immediately after publishing dynamic range display For Canon’s latest flagship camera, eos r1prolific bill claf photo to photo Sony’s new flagship added, a1 IIFor his ever-expanding library.
Although Sony a1 II Shares its sensor and imaging pipeline with its predecessorThe new a1 II does not perform the same as the original a1 in terms of dynamic range, nor in terms of maximum photographic dynamic range (PDR) or the behavior of the sensor when ISO increases.
The a1 II peaks at 11.61 pdr, while the original a1 maxes out at 11.34, which is 0.27 steps lower. Both cameras, surprisingly, deliver their best dynamic range performance at their base ISO of 100.
The proper dynamic range correction is interesting enough in itself, but there’s another surprise on offer. Like many cameras, as ISO increases, the dynamic range of the a1 and a1 II steadily decreases, until a point where camera amplification changes behavior and the dynamic range increases slightly. This is basically a free boost to dynamic range, although the sensor can only take advantage of it once at a fixed ISO. This is a neat party trick that image sensors and camera engineers use to recover dynamic range above base ISO, but it’s a one-and-done approach, so it’s an important decision when that bell rings. Does happen and it depends a bit on the practical use cases for the sensor itself and the camera.
In the case of the A1, this jump occurred around ISO 500. With the A1 II, it’s at a slightly higher ISO, around 640. This means that the A1 has significantly better dynamic range than its successor at ISO 500, which is something the A1 lacks. The II quickly corrects before recovering its dynamic range lead, which it holds throughout the rest of the ISO range. By the way, both the a1 and a1 II include baked-in noise reduction up to ISO 12,800, which artificially increases dynamic range a bit at super-high ISOs.
Overall, the Sony a1 and a1 II are among the best dynamic range performers in the full-frame camera segment. Sony’s best performers, the a7R series cameras, top out at around 11.7 PDR, which is barely better than the new a1 II. While the a7R IV and V offer more resolution than the a1 and a1 II – 61 megapixels versus 50 – in terms of overall image quality, Sony’s super-fast a1 cameras aren’t far behind in speed. The A1 II can really do it all,
Image Credit: Exclusive image created using assets licensed through gathering photo,
