REVIEW: Nikon D850 with 24-70mm f/2.8E ED VR & SIGMA 135mm f/1.8 DG HSM Art

Nikon D850 Camera Body

I'm no stranger to the Nikon D850 after having spent a fair amount of time reviewing the D800 and D810, but neither model impressed me enough to give it a highly recommend rating. Would this be the one to change my mind?

Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8E ED VR

To make this camera look its best, I decided to pair it with two fantastic lenses - the Nikon Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8E ED VR and the hot new SIGMA 135mm f/1.8 DG HSM Art. Both are razor sharp and have their strengths to make the most of what this 45.7MP sensor has to offer!

SIGMA 135mm f/1.8 DG HSM Art

In my Nikon D810 review, the Zeiss Otus 55mm & SIGMA 50mm Art Series went head to head and the SIGMA came out victorious thanks to its AF advantage. Would the 135mm Art series be just as impressive?

Introduction

While the D800 & D800E failed to impress me, I did take a liking to the D810 thanks to the great lenses I was able to test with it. With that said, I wasn't really motivated to get one because the additional shutter speed required to get a sharp shot. This coupled with the unimpressive high ISO performance made it unpractical for most scenarios. As a result,  so best images required a tripod or studio lights which made it impractical for my needs.

Since I did my D810 review, I've had the pleasure of using the incredible Sony a7R II, the Canon 5Ds and 5Ds R, and the impressive but lesser megapixel a9 which many believe to be a preview of what is to come in the highly anticipated a7R III.

With a lot more reference products to demonstrate that the technology definitely exists to improve upon the D810, would the third time finally be a charm? Would this be the Sony a7R II killer that some were predicting it would be? Is it really worthy of DxO's #1 sensor ranking?

Body Thoughts

Ergonomics-wise, this is typical Nikon which is a good thing since there's plenty of buttons with many of them being programmable. The body design is far superior than what you get on a Canon or Sony, so even though there's no meaningful changes beyond the removal of the the built-in flash for the sake of better weather sealing, and a handy tilt screen which will make macro photographers happy.

Yes, there's improvements like the trick Focus Shift feature which makes collecting shots to use with your focus stacking software much easier, but it offers no in-camera magic. There's also the highly useful built-in intervalometer which makes Time Lapse photography much easier. In fact, Nikon even went the extra mile to let you make a 8k video out of these captured images which is pretty slick.

That said, there's not much else to say. Nikon has been making one of the most useful camera bodies for years, and this is a very easy and enjoyable to use camera body - nuff said.

Studio Shots

These first two shots were taken under my Elinchrom studio lights with a clamshell setup. I use a Lastolite Triflector with gold and silver stripe panels that caused a warm tone when used with the Auto0 Auto White Balance setting of the D850.

The photos shown are 100% unedited from the in-color camera JPEG, but if you click the links under and view them in Google Chrome browser you'll see color corrected versions made from the NEF file in Lightroom CC Classic using the new Version 4 Camera Standard profile with lens corrections. White balance was achieved in the NEF converted versions using the far left portrait Creative Enhancement Target of the X-Rite ColorChecker Passport Photo. 

Sigma 135mm Art at f/9 for 1/200 sec at ISO 100
(Full Size Color Corrected from NEF - ProPhoto RGB JPEG Version)

100% zoom of camera right eye from Sigma shot above

100% zoom of camera right eye from Nikon shot below

Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8E ED VR - f/9 @ 70mm for 1/200 sec at ISO 100
(Full Size Color Corrected from NEF - ProPhoto RGB JPEG Version)

These are two great lenses, so I was surprised at how well the 24-70 faired against the Sigma, but to my eyes the Sigma still has the clear advantage in terms of sharpness and detail resolution.

Outtake shot of Kai using the Sigma 135mm - f/8 @ for 1/250 sec at ISO 100
100% crop - click for full size shot

For fun I also included this unedited Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8E ED VR outtake shot done under the same studio lighting and the Auto2 white balance:

f/9 @ 70mm for 1/200 sec at ISO 100

For those who haven't used a camera with a resolution this high, you will have to make changes in the way you have historically worked in the studio. Depth of field is a challenge just like medium format cameras as even f/8 and f/9 exhibit shallow depth of field challenges between the iris and eye brow, especially visible above for subjects with deep inset eyes. The net result is that it is not possible to get both in sharp focus like you can with lower megapixel cameras, unless you stop down your aperture to a larger f-stop number. With that said, a clear advantage of the extra megapixels is a significant reduction of specular highlights on the nose and forehead compared to those found with lower resolution cameras.

