Real Life Review: Sony Alpha 1 camera

The Sony Alpha 1 camera came into my life in March 2021, and it’s now March 2022. I have been using this extraordinary camera almost exclusively since then. I have shown you use of the camera in a variety of contexts, including studio flash. I have only shot stills, because I don’t shoot video. I thought I should summarise my thoughts about this camera after using it to take over a hundred thousand images.

How do I feel about the A1 now?

I’ve said it before: the A1 is the most fun I’ve had with a camera. One year, and one hundred and one thousand images later, I’m still having fun, but I have to qualify it. It’s enormous fun, but you have to work for it.

The A1 is not a simple camera to use, because it gives you so much control over its abilities. This is not a camera to get lazy with. Get the A1 if you enjoy the process of taking the photograph and all the way through the final image. If you pay attention, the A1 will reward you with images. Sharp, beautifully focussed, images, in rapid sequence, with the A1 adjusting the focus in between every image. Doing it all in complete silence. Of all the cameras I’ve owned, this one most feels like it is intended for people who do NOT want to “just point the camera at it and click”. To use a car metaphor: if you are wanting a car to visit the supermarket and get to work, you do not want a high-end sports car - the sports car is for someone who wants to enjoy the experience, and who will be paying attention to each detail of the driving experience; stop paying attention and you’ll wrap the sports car around a tree - it is relying on you to control it. Fortunately, the A1 isn’t that dangerous, but it has let me mess up on an epic level and on more images than ever before! There’s nothing quite as mortifying as getting home and having to look at 100 images, all mis-focused because I locked focus on a tree branch. At least I know who’s at fault - the A1 is just doing what I told it to do. Makes me determined to be more careful the next time, and watch the focus while I’m shooting.

Does everyone need an A1? No. Please don’t think that I’m telling you that you must go and get one. There are quite a few cameras out there, and many people don’t need (or want) what an A1 can do. I have tried to show you some of what an A1 can do (and carefully hidden almost all of my mistakes!), so you can get a feeling of why you might want one. An important warning: do not buy an A1 if it means you are spending every cent on the body. If you are going to use the A1 to its best, you are going to want some really good lenses, and possibly some new memory cards (which are currently rather expensive), and you may well need to buy more disk space (I did). I even ended up buying a new photo processing computer, so I could process more images in less time.

Do you need Sony GM lenses with an A1? No. I’ve posted images shot with the Voigtländer APO Lanthar 50mm f/2, for example, which is a fine lens, and not expensive, and it works very well on the A1. One of the joys of the Sony E mount is the large number of lenses which you can use, in both native E mount, and via adapters. There are A1 shooters who are using no Sony lenses at all. I am, but I like a lot of Sony lenses. You can use any lens you like, but sooner or later you’ll want to have at least one really good lens.

I’d characterise the A1 as a brilliant camera for the keen enthusiast. Someone who has used a number of cameras, and knows what they want, and really wants it! Someone who will learn about their camera, and go to the trouble to set it up “just right”. Importantly, I would never recommend that someone start with an A1 as their first camera, because it is just too complicated.

What’s better than an A1? Er, two A1s and an unlimited lens budget? OK, what is as good? If you are a Nikon shooter, the Z9 is the obvious choice - a Z9 shooter was telling me about his. and how it replaced both a D850 and a D5, and I got the feeling he is enjoying it (almost) as much as I’m enjoying the A1. If you shoot Canon, then maybe the R3, or the as-yet-unannounced camera they have hinted at. I am not really the best person to ask. In the past I have used high-end Canon (1Ds III), Nikon (D810), and Leica (M9) cameras, and the A1 is better (for me!) than any camera I have used before (it’s also better than all the Sony cameras I’ve used before, I must point out). Does that mean I will stop looking at other cameras? No, but don’t tell my A1 that!

It has been quite a year, and I have learned a lot. I am sure my photography has improved, because the camera has demanded that I improve.

Review Situations

In this review, I used the camera in a variety of situations, . Each situation is a separate article that can be clicked below.