Here is a little review/breakdown on my experience with the A9 after 2-3months of owning it.
This review is based on the following kinds of photography i have used this camera for:
Travel/Street
Portrait
Landscape
Sports
Below are the pros and cons for each type of genre i used this camera for:
Travel/Street
Pros:
First camera to have proper silent shooting with no penalties in banding etc in all light conditions
Smaller and lighter then a FF Sports DSLR.
Able to upload images to your phone to share with friends and family on the go
AF Wide is super reliable for street photography making "hip" shooting easier and faster(My 5d4/5d3 half teh time focuses on wrong subject)
Can charge the camera with the same mobile phone charger you most likely will carry with you in your travels(Android based phones)
Cons:
Changes lenses in the field can attract lots of dusts as the sensor is exposed(i suggest using zooms vs primes for travel photography)
Touch screen is pointless, You cant swipe and touch the menu system etc.
Portrait
Pros:
Eye AF works far better than any A7 series camera.
EVF set to effects OFF means you can see almost in the dark through the evf or screen unlike OVF when shooting in a dark studio which is common if you want to fully control the lights.
Better Buffer and response times when shooting and viewing images during a portrait shoot
Skin tones greatly improved on the A9 compared to other A7 series cameras.
Cons:
Lower resolution then Some other cameras out there(nip picking) So if you print large size prints, this could be a negative.
Cant use Electronic shutter with flashes.
Landscape
Pros:
The Dynamic range is as good as all the top DR FF sensor cameras out there in real world usage but where it shines is high ISO DR which is the best in its class
The EVF lets you get the shot perfect in first attempt.
WB shooting nightscapes are the best i have seen from any of the cameras i have tried(5d3, 5d4, A7r2)
Cons:
Lower res then some of the other cameras out there who make big prints
Sports
Pros:
AF as a whole is ground breaking in many areas(Tracking, speed, feature set and accuracy) Not missed a shot because of it. Its like cheating when shooting sports with this camera. Point and shoot thats it!
The battery life is better then a 5d4, nevermind any of the A7 cameras. I have never ran out of a single battery despite using two on a battery grip. You could probably shoot 12-14hours on two batteries heavily.
20fps makes capturing that crucial moment easier.
Buffer rate is brilliant considering it is not using XQD cards. You can shoot Usain Bolt from the start to finishing line before it runs out of buffer at 20fps.
During half time/breaks you can dump all the images in your phone/tablet using wifi and send it to press pretty quickly
Pro support are now in events . They are currently in US OPEN.
Cons:
Anyone that shoots over 10 seconds continues will hit the buffer
Ethernet/FTP sending files on the fly is more complex then using wifi and playMobile app at present.
No Fast 2.8 glasses above 200 yet. Just the 100.
Here are some Images
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4385/...4e182f0e_c.jpgiaaf-2017-pt2-74.jpg by Jon Richy, on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4405/...a8ee7229_c.jpgiaaf-2017-pt1-601.jpg by Jon Richy, on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4414/...64c3b6e1_c.jpgiaaf-london-marathon-pt2-174.jpg by Jon Richy, on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4356/...1d83ab61_c.jpgIAAF-London-final-night-pt1-392.jpg by Jon Richy, on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4364/...a2785a04_c.jpgJDR03859-Pano.jpg by Jon Richy, on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4371/...fd7b6331_c.jpgJDR04167.jpg by Jon Richy, on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4368/...e4941070_c.jpgJDR05839.jpg by Jon Richy, on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4393/...bca4ed38_c.jpgJDR05335.jpg by Jon Richy, on Flickr
Conclusion:
overall this camera does everything great but excels in sports/action photography.
It offers base ISO IQ that enables you to capture breathtaking landscapes and portraits and also make a perfect travel camera that is small and lighter then a 1dx2/d5 that has similar specs.
Mirrorless is the future...
