add authoritative data.

This means we’re armed with measurements and charts covering a wide range of performance parameters for stills and video. These include resolution, high-contrast detail at different ISO settings, noise, colour reproduction and lots more. TIPA comes up with separate scores for video and photo image quality, and also form part of our verdict.

Here we present the definitive test on the latest flagship mirrorless cameras for both stills and video use.

Shared features of the Sony A1 II and A9 III

Full-frame mirrorless wondercams are being snapped up by well-heeled and keen enthusiasts, even including professionals. That’s because they’re compact and pack in incredible spec as well as amazing image quality and high-bit-rate video.

These priciest Sony models have stunning, AI-driven autofocus, plus very fast frame rates and blackout-free viewing thanks to their stacked sensors.

Both cameras have the same, high-resolution viewfinder, use the same batteries and have pre-capture, to start taking photos up to a second before the shutter is actually triggered. Both are weather sealed, rugged and use an improved, ergonomically designed body including a fully articulating 3.2-inch LCD screen that replaces the old tilt-only version.

Both cameras use a pair of UHS-II SD card slots that also accept the new CFexpress Type A cards, which you’ll need to invest in to access the fastest frame rates for stills and video. But under the surface, there are many important differences to consider.

What makes the Sony A1 II stand out?

Sony gambled that retaining the sensor of the four-year-old A1, but improving AF and handling, would ensure the Mark II is still a winner. Like the original 50.1-megapixel Sony A1 from 2021, it offers high-resolution detail that you can crop into hugely. The new version is still the ultimate do-everything mirrorless – if you can afford it, of course. 

If you’re a landscape or studio fan, then the cheaper A7R V offers a few more pixels, but its non-stacked sensor is totally outclassed by the stacked sensors in the A1 II and A9 III.

AI processing, autofocus and IBIS

What’s new on the A1 II is the AI processing unit for stills, but it now also works for video. The new processor has human pose estimation that recognises a person’s head and torso. It also tracks animals, birds, insects and vehicles. A new auto mode can automatically recognise the subject target without specifying a subject mode. The A9 III has the same system but no auto mode.

There’s also an upgraded in-body image stabilisation system that enables an improvement to 8.5 stops in the centre, as well as a new dynamic active mode for video. The A9 III offers a maximum of eight stops.

Handling and speed

All these changes make a real difference in handling. The A1 II can shoot photos at up to 30fps blackout-free, and for video it retains 8K/30p and 4K/120p 10-bit like its predecessor. Or 240fps if you don’t mind HD, with little rolling shutter artefacts.

The electronic viewfinder is improved, but you’ll need at least one spare battery for a full day of shooting.

Image quality and ISO range

In terms of image quality, the TIPA rating is 77 for stills and 85 for video. That’s the highest in both categories of both cameras in our test. The video score is the highest of any camera TIPA has ever tested. Yet, this is skewed towards high-resolution cameras. In the real world, lower noise and more accurate colours with rich, detailed files are more useful. 

The ISO range goes from 100-32,000, expandable 50-102,400. The noise is excellent up to around ISO 6400. If you often need to go higher than that, you might need some noise reduction software.

Stills performance and Pixel Shift

Its stills performance is simply amazing, with studio-quality files when needed and high-resolution files at up to 30fps when you need speed. However, that frame rate is only with certain Sony lenses and with compressed Raw or HEIF files, or else it drops to 20fps. 

For the most detail, the Pixel Shift setting takes four Raw shots, which are then combined into a 200-megapixel image in Sony software.

It’s amazing versatility like this and pretty much no compromises that make the A1 II such a great mirrorless camera. It’s more camera than most will ever need.

What makes the Sony A9 III stand out?

Sony’s speedy sports cam is the first and only mirrorless with a global shutter to end bendy vertical woes in stills and video, cure awful banding in artificial light and abandon maximum flash sync speed.

Normal shutters read the signal from the top of the sensor to the bottom. So if there’s fast movement, then vertical lines appear at an angle – a big issue in panning. And if you’ve ever shot in artificial light, you’ll know that banding can ruin shots with some areas being darker or a different colour.

Global shutter and flash sync

Best of all, for serious strobists, the flash sync isn’t limited. Creative shooters are free to select the shutter speed they’d like to control the background while still having the full power of their flash units. There’s no HSS flash trickery needed.

It’s all because a global shutter reads from the whole sensor at once – and it’s fast, allowing stills burst speeds at up to 120fps with no viewfinder blackout or AF restrictions. Nothing else comes close for fast action.

If you really want to amp up your flash creativity instead of being capped at 1/250sec – or 1/400sec in the case of the Sony A1 and A1 II – you can set it to 1/80,000sec and the flash still works. The max drops to 1/16,000sec during high-speed continuous shooting, but that’s hardly a bind.

However, using flash is not quite so simple, unless you stick to Sony’s own units. It’s no good being able to sync at any speed if your wireless triggers aren’t fast enough. So you have to dig into the menus and change Flash Timing settings. Then, by trial and error, adjust the delay and take a test shot until you get a full, clean exposure.

Sensor resolution and ISO range

All this speed and ability to record 4K video at 120fps without any crop comes at a price in terms of resolution, ISO and a small reduction in dynamic range. The A9 III’s 24.6-megapixel stacked CMOS sensor isn’t the most croppable image, and the standard ISO range is 250-25,600 rather than the 100-51,200 on the older A9 II, which can affect wide apertures on bright days. When shooting video for maximum dynamic range, the S-Log3 setting gives a relatively high base ISO of 2000. You’ll need ND filters to control the aperture in bright conditions.

Dynamic range and colour accuracy

There’s a slight reduction in dynamic range, but both stills and high-resolution 4K/60p video show amazing quality and natural colours – something Sony is often criticised for.

Fast action performance and pixel count

The camera is simply incredible at shooting fast-moving subjects. Full-size stills at 120fps is insane, and being able to select the exposure you want when shooting with flash makes this camera worth every penny.

The only downside is the relatively low pixel count, which hurts its TIPA rating of 77 for stills and 85 for video. But the lack of any rolling shutter artefacts is a huge benefit, and the dynamic range is definitely lower – giving more noise at low light. It’s easier to see in stills but it’s there in video too.

If this isn’t an issue, the A9 III could be the best camera for shooting action you’ve ever owned, letting you capture images its rivals can’t.

Sony A1 II and A9 III price and availability

Both the Sony A1 II and A9 III are available to buy, with a starting price of £5099 for the A1 II and £6299 for the A9 III.

For more information, visit the Sony website.