In the studio, I love the D850 - especially with a great lens like the Sigma 135mm Art.

Real World Shots

The following are 100% unedited shots that link to the original in-camera JPEG. All of the shots featured were taken handheld using either Aperture Priority with the Faster ISO sensitivity setting for Auto ISO or in Manual with Auto ISO.  All camera settings were set to their default including the picture control (Auto) and the white balance was set to personal taste (typically Auto2 or Shade):

f/2 @ 135mm for 1/250 sec at ISO 900
Camera shake is a huge challenge with this camera, but if you can keep the camera rock solid as I did here by having my elbow on the table, you can get a sharp shot without having to do 3x+ the reciprocal of the focal length (e.g., 1/400+ in this case)

f/2.8 @ 70mm for 1/500 sec at ISO 2500
Despite the distraction of the fingers, the auto 3D Face Tracking AF did a good job of finding Kai's eye and doing what I wanted the camera to do

f/2.8 @ 70mm for 1/250 sec at ISO 560
With the 24-70, I got an interesting and colorful shot...

f/2.8 @ 135mm for 1/200 sec at ISO 320
but I enjoyed having the 135mm where even at f/2.8 I could get in closer to my subject and bask in the buttery smooth bokeh I get from this excellent lens

f/5 @ 135mm for 1/200 sec at ISO 400
Zoom in and you'll see how this many megapixels helps to you resolve flaws on the car and details on the leaves. I used 1/200 sec as a shutter speed to try to limit motion blur in the leaves

f/13 @ 135mm for 1/60 sec at ISO 100 (tripod)
This shot was impressive because of the tonal range on the boat and sky even with the in-camera JPEG. By using the RAW, you can do some really cool processing on this shot.

f/2.8 @ 135mm for 1/2000 sec at ISO 72
I pulled over on the side o the road and took a quick snap of these paragliders just to see how the camera would resolve the detail on them. It's impressive to see how much you can seem when you really zoom in! Click the image and see for yourself!

f/2.8 @ 135mm for 1/320 sec at ISO 500
The 135 was just so fun to shoot with and the dynamic range of this camera helped to get the specular highlights at bay despite Sierra's unpowered skin

f/4 @ 50mm for 1/800 sec at ISO 100
I'm used to good in-camera JPEG from Sony, Fujifilm and Canon cameras, but this is a great example of why Nikon shooters should always keep their NEF RAW files around
Notice how bad the pumpkin looks and how overblown Kai's face is with the in-camera JPEG

f/4 @ 50mm for 1/800 sec at ISO 100
Thankfully with just some tone adjustments, it's easy to recover from the NEF file to get a much more usable image, so the in-camera JPEG's leave you wanting for more with orange tones on this camera compared to other brands I've tested - including the iPhone 7!

Without In-Camera HDR
To address the above problem you could turn to in-camera HDR which is useful for shots like this

With In-Camera HDR
Notice how it takes advantage of the great dynamic range of this camera to come up with a much better result in mixed light, but it comes at the expense of motion blur when your subjects are alive vs ones that are dead - ha ha

With In-Camera HDR on - oops!
This is proof that the HDR mode really is taking and combining multiple exposures even though you only hear what sounds like two exposures

f/2.8 @ 48mm for 1/200 sec at ISO 7200
High ISO performance is drastically improved over the D800 as this ISO 7200 image definitely impresses

f/2.8 @ 32mm for 1/125 sec at ISO 2000
Auto focus performance was quite good and the VR helped to get a lot more keepers with the 24-70 than I got with the 135mm

f/4 @ 70mm for 1/160 sec at ISO 25600
ISO 25,600 - are you kidding me?
This is a huge improvement over the D800 and I think a big improvement over the D810 as well

f/4 @ 70mm for 1/320 sec at ISO 16000
ISO 16,000 was downright sharp in reasonable lighting conditions

f/2.8 @ 52mm for 1/1000 sec at ISO 5600
This is only one of a series I took in burst mode with continuous AF, but I found that if you have enough light for 1/1000 or faster you have an AF system that can handle active subjects

f/2.8 @ 135mm for 1/1000 sec at ISO 100
For fun I thought I'd see how much detail could be resolved in this fake webbing. It was quite impressive!

