Looks like Procam out of Michigan has a few in stock
Update: Shipping confirmation today. I'll be cancelling Cardinal Camera order that was placed after calling them and getting told they did, in fact, have them in stock. Was frustrating as I called them the next day and was told clearly they did _not_ in fact have any and that nobody had them. I'll also cancel my Adorama pre-order as that has been out there now for over a month.
Even though B&H showed “back ordered”, I ordered mine yesterday and it shipped the same day, so they clearly have stock. Waiting on FedEx to arrive with it now.
khollister wrote:
Even though B&H showed “back ordered”, I ordered mine yesterday and it shipped the same day, so they clearly have stock. Waiting on FedEx to arrive with it now.
I am still in the belief that the A1II is a minor upgrade from the A1, especially with the same 30 FPS. It's quite a bit more expensive than the Nikon Z8 and the Canon R5II. I know it may be irrelevant to talk about other brands but feature wise, is the A1II worth $2000-$3000 more than those competitors? I think after initial enthusiasm dies off and the "must have new toy" guys (me included) got theirs, we may see $5500 new in box A1II on the B&S board here in 6 or 7 months.
I got my II few weeks ago and still have the I. A good used A1 for $3000 is a steal, IMHO.
When Sony makes an A1III with 60 FPS, some of us may still happily bend over and hand over $7000 to Sony.
Douglas L wrote:
I am still in the belief that the A1II is a minor upgrade from the A1, especially with the same 30 FPS. It's quite a bit more expensive than the Nikon Z8 and the Canon R5II. I know it may be irrelevant to talk about other brands but feature wise, is the A1II worth $2000-$3000 more than those competitors? I think after initial enthusiasm dies off and the "must have new toy" guys (me included) got theirs, we may see $5500 new in box A1II on the B&S board here in 6 or 7 months.
I got my II few weeks ago and still have the I. A good used A1 for $3000 is a steal, IMHO.
When Sony makes an A1III with 60 FPS, some of us may still happily bend over and hand over $7000 to Sony....Show more →
I having been saying the same thing for months... a used A1 is the best value.
Douglas L wrote:
I am still in the belief that the A1II is a minor upgrade from the A1, especially with the same 30 FPS. It's quite a bit more expensive than the Nikon Z8 and the Canon R5II. I know it may be irrelevant to talk about other brands but feature wise, is the A1II worth $2000-$3000 more than those competitors? I think after initial enthusiasm dies off and the "must have new toy" guys (me included) got theirs, we may see $5500 new in box A1II on the B&S board here in 6 or 7 months.
I got my II few weeks ago and still have the I. A good used A1 for $3000 is a steal, IMHO.
When Sony makes an A1III with 60 FPS, some of us may still happily bend over and hand over $7000 to Sony....Show more →
I felt the same...at first. But after a few months not so much so. After a trip to Ecuador with my nephew shooting side by side--him with an A1 on the latest 3.0 FW and me on the A1 II--I changed my mind. He did too and he wants an A1II pretty badly now.
It's a sum of the parts thing, really. Each minor change overall seems incremental. But together, the result is just a lot more in-focus shots, and that's truly what matters. Whether its the faster AF, precapture, better IBIS or most likely a combination of all of those, I just end up at the end of every trip with way more shots that are in focus, sharp (no shake softening) and capture "the moment" than I did with the A1. It's the same reason I found myself on an earlier trip to Colombia last year favoring the A9III over the A1, even with less than half the pixels.
Give it some time and really learn how to use the new features--the AI AF settings have a huge amount of tweaking capability--and I suspect you'll see things a little differently.
I do know from multiple reviewers that overall theZ8/Z9 AF is just not in the same league. The Canon is intriguing but I still prefer the lenses and ecosystem on the Sony side, and after spending the huge learning curve understanding how to customize the settings and buttons starting back on the A9, I've really missed that when borrowing a Canon or Nikon. YMMV of course.
jhapeman wrote:
I felt the same...at first. But after a few months not so much so. After a trip to Ecuador with my nephew shooting side by side--him with an A1 on the latest 3.0 FW and me on the A1 II--I changed my mind. He did too and he wants an A1II pretty badly now.
It's a sum of the parts thing, really. Each minor change overall seems incremental. But together, the result is just a lot more in-focus shots, and that's truly what matters. Whether its the faster AF, precapture, better IBIS or most likely a combination of all of those, I just end up at the end of every trip with way more shots that are in focus, sharp (no shake softening) and capture "the moment" than I did with the A1. It's the same reason I found myself on an earlier trip to Colombia last year favoring the A9III over the A1, even with less than half the pixels.
