(My apologies for any mistakes as I am not a native English.)

This post is about using the Sony A1 after taking +25000 shots and 10 moths of use. It is not a full review but my personal experience.

Is the A1 any good for a professional fashion/beauty photographer like me?

Coming from a Sony A7R2 and A7R3 I expected the camera would be a huge improvement. The A1 is slightly larger and heavier and perfect for the size of my hands (I have a normal size of hands). Overall the body, buttons, knobs and wheels feels more solid. I do sometimes attach the Smallrig L-Bracket LCS2417B as it makes shooting using a tripod a lot more user friendly and it does not make the body much bigger. I do understand photographers with larger hands still might find the A1 to small.

You don’t need to remove the L-Bracket to replace a battery. Thank you.

One of the biggest improvements is the EVF (electronic viewfinder). It is detailed, full of color and shooting with no blackouts is just a fantastic invention. The LCD is not bright enough in harsh sunlight and I wish it could tilt both horizontally as vertically. I don’t need a fully articulating screen in all directions like the Sony A7IV. As a fashion shooter I shoot a lot with a telelens from a very low position in portrait mode. Not being able to tilt the screen in portrait mode is something that is very annoying as I sometimes have to lay down on my back and make use of the EVF.

To make things more comfortable I sometimes use my Oppo X3 find Pro as a second screen. I attach it using a neewer smartphone holder on top of a Godox transmitter and a smallrig 2905 cold shoe adapter. This works just great! Instead of using the Sony Imaging Edge app I stumbled across an app called Monitor+. Both wired connection using a USB-C to USB-C cable or wireless are possible. The Monitor+ app has improved over the years. One disadvantage of the app is you cannot change the folder where the photos are stored (in jpg, heif or arw). It’s a fixed location that is hidden where the app is installed. Is it better as the Imaging app? Not really but it is more stable (at least when I use it) and you can also use it as a videomonitor though there is a slight delay in screen transfer. Using an external HDMI monitor or a recorder like a Ninja V+ is a better choice for professional work.

Monitor + on google play

Update 2022-10-25: The latest version looses connection once in a while.

Here is an example of my setup in Egypt when I was hired to photograph the Miss Belgium finalists. Here I used an external Feelworld Lut 6 HDMI screen instead of a smartphone. The pictures are all done using the Sony A1, Sony G 24-105 f/4 with a ND4 filter, an AD600pro and 2 x an AD200 with a total of 1000 W/s power. From this distance a large softbox would be useless and absorbing to much light.

Left: Setup

Right: Finished photo

The focus speed of the A1 is just incredible. In comparison with the A7R2 the difference is day and night and focus speed and eye detection is also an improvement over the A7R3. Both older cameras remain fantastic cameras and I still use them as a backup or usethem all when I am photographing a concert.

When shooting fashion (and the background is really distracting) I sometimes use the excellent 135mm GM at f/1.8 with a model walking towards me. The A1 never lost focus. All pictures were sharp with very shallow depth of field.

using the latest firmware 1.30 and 1.31 I have a feeling batteries intend to drain faster and using my smartphone wirelessly as a second screen doesn’t make battery life any better. When shooting this way the camera also gets hotter as there is a continuous wireless connection with the smartphone. I never made a point carrying several batteries even the smaller ones used in the A7R2. On the A7R2 I used to select flight mode and managed to get 600 - 700 photos, only using one battery.

When I was in Ethiopia last year to photograph Miss Belgium 2021 being united with her biological father (after 12 years) the A1 suddenly would not focus at all! I switched of the camera and pulled out the battery and switched it back on in a fraction of a second. Luckily I made the shots which were later used as cover photos for newspapers but it was a very frightening moment when the A1 wouldn’t focus at all. To make sure I had “the shot” I selected 30 fps in silent mode and did not disturb the videoman. Because of the huge amount of photos scrolling through the pictures took some time.

The reason for the focus troubles could have been I used the neewer grip (I have very good experience and never ran into problems using the previous models). Some people also experienced this kind of behavior and mentioned this on social media. I did not experience these focus problems anymore after that day. The A1 performs!

