Review: Sony Alpha 1 II - The long-awaited successor to the professional camera

After more than three years, there is finally to be a successor to the Sony Alpha 1 and today we got our hands on it and were able to test it for you. The Alpha 1 is aimed at absolute professional photographers, as it represents the pinnacle of the Sony product cosmos. It is therefore the perfect hybrid camera, made for every requirement. In this article, you will find out whether this is the case and whether the Sony Alpha 1 II lives up to this! In addition to the new camera, Sony has also gifted us with a new Lens, the Sony 28-70 F2 GM.

What were the criticisms of the Sony Alpha 1 Mark 1?

The camera per se is a very good and still competitive product in terms of hardware, but Sony released the new flagship of the A7R series about a year after the launch of the Mark 1, in which Sony installed a new processor with the Sony Alpha 7R V, which reshuffled the cards in terms of AI support, autofocus and other computing-intensive processes. The Sony Alpha 1 Mark 1 had a disadvantage in terms of hardware and software, which could not be fixed by subsequent firmware updates, because the hardware limitation of the Sony Alpha 1 did not allow it to be further optimized. Considering that we are talking about a flagship camera, this is rather unfavorable.

This is now history with the Mark II, the hardware in terms of processor and chipset is now up to the latest generation and it is to be hoped that all future updates can also be incorporated into the model.

The sensor of the Sony Alpha 1 and the resolution

The new Sony Alpha 1 II is still a 50 megapixel monster with a stacked BSI structure. At first glance, you might think that the same processor is installed here, but as a result, the image of the Alpha 1 has improved thanks to the new image processor. Sony has struck a healthy balance between resolution (pixel density), noise behavior and high readout speed. You can find out more about this in our blog article on megapixels.

Sony tackles the problem of megapixel cameras with regard to noise behavior with an internal camera noise reduction, which can be configured in 3 steps: No reduction, "low" reduction and "normal" reduction. For our taste, the sweet spot lies in the "low" reduction, the "normal" noise reduction seems rather too much. So if you need images with even less noise, you can use the new function: Composit Noise Reduction, which takes up to 32 images and then combines them.

Also on board the new Alpha 1 II are many setting options for compressing images, which can be found in the settings for the raw images as well as the jpegs, which can be compressed in various stages. The HEIF format, which is familiar from the Sony Alpha 7r V, for example, is also supported in the Alpha 1 II.

The new body design of the Alpha 1 II

If you now compare the Sony Alpha 1 Mark I with the Sony Alpha 1 II, you can see some of the design elements from the Sony Alpha 9 III presented last year, which we already liked very much there, such as the new rounded grip, which is now also found in the Sony Alpha 1 II. The ergonomics of the Alpha 1 II have therefore been significantly improved once again and this shows that we have reached the top of the Sony model range with this camera.

In terms of connectivity and transfer rate, the development team of the Alpha 1 II has included a new 2.5 GB LAN port and improved tethering options, which we had also previously seen in the Alpha 9 III. Owners of the Alpha 9 III can also continue to rejoice, as the Alpha 1 II offers the same button layout, which makes it much easier to use both cameras at the same time.

We also find other components from the Alpha 9 III. The viewfinder and the display, which impress with their size and optimal mechanism. We think it's good that Sony is sticking to the tried and tested and continuing to use these components.

We have already talked about the button layout. In the A9 III, the "Boost button" was introduced for the first time in a new Sony camera; this is also available in the A1 II, which is why we will now also talk about the continuous shooting speed of the camera, because there will certainly be questions here.

The continuous shooting speed of the Alpha 1 II

Thanks to the reduction in megapixels compared to the Sony Alpha 7r V, the camera gains one factor: speed. Like its predecessor, the Alpha 1 II can still take 30 pictures per second without having to accept any restrictions. The camera continues to measure the exposure between the continuous shots and also adjusts the focus. This means that the Alpha 1 II does not win the prize for the fastest continuous shooting camera in the Sony system. This remains with the Sony Alpha 9 III at 120 frames per second, which, thanks to the global shutter, is also the only sensible implementation in our eyes. This is because the global shutter reads out every pixel on the sensor simultaneously, whereas with a conventional sensor the image is read out line by line. This results in the photos having some image errors, which is solved thanks to the simultaneous reading with the global shutter. However, this technology is still in the early stages of development and higher megapixel numbers are therefore not yet realistic, which will certainly disappoint many Sony fans who speculated about the Alpha 1 II in advance.

