The Sony a1 was a BIG mistake 

Mack, there isn't anything that you said that isn't true here. The A1 should have all of the features of the A7RV, that the hardware allows. The A1 isnt worth it at $6500 or even $5500 used if the software isnt going to be updated, which I tool under consideration. This is happening with the Fx3 and A7sii, same hardware. What you are doing Mack is getting out before your A1 camera has no value, which is smart. I own the A7RIII, A7siii, the A7IV and a A9. The A7IV and A9 are my event cameras, the A7RIII is my landscape and product camera and obviously the A7siii is the video run and gun along with three Blackmagic cameras. The A7IV was my upgrade from the A7III and its great. It was the only new purchase. I couldn't justify an A1 purchase at the time because, I had transitioned from a full Nikon and Fuji setup. I bought the A9 last year for a steal at $1999 and I just bought another A9 for $895 in excellent condition with an 1125 shutter count on line from a camera store. I simply love the A9 still. The overall performance and speed is better than the A7IV, but the A7IV has better autofocus, better video, and is a great hybrid. We have a team of six people.

As a longtime pro of 50 years in the business, I have owned A6500, A7RII, A7RIII A7III, A9, and currently own A1, A7RIV, A7SIII. As much as I agree with you that Sony has needed to give us better firmware updates with the A1, as long as the A1 has that faster stacked sensor it still will be the top dog from Sony for many many professionals. Cheers and use what works for you.

It is still the best Sony camera, and the most complete camera out there. If you are mostly a photographer, I understand that. It has 4ms electronic shutter for photos, 15ms for 8K, 8ms for 4K. For filmmaking, the biggest missing feature is animal/bird eye detect in video which is 100% doable though a firmware update, other than that is a welcome gimmick.

It is still the best camera you can buy and does everything it did when I bought it. I don't regret buying the A9 or upgrading to the A1. I have two A1 bodies and its a tool not an investment. I can't say I have yet to push this camera past its limits. I do think that Sony will provide some updates before the A1 II comes out but they can't retroactively install new hardware like an AI chip. I like shooting birds in flight, planes, rockets, action sports and the A1 is spot on. I respect that some genres of photography would be well served by the A7rV today and don't need the extra speed, AF and megapixels in the A1.

No lies were told 💯. It’s a shame how they’ve treated the A1.

It depends on what you want. The A1 is worth every penny even though I bought it used and saved 1000. If you don't care about high megapixels, or rolling shutter then don't think about buying it. And, as for the firm updates, Canon and Nikon were doing the firmware updates trying to catch up to the A1 capabilities. I am sure the A1m2 will have some hardware and firmware advancements that will lead the industry like the A1 did when it was announced.

I purchased the A1 after having used the A7RIV for about two years. I later sold the A7RIV and purchased the A7RV when it was released. I use the A1 for general still photography and video and the A7RV for mostly bird photography. It is frustrating that Sony hasn't rolled some features from their newer cameras into the A1 via firmware updates (eye autofocus in video for example), but the A1 is still my go to camera and one of the best that I have ever used (former Canon fanboy from film days to the digital era).

I just got the a7r V and am loving it so far, but saying the A1 isn't worth the price or is worse value is pretty disingenuous without putting "for me and how I use it" at the end of the statement. Camera prices are based on all of the capabilities for all kinds of shooting, they aren't just set on a few of them. The a7r V is great for non sport photography but still isn't that great at video. The 8K is basically useless because of the rolling shutter and the 4k is barely usable, but if you happened to be both hardcore about photos and video then you'd have to pick up the a7r V and an a7s III (if the a1 didn't exist) and that combo would run you $7,500. Even at that price, you wouldn't get usable 8k (as the a7s III doesn't do 8k) nor would you get the FPS if you should also want to do any sport/bird photography. The a1 lets you do ALL of that for $6,500 which objectively makes it a VERY good value for everything it can do. Looking at the competition, for $6,000 the Canon R3 has half the resolution so the A1 price is again a good value for all of its capabilities. Sony could certainly do better in the firmware department, but to say it isn't worth the price because it doesn't have a few relatively minor software improvements that a camera which came out 2 years later again is a bit ridiculous. TLDR: It's clear for that for you and me the A1 doesn't make sense for what we do, but how you are saying it is essentially like saying "a Big Mac combo isn't worth the price and is worse value than just the Big Mac" without saying "because I only happen to ever eat the Big Mac".