f/3.2 @ 135mm for 1/640 sec at ISO 900
How can you not love the 135mm Art? Wonderful bokeh and crispy sharp detail!

f/4 @ 135mm for 1/500 sec at ISO 4500
This would have been a good time to play around with the focus stacking, but sadly I was handheld this day. That said, this is pretty good for handheld at f/4 and ISO 4500!

f/4 @ 135mm for 1/500 sec at ISO 1800
Once you start shooting flowers with this lens, it gets addicting in a hurry.
The D850 makes for a nice file that captures gobs of detail

f/4 @ 135mm for 1/500 sec at ISO 3600
Yes, a needless shot but look at the detail of the fabric in the face - ha, ha!
Just wait, if you get a D850 you'll be doing this too (especially if you have a killer lens like the 135!!!)

f/1.8 @ 135mm for 1/640 sec at ISO 4000
Despite using my handheld technique on this shot (the only one in this article), I still found it tricky to get precise focus on the eye. As a result, I think I needed to use the USB Dock to fine tune the AF calibration of  this lens to this camera

For more review photos, see http://ronmartinsen.com/nikon/d850.

Please note that all photos are copyright Ron Martinsen - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. You may view these photos only while your web browser is open to this article, but you must delete them when done. No printing, linking, editing, or reuse of any kind is permitted without expressed written consent.

One Edited Shot

Typically I don't include edited shots in my reviews because I want readers to see what the camera can do, not what I can do with Photoshop. However, I'm making a rare exception in this case as the positive feedback I got from this edited shot was so overwhelming from my pro photographer friends (names you'd recognize) that I decided to share it here.

The photo above is hosted on 500px where you can learn more about it, but the original was in color. The color version actually shows off a better job with the dynamic range of the underexposed subject and the background - details which get lost in the above post-processing.

While I wanted to hate the D850 for the technical things about it that drive me crazy, there is an indisputable fact that the dynamic range of this camera led to me capturing some interesting shots that I was quite pleased with. While it may not perfect, it's definitely a nice piece of photography equipment!

Compared to the Canon 5Ds, 5Ds R, and Sony a7R II

If someone set the Nikon D850 down in front of me along side the Canon 5Ds, 5Ds R, and Sony a7R II and told me I could have anyone one that I want plus $5000 for lenses to go with it, I'd still probably go for the Sony a7R II. While the D850 is my favorite Nikon D8** series camera, it's not as easy to pull off hand held shots like what I could get with the Sony or even the Canon's for that matter. This camera has a sensor that performs much closer to the Sony, than the Canon, but when all things are considered I still prefer the Sony - despite its freaking horrible menus. With that said, the a9 showed a lot of promise in addressing the things I hated about the Sony body so there's hope that finally might have something magical for us in its next release.

Conclusion

For most existing Nikon users with an investment in Nikon lenses, the D750 is a much better investment for everyday use. However, the tonal range advantage of the D850 - especially in specular highlight areas - makes it tough to pass on. In fact, if you are a Nikon shooter who is looking for a specialized body to give you the best studio and landscape shots that the platform offers, then look no further - this is the camera you want.

While it definitely pays to bump up the ISO sensitivity settings of Auto ISO to the Faster setting to ensure that your shutter speeds stay up when you are in aperture priority. Even with VR turned on, I was surprised at how easy it was to get shots where the eyes of my subjects clearly had motion blur despite them holding perfectly still. Part of it was the depth of field challenge previously mentioned, but I also believe the lack of a precision spot auto focus feature that Canon offers or the eye tracking feature of Sony & Fujifilm.

With those gripes out of my system, I can finally highly recommend this camera - for Nikon shooters. As for lenses, there's lots of good choices, but if it were me I'd be investing in the Sigma 85mm and Sigma 135mm Art. These two incredible lenses have impressed the heck out of me and really made me a Sigma fan - when I used to be a Sigma hater.   

