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End of an era? The Sony A9 is showing up discontinued at online retailers

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Released in early 2017, the Sony A9 immediately proved itself to be a very popular camera. It still continued to remain in Sony’s lineup for almost two years after its Mark II successor was announced in October 2019. Now, though, it seems that the original Sony A9 might be coming to an end as retailers including B&H are listing the Sony A9 as being discontinued.

Despite retailers listing the camera as being disconnected, it is still listed on the Sony USA website. It’s listed as being on sale, too – perhaps a clearout sale? – with a pretty hefty $1,000 discount, bringing the cost down to $2,999. That being said, there’s no “Add to cart” button. Just a button to be notified when it becomes available. There are a couple left on Amazon, though.

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The latest Sony A9 firmware update adds real-time Animal Eye AF

Firmware update has already brought Animal Eye AF to some Sony cameras, and now it’s coming to the Sony A9. Sony has officially released the firmware update version 6.00 for Sony A9, and the real-time Animal Eye AF is one of the main improvements, but there are a few more.

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Sony’s new firmware v5.0 for the A9 is out now, adding AI-enhanced real-time Eye AF tracking

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Announced in January, the first of two new firmware updates for the Sony A9 is now available. Sony A9 firmware v5.0 adds real-time Eye AF as well as specific eye preference detection, better low light autofocus performance, increased AF accuracy, and a whole host of other new and updated features.

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This is what Sony’s new real-time AF tracking looks like in action

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There’s been a lot of buzz around the new real-time Eye AF and AF tracking on the recently announced Sony A6400. Even more exciting, though, is that this system is also coming to the Sony A9, A7III and A7RIII full-frame mirrorless cameras in a future firmware update.

Photographer Patrick Murphy-Racey recently got the chance to try out the new real-time autofocus tracking with version 5.0 of the firmware for the Sony A9 in Los Angeles. And, fortunately, he filmed it for the rest of us to see.

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Sony is bringing realtime Eye AF and native timelapse to the Sony A9, A7RIII and A7III

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It looks like Sony are taking a leaf out of the Fuji playbook by introducing new substantial features through firmware updates rather than entirely new bodies. The Sony A9, A7RIII and A7III are about to get quite a significant feature upgrade with new firmware updates coming out over the next few months.

The first firmware update for the Sony A9 is due in March bringing the realtime Eye AF performance expected in the newly announced Sony A6400. The Sony A9 will see Animal Eye AF added in a second update coming in summer. The A7RIII and A7III will also receive these updates in a single firmware in April.

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These are 14 weaknesses of Sony Alpha cameras

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Sony mirrorless cameras are used worldwide for a reason, but just like all brands, they have some quirks you may find annoying. Michael Andrew a.k.a. Michael The Maven shoots primarily with Sony, and he shares 14 of the biggest weaknesses of all Sony cameras. Some of them are just minor annoyances, but the others could be dealbreakers for some of you. So, before you switch systems, maybe you’ll want to watch this.

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Sony plans to dethrone Canon with $9 billion camera tech investment

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Sony is taking no prisoners. In their latest mid-term strategy paper, they pledge almost a 1 Trillion Yen (~$9 billion) investment into camera technology over the next three years. The investment is primarily in image sensors, with the goal of becoming the “top brand in the overall camera market” by 2021.

With Canon’s recent announcement to take more than 50% of the interchangeable lens camera market in the next few years, things should get exciting. Given Sony’s rapid growth in the camera market over the last few years, both Canon and Nikon will have an even greater challenge on their hands now.

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After four decades of Canon, photojournalist David Burnett switches to Sony

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The desire to switch brands has never really been there for me. That’s not to say that I believe the brand I shoot is particularly the best, just that there doesn’t seem to be much point. The gear I use gives me what I need, and all the brands seem to leapfrog each other every year or two anyway. But there are an awful lot of people switching over to Sony right now.

The latest to join the list is photojournalist David Burnett, who’s been shooting Canon for 40 years. He recently posted a video to his Vimeo account talking about why he decided to make the transition over to Sony. And for what he shoots, it makes a lot of sense.

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