A1 is simply an AMAZING camera. Build quality on the A1 was far superior to my previous A7siii while still giving me the best of both worlds. The A1 also offers a ton of other features over the other alpha bodies. Best setup IMO is the A1 + the A7siii. That way you get the low-light capability and flip display on the A7siii and literally every other capability on the A1. Some dedicated video pros just go with an FX3 and the A1, but still the A1 is a BEAST!!!

Amazing and honest review! This helped me decide which Sony to purchase. Thank you!

Hi, I want to thank you for your amazing content, and I have watched a few. I found it very helpful. so I wanna ask you do you , do you think a used A1 or refurbished one for around $4000 at now February 2024. Is worth it? I have the A7r4 and a7r5 . But I can sell one of them and get the A1. Or should I get the z8, I have seen the brand new Nikon Z8 had sales that reaching 3700$. And I have a few cheaper Nikon z primes, and I know that I could adapt a lot of FE lens, like GM , tamron etc. on the body using an adapter without losing auto focus.

I just updated my a1 with the new firmware today, now has focus breathing comp and better image stabilization.

My opinion is when you buy any camera you look at what functions it has at that time and does it suit your needs and budget. I also look at it as an expense for tax purposes. Pros don't tend to upgrade every time a new product comes out, or they do if they know they can cover the upgrade cost with revenue from work+sale of old camera. For example before I purchased the A1 I was using the A7r3. I would have thought as cameras are getting very mature (most functions needed to do a job), the upgrade cycle would be less, say every 3 years. I actually bought a second A1 on the gray market as a backup and i often need to shoot with two cameras.

A1 is good for those high action shots that the R5 and 74 might miss. For general photography with subjects not moving fast or stationary shots then the R5 and 74 makes sense. I have all 3 and keeping the A1 when the job calls for it.

beautiful shots. it’s all in the eye… choose whatever tool it takes to create your vision. ☕️

I think things will get even trickier once the A9III is announced. I suspect the A9III specs will rival the A1's on the photography side (maybe not the video side), and then it'll be even harder to call the A1 a flagship camera. Sony needs to wake up and just update the A1.

The Sony A1 does have some things to make up for, such as bird eye focus during video recording. But the Sony A1 is already a powerful enough weapon. Why was it sufficient three years ago and not enough three years later? What happened to the earth in the past three years? I think that before the arrival of revolutionary technology, the Sony A1 is very adequate. With its electronic shutter, it will have an almost unlimited lifespan. Perhaps what Sony is worried about is that apart from the global shutter, what other functions does the A1ii have that can widen the huge gap with the A1? AI focus is not significantly different from the original focus. Even the global shutter of the A9iii is not significantly different from that of the A1.

I’m on the fence. I’ve got two A7 IVs. But I want the A1. The video is better, the stacked sensor is big, the speed, etc. Silent shooting is huge. 4K 120 is big. The A7RV has the latest AF with the AI chip and the new screen. That’s about it.

Since you did this video the case for the A1 has got even worse. I do wildlife and aircraft photography and was looking to replace my A74 (I also have an A6700). In the UK the A1 is about £5,800-£5900. A second hand A1 from a very reliable supplier costs £4,000 to £4,500. So it has lost not far off £2,000 in value since the launch. The A7RV new costs about £4,000 here and for the spec that is a bargain compared with the A1. The arrival of the A9III provides a speed king without the rolling shutter for about £6,000 which has phenomenal capabilities including for me the most important of all the pre-burst capture. It looks as if SONY has decided to give up on the all-singing all-dancing top of line flagship to provide tailored systems for particular applications. The A1 mark 2 people have been waiting for may never arrive.