However, the global shutter also has even greater losses in terms of dynamic range and light sensitivity, which is why Sony has probably opted for a conventional sensor with a mechanical shutter. We have already talked about the compressed image options, but if we could wish for something now, it would probably be the function to achieve a higher continuous shooting rate with reduced continuous shooting resolution.

Other functions in the Sony Alpha 1 II

On board the Sony Alpha 1 II is the pre-capture function from 0.3s to 3s, which starts recording images when the shutter button is tapped. The A1 II also features the Voice Memo function, which writes an audio file to the memory card under the name of the respective image.

Video features of the Alpha 1 II

After the last two topic blocks, we come to the topic of video, which more or less covers the previous topics. Here the Sony Alpha 1 II takes on Sony's own competitors, the Sony Alpha 7s III and Sony Alpha FX3. And it does so with ease! Thanks to its high resolution, the Sony Alpha 1 II can record a maximum video resolution of 8K at 30fps internally. The whole thing even as oversampled video with a resolution of 8.6K for really detailed videos. That alone is very impressive. The Alpha 7R V can also record 8K, but only without oversampling and at a maximum of 25fps. The frame rate already left us with some questions when the Sony Alpha 7r V was presented.

Like most other Sony cameras, the Sony Alpha 1 II can also record 4K 120p, but there is a crop of 10%, which is not the case with the Sony Alpha 9 III. We have already mentioned that the camera has all the latest Sony camera functions, so these exciting features are also on board for videographers:

• Focus Map
• Auto Framing
• Focus Breathing Compensation
• Network streaming
• USB-C 4K30p webcam output

What is not on board the flagship, however, is the option to switch the camera to Shutter Angle, but as a Sony user, you're already used to suffering, because this year, after almost 3 years, Sony has patched the feature in its Cinema Line via a firmware update. So let's look forward to 2027, with a view to the Alpha 1 II. But what we can already do today is save a still image from a video clip. This allows you to send a sneak peek to your social media, agency etc. without having to open a program like Davinci Resolve.

However, we like the split operation for switching between photo and video, which has been standard on Sony cameras for years, but not yet on the Sony Alpha 1 Mark I. The image stabilizer has also been improved, and not just a little. Whereas the A1 was able to correct up to 5.5 stops of exposure, the Mark II now has a full 8.5 stops. The whole thing becomes even more useful with functions such as the new Dynamic Active IS or frame stabilization, where the video is cropped to a target area and then tracked.
Stable handheld shots are really super easy here, so it's no problem if you don't have a gimbal with you.

Even though we have not installed an active fan in this camera, the new design inside the Body ensures sufficient heat dissipation. Unfortunately, our time with the new camera was not long enough to carry out an extensive overheating test, but if we assume the performance of the A1 and A9III (i.e. the sensor and the body design), there should be no real problems here.

The autofocus of the Alpha 1 II

We would be lying if we said the autofocus of the Alpha 1 Mark I was bad, but with the Alpha 1 II we come to a point that has improved once again thanks to the new hardware. The AI processor helps to make up for everything that the old Alpha 1 lacked in terms of technical progress, i.e. body, vehicle and insect recognition are now finally included. For the first time in the Alpha series, it is now possible to have the camera automatically switch between scene recognition. So if a deer spontaneously appears during a portrait shoot in the forest, you don't have to go to the trouble of changing the subject recognition in the menu.

Of course, you can also set exactly which subjects should be switched between automatically. So if there are scenarios where you want to avoid a car being detected and tracked, for example, this is possible without any problems. Incidentally, those who prefer to work with a manual point instead of full-area subject detection in autofocus can now also look forward to the 2 new focus point sizes: XS and XL. In terms of focus, this camera really is currently the number 1 in the line-up.

Conclusion:

But who really needs all these features, performance and flexibility? A classic example is of course wedding photography, where there are moments that must not be missed under any circumstances, where photo + amp; video recordings are now standard requirements and where effective data management and high resolution are equally important.

For all those who are now somewhat disappointed by the apparent lack of innovation: We are simply no longer at the point where milestones in camera development occur every 1-2 years, where each new model brings a long list of new features.

At the same time, Sony is also known in our eyes for only launching new camera generations on the market when it is necessary and the new feature set is sufficiently large. In the case of the Alpha 1 II, these features are not new, but the combination of all these developments is absolutely worth the upgrade. In our opinion, the only thing missing for absolute perfection is the global shutter. However, this will probably take some more tinkering and development and until then we are very happy to have this all-rounder here.

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