Where to Buy?

CLICK HERE to learn more or buy the Nikon D850.

CLICK HERE to learn more or buy the Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8E ED VR.

CLICK HERE to learn more or buy the SIGMA 135mm f/1.8 DG HSM Art.

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• Nikon D500 with 24-70mm f/2.8 VR & SB-5000
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• Nikon D810 (includes SIGMA 50mm Art & Otus 55mm)
• SIGMA 120-300mm
• SIGMA 24mm Art Series
• SIGMA 35mm Art Series
• SIGMA 50mm f/1.4 Art Series (includes comparisons)
• SIGMA 85mm f/1.4 Art Series - the best art series I've tested
• SIGMA USB Dock
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Enjoy these and more on the Reviews tab as well as Ron's Recommendations.

Disclosure

If you make a purchase using links found in this article, I may make a commission. It doesn’t cost you a penny more, but it does help to support future articles like this.

REVIEW: Sony a9 - The Best All Purpose Camera? (Part II of II)

In Part I of my review I asked Sony a9 - The Ultimate Action Camera By Which All Others Will Be Judged?, and I think the answer has to be yes. It's a very impressive AF system that almost guarantees you'll get the decisive moment for an action scene. However, this is a big investment and most of us aren't paid sports photographers, yet this camera has a lot of reasons why you might want to buy. As a result, I thought I'd spend the second half of this review discussing its value as an all-purpose camera to see how it does with typical shots that the average person might take.

Would this be a case of yet another expensive camera that's really just a one trick pony, or did Sony really make one camera to rule them all? Read on to find out and see my final conclusion.

Real World Shots

Real world shots is my way of saying examples of photos that an ordinary person might take as compared to ones that a paid professional being hired to photograph something would take. I like to include these types of shots in my reviews because it reflects exactly what you can expect to see if you buy this camera and examine the results on your computer.

All of the photos are 100% unedited (not even cropping unless noted) and you can click the photos to see the exact unedited JPEG that came out of the camera.

While I might use white balance (shade) and creative style (vivid) adjustments to enhance the in-camera image, the rest of what you see is what you'd see at home yourself if you took this same shot yourself.

All images are copyright, Ron Martinsen - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, but you may examine the originals to your hearts content while viewing this article in your web browser. After closing the article, you agree to delete any local copies and you also agree not to print, re-post, re-distribute, link to or otherwise use these photos in any way without written consent.

With that said, please enjoy my thoughts on these and all of the photos found in part 1 of my review and in the galleries associated with this review.

f/2.8 @ 70mm for 1/160 sec at ISO 250
Using full resolution (6000x4000) you can't get a good shot of this subject from the fixed viewpoint

f/2.8 @ 70mm for 1/250 sec at ISO 400
However, if you switch to the APS-C mode, then you get some extra optical zoom without sacrificing quality - but you do get a smaller 3936x2624 file so you've essentially just done an in camera crop. That said, I still liked this mode and it will still print and look gorgeous on a 4k TV.

f/2.8 @ 70mm for 1/250 sec at ISO 500
Using the Clear Image Zoom feature at its maximum 4x means you can't pick the focus point but you get impressive reach and quality using this intelligent digital zoom technique.
Again, I have a file that needs no editing to show friends on a 4k TV - impressive

f/16 @ 24mm for 1.3 sec at ISO 100
In this intentional dynamic range torture test, I was reminded that this definitely no a7R II
The highlights were pretty blown despite the cloudy conditions

f/22 @ 24mm for 2 sec at ISO 100
However, if you shoot within the dynamic range of this camera,
the landscape results are very satisfying

f/4 @ 70mm for 1/800 sec at ISO 100
I snatched a frame of the distant boat,
but I was surprised to see how much detail still remained in the power lines

f/4 @ 68mm for 1/3200 sec at ISO 100 
(cropped - click for unedited original)
As I was taking the shot above, I heard this plane overhead so I took a quick shot
Despite being underexposed, I was impressed with the detail in the shadows
and especially the wires going from the vertical stabilizer on the tail

f/5.6 @ 70mm for 1/100 sec at ISO 640
Zoom in to the original for a scary look at this spider shot done at full frame at roughly the minimum focus distance of the 24-70mm f/2.8 GM lens

f/4 @ 70mm for 1/200 sec at ISO 800
Decent bokeh and amazing detail make the kit a great deal for those getting started with Sony

f/3.2 @ 70mm for 1/1250 sec at ISO 100
Wild unpredictable boys are no problem with this camera

f/3.2 @ 70mm for 1/500 sec at ISO 100
Clear Image Zoom is excellent for hard to reach flower macro shots at the botanical garden

f/4 @ 70mm for 1/2000 sec at ISO 500
There is enough dynamic range to keep cheek highlights in check
when photographing family members in the harsh sun

