Sony A99

Sony A99 is Sony's Advanced DSLR digital camera initially released on December of 2012. It houses a 24 MegaPixel, CMOS Full frame sized sensor and has a max resolution of 6000 x 4000.

Sony released this model in order to update the older Sony A900 (Read Full Comparison) and afterwards released the updated Sony A99 II (Read Full Comparison) as a way to replace this model.

The A99 comes in at #13 out of 92 in Advanced DSLR cameras and overall #83 out of 1465 for digital cameras in our database. You should try out our Smart camera search to get camera rankings based on your customized criteria.

Here is a diagram of various factors used in the rating system.

The Sony A99 comes with a history of related digital cameras. Below, you can view all earlier and new models along with important specs.

You can see the A99 from different angles in the gallery underneath.

Below is a selection of positives and negatives of the Sony A99 based on things which are normally considered essential in a digital camera.

The Sony A99 houses the Bionz processor chip. The specification of the sensor in the Sony A99 is 35.8mm x 23.8mm (Full frame). The 852 mm² sensor has the ability to capture 6000 x 4000 pixels at aspect ratios of 3:2 and 16:9. The camera boasts Image Stabilization (Sensor based). In body stabilization is preferable than digital stabilization as the latter can easily lead to cropping.

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The CMOS sensor boasts 24MP and delivers a standard ISO range of 100 - 25600. RAW format is supported therefore you have wider margin for error.

The image underneath displays the A99's sensor dimensions compared to other popular sizes. The A99 sensor comes with a crop factor of 1 and is shown in green.

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To get a sense of different aspect ratios, you should refer to the graphic below.

Sony A99 weighs in at 1.79 lbs (812g / 28.64 ounces) and the sizing of the camera is 147mm x 111mm x 78mm (5.8" x 4.4" x 3.1"). The weight of typical Advanced DSLR camera is 776g so the Sony A99 is very much the same in comparison with various competitors.

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Here is a image of the Sony A99 with a softdrink to help you have a feel for its scale.

The top view under will show the button design on the A99.

The A99 works with the Sony/Minolta Alpha mount and has 145 lenses available for purchase. Below is some of the lenses we have in our database which will work with the A99.

ModelVisualizeFocal LengthApertureStabilizedWeight

Sigma 28mm F1.8 EX DG Aspherical Macro28mmf/1.8 500g

Sony DT 11-18mm F4.5-5.611-18mmf/4.5-5.6 360g

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Sigma 20mm F1.8 EX DG Aspherical RF20mmf/1.8 520g

Tamron SP 15-30mm F2.8 Di VC USD15-30mmf/2.8 1100g

Tamron SP 70-200mm F2.8 Di VC USD70-200mmf/2.8 1470g

Sony 300mm F2.8 G300mmf/2.8 2310g

Photography Glossary

Samyang 50mm F1.4 AS UMC50mmf/1.4535g

The A99 has the following connectivity:

• USB Yes
• HDMI Yes
• GPS Yes

Digital cameras that consist of NFC or Bluetooth compatibility can easily be used wirelessly via smartphones. You can easily copy images and oftentimes change camera settings without connecting physically to the camera.

Many applications even allow a Liveview and hit the shutter whenever you are not close to the camera. If the camera contains a HDMI out, it could be attached to an external monitor. Almost all cameras enable you to charge the battery pack with the USB port.

The max video resolution in the Sony A99 is 1920 x 1080 and it can capture in MPEG-4, AVCHD and H.264 file format. 1080p resolution can provide a good balance in video quality versus file sizes but 1080p will not give you much room to downsample. The body does come with both headphone and microphone support making it very valuable while recording audio.

Sony A99 features environment proofing which makes it a excellent choice to use in rough environments. This is particularly handy in case you are unsure about the elements you might encounter in outdoor photography.

The Sony A99 is equipped with a 3 inch fully articulated screen boasting a resolution of 1,229 thousand dots.

The screen is selfie friendly to shoot self portraits and even group shots when required. Sadly the screen isn't a touch screen. The A99 also has a builtin Top screen so its possible to instantly see the camera's settings.

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The View Finder specs regarding Sony A99 are the following:

• ViewFinder Electronic
• Resolution 2,359 thousand dots
• Coverage 100%
• Magnification 0.71x

In those sunny outdoor situations which make the camera displays washed out and tough to view, viewfinders can be quite useful.

Sony A99 has the ability to shoot continuously at 10.0 frames/s. The maximum shutter speed is 1/8000 seconds.

Sony A99 boasts external flash support but with no built-in flash. The highest flash sync is 1/250 seconds.

Sony A99 boasts both Phase Detect Autofocus along with Contrast Detect Autofocus. Phase Detection autofocusing is a lot more snappier & accurate when compared with Contrast Detect autofocusing. The camera supports Face detection which makes it helpful for portrait photography.

It supports 19 focus points to choose from. It also boasts Tracking Autofocus for objects that move. Sony A99 supports manual focus in case it is needed in low light conditions or you need more precise control on focus.

The battery pack (NP-FM500H) for the Sony A99 is designed to last for 500 shots with respect to the CIPA standards making it lower compared to its competition. The usual Advanced DSLR camera battery life is 909. Nikon D780 comes with the maximum (2260) battery life in this group of cameras.

Below is a number of Advanced DSLR cameras that have the highest battery life:

ModelVisualizeBattery LifeRAWNFCBluetooth

Nikon D780
A99 vs D7802260 yesnoyes

Nikon D850
A99 vs D8501840 yesyesyes

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Nikon Df
A99 vs Df1400 yesnono

Canon 90D
A99 vs 90D1300 yesnoyes

Nikon D500
A99 vs D5001240 yesyesyes

The following bar chart displays a rundown of the Sony A99 for various categories of photography. To check out more, go to the specific paragraph underneath.

The Sony A99 receives a rating of 81 which is very high, meaning that it is a wonderful fit to use for portraits. Shooting portraits leans heavily to sensor dimension, support for RAW photos plus the ability to utilize off-camera lighting.

Having a above average points total of 75, the Sony A99 is a very decent choice to buy for street photography. A decent street photography camera gives a perfect balance of image quality plus portability.

A superb sports photography rating of 78 indicates the Sony A99 is a brilliant option for taking photos of sports. A camera really should have good autofocus and continuous shooting for sports photography.

Portability is pretty important when choosing a camera for travel. Over-all, the Sony A99 gets a reasonable 60 as a travelling camera which is fairly adequate for your trips.

When you're looking to buy a digital camera for landscape photographs, the most critical factor is going to be image quality. The Sony A99 and it's very good grade of 74 for a landscape camera is a very decent choice amongst its rivals.

A vlogging camera preferably should come with a moving display screen, microphone port and ideally IBIS. Taking all things into account, the Sony A99 is a fantastic choice for vlogging as it comes to a great rating of 76.

If you are looking for alternatives to the A99, here is a selection of the highest rated cameras which fall under the class of Advanced DSLR.

The line graph followed below provides you a bird's eye view of the A99 compared to it's top ranking competitors listed above.

Here are a few more cameras you might take a look at as alternative options. To see a extensive comparison, go to the "compare" link.