Sony a99 Mk II announced

Sony hasn't abandoned the old Minolta Maxxum mount now called the A-mount or Alpha-mount after all despite mine and many pundits prediction of its demise in the modern world of mirrorless E-mount.  They introduced the flagship pro grade Sony a99 Mk II utilizing the excellent 42 megapixel sensor with no AA filter and 5 axis in-body image stabilization (IBIS).  The camera can shoot at 12 FPS, auto focus to Ev -4, Full pixel read-out 4K video (1 to 120FPS) with full frame and Super 35 4:2:2 HDMI out, two different Log profiles, proper CODECs, Zebras, time code, etc...  It is easily the best specified DSLR/DSLT camera on the market for video blowing away Nikon and Canon offerings - the similarly priced Canon EOS 5D Mk IV, the line that created the video in a DSLR for production use category, offers almost none of these video features. The shutter is specified for over 300K actuations. The AF is a hybrid system that combines the 399 on sensor phase detection points with 79 cross type AF points in a traditional center weighted off sensor Phase Detect system.  This promises to give DSLR like AF performance for moving subjects with on sensor like AF precision not possible in off sensor PDAF.  As are all Sony A-mount cameras, It is a DSLT not a DSLR, meaning that the mirror does not go up and down, it is translucent (the T in DSLT) meaning it allows the image to pass through a fixed mirror to the sensor.  Finally, the camera has a full-featured EVF.  I am happy to say that they listened to the many professional photographers that have been screaming for a user customizable My Menu.  Hopefully they can bring this to the other bodies via a firmware update.
 
While the a99 Mk II is an exceptional camera with excellent capability, the Sony A-mount lens line-up is not as built out nor as well supported by third parties as the Nikon and Canon lens line-ups are.  The longest lens available without going to a third party is 500mm compared to 800mm for brand C and N and a number of specialty lenses are missing or are in need of updating to more modern optics.

You read that right - 42mp at 12FPS!!! That's moving over 500 million bytes of data or over 7 billion bits of data off of the sensor in a second. That is a completely new world of throughput! Buffer depth hasn't been said yet though....

42MP - 12fps... how big must the buffer be as it only uses SD cards? Unfortunately this is the camera Sony users would like to see in a mirrorless, I cannot believe the A-mount will exist that much longer... but this just confirmed we were wrong?

Feature packed though!

Neilyb wrote:42MP - 12fps... how big must the buffer be as it only uses SD cards? Unfortunately this is the camera Sony users would like to see in a mirrorless, I cannot believe the A-mount will exist that much longer... but this just confirmed we were wrong?

Feature packed though!

This is not the camera Sony A mount users wish to see in E mount....this hybrid 77II and 7rII will carry it forward as a modern camera way into the 2020's knowing the life cycle of these high end cameras.  Waiting to see if Nikon will compete (Canon mkIV sure doesn't); Nikon may have lost its pipeline for high end Sony sensors.

The 5D Mk IV is a complete embarrassment compared to this IMHO.  Its feature set, especially on the video side but also on the still side is so far beneath this camera that it really should cost $1000 less than this instead of $200 more!!!  But Canon has the installed user base and all those lenses out there so the 5D4 will outsell this 10:1 or more.

E.J. Peiker wrote:The 5D Mk IV is a complete embarrassment compared to this IMHO.  Its feature set, especially on the video side but also on the still side is so far beneath this camera that it really should cost $1000 less than this instead of $200 more!!!  But Canon has the installed user base and all those lenses out there so the 5D4 will outsell this 10:1 or more.

Toyotas will always outsell Lexus even if the price wasn't that much different, more of the buying public are exposed to Toyota marketing and sales pipeline than their sister brand Lexus.

Mike in O wrote:

Neilyb wrote:42MP - 12fps... how big must the buffer be as it only uses SD cards? Unfortunately this is the camera Sony users would like to see in a mirrorless, I cannot believe the A-mount will exist that much longer... but this just confirmed we were wrong?

Feature packed though!

This is not the camera Sony A mount users wish to see in E mount....this hybrid 77II and 7rII will carry it forward as a modern camera way into the 2020's knowing the life cycle of these high end cameras.  Waiting to see if Nikon will compete (Canon mkIV sure doesn't); Nikon may have lost its pipeline for high end Sony sensors.

No, this is the camera Sony E-Mount users want to see in an A9R

So they build a great camera that can see off the competition but don't they understand that you need a system and support around it? They have had plenty of time but I sense they lose interest because they think like an electronic-based company and pursue other shorter term profitable avenues. How long before they jump into the "medium format" race with yet another lens line? In the meantime, hopefully Sigma, Tamron & Zeiss will give Sony users plenty of high quality options. They also need to step-up their customer service at least in the USA.

I've heard the demise of Canon & Nikon plus the smaller sensor formats for too many years to give them any credence. "Sony are coming" yet their stamina is questionable in this market and the Canon/Nikon duopoly keeps going rolling right along even in these harder times.

There is no question Sony lack the fundamentals, such as a decent lens lineup or service and support. What we are currently drooling over is that fact that Sony are showing Canon and Nikon shooters what they should be getting for their money instead of the crippled bodies we currently see (Canon more than Nikon).