Slow Motion Video Autofocus Test

I don't do much with video, but I think slow mo videos are cool so I couldn't help but play around with that feature on this camera. In this test, I was curious to see how the AF would hold up to the torture test of keeping up with my son's eyes. It failed, but honestly I thought it did better than expected given the fact that I was using eye focus mode on such a challenging scene.

Bookshelf Test

f/5.6 @ 50mm for 10 sec at ISO 100
ISO 100 quality was excellent even by today's standards
and the shadow detail above the books to the back wall was impressive

Where many special purpose cameras fail is how they perform when pushed to the extremes. In this case, I'm happy to report that the a9 did a respectable job in my bookshelf test that I use to just shadow detail, dynamic range and ISO performance. The full gallery of shots lets you examine full ISO stops from 100 (shown above) to 51,200 (shown below) where you can decide what your maximum tolerance is for sensor noise and noise reduction control. However, I found 51,200 to be usable in a pinch and 12,800 to be good enough to consider it a default top ISO for regular shooting.

f/5.6 @ 50mm for 1/50 sec at ISO 51200
As this shows, unless you are going to be viewing at large sizes, images of your vacation or kids shown a social media sizes is going to be totally fine at ISO 51,200

Conclusion

Yes, I have to say that this is the most impressive camera that I've tested this year and one of the best ones I've every shot with. While I won't be getting rid of my Canon 1D X Mark II because if its superior line up of sports lenses, better metering and excellent flash system, I did find myself looking at my camera and wondering why Canon can't do that!

I've also shot with the Nikon D5, and I'd prefer it over the Sony for the same reasons. Yes, I've seen adapters used with Canon and Nikon lenses and I'm extremely underwhelmed at AF performance when used with adapters, but manual focusing is fine. That kinda defeats the purpose of this camera and sports lenses, so I'd still say that if you are a sports shooter that this is a good second camera for close range action, but stick to Canon or Nikon for your >200mm needs.

With that said, if you are an event or wedding photographer then I think this is the camera you have to own. While you might want a a7R Mark II also around your neck or in the hands of your second shooter for its superior dynamic range, this will be the camera that helps you to get the shots that bring tears to your clients eyes. It's also got the high ISO performance to come home with concert and evening event shots that are totally usable.

Now this is an extremely expensive camera, so it's tough to suggest it for parents based on price. However, if you are a financially successful dual income household that can easily afford it then I can say without hesitation that this is the camera you want to photograph your precious little angel.

Overall, I'm extremely satisfied all around with the first Sony camera body that I didn't hate (thanks to its wealth of programmable buttons) and can easily give it MY HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION.

Where to Buy?

CLICK HERE to learn more or buy today.

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• Nikon D5
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• Sony a6000 (includes 16-70mm lens)
• Sony a6300 - 4k video
• Sony a7 (includes Samyang lens)
• Sony a7R Mark II with 24-70mm
• Sony DSC-RX1 (Full Frame Compact Camera)
• Sony DSC-RX10
• Sony RX100 IV (Sony RX100 III)
• Sony NEX-7
• SIGMA 85mm f/1.4 Art Series - the best art series I've tested
• Ron's Recommendations

Disclosure

If you make a purchase using links found in this article, I may make a commission. It doesn’t cost you a penny more, but it does help to support future articles like this.

Unless noted, ALL shots in this article are unedited and come straight out of the camera as shown. In-camera JPEG's were used with in-camera Creative Style (vivid) and White Balance (shade) being leveraged to give shots an improved color over the camera default.