I have an A7siii and want the A1, but keep leaning toward the 7RV for everthing you mentioned.

Definitely agree. Have been trying to sell my a1 and buy an a7rv for this very reason

Fait point. But for indoor events the electronic shutter in a7iv is just isnt good enough. A1 is better for fast shooting and good megapixel amounts. As a still photographer, the screen is alright for me. I dont know about who else that shoots events/wedding for a living. A fast reliable auto focus system, a fast stack sensor for the electronic shutter, and being able to shoot more than 6 uncompressed raw images than the a7iv. The chances of capturing better shots with better micro emotions are just better for events/weddings when theres literally no second chances. The A9II would be a good deal for the second hand market now for its speed and auto focus system, and also the stack sensor. But it has significantly less megapixel counts than the a1. Which is good for cropping images with events and such.

I am keeping my a1 as it is still the best all round camera sony offer. Fully agree with you though

I agree, the Sony behaviour with the firmware update is a shame. I have 2 A1 because I do wildlife photography, so I need a stacked sensor for panning etc and I need fast FPS. But anyway Sony should protect its own flagship more. I have also Canon R3 and R5, for sure when R1 will be out the games will be changed again. So please Sony move your Axx please

I agree but have bought an A1 for sports. Keeping A7RV for landscape and A6700 for lightweight travel. Would like firmware updates but also tilty flippy so will only upgrade when the MK II is at a reasonable price (3-5 yeras I guess)

I just bought sony a1 for 3,000€ secondhand verygood condition… almost same price of new sony a7iv here in europe

I feel the same. So disgusted with Sony right now. And the latest firmware update has introduced issues in my camera where it just stops focusing. I have to shut it down and restart it to get it working again.

All current A1 owners are disappointed with this neglect of customers investing in a 'flagship' camera at this price and on top of the neglect they put out the latest firmware upgrade (1.32) that benefitted.......? hmmm....give me a second...it will come to me. Very inclined to take the financial hit and sell the A1, sell all lenses and change to one of the manufacturers that ARE able to actually reward their customers for their valued purchases and their loyalty. The name of those manufacturers will come to me as well...and 'after' this rant..its still just a feeling of disappointment with Sony. They could and should do much better.

How much did you sell it for???

I hear that the r5 has bad banding and rolling shutter, where the at with its stacked sensor is better

They didn’t release the a1 firmware ?? Focus breathing ? & others ??

Hi, now the release of the A9II, it quadruplicates the frames per second 🤯

A1 is really a great camera, no doubt about and as a bird photographer, I have enjoyed using it for the last two years. But with no firmware update, no auto eye focus in the video, I have started losing my patience. Even A7M4 which is almost two years old has auto eye focus in video. Sony has really disappointed about the firmware update. How can you ignore updates for a $6500 camera? And the same about releasing new lenses. They are just releasing upgrades to old lenses. Net net, innovation has stopped at Sony and it is time to move to Nikon!

I agree with some what you said, but not all of it. As a professional wedding and event Photographer, I would never want to go back to a camera that cannot shoot silent under artificial lights. I shoot so many corporate events where we have a speaker talking to an audience often being recorded and a noisy shutter would simply not be allowed. They certainly would at least restrict the amount of photos you can take. The complete silence of the A9 and A1 means I can shoot at will. I also find being silent a huge advantage at weddings as well. Do we need the speed ? of course not but until Sony make a stacked sensor camera that only shoots up to 10 photos per second we are forced to buy these speed demons.

