Sony a9 II

Sony released the a9 II in 2019 as a full-frame mirrorless camera built around speed. Its 20 fps maximum burst rate, 693 autofocus points and dual card slots suit photographers covering sport, events and wildlife, where a decisive moment can pass in a fraction of a second.

It is a solid rather than pocketable body: 678 g before any lens is fitted, measuring 129 x 96 x 76 mm. In-body stabilisation and weather sealing make it a camera you can carry and shoot outdoors with confidence.

Owning it means buying into the Sony FE mount for lenses, and using a flip-out touchscreen LCD for day-to-day operation.

The optics score of 82 rates as very good, and this section places the a9 II in the top 6% of cameras in our database for Optics. The core is a 24.2 megapixel full-frame CMOS sensor working with the Bionz X processor, with an ISO range of 100 to 51200.

Speed is the reason to pick this body. The 20 fps maximum burst rate is there for short, decisive sequences rather than a promise of sustained shooting, and the 1/32000 maximum shutter speed stops fast motion or lets you keep a wide aperture in bright light.

The autofocus system has 693 points at its disposal; the electronic viewfinder's 3,686,400-dot panel shows fine detail while you compose and check focus.

In-body stabilisation reduces camera shake, which helps you shoot handheld at slower shutter speeds; it will not stop a moving subject, so motion blur still depends on your shutter speed. The Sony FE mount means FE lenses you already own can stay in service.

Video is available and capable, with a score of 70 that we rate as good. The a9 II records at up to 4K resolution, and its maximum frame rate is 30 fps.

That 30 fps ceiling means playback runs at natural speed, and there is no high-frame-rate capture here for slow-motion work. If slow motion is central to your projects, you will need to look elsewhere.

A built-in timelapse mode handles interval shooting without extra equipment such as a separate intervalometer, useful for compressing a slow scene into a short sequence.

Recordings save as XAVC S or AVCHD files, so you can match the format to your editing and archiving plans.

Features score 83, which our assessment rates as very good. The 3-inch LCD carries 1,440,000 dots for playback and live view, and it both flips out and accepts touch input, so high, low and awkward angles become far easier to shoot.

Weather sealing protects the internals against dust and moisture, which matters if you shoot outdoors in unpredictable conditions. It is resistance rather than waterproofing, so heavy rain still calls for protection.

There is no built-in flash, so flash work calls for an external unit, and there is no GPS, so the camera does not add location data to shots automatically.

Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are fitted, covering wireless connection to other devices.

Storage and battery score 79, which we rate as good. The a9 II takes SD, SDHC and SDXC cards with UHS-II support, so high-speed cards can perform at their best, and two slots double your in-camera capacity.

The NP-FZ100 battery carries a 690-shot rating, though real-world endurance depends on how you use the camera, so packing a spare battery is a sensible precaution for long assignments or heavy shooting days.

USB charging is on hand too, so you can top up the battery between shoots over a USB connection, for example from a computer or a wall adapter with a USB port.