A flagship in the truest sense, the Sony Alpha 1 is the one camera designed to do it all. Built without compromise, this full-frame mirrorless offers high-resolution for stills shooting, impressive 8K video recording, speed and sensitivity, and connectivity for the most demanding professional workflows.

 

At its core, the Alpha 1, or a1, is distinguished by a newly designed 50.1MP full-frame Exmor RS BSI CMOS sensor and the BIONZ XR processing engine. Pairing the efficient stacked sensor design with optimized processing means the a1 is capable of 30 fps continuous shooting at full-resolution, 8K 30p and 4K 120p 10-bit video recording, and still offers versatile sensitivity up to ISO 102400 for low-light shooting. The sensor's design also includes a 759-point Fast Hybrid AF system, which offers advanced subject tracking and Real-time Eye AF on humans and animals, even including a dedicated Bird Mode.

 

Despite the connotations of a high-resolution sensor, the a1 is a strong contender in the video arena, offering 8K and 4K recording resolutions along with full pixel readout, internal 4:2:2 10-bit sampling, and 16-bit raw output via the full-size HDMI. No recording limit allows for extended takes and, matching with professional cine cameras, the a1 includes S-Cinetone support for smooth skin-tone rendering along with well-controlled highlights and soft colors.

 

Physically, the a1 has a familiar shape, but internally it reaps the best tech of the Alpha series with some notable upgrades, including a 9.44m-dot OLED EVF that touts a 240 fps refresh rate for fluid motion rendering and greatly reduced blackout when shooting continuously. The camera's shutter design has also been revised and now offers full-frame flash sync speeds up to 1/400 sec, and flash sync up to 1/200 sec is even supported when working with the silent electronic shutter. At the rear of the camera is a 3.0" tilting touchscreen LCD and both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity, with 2x2 MIMO support, offer wireless remote control and file transferring capabilities. Additionally, the a1 includes dual memory card slots, both of which support working with CFexpress Type A or SD UHS-II memory cards for flexible and high-speed file storage.

 

Imaging

Lens Mount Sony E

Camera Format Full-Frame (1x Crop Factor)

Sensor Resolution Actual: 50.5 Megapixel

Effective: 50.1 Megapixel (8640 x 5760)

Aspect Ratio 1:1, 3:2, 4:3, 16:9

Sensor Type CMOS

Sensor Size 35.9 x 24 mm

Image File Format JPEG, Raw, HEIF

Bit Depth 14-Bit

Image Stabilization Sensor-Shift, 5-Axis

Exposure Control

ISO Sensitivity Auto, 100 to 32000 (Extended: 50 to 102400)

Shutter Speed Mechanical Shutter

1/8000 to 30 Second

Bulb Mode

Electronic Shutter

1/32000 to 30 Second

Bulb Mode

1/8000 to 1/4 Second in Movie Mode

Metering Method Center-Weighted Average, Highlight Weighted, Multiple, Spot

Exposure Modes Aperture Priority, Manual, Program, Shutter Priority

Exposure Compensation -5 to +5 EV (1/3 EV Steps)

Metering Range -3 to 20 EV

White Balance Auto, Cloudy, Color Temperature, Color Temperature Filter, Custom, Daylight, Flash, Fluorescent (Cool White), Fluorescent (Day White), Fluorescent (Daylight), Fluorescent (Warm White), Incandescent, Shade, Underwater

Continuous Shooting Electronic Shutter

Up to 30 fps at 50.1 MP for up to 155 Frames (Raw) / 165 Frames (JPEG)

Up to 20 fps at 50.1 MP for up to 238 Frames (Raw) / 400 Frames (JPEG)

Up to 15 fps at 50.1 MP

Up to 5 fps at 50.1 MP

Mechanical Shutter

Up to 10 fps at 50.1 MP (Raw) / (JPEG)