REVIEW: Sony a9 - The Ultimate Action Camera By Which All Others Will Be Judged? (Part I of II)

Sony a9 shown with the 70-200mm
I've used the kit 24-70 f/2.8 GM for my review

Henri Cartier-Bresson was famous for capturing The Decisive Moment in many of his images. When I got this camera and heard of its claim of 20fps shooting with a buffer that could hold hundreds of images, the first thing I thought was this might be a camera that helps mere mortals to increase their odds of capturing their own decisive moments in everyday life - in a high resolution image (vs video frame capture). If so, this would be a game changer.

Read on to see if this camera lives up to the hype and accomplishes that goal, or if it's yet another case of fan boy hype all over again.

Body Impressions - Finally More Buttons

Canon 6D Mark II vs Sony a9
Size compared to a DSLR (rear view)

I read a lot of stupid things on the internet, but one that really cracks me up is when people make the argument that this camera (and its siblings like the a7 and a7R II) are smaller or more compact.

Since I'm currently only shooting with a Canon 1D X Mark II, I had to use the only normal body DSLR I have on hand - a Canon 6D Mark II review unit for a comparison. I wanted to show how physically a a9 is roughly the same size as a common DSLR. This isn't a comparison of the features of these two cameras as they are totally different, but I did want to illustrate how this camera and especially the lens is very similar to what you'll get with your average DSLR.

Canon 6D Mark II vs Sony a9
Size comparison to a DSLR (top view)

One gripe I have had against the Sony a series is that their attempt to make a more compact profile just limits the better grip experience you get with a Canon or Nikon DSLR, so I do wish Sony would actually bulk them up a bit to make them more comfortable to hold with heavier lenses.

Another thing you'll notice about this Sony is that it finally gets a joystick (which sadly isn't present on the 6D Mark II for reasons that perplex me). This plus an exposure dial on top and just more buttons and knobs in general make this my favorite Sony camera body ever!

Overall, I loved this body which features:

• A very good electronic viewfinder that shows exactly what you'll get when you shoot
• The best coverage of AF points (especially at the edges) of any camera I've ever used
• Excellent programming options for 8 buttons and even the joystick press event and the dial. As a result, getting this camera dialed in the way you want it without hunting through Sony's annoying menus is easily accomplished
• An exposure compensation dial that makes it Fujifilm easy and fun to use (although it does get bumped out of its setting easier than I'd like)
• A dial for drive modes and focus modes that Nikon lovers will feel right at home with
• An articulating LCD screen that helps when shooting from odd angels, but sadly doesn't rotate where you can see it if you are in front of the camera doing group shots
• Dual card slot, although one only takes SDXC II if that is your preferred format
• and much more

Simply put, haters of Sony's annoying menus can set this camera up where they don't need to use those menus to successfully shoot out in the field. This is CRITICAL for sports photography, and something Sony has definitely done right.

Finally, Sony has made a great camera body!

Burst Mode

f/5 @ 70mm for 1/1000 sec at ISO 2000 (unedited)
Unedited single from from a series of a burst of 200+ shots

The first thing I wanted to know when I unboxed this camera was "is this burst mode for real"? I've seen other cameras that made this claim and only delivered on low resolution images. I've also seen other smoke and mirrors tricks that resulted in something that was a marketing claim, but not something that could really be used.

I built this blog because I hated all of the fan boy hype and lies in the mainstream media for  photography that made big claims that failed to materialize when I invested my money on those products.

In this video, I prove beyond a shadow of a doubt  that the Sony a9 is the real deal and it deserves credit for doing something no other camera I've ever tested has accomplished:

As a follow up to the video, you can find all 222 frames taken in the video in this gallery here. You are free to download and examine them to your hearts content, even though they are intentionally boring. :)

As I mentioned in the video, I did do RAW+JPEG on a common SDHC I 95mb/s card so your performance will only get better if you use the recommended SDXC II cards as shown above. I also didn't upload the RAW's simply due to bandwidth cost and download policies (login required) of the service where I host my images.

Burst Gallery

f/2.8 @ 70mm for 1/2000 sec at ISO 1250 (unedited)
You always get the decisive moment of any series with in 20fps burst mode

I took over 6000 shots with this camera which is extremely easy to do when you have a burst mode that is this rapid. Here's a link to a gallery that contains a random selection of some of the throw away burst sets I took while following my son around for various activities.

