Hello everyone! I wanted to share my thoughts on the Sony a1 after spending the last couple of months and about 40K images shot with it (I have weeks of editing left!). As the title points out I have been a lifelong Nikon user going back to the Nikon F5 (I had 3 of them in the first month they released, I left Canon F1N). I started in photography when I was 12 and by the time I was 17 I was doing paid weddings, at 19 I was a photojournalist, city photographer, and doing weddings as well. I continued on this path until around 24 when I decided to take a different path in life.
After a separation from any serious form of photography I decided to get back into it as a hobby in 2019. This required new modern gear and at the time it made sense to dive back into Nikon. I purchased a D850, D500 and Z6 along with all the new glass to launch myself into the digital world of photography with a focus on wildlife, landscape and astro. I was fairly content except for the Z6 and anything moving really left a poor taste in my mouth of what mirrorless is all about. It wasn't until the Canon R5/6 launched that I could really see the potential of mirrorless, yes the a9 series was out there but didn't really excite me.
I had decided to stick with DSLR, planned to add a D6 to the mix and then Sony dropped the a1 and that changed everything for me. As many have probably read in other post I had all the lenses I wanted/needed except for the 600 F4. This being such an expensive lens it would anchor me into a system for the next 10 plus years. This was why I like many have struggled in what path to take to invest in gear with DSLR on its way out and mirrorless blazing new paths (Steve's new video out today really nails this).
The Sony alpha 1 checked off all the boxes I wanted other than being a Nikon. I decided to invest money into an a1, Sony 200-600, Sony 1.4x & 2x tele and Sony 90mm macro. You can do the math but it was a lot of money to try out a new camera system but knowing I was going to spend over $13K on a single lens I felt it was best to try something else before I pulled the trigger.
Well long story short the moment I shot the a1 my mind was blown away! Before all the Nikon fan boys bash me I have to say I was sick to my stomach at the thought of leaving Nikon (I haven't yet fyi), buying into a different system was agonizing and that really surprised me. It is normal for us to have an attachment to gear we spend our hard earned money on, gear we are proud of, and gear that has delivered amazing images.
For me photography brings me enjoyment in a few ways, one of which is learning. Learning new techniques that take my photography to new levels, learning new gear and how to maximize it's potential and post processing which I find to be the hardest journey but can be very rewarding (I am still old school, I limit most of my editing to dodge and burn). So the a1 or any new camera is fun because it has great potential and requires an investment in learning the camera.
So now that we have the long winded set up of where I came from and why I decided to buy into Sony let's talk about the camera and see some results.
Few things I had heard about Sony in the past that turned me off are: the menus are horrible, the ergonomics are horrible, the mount is to small and Nikon has the edge, they don't have the lenses and on and on. I believed all of that until I bought the a1. Personally it is all BS. Sony has evolved on most things and I suspect they will continue to just like all the other brands.
Menu system: I actually like them even though there are over 50 pages of them! I can't speak to their older menus as I have never used them but I think the a1 menu is pretty solid. It actually makes a lot of sense once you start using them. The one thing that those 50 pages of menus give you is choices! When compared to Nikon the Sony is more "complicated" but frankly that is because Nikon doesn't give you much choice. The a1 is more customizable to how the photographer wants to use their tool than any camera I have ever seen. My opinion Sony menu systems and customization is a major win over my other cameras.
Ergonomics: I don't mind them. I expected to not like them but I honestly haven't found the camera uncomfortable or hard to use. I will say that I wish there was a little more space between the inside grip and the lens. I have large hands and my knuckles can on some lenses touch the lens but not in an uncomfortable way but gloves could be an issue. Reality is I don't shoot with gloves anyway (I live in TX) so not a big issue for me but I could see it being a problem for others. The other thing that should be changed is the lens release is between the lens mount and the grip. What a horrible idea! I can feel it with my fingers at times and getting a finger between the lens and grip to push the button isn't as easy as if the button was on the other side of the lens mount. My opinion Sony ergonomics aren't bad but Nikon is better. Not a deal breaker but an area Sony can and should improve.
Lenses: My experience with the couple of lenses and the 2 tele converters I have is they are very good and reasonably priced (some Sony lenses sure have a Sony tax price). Fast, accurate, smooth, fairly priced and even the 2x on the 200-600 focuses fast, accurately and is still sharp with a 2x. I don't know of any Nikon lenses that are just as sharp with the 2x especially on a non prime that they are without. I don't know what secret sauce Sony has with teleconverters but damn they are impressive! The Sony 200-600 is better then the Nikon 200-500 and the Nikon 500 PF is better than the 200-600 (I would sure hope so as it is a $3,500 prime!) but the 200-600 can take tele with no loss in focus speed which the Nikons can't). I really was shocked when I took the a1 with Sony 90mm macro out to shoot flowers, no tripod and windy and also had the D850 with Nikon 105 micro. The 105 Nikon, hunts, is loud and slow. The a1 was so fast to focus, the 90mm was quiet, didn't hunt and just locked on. I frankly was shocked! I will show some side by sides of flowers and let you decide which is better.