Up to 8 fps at 50.1 MP

Up to 6 fps at 50.1 MP

Up to 3 fps at 50.1 MP

Interval Recording Yes

Self-Timer 2/5/10-Second Delay

Video

Recording Modes H.265/XAVC HS 4:2:2 10-Bit

UHD 4K (3840 x 2160) at 23.976p/25p/29.97p/50p/59.94p/100p/119.88p [50 to 280 Mb/s]

H.265/XAVC HS 4:2:0 10-Bit

UHD 8K (7680 x 4320) at 23.976p/25p/29.97p [200 to 400 Mb/s]

UHD 4K (3840 x 2160) at 23.976p/25p/29.97p/50p/59.94p/100p/119.88p [30 to 200 Mb/s]

H.264/XAVC S-I 4:2:2 10-Bit

UHD 4K (3840 x 2160) at 23.976p/25p/29.97p/50p/59.94p [240 to 600 Mb/s]

Full HD (1920 x 1080) at 23.976p/25p/29.97p/50p/59.94p [89 to 222 Mb/s]

H.264/XAVC S 4:2:2 10-Bit

UHD 4K (3840 x 2160) at 23.976p/25p/29.97p/50p/59.94p/100p/119.88p [100 to 280 Mb/s]

Full HD (1920 x 1080) at 23.976p/25p/29.97p/50p/59.94p/100p/119.88p/200p/239.76p [50 Mb/s]

H.264/XAVC S 4:2:0 8-Bit

UHD 4K (3840 x 2160) at 23.976p/25p/29.97p/50p/59.94p/100p/119.88p [60 to 200 Mb/s]

Full HD (1920 x 1080) at 23.976p/25p/29.97p/50p/59.94p/100p/119.88p/200p/239.76p [16 to 100 Mb/s]

External Recording Modes Raw 16-Bit

4.3K (4332 x 2448) up to 59.94p

4:2:2 10-Bit

UHD 4K (3840 x 2160) at 23.976p/25p/29.97p/50p/59.94p

Full HD (1920 x 1080) at 23.976p/50p/59.94p

Full HD (1920 x 1080) at 50i/59.94i

4:2:0 8-Bit

UHD 8K (7680 x 4320) at 29.97p

UHD 4K (3840 x 2160) at 23.976p/25p/29.97p/50p/59.94p

Full HD (1920 x 1080) at 23.976p/50p/59.94p

Full HD (1920 x 1080) at 50i/59.94i

Recording Limit Unlimited

Video Encoding NTSC/PAL

Audio Recording Built-In Microphone (Stereo)

External Microphone Input (Stereo)

Audio File Format AAC LC, Linear PCM (Stereo)

Live Streaming Yes

Webcam Functionality Yes

Focus

Focus Type Auto and Manual Focus

Focus Mode Continuous-Servo AF (C), Direct Manual Focus (DMF), Manual Focus (M), Single-Servo AF (S)

Autofocus Points Phase Detection: 759

Contrast Detection: 425

Autofocus Sensitivity -4 to +20 EV

Viewfinder Type Electronic (OLED)

Viewfinder Size 0.64"

Viewfinder Resolution 9,437,184 Dot

Viewfinder Eye Point 25 mm

Viewfinder Coverage 100%

Viewfinder Magnification Approx. 0.9x

Diopter Adjustment -4 to +3

Size 3.0"

Resolution 1,440,000 Dot

Display Type Tilting Touchscreen LCD

Flash

Built-In Flash No

Flash Modes Auto, Fill Flash, Hi-Speed Sync, Off, Rear Sync, Red-Eye Reduction, Slow Sync

Maximum Sync Speed 1/400 Second

Flash Compensation -3 to +3 EV (1/3, 1/2 EV Steps)

Dedicated Flash System TTL

External Flash Connection Hot Shoe

Interface

Media/Memory Card Slot Dual Slot: CFexpress Type A / SD

Connectivity HDMI A (Full Size), USB Type-C (USB 3.2 Gen 1), USB Micro-B (USB 2.0), 3.5mm Microphone, 3.5mm Headphone, RJ45

Wireless Wi-Fi

Bluetooth

GPS No

Environmental

Operating Temperature 32 to 104°F / 0 to 40°C