When Miss Belgium 2021, Kedist Deltour was reunited with her biological father in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia, after 12 years. When she was young he put her and her little brother and sister in an orphanage because he could not feed them anymore.

I do like the new menu. Is it much better as the previous menu ? Yes, but I also found the previous menu system very usable. I rarely make use of the touch functionality in the menu. I guess it is because the A7R2 and A7R3 do not support this functionality and I got used to using the knobs and buttons. What I do like is to be able to send the config of the menu to my smartphone as a backup. Thank you for that but I wish Sony would also implement this functionality in their previous cameras. Being able to configure your own menu makes ease of use a lot easier.

The position of wheels, buttons, knobs is perfect and it is a pleasure to use. I only do not like the position of the video recording button. I sometimes push the button by accident. Not a big deal. Having the extra wheel on the left top of the camera you choose your focus mode (AF-S, AF-C,…) and shot mode (single shot, burst,…) . It works fine but on the A7R3 I use the C2 button and it works fine too.

I never liked the standard eyecups on Sony Alpha cameras so I replaced mine with a Kiwi KE-EP19L. (I think it is the same as the JJC brand.)

One of the biggest improvements is overall speed. Switch on the camera and you are ready to shoot. Also scrolling through the menus while the camera is emptying the buffer is possible. I do use both the Sony 32GB, 128GB SD Pro Tough UHS-II SD cards and ProGrade Digital SDXC UHS-II V90 in 128GB but also the 256GB versions. The raw files are stored on both cards at the same time as a backup. Writing speed is just superb and I even haven’t used the CF express cards yet. For what I do the speed of V90 cards is sufficient. Even when I shoot a concert using 20 or 30 fps. Buffer is cleared very fast. I switch cameras anyway.

To give you an idea I published a small video on youtube

A few weeks ago I tried a wireless tethered shoot using Capture One Pro. It just worked GREAT and the transfer speed of compressed raw is very doable. It takes a longer time compared using a cable but the freedom to walk freely is huge. Just set the camera in PC remote connect it directly using wifi to the laptop or use a wifi router. Both work fine. I even did not experience any lost in connection. (Though the camera can get hot shooting tethered wireless.)

I always shoot compressed RAW. I have been doing comparisons without any compression selected and I do not notice any visible differences in quality. I have tried the lossless compression too but compressed RAW is fine for me. RAW files are 50MB in size and it makes a difference in storage space on my 30TB Synology NAS.

I never shoot in JPG format or HEIF so I personally don’t know how the jpg’s perform in accuracy of colors (or skin color), sharpness or contrast. I develop my RAW photos in Capture One Pro using the ICC profile Sony A1 ProStandard. The quality I get out of Capture One Pro is very pleasing to the eye. This profile is really good and with minor exposure adjustments the output is already very good. I do export to Photoshop for further editing and the flattened PSD gets a finishing touch in Capture One Pro. Because I keep all my layers and edit in 16bit photos can become a whopping 8GB!

Maybe the best improvement is working with off camera flash! With older models I had to switch off the godox trigger for a correct live view. This problem is now solved in the A1. This is a major improvement!

Being able to use the electronic shutter at 1/200 using flash is not to be underestimated. The mechanical shutter of the A1 has a life spam of 500.000. Theoretically you could always use electronic shutter. With LED lightning I haven’t seen any banding yet using electronic shutter but to be safe I always put it on mechanical shutter when shooting where LED is used.

The first time I used HSS (high speed sync) I was blown away. Being able to use 1/8000 shutter speeds using off camera flash is such a cool thing. However you loose a lot of power so the last few years I started using ND filters again. Using a ND16 filter I can shoot electronic at 1/200 using the 50mm GM f/1.2 (at 1.2), ISO50 and have a lot more power. The battery of my Godox AD1200 Pro’s or AD600 Pro last a lot longer and they intend not to overheat!

