NIKONZ 9 VS SONY A1
NIKON Z 9
NIKON Z 9
SONY A1
SONY A1
“The Nikon feels like a solid, pro DSLR, while the Sony is a small, compactmirrorless. The bare A1 body is around half the weight of the Z 9”
battery to balance longevity, the size and weight goes up. Even then, it remains smaller and lighter, and the grip can be removed to put on a gimbal or small rig. For many, form factor will be the biggest difference between the two. Both use back-side illuminated, stacked full-frame CMOS sensors, but Sony has a higher pixel count – 50.1 versus 45.7 megapixels. In reality, there proved very little noticeable distinction. The A1 has a mechanical and electronic shutter, while the Z 9 is electronic only, but we found no need for the mechanical – even when employing studio flash with some old-style PocketWizard triggers. For sports stills, the Sony offers 10fps with mechanical shutter and 30fps with electronic, if
that started in bright sunshine and ended at dusk, where high ISO was the only option. Both cameras used their own native lenses, essentially 24-70mm f/2.8 and 100-400mm zooms. Filming was by two photographers and filmmakers who both had experience with Nikon and Sony, in stills and video. When picking up each camera, the biggest difference is in size and weight. The Nikon feels like a solid, pro DSLR, while the Sony is a small, compact mirrorless. The bare A1 body is around half the weight of the Z 9, and much smaller. Sony’s lenses are lighter, too – especially the latest 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS II. If you add a battery grip to the Sony and make it more ergonomic for handheld sports shooting, complete with second
rattling through 20fps Raw files for action. And AF for stills and video is super-advanced in the A1 and Z 9. They’re expensive to buy, but one camera really can do it all for so many creative image makers. So, this begs the question: which is best for you? That’s difficult, as everyone’s needs are different. But to give them a real-world test, we took the Sony A1 and its battery grip, along with the Nikon Z 9, to a commercial shoot for a Honda motocross team. This called for high-resolution stills and video in a studio-lit environment of bikes and riders – with flash and continuous lights, as well as some green screen. Candid stills and motion were then shot throughout the day, plus a full action session on a dirt-bike track
MUD BROTHERS The Nikon Z 9 and Sony A1 performed incredibly on our photo-and-video test shoot, with very similar results
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