A1 and a7siii the forgotten children

Always a canon fan… been 5 years user haha

Love my A1

I just came from your Leica q3 video. The q3 photos are 10 times better than these from the A1. WOW! Time to save up, I need that q3 in my life ASAP

I am using last few months, with sony a1 some problems i am facing that so much noise in low light, i am a wildlife photographer, now thinking to sell

Flash Electronic sync, then you can basically shoot until it dies 💅🏾

Well the title is a little bit misleading. It should read "The Sony a1 was my BIG mistake"! Showing the difference that for people that shoot wildlife the situation could be very different than your usecase of cameras! Another title comes to mind: *Choose Your Camera wisely!* Thanks for this video! (Though I'm not even shooting with Sony!) 🤔

I think the A1 is a great camera because of its speed but it’s adopters were let down by a flawed Sony firmware strategy which totally failed to maintain its flagship camera through regular updates. After so many complaints and people even switching brands, I think Sony has got the message and this is the reason they have scheduled a firmware update for the A1 and S3 towards March 2024. It may be too late for many though… 😉

fortunately a new firmware is out, and i got and a1 :D

I never understand people who are crying for firmware updates.

Question: with a top-of-the-line expensive camera like this, have they not figured out how to send the camera live view to your mobile/tablet (with accompanying camera setting editing) ?? DJI drones have been doing this for years on hugely less expensive products. There really is no excuse if this App camera control functionality isn't in the A1 !!

wonderfull camera and firmware update incoming.

the A1 is a great camera that is overpriced that Sony neglected purposely at the expense of the professional market but i wont replace it for the a7r5 ! the sad part is that A1 used by BNH is worth not more than 3500$ for resellers! So if You made money with the A1 after two years then u can sell it for 3.5k and it wont bother u at all my A1 WIFI signal died on me 6 months ago through firmware update and Sony doesn't care about it and i dont as well anymore cause it sucked at first place So as all other manufacturers have same issues software is to old for the new mirrorless cameras they need to upgrade to open source like android or apple . one thing i really know is that Sony eventually will pay the price for their high end gear neglection for profits.

If you bought the A1 because you wanted to have some weird bragging right. You bought it for the wrong reason, and you will have the same issue with the A7IV, A7RV or whatever else Sony releases in future, in a year or 2, they will release something new and not update the current models. I bought the A1, on release, based on what Sony promised and it delivered exactly that and more.

Camera is not an investment. Camera is a tool. The tool you have decided to purchase for the given price. The fact that there are other, newer tools available doesn't change the qualities of the tool you have bought. There will be always a newer camera. And, there is no perfect camera ;-)

I think this expectation that camera manufacturers should update already bought cameras with new features is a case of entitlement mentality. I'm only entitled to the features I signed onto when I bought the camera, and if a camera manufacturer wants to give me more via a firmware update then great. If they don't, they don't have to. The A1 has been out for almost 3 years, of course there will be newer cameras with more updated features...that's the progression of technology. It's still the best camera out there and still gets the same job done that I bought it for 2 years ago.

Hello, fellow users! We have updated the firmware! Woo Hoo! The new firmware enhances the stability of the system and when connecting to the app. Oh yeah~~

Sounds like your poor choices are yours. However, your choices don’t make a camera model a wrong choice for literally thousands and thousands of other professionals and the others who can afford the best sport, action and wildlife body on the market. So far its resale value is holding strong.

You bought the wrong camera for you. Don't blame the A1 for YOUR mistake!!

How much did you lose on the sale? Granted I’m sure the camera has paid for itself

What did this guy expect. You are dealing with Sony. They are a consumer electronics company. Their camera division is no different.

Nikon Z9 is the best

Sony has screwed A1 and A7S III users big time

You should give up what you do and the buy iPhone that is more than enough for you. Then You may think iPhone is a mistake , go and buy android and you may think the same. Hence binoculars and settle

@sony don’t care 😅

100% I used the A7iv then brought the A1 brand new in store. I’ve had it a little over 12 months and feel with the launch of the new A9 with better specs then the A1 have now shafted the A1 user. The A1 has always been the flagship camera. I’ll never buy a Sony camera again…

Sony never promised you FW updates. You bought the camera for what it was at the time. You can’t blame them. This is down to you and your choice at the time.

Either you do or either you dont....its just your opinion and I think you making money doing it.....I like your video and I dont.....😂

You probably did not research it well my fiend. Sony is the only company does not give a shit about their cameras after it is released...Only Canon/ Nikon do to some extent, but not Sony...