What I fail to lust over is the price, which is great, but why is the A7RmkII priced almost the same? It only sports on sensor AF, it cannot reach anywhere near 12fps, it has a single SD slot.... Currently the A7RII is 3500€, the starting price for the A99II is 3600€... The price of the A7RII has not dropped in the whole time it has been released here.

hullyjr wrote:So they build a great camera that can see off the competition but don't they understand that you need a system and support around it?  They have had plenty of time but I sense they lose interest because they think like an electronic-based company and pursue other shorter term profitable avenues. How long before they jump into the "medium format" race with yet another lens line?  In the meantime, hopefully Sigma, Tamron & Zeiss will give Sony users plenty of high quality options. They also need to step-up their customer service at least in the USA.

I've heard the demise of Canon & Nikon plus the smaller sensor formats for too many years to give them any credence. "Sony are coming" yet their stamina is questionable in this market and the Canon/Nikon duopoly keeps going rolling right along even in these harder times.

For the vast majority of the users, they have plenty of excellent lens options.  Just not for the long lens shooter where the options are somewhat limited.  Here is the full frame A-mount lens line-up....  Other than specialty stuff, what do you need that they don't offer?
http://www.sony.com/electronics/lenses/ ... full-frame

And of course most third party lenses from Sigma and Tamron are also available.

There is also a Sony professional services and that is now up and running pretty well - at least as well as Nikon's

We now have the buffer info - 54 RAW frames - that is pretty impressive for a 12 FPS camera shooting at 42 megapixels.

E.J. Peiker wrote:We now have the buffer info - 54 RAW frames - that is pretty impressive for a 12 FPS camera shooting at 42 megapixels.

People will complain that it will only shoot for a few seconds while a Canon might go for quite a few seconds more at 7fps.     Actually I rarely use 12fps and stick with 8 (fast enough) ; at 12 a lot of redundant pictures.

E.J. Peiker wrote:We now have the buffer info - 54 RAW frames - that is pretty impressive for a 12 FPS camera shooting at 42 megapixels.

Why can't Canon make something like this? I should probably ask why Canon won't make something like this. This would probably be a great all around camera for lots of people for lots of purposes for a long time, provided you are already invested in lenses with that mount. Canon has been coming out with way too many specialty cameras or generalist cameras that are crippled in some way probably hoping to sell more cameras.  That isn't working for me. Instead I have been hesitant to buy any at all since I neither want to carry many cameras around or spend money on something that falls short of what I want in some way.

Robert Royse wrote:

E.J. Peiker wrote:We now have the buffer info - 54 RAW frames - that is pretty impressive for a 12 FPS camera shooting at 42 megapixels.

Why can't Canon make something like this? I should probably ask why Canon won't make something like this. This would probably be a great all around camera for lots of people for lots of purposes for a long time, provided you are already invested in lenses with that mount. Canon has been coming out with way too many specialty cameras or generalist cameras that are crippled in some way probably hoping to sell more cameras.  That isn't working for me. Instead I have been hesitant to buy any at all since I neither want to carry many cameras around or spend money on something that falls short of what I want in some way.

Because, 1dx2. If the 5d4 could shoot 54 frame per buffer then less people would buy a 1dx2... Sucks. 

Vindicated again

From Newsshooter:
"Sony have created the camera that most Canon DSLR video lovers would have died for. If the a99 II had an EF mount the internet would probably have melted by now. As it is, the a99 II deserves more attention because Sony have done exactly what Canon have refused to do. If you want a well built S35 shooting 4K hybrid with S-Log3, audio options and the option to shoot full-frame then the a99 II should be top of your list."
http://www.newsshooter.com/2016/09/20/photokina-2016-the-camera-the-5d-mkiv-should-have-been-sonys-4k-a99-ii-has-everything-in-it-but-the-kitchen-sink-in-it/

E.J. Peiker wrote:Vindicated again

From Newsshooter:
"Sony have created the camera that most Canon DSLR video lovers would have died for. If the a99 II had an EF mount the internet would probably have melted by now. As it is, the a99 II deserves more attention because Sony have done exactly what Canon have refused to do. If you want a well built S35 shooting 4K hybrid with S-Log3, audio options and the option to shoot full-frame then the a99 II should be top of your list."
http://www.newsshooter.com/2016/09/20/photokina-2016-the-camera-the-5d-mkiv-should-have-been-sonys-4k-a99-ii-has-everything-in-it-but-the-kitchen-sink-in-it/

If Sigma makes an A-mount of their new 500mm this would be all the more tempting 42MP with a 54 shot buffer... I cannot get over it!

I assume there's a very good reason why Sony has two different lens mounts. As the owner of an A7rII this camera would be of interest to me if it had the same mount.

Mirrorless and mirrored lenses are different in how they focus...there probablyis a whole lot more A mounters than E even with the popularity of E.

Neilyb wrote:

E.J. Peiker wrote:Vindicated again

From Newsshooter:
"Sony have created the camera that most Canon DSLR video lovers would have died for. If the a99 II had an EF mount the internet would probably have melted by now. As it is, the a99 II deserves more attention because Sony have done exactly what Canon have refused to do. If you want a well built S35 shooting 4K hybrid with S-Log3, audio options and the option to shoot full-frame then the a99 II should be top of your list."
http://www.newsshooter.com/2016/09/20/photokina-2016-the-camera-the-5d-mkiv-should-have-been-sonys-4k-a99-ii-has-everything-in-it-but-the-kitchen-sink-in-it/

If Sigma makes an A-mount of their new 500mm this would be all the more tempting 42MP with a 54 shot buffer... I cannot get over it!

Agreed!  Initially they have said that they will offer Sigma, Canon, and Nikon mount lenses (in that order) but they also did not know about the a99II so that may change...  An a99II with the Sigma 500/4 would be an absolutely killer high rez wildlife platform - probably the best on the market.