Dpreview says they are “impressed” by the A9 and having no blackout is a “revelation”

Sony A9 at BHphoto, Adorama, Amazon, BestBuy. FocusCamera.

Dpreview posted their first impression review of the new Sony A9. And in short that’s what they write:

What changed compared with the A7:
The buttons and dials all come with better haptic feedback. The AF joystick replaces an eternity of clicks when moving the AF point. When you flip the screen out, the eye sensor is disabled, which resulted in fewer missed shots when working at odd angles. Boot-up time is shorter. Battery life is way better. The interface is more responsive. I don’t get lost in the menus at all anymore. All of these changes add up to a camera that is more transparent, in the sense that it just ‘gets out of the way’ more than any previous Sony camera I’ve used, and lets me get on with taking pictures.

No Blackout:
shooting anything you could want without any intrusive shutter noise (important for delicate moments during, say a wedding reception) without any blackout whatsoever is a revelation. And it has the best AF of all mirrorless systems.

The catch of the A9:
Weather sealing seems to be not as robust as the Canon 1DxII and Nikon D5.
Missing XQD slots for reduced buffer time and faster image download
cost of switching systems isn’t something to be sneezed at

Why to get the A9 vs the Canon and Nikon:
With the a9, you’ll save a ton of weight, have a higher frame rate (again, only relevant if you need it), and likely have an easier time following the action than with even the best DSLRs.

SAR note about what DPreview missed to recognize:
The Sony A9 will not be as big for Sports Photographers but more so for Wedding and Event shooters! In a new article DPreview said that current Nikon/Canon Sports Photographers face many hurdles to switching over to Sony (Missing Lenses, Accessories, and a yet to be proven PRO support). I do agree with that assestment. But what they do not report is that the bigger market of Wedding and Event Shooters will have a lot easier time to switching over to Sony. And if that happens Canon and Nikon will be in even more in trouble.

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Sony A9:
Sony A9 at BHphoto, Adorama, Amazon, BestBuy. FocusCamera. Calumet.de. Park UK. Wex UK. Jessops.
Sony A9 with Grip Extension Kit at BHphoto and Amazon.
Note: US readers preordering the A9 at BHphoto using our links (and our affiliated links only!) have a chance to win a Sony A9.

100-400mm GM:
Sony 100-400mm GM at BHphoto, Amazon, Adorama, BestBuy. Calumet.de. Park UK. Wex UK. Jessops.

Sony A9 accessories:
Sony A9 battery grip at Adorama, Bhphoto, Amazon. Wex UK. Jessops.
Sony A9 Glass screen protector at Adorama, BHphoto, Amazon.
NP-FZ100 battery for the A9 at Adorama, BHphoto, Amazon. Jessops.
GP-EX1 grip at Adorama, BHphoto, Amazon. Wex UK.
FDA-EP18 eye cup at Adorama, BHphoto.
MQZ1 multi battery charger at Adorama, BHphoto, Amazon. Wex UK.
BCQZ1 Z-series Battery Charger at Adorama, BHphoto, Amazon.

Please support SAR:
You know me, I work my ass off to get the best news and rumors on SAR :) And this is the right time to reward me by using these affiliated links for your purchase! I will get a small commission and you don’t have to pay a cent more for that. Thanks!

Win an AMEX card ($4,500) at BHphoto:
US readers preordering the A9 at BHphoto using our links (and our affiliated links only!) have a chance to win an AMEX card mathching the value of the Sony A9 ($4,500). The winner will be randomly selected by BHphoto by end of June after the preorders shipped out!
The conditions and legal notes of the sweepstake can be read here: sonyalpharumors.com/official-bh-sonyalpharumors-a9-launch-sweepstakes-rules/

Win an A9 at Adorama:
If you preoder the Sony A9 at Adorama through our affiliated links only (it doesn’t work on links of other sites!) they will refund one lucky customer their $4,498 price on the A9! This will be for pre-orders. Once the orders start shipping (some time the end of May) Adorama will filter all the orders that came from SAR, and randomly select one A9 order and refund the customer their money. This is for the camera only and not the new 100-400mm lens or accessories.
The conditions and legal notes of the sweepstake can be read here:  sonyalpharumors.com/official-adorama-sonyalpharumors-a9-launch-sweepstakes-rules/
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