Sony has introduced a new flagship SLT using the company’s A mount, breathing some new life into a system that many thought was finished.
The new a99 ll will be a full-frame camera that features a 42-million-pixel sensor, and which will be capable to shooting at an incredible 12fps at full resolution. The company has developed a new hybrid AF system that combines 399 on-sensor contrast detection points with a standard phase detection system that features 79 cross type sensors. The result, Sony says, is a system that is both fast and accurate, which covers a very wide area of the viewfinder and which can operate at brightness levels of -4EV.
The sensor in use is a newly developed unit that uses backlit technology to maximise the amount of light getting to the pixels and which replaces aluminium wiring with copper to speed up transmission and to enhance the camera’s ability to move data. The maximum ISO speed will be 102400, and the in-body 5-axis IS system will offer up to 4.5-stops of stabilisation. The shutter has been tested to 300,000 cycles and the magnesium alloy body is dust and moisture sealed.
Sony says it has reduced the size of the body to approximately that of the APS-C a77 ll, and has redesigned the menu to make it easier to navigate, while introducing tethered raw+JPEG shooting – probably via Capture One Pro.
The video mode offers full-sensor 4K and a Super-35mm mode that collects 1.8x the amount of information that 4K footage requires. Users will have built-in time code, S-log, picture profiles and no pixel binning, according to Sony.
The a99 ll is expected to arrive in November and will cost €3600 body only.