Expanding its ɑ A-mount interchangeable lens camera line, Sony India has launched a new flagship, the a99 II. A successor to the acclaimed ɑ99, the new a99 II which is said to combine the best of Sony’s latest digital imaging innovations including a new Hybrid Phase Detection AF system with exclusive Sony A-mount features such as Translucent Mirror Technology (TMT).
According to Sony, ɑ99 II has been redesigned to allow for high resolution and continuous shooting at high frame rates. A new front-end LSI works with the image sensor and BIONZ X image processing engine, as well as a newly designed shutter unit, to enable continuous shooting at up to 12fps with AF/AE tracking, all whilst harnessing the sensor’s 42.4MP capabilities.
They informed that the improvements to the EVF display algorithm now deliver continuous live-view shooting at up to 8 fps with AF/AE tracking with minimal display lag so that the viewing experience is essentially no different from that of an optical viewfinder. Exposure, white balance and other camera settings are displayed in real time in the viewfinder and continuous live view shooting can be set in 3 stages to match a variety of subjects: 8 fps, 6 fps and 4 fps. The back-illuminated full-frame 42.4MP Exmor R CMOS sensor has a gapless-on-chip design and is said to allow for fast readout of large volumes of data, as well as being extremely efficient in its light gathering ability. The ɑ99 II does not have an optical low-pass filter, and has an ISO range of 100-25600, expandable to ISO 50 – 102,400.
The newly developed Phase Detection AF System is capable of ‘full-time AF’ and is the first implementation of 4D FOCUS in the full-frame ɑ series, which is said to bring a new level of AF performance to ɑ99 II users. The Hybrid Phase Detection AF System is enabled by combining a 79-point dedicated phase detection AF sensor with 399 focal plane phase detection AF points to produce a 79 hybrid cross AF point array. In addition, as there is no moving mirror, TMT enables continuous AF operation and the finder image remains unaffected during any type of shooting, including live view and movie recording. After featuring it in the ɑ7 II series of cameras, Sony has designed a new in-body 5 axis image stabilisation system for A-mount cameras which debuts for the first time in the ɑ99 II.
The ɑ99 II enables internal 4K movie recording featuring full pixel readout, without pixel binning, for ultimate high resolution video in the pro friendly XAVC-S format. It is capable of recording high quality footage at 100Mbps for 4K recording.
The newly launched ɑ99 II will be available in select Sony Center, Alpha flagship stores and major electronic stores across India, and will cost Rs 249,990/-