Ten years ago, Canon’s 5D MkII and the Nikon D700 were the most popular full-frame DSLRs on the planet and sold in their thousands. In 2008 mirrorless cameras were just starting out as Olympus and Panasonic co-launched the Micro Four-Thirds system.
But while those brands were busy grabbing the headlines, Sony was launching a series of truly awesome full-frame cameras that arguably never received the coverage or success they deserved.
The first camera in question was the Sony a900 (Alpha 900), which was a full-frame DSLR built around the Sony A/Minolta mount. At the time of its launch, the a900 was Sony’s flagship camera , and for good reason. Sony’s top DSLR offered photographers 24-megapixels of resolution, more than the 21-MP 5D MkII or Nikon’s 12-MP D700. Matching the Nikon and beating the Canon for continuous shooting speed, there was another feature that was well ahead of its time. The forward-thinking designers at Sony made the bold call to fit IBIS (In Body Image Stabilisation) inside its DSLR - a feature that is still missing from Canon and Nikon DSLRs a decade later.
The Sony a900 was way ahead of its time and featured IBIS.
The Alpha 900 was pricey, but a year later Sony released the a850 (Alpha 850), which was far more reasonable priced, yet retained the majority of great features from the a900; including the high resolution sensor and sensor shift image stabilisation.
The a850 proved to be even better value for money than the a900.
But Sony’s journey with DSLRs didn’t end there… in fact, it evolved. By 2012, Sony had launched another brilliant full-frame camera, this time it was the 24-megapixel a99. Of course technically, the a99 was not a DSLR; the camera still had a mirror but unlike a traditional reflex mirror design, Sony introduce a fixed, translucent mirror set-up.
This turned the a99 into a DSLT and the advantage of this design was clear, as it allowed the a99 to shoot much faster than its DSLR rivals. In fact, while the 22-MP Canon 5D MkIII (also launched in 2012) could only manage 6 frames per second, the Sony a99 could fire out 10 frames per second - an amazing figure for a full-frame camera at the time. The a99 also featured Full HD video at 60p and offered a versatile articulating LCD, which was helpful when setting up awkward low/high compositions.
Sony's current DSLT is the 42-megapixel a99 II.
The a99 was followed up by the launch of the a99 II in 2016 and, although by this time Sony’s range of mirrorless cameras like the A7II and A7RII were grabbing headlines and starting to switch photographers onto mirrorless cameras, the a99 II remains a truly epic cameras nearly three years on.
Still featuring the DSLT design with the fixed translucent mirror and the Sony A mount, the a99 II is an absolute beast of a full-frame camera, offering a massive 42-megapixels of resolution, IBIS, an even quicker continuous shooting rate of 12 frames per second, weather sealing, 4K video, 399 focus points with Face Detection and dual storage card slots. Every bit the professional workhorse, yet strangely, the a99 II just doesn’t get the same attention as its rivals.
So, when you next read another article about the a7RIII or rumours about the next a7s , remember Sony can also do some pretty special stuff with mirrors, too!
. digitalrev.com2018-10-18 03:00
