CAMERA TEST
Sony’s latest sports and action camera is the world’s first with a global shutter. Andy Westlake finds out how it performs
Sony’s Alpha A9 III is the latest in the firm’s line of specialist cameras purpose-designed for professional sports and action photography. In an eye-catching technological breakthrough, it’s the first full-frame camera with a global shutter sensor. Technically, this means that the camera is capable of exposing and reading out every pixel simultaneously. This distinguishes it from other pro sports cameras like the Canon EOS R3 and the Nikon Z 9 (or Z 8), where the sensor is read out sequentially line-by-line, albeit at extremely high speed.
For the A9 III’s target audience, the global shutter is something of a holy grail, as it brings several unique advantages. In principle, there should be no subject distortion due to rolling shutter, nor any flickering or banding artefacts in artificial light. Flash sync is also available at all shutter speeds, without needing to use a power-sapping highspeed sync mode. Sports photographers should also find it’s immune to a phenomenon where parts of LED advertising boards can appear blacked-out.
These advantages are backed up by astonishing continuous shooting and autofocus specifications. The camera is capable of 120 frames per second in full-resolution raw, while tracking focus on subjects as they move around the frame, and with no viewfinder blackout. It’ll also record 4K video at 120fps using the full sensor width. Such capability doesn’t come cheap, though; you’ll have to pay £6,100 for the privilege of owning one.
Sony’s original Alpha A9 was undeniably a landmark camera, as it was the first mirrorless model to comprehensively outperform high-end sports DSLRs. Sony certainly wants us to believe the same of the A9 III, describing it as a ‘game-changer’ in its marketing. But while the global shutter may be a godsend for pro photographers shooting the Paris Olympics this summer, what does it mean for the rest of us, and is it a pointer towards how all cameras will work in the future?
Features
Let’s take a closer look at what the A9 III offers. It’s built around a 24.6MP full-frame sensor, which in addition to having a global shutter, employs stacked-CMOS architecture for rapid shooting and data readout. Sony is sufficiently confident in this technology that it’s left out
