Industry News


Sony A1 50.1MP Powerhouse is Unveiled

January 26, 2021

By Jacqueline Tobin

The countdown is over. With much fanfare, the Sony Alpha 1 50.1MP full-frame mirrorless powerhouse was unveiled and is being described as an industry-wide “photographic bombshell.” It’s a camera that combines all of Sony’s top technologies into one body, creating a 50.1MP camera that can capture stills at up to 30 frames per second, blackout-free, as well as 8K video recording at 30fps.

Yann Salmon Legagneur, Director of Product Marketing, Digital Imaging, Sony Europe, says: “We are always listening to our customers, challenging the industry to bring new innovation to the market that goes far beyond their expectations. Alpha 1 breaks through all existing boundaries, setting a new bar for what creators can accomplish with a single camera. What excites us the most—more than the extensive product features—is Alpha 1’s ability to capture that which has never been captured before. This camera unlocks a new world of creative possibilities, making the previously impossible now possible.”

[Read: Sony Alpha 7C Review—The Lab Test Results Are In]

Based on what Tech Radar reports to be a similar chassis to the Sony A9 II, the Sony Alpha 1 50.1MP “crams in the kind of tech and features that we haven’t seen in a hybrid camera before.”

Sony claims that the Alpha 1’s image sensor taps integral memory and is capable of 30 fps continuous full-resolution images. At that rate, it can shoot up to 155 full-frame compressed RAW images or 165 full-frame JPEG images with the electronic shutter, without sacrificing AF and AE tracking performance. Exposure changes—even dramatic ones—can be apparently handled with AE response latency as low as 0.033 seconds.

Sony Alpha 1 Key Features

  • 50.1MP Full-Frame Exmor RS stacked CMOS sensor
  • BIONZ X Image processor
  • 30fps continuous shooting
  • Silent shooting, anti-distortion electronic shutter
  • 15-stop dynamic range
  • 120times/s AF/AE calculations
  • 759 AF points, 92% coverage
  • Real-time Eye-AF for birds/animals/humans
  • 9.44 million dot EVF, 0.9x magnification, 240fps refresh rate
  • 5-axis in-body image stabilization (5.5 stops)
  • Dual CFexpress Type A and UHS-II SDXC card support
  • Wi-Fi 11ac 2×2 MIMO
  • SuperSpeed USB 3.2 (10Gbps)
  • 1000BASE LAN connection (FTP support)

Video Features

  • 8K 30p video recording
  • 4K 120p 10-bit 4:2:2 ALL-I (5.8K oversampling)
  • 10bit S-Log3 (15 stop DR)
  • 16bit RAW output via HDMI (full-size)
  • Optimized heat-dissipation allows 30min video recording
  • S-Cinetone
  • Creative Look

An enhanced workflow will support photo and video journalists as well as sports photographers who need to deliver stills or movies as quickly as possible with advanced connectivity options. The Alpha 1 offers several features for fast, reliable file transfers, including the industry’s fastest built-in wireless LAN that allows communications on 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands with dual antennas to ensure reliable communications.

There’s also a USB Type-C connector to support high-speed PC Remote (tethered) data transfer for large image files. The Alpha 1 also has a built-in 1000BASE-T LAN connector for high-speed, stable data transfers, including remote shooting. FTPS (File Transfer over SSL/TLS) is supported, allowing SSL or TLS encryption for increased data security.

The Sony Alpha 1 will be available this coming March for $6,500.