Sony announces a99 II full-frame SLT for $3200

Sony has announced the brand new a99 II, the latest and greatest A-mount camera from the company so far. In some ways this is an a7R II in an SLT body with an A-mount, but the a99 II does have plenty of differences as well.

At the heart of the camera is the same 42.4 megapixel back illuminated full frame CMOS sensor from the a7R II, with an ISO range of 100-25600, expandable up to 50-102400. Paired with it is a new focusing system. The a99 II has a hybrid AF system that uses a combination of 79-point dedicated phase detection AF sensor with 15-cross type points and 399 point focal plane phase detection AF sensor with 323 manually selectable points, to get a 79 point hybrid phase detection system. The system has enhanced subject tracking, ability to focus in EV-4, and eye tracking. The camera can also shoot at 12fps with AF/AE lock and 8fps in live-view mode.

The a99 II also includes optical 5-axis in-body image stabilization, which can be paired with stabilized lenses for an even more stable image.

On the back the camera has a XGA OLED EVF with 0.78x magnification and a fully-articulating WhiteMagic 1228k dot LCD. Sony has also revamped the UI to a much simpler one, something that has traditionally been a sore point of Sony cameras. The a99 II has dual card slots (Memory Stick + SD) and built-in Wi-Fi and NFC. All in a weather sealed magnesium alloy body.

Finally, the a99 II can also do 4K video recording with a full pixel readout with no pixel binning that utilizes the entire full frame sensor, unlike the cropped video on the new Canon 5D Mark IV. You also get the more modern XAVC-S codec, S-Log3 and S-Log2 with gamma display assist for a wide dynamic range that is optimal for color grading in post production, clean 4K HDMI output, as well as microphone and headphone jacks.

The a99 II is priced at $3200, which is about the same as the a7R II. Overall, it is a massively capable camera that does more on paper than the 5D Mark IV and undercuts it in price. It is an A-mount camera, which should be great news for A-mount users who are looking to upgrade and have a collection of compatible lenses. New users, however, might not be interested in the relatively old and unpopular lens ecosystem, and would rather want to invest in the new and growing E-mount system of the a7R II.

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