I read all the time that Sony doesn't do anything a good photographer can do with a DSLR. I call BS on that one! The a1 in fact will deliver results that no Nikon will. The simple fact that I can do anything any Nikon can do but at 30 fps, no blackout, and deliver damn near 100% in focus is not something any current Nikon can do. It is a fact, maybe not one some want to except. I haven't used it at 30fps other than to play and go wow that is fast! I do set it at 20fps but I can see some times that 30 would be worth using. The amount of choices we have with wings, expressions and capturing the peak of action is simply amazing! There are many of times with the D850 running at 9fps I would end up disappointed. Either I didn't get a wing just as I wanted or the one I did wasn't tack sharp. So far with the a1 I haven't had that experience. To me that makes the camera worth the $6,500!
I wish Sony had used CFexpress B but the A cards have delivered good results. Dual card slots that I can use CF A or SD is really nice! I have not hit the buffer running 20fps in lossless raw. The camera doesn't lock up as it is writing to the card and it clears its buffer quickly.
The a1 is fast, accurate, and bird eye af is AWESOME! I have really enjoyed shooting the a1 and going back to the D850 has been a bit boring. With my experience with the Z6 I really didn't expect to like mirrorless as much as I do now that I have an a1. Now that I have one the D850 just doesn't bring the smile to my face like it used to. It makes me want to buy more Sony lenses so I can use it rather than the Nikon. This has really shocked me, I expected to like the a1 for action and keep the Nikon around for everything else but now I would much rather shoot the a1 even when it is a static subject. I have a few Nikon lenses I will be selling and I will be buying more Sony glass. I likely will move 100% to Sony but not in a big hurry.
A couple last things before we look at pics. The AF is awesome but not perfect but light years ahead of any camera I own or have owned. You have a lot of options in focus modes and I am still learning when is best to use which mode for different subjects and backgrounds. I will show you an example in a moment on how a hummingbird was in perfect focus, tracking on and then out of no where it couldn't see the bird that was right on the focusing point. To be fair it was my second outing with the camera and it doesn't do that often which probably has to do with me knowing how to use it but it still shouldn't happen. Also at times you can try and prefocus on say a branch and you can see the branch but the camera sure can't. I have read this is an issue all the mirrorless cameras have at times but it still sucks. There are work arounds I have found but still annoying.
The noise in the sensor I think kind of surprised me if you don't have perfect light. I have found I don't like the noise at iso 500 but seems pretty much the same at iso 3200. I need to spend more side by side as I am not a scientist but this is also at the pixel peaking level of 200%. It is however useable up to over 20K iso with topaz products. I don't find I do anymore processing to the raw files than I do with Nikon but for same iso I feel like the D850 files clean up easier in topaz but I don't have proof other than a seat of the pants feel. However the a1 files can go where the D850 and Z6 can't. I can shoot at and above 20K iso and get an image that you can't tell after topaz post processing which is pretty incredible. My opinion is evolving, the a1 files process well, good dynamic range on par with the D850, colors seem to be accurate. I don't find any of my comments about noise a negative as the end results are great.
As I stated before the custom set up with all the buttons is awesome! It has made life so much easier and able to adapt to changing situations better than any camera I have used. I wish it had buttons that light up and I think I would prefer the top LCD but I will say I haven't really missed it because I find myself making less adjustments then in the past, I can simply push a button and completely change the camera for different situations.
In close I am super impressed with the a1 and the Sony lenses I have bought so far. I went into this as open minded as a brand loyal person can be, I came out the other side so impressed that I see making a full switch to Sony over the next year very likely. Thanks for reading!
I am sure I am missing some things and welcome questions but this post is already a book now. Let's look at some pics!
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Sony a1 200-600 + 1.4x @840mm f9.0 1/800 ISO 1250
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Sony a1 200-600 + 1.4x @ 840mm f9.0 1/2500 ISO3200
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Sony a1 Sony 200-600 +1.4x @840mm f9.0 1/640 ISO 500
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Sony a1 Sony 200-600 @600mm f6.3 1/640 ISO 500
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Sony a1 Sony 200-600 @ 600 f6.3 1/640 ISO 320
I will post more images in this thread as 5 is the limit per post.