While I know there's some concern about the 12-bit images you get when using the electronic shutter in full burst versus the mechanical shutter in a slower burst mode (which offers 14-bit images), I can say in real world applications it doesn't make any difference. The value of getting the shot also more than makes up for the 2-bit difference that no viewer of our image will see (or should see if your capture doesn't suck).

I had a lot more bursts than these, but I only wanted to include throw away sets so readers are free to download and examine them to their hearts content.

Metering Issues - Room for Improvement

f/5 @ 70mm for 1/1000 sec at ISO 320 (unedited)
Despite doing okay for most frames, the metering was totally off for this frame
Sadly this happened more than it should for a camera of this price point

Despite advances made by Nikon and Sony in performance, one thing that keeps me on the Canon platform is the metering performance of my 1D X Mark II. If you take enough frames in a burst then odds of having a shot worth publishing is high, but having images that are way off on the exposure can lead to a lot more hassles editing or in some cases an unsalvageable shot.

In the shot above and many in this article you'll notice how the exposure is way off. Yes, I could have used exposure compensation to fix the problem, but the fact is that this is a weakness of the Sony and Nikon platforms that Canon definitely does a better job with. Like Nikon, using spot metering can help - but this camera only does spot metering from the center and not from the AF point so that's a huge fail for sports photographers who need precise metering on their target no matter what happens in the background.

If I could make only one wish to Sony for what they can fix in the next version of this camera, metering would definitely be that wish. See Canon's Evaluate Metering with an emphasis on the AF point for a case study on how metering should be done.

Swing Test

If you are a parent, you know how hard it is to get decent shots of your kids on the swing. Cameras are improving every year, but this is still a real world torture test for any camera. However, the a9 performed extremely well with hundreds of in focus images to chose from. Here's a few examples:

f/2.8 @ 70mm for 1/2000 sec at ISO 1600
A facial expression with excitement, no background obstructions and perfect focus

f/2.8 @ 70mm for 1/2000 sec at ISO 3200
Big air, great focus, and great exposure

f/2.8 @ 70mm for 1/2000 sec at ISO 1600
The perfect expression and composition for one of my favorite swing captures

If you have kids and and can afford this camera, it really is the perfect tool to get the perfect shot for just about any action your kids will do.

Handling Obstructions

The downside of photographing in public places is that someone always walks in your darn shots - especially when you are in burst mode. While it can be frustrating since you'll have editing to do, it's even more frustrating when the camera changes focus and you miss a series of shots that are impossible to capture again.

Fortunately the default settings of this camera are very good at keeping the focus point where it belongs - especially if you stick with the Flexible Spot S on your subject. Here's a few unedited examples of shots that could have been ruined, but weren't as the default AF-C settings give your original subject the priority.

f/2.8 @ 70mm for 1/2000 sec at ISO 1250
The above frame and the one before it weren't ruined by a passer by that got in the shot.
The default AF settings are designed to stay on your target and not switch when obstructed

f/2.8 @ 70mm for 1/2000 sec at ISO 1250
Lots of frames for this series, but this girl running across the frame didn't ruin any

f/2.8 @ 70mm for 1/2000 sec at ISO 1600
Even at the edges with a lot of action, the eye focus was maintained

This is great for a default setting, but if you are shooting sports like Basketball where you want the AF to change quickly to different subjects you can easily dial that in too. Sony on it's first attempt has effectively matched the Nikon D5, and one upped the D5 and 1D X Mark II by offering more focus points all the way to the edges to help increase your odds of getting the shot.

The Decisive Moment - Guaranteed

PLEASE NOTE that ALL images in this article are copyright Ron Martinsen - All Rights Reserved. You may view the associated original images while this article is open in your browser, but you must delete them when you are done. You may not print, edit, re-post, or otherwise any images in this article without written permission.

f/4 @ 70mm for 1/2000 sec at ISO 1250 (EDITED - click for the unedited original)
If you can think it, you can capture it with this camera

What I love about this camera is that when you see an opportunity where you know there's going to be a great decisive moment of the series that you want to capture, your odds of getting it are almost 100%. Even in my case where I was using the wrong lens and due to water I had to stand far back, I knew I was going to get the frame I wanted with this camera so I just planned to crop and took the shot anyway. I chose this frame, but I had tons to choose from so I could have had Kai in the water or just out of it - I had the shot no matter which artistic decision I decided to go with. That's incredibly powerful!

