Sony a9

The Sony a9 arrived in 2017 as a full-frame mirrorless camera built with fast action in mind.

Burst shooting reaches up to 20 fps and the autofocus system offers 693 points. Those figures suit photographing sports and wildlife, though the point count alone does not establish tracking performance. An electronic viewfinder replaces the optical window with a digital preview.

The camera weighs 673 g, and weather sealing helps outdoors. The Sony FE mount defines the lens choice, and dual card slots are fitted for storage.

The 24.2 megapixel full-frame CMOS sensor balances detail with practical file sizes. There is enough resolution for prints and cropping without storage becoming a burden, and the sensitivity range runs from ISO 100 to 51200.

Speed is central to the a9's design. It fires at up to 20 fps, gives the autofocus system 693 points to work with, and reaches a 1/8000 s shutter that helps keep wide apertures usable in bright light. The top burst figure is a maximum, so plan around it rather than expecting it for every sequence.

In-body stabilisation reduces camera shake, which helps handheld shooting at slower shutter speeds. It steadies your hands, not the subject, so moving action still requires a fast shutter.

The electronic viewfinder packs 3.69 million dots for a detailed preview of your framing. Taken together, the optics score 81 out of 100, a very good result that places the a9 in the top 8% of cameras in our database for Optics.

The a9 records video at up to 4K, and the fastest frame rate on offer is 30 fps, a ceiling that limits slow-motion capture. It is not confirmed whether 4K and 30 fps combine in a single recording mode. For standard clips, though, the basics are covered.

That earns the video specification a score of 56, a modest rating that reflects the 30 fps ceiling, the 4K resolution limit and the missing built-in time-lapse mode. Motion-focused projects will want faster frame rates.

Footage can be recorded as XAVC S, AVCHD Ver. 2.0 or MP4, so recordings are not tied to a single file type.

There is no built-in timelapse mode, so time-lapse projects need a separate tool or camera.

The 3-inch touchscreen offers 1.44 million dots and flips for shooting at high or low angles. Touch input also supports menu navigation and image review.

Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are built in, and live view lets you compose on the screen when the viewfinder is not the right tool.

The body is weather sealed, though that is not the same as waterproof. There is no built-in flash, but external flash units are supported. GPS is absent, so the camera cannot tag images with location data automatically.

Those handling features add up to a very good score of 83, built on the screen, the sealing, live view and Bluetooth.

Two card slots are fitted, and the camera takes SD, SDHC and SDXC media with UHS-II compatibility, so fast cards are an option when write speed matters. A second slot also leaves room for additional storage.

The NP-FZ100 battery is rated at 650 shots per charge. That figure comes without stated measurement conditions, so treat it as a rating rather than a promise for every scenario.

There is no USB charging, so topping up away from the mains means carrying the dedicated charger or a spare battery. The storage and battery score of 65 sits in the good range, with the battery rating and the missing USB charging accounting for the weaker areas.