When Sony announced the a1 II last November, much was made of its mostly incremental upgrades. However, while the imaging pipeline is almost entirely unchanged, for working pros, that doesn’t matter — Sony cannot make the a1 II fast enough to keep pace with demand.
PetaPixel has seen scalpers Sony a1 II selling for crazy sums — nearly $10,000 in some cases, which is $3,500 over MSRP — and people have been buying them. It’s a crazy situation that Sony says should be short-lived as it continues to produce new cameras. It’s also surprising given that the a1 II does not deliver what many photographers would consider groundbreaking improvements or highlight-worthy new features. In many ways, the original a1 was too good to follow. There was always going to be some disappointment with the a1 II; it had a tough act to follow.
However, while reviews for the camera are mixed, Sony says professional photographers love the a1 II.
“We can’t deliver enough of them,” Sony’s Masaaki Oshima, Head of Imaging Entertainment Business Unit at Sony told PetaPixel at CP+ in late February. “Professional photographers love our evolution from the original Alpha 1 to the Alpha 1 Mark II.”
Pros are especially enamored by the addition of the dedicated AI processor, new technology that initially debuted in the a7R V in 2022, about a year and a half following the original Sony a1. With this addition, the autofocus performance, which was already excellent, is even better. For photographers whose livelihoods depend on nailing every shot, the small improvements matter significantly.
Sony told PetaPixel that much of the camera’s popularity comes down to its reliability, and that means not only reliability in terms of its build quality and operability, but its performance.
The a1 II’s Pre-Capture and Speed Boost functionalities are also proving popular, with Pre-Capture offering yet another tool photographers can use to ensure they don’t miss the shot.
The a1 II’s other “big” improvement arrived in the form of a redesigned body, following the a9 III’s act. The a1 II has a deeper grip, a revised button layout, an upgraded four-axis tilting LCD, and a significantly faster 9.44-million dot OLED EVF.
“That’s why we think the a1 II is a hit to the right creators,” Oshima explained. The “right creators,” in this case, are photographers for whom a series of relatively minor improvements add up to a massive change. The sum is greater than the parts.
Even though Sony thinks highly of its flagship camera, as the company should, it was surprised by how much photographers valued the a1 II’s upgrades. Demand was “a lot more” than expected.
“It is a professional tool,” and Sony has sold every one it can make and has many orders left to fulfill.
Image credits: Featured image created using an asset licensed via Depositphotos.