The rest of the shots in this section are all 100% unedited and appear exactly as they came out of the camera. Click on any to view the in-camera JPEG original file, or visit this gallery for more.

f/2.8 @ 28mm for 1/500 sec at ISO 100
I wanted a shot with a little edge flair, bouncing backlit hair and a nice shadow to the edge
Accomplished on the first attempt

f/2.8 @ 70mm for 1/1000 sec at ISO 3200
While talking to Kai I wanted to capture his overboard laugh
Accomplished on the first attempt

f/2.8 @ 59mm for 1/2000 sec at ISO 1600
I wanted to capture a great facial expression and the peace sign with his eyes in perfect focus
Accomplished on the third attempt

f/4 @ 70mm for 1/2000 sec at ISO 2000
Kai was having a happy day and I caught an expression that
However, the meter failed me but I can fix that in post-processing

f/2.8 @ 44mm for 1/2000 sec at ISO 3200
I wanted to capture an expression of unbridled enthusiasm of a boy jumping off a rock
Accomplished on the first attempt

f/2.8 @ 70mm for 1/2000 sec at ISO 2500
A big swing, parallel to the ground with a spot on smile - done
Now if that darn lady wasn't in the background - thank goodness for content aware fill :)

f/2.8 @ 70mm for 1/500 sec at ISO 1600
I wanted to capture Kai running away from his little sister - done
Accomplished on the first attempt better than I imagined with Ara appearing under his arm
in a hug/headlock type subliminal gesture

f/2.8 @ 70mm for 1/500 sec at ISO 1600
And sometimes you just get a funny shot that may not be what you are going for, but any shot that evokes an emotion response is worth keeping (My Facebook friends loved this one)

The Downside

It might surprise you that I only spent a few hours shooting with this camera over 6 separate days of reviewing.  I've been crazy busy, so I just don't get to review and blog like I used to, yet I still managed to take 6000 frames of photos worth about 60GB of disk space (excluding a lot of deleted RAW's).

Fortunately if you are using the electronic shutter, there's no fears about shortening the life of your camera like a mechanical shutter, but it can do some damage to your hard disk and backup storage in a hurry! It can also be problematic while you are on vacation, unless you buy A LOT of large capacity memory cards.

I also found it painful going through so many images in a burst that looked alike (see examples here), so often times I found myself going down to the lowest burst mode or switching to mechanical shutter just to slow things down. This is even true on my much slower Canon 1D X Mark II, as often times you simply don't need so many shots in a burst.

f/3.2 @ 70mm for 1/100 sec at ISO 640
Nice shots can still be made with AF-S single shot

That said, in practical use you'll find that the high speed electronic burst mode is fantastic when you need it - but you'd be wise to save it for only when you really need it.

Conclusion

See Part II for more of my review and my final verdict

Where to Buy?

CLICK HERE to learn more or buy today.

Other articles you may enjoy

If you enjoyed this article, you may also enjoy these:

• REVIEW: Sony a9 - The Best All Purpose Camera? (Part II of II)
• PREVIEW: Sony a9 Kit with Real World Shots
• Nikon D5
• Canon 1D X Mark II 
• Sony a6500 & 24-70 f/2.8 GM (Part I of II)
• Sony a3000
• Sony a6000 (includes 16-70mm lens)
• Sony a6300 - 4k video
• Sony a7 (includes Samyang lens)
• Sony a7R Mark II with 24-70mm
• Sony DSC-RX1 (Full Frame Compact Camera)
• Sony DSC-RX10
• Sony RX100 IV (Sony RX100 III)
• Sony NEX-7
• SIGMA 85mm f/1.4 Art Series - the best art series I've tested
• Ron's Recommendations

Disclosure

If you make a purchase using links found in this article, I may make a commission. It doesn’t cost you a penny more, but it does help to support future articles like this.

Unless noted, ALL shots in this article are unedited and come straight out of the camera as shown. In-camera JPEG's were used with in-camera Creative Style (vivid) and White Balance (shade) being leveraged to give shots an improved color over the camera default.