You might say an A1 is overkill for a fashion/beauty photographer. Well. It is not! When a model is in a certain pose there is no reason to have a quick focusing camera. When i used the A7R2 as my main camera there were times when photos were out of focus when the model was moving in the studio or outdoors. I sometimes was disappointed when I had a fantastic shot that was not sharp at all and it happend more than once. With the A1 every shot is spot on! You rarely miss a shot because the A1 eye detection works flawless. It just makes you more relaxed as you know you will probably have the shot!

Do I need 30fps for fashion? Generally not because I mostly use flash. However it comes in handy when you have a fast moving model without using flash.

My studio is not 100% light proof. I have a few large windows and cannot block all ambient light. When I shoot at f/9, 1/400, ISO 100 I block light. Because the maximum synchronization speed of 1/400 using the mechanical shutter I don’t need to use HSS with loss of power.

I sometimes record small videos when customers ask me to. I shoot at 4K in best quality and the A1 never overheated. You do have to leave some room between the body and the screen. I tried the 4:2:2 10bit 8K recording and the quality is just impressive. However my 5 year old Dell Alienware R6, Intel i7, with Geforce 1080ti (11GB) and 64 GB RAM struggles playing the video file! I do like the new PP11 (S-cinetone) profile a lot. It is not much work to color grade in Davince Resolve to get good results.

50 Megapixel is in my opinion the perfect resolution for a full frame camera! The noise at higher ISO’s is still very good and very usable. I shot photos at 12800 ISO at a Gary Numan concert and DXO deep prime technology reduces the noise and the photos come out with enough detail. I also tried Topaz Labs but in my opinion DXO has better results. Most of the time I use noise reduction in Capture One Pro and the results are very good.

Here is a picture of Gazelle Twin as a guest appearance during the Gary Numan concert in Wembley, London. It was shot using the Sony GMII 70-200 f/2.8 at 5000 ISO, 1/200, f/2.8 at 121mm. Only noise reduction inside Capture One Pro was used.

Having 50 MP requires good glass! It might sound strange but the Sony G 24-105 f/4 is one of my favorite lenses for the Sony A1. Most of my photos are shot at an aperture of +f/4. Clients want to see the environment where it is shot but the background should have a certain amount of soft bokeh. Recognizable but not distracting. The G 24-105 f/4 is perfect for any location (except indoors with low light). The extra 35mm in comparison with a 24-70mm is was the reason to go for the 24-105. You loose an extra stop of light, but hey, what is the difference in quality between ISO 3200 or 6400? Buying a 24-70 f/2.8 is a also a very good choice but for the work I do I love the results of my 24-105. Below are some examples.

Below are photos shot using the Sony G 24-105mm (both a7r3 and a1)

The choice for a lens is price/quality. If a cheaper lens delivers the quality I don’t see any reason to buy a more expensive alternative. I am very happy with the entry Sony 85 f/1.8. In my opinion this is a no brainer for portrait photographers. The 85mm keeps up with the focus speed of the A1.

Sony 85mm f/1.8 examples (both shot on the A7R3)

In upcoming blogs I will write about my experience with other lenses I am using.

Conclusion: 7200 Euro (VAT incl.) (in Belgium) is a lot of money. Is it worth the price? The camera is nearly perfect in any way. (except for the LCD screen)

You can use this camera for every type of photography: Sports, Wildlife, birds, Fashion, Portraits,… but it is also superb for video. Being able to shoot even 8K is something remarkable. It is like a swiss army knife except this camera is just superb in everything it does. The A7R4 is a 61 Megapixel but the difference in resolution is not that noticeable.

I am happy I switched but if you are an A7R3 user (or even A7R2) and you are happy with it there is no reason to switch. The image sensor of these cameras are still state of the art and you will not see any difference in dynamic range.

The biggest improvements are speed. menu, focus, SD card write speeds, bigger and better body and video quality. Is it too good to be true? I really don’t know. I love using my A1 and there is very little I would like to see improved. The Sony Engineers did an excellent job but made a huge mistake choosing this type of LCD screen.