Give it some time and really learn how to use the new features--the AI AF settings have a huge amount of tweaking capability--and I suspect you'll see things a little differently.
I do know from multiple reviewers that overall theZ8/Z9 AF is just not in the same league. The Canon is intriguing but I still prefer the lenses and ecosystem on the Sony side, and after spending the huge learning curve understanding how to customize the settings and buttons starting back on the A9, I've really missed that when borrowing a Canon or Nikon. YMMV of course. ...Show more →
I bought the Z9/Z8, the Z 600 f4 TC and the 800 PF to try, while I also owned the A1/600GM. I liked the Nikon lenses but not the cameras, too big and too heavy, even the Z8. I can't speak about their AF as I didn't own them for long. I am so used to the A1's customization it's hard to pick up a different system. I took out the Z8 after not using it for a few weeks, the only buttons I instantly knew how to use were the on/off button and shutter, took me 10 minutes to figure out how to change ISO. That was the moment I told myself not to run two systems. It doesn't change my opinion that the A1II is over priced compared to the competition but I bought one anyway.
Douglas L wrote:
I am still in the belief that the A1II is a minor upgrade from the A1, especially with the same 30 FPS. It's quite a bit more expensive than the Nikon Z8 and the Canon R5II. I know it may be irrelevant to talk about other brands but feature wise, is the A1II worth $2000-$3000 more than those competitors? I think after initial enthusiasm dies off and the "must have new toy" guys (me included) got theirs, we may see $5500 new in box A1II on the B&S board here in 6 or 7 months.
I got my II few weeks ago and still have the I. A good used A1 for $3000 is a steal, IMHO.
When Sony makes an A1III with 60 FPS, some of us may still happily bend over and hand over $7000 to Sony....Show more →
I'd say it is worth it over the Z8 but not the R5II. The R5II has pretty much everything you get in the A1II except the zebras in stills. The Z8 lacks all sorts of things like 10FPS, precapture RAW, lack of control wheels, mediocre button customization, not as good AF.
But Canon has no interesting lenses so not on my radar as a valid alternative. Although I do have an R1 and RF100-300/2.8 coming to me this weekend to test out.
For sure you will be able to get BNIB A1II at $5500 very soon. And yes, a used A1 at $3K is a great deal and still a better camera than a Z8 or original R5.
I'm still happy with the sum of its parts upgrade that the A1II gave me over the A1. The net cost between selling my A1 and buying the A1II sits well with me for what I got.
Douglas L wrote:
I am still in the belief that the A1II is a minor upgrade from the A1, especially with the same 30 FPS. It's quite a bit more expensive than the Nikon Z8 and the Canon R5II. I know it may be irrelevant to talk about other brands but feature wise, is the A1II worth $2000-$3000 more than those competitors? I think after initial enthusiasm dies off and the "must have new toy" guys (me included) got theirs, we may see $5500 new in box A1II on the B&S board here in 6 or 7 months.
I got my II few weeks ago and still have the I. A good used A1 for $3000 is a steal, IMHO.
When Sony makes an A1III with 60 FPS, some of us may still happily bend over and hand over $7000 to Sony....Show more →
The fact is that Sony is the market leader and with that position comes the ability to charge more for equivalent products. I believe that the cost of system switching acts as fuel on the fire and enables Sony to charge even more and still sell higher unit counts of high end bodies than the competition. Let's face it, if most of us were to switch to Canikon, the system switch cost would be far north of the $2-3K difference in stacked sensor compact body pricing.
Douglas L wrote:
I am still in the belief that the A1II is a minor upgrade from the A1, especially with the same 30 FPS. It's quite a bit more expensive than the Nikon Z8 and the Canon R5II. I know it may be irrelevant to talk about other brands but feature wise, is the A1II worth $2000-$3000 more than those competitors? I think after initial enthusiasm dies off and the "must have new toy" guys (me included) got theirs, we may see $5500 new in box A1II on the B&S board here in 6 or 7 months.
I got my II few weeks ago and still have the I. A good used A1 for $3000 is a steal, IMHO.
When Sony makes an A1III with 60 FPS, some of us may still happily bend over and hand over $7000 to Sony....Show more →
While comparing the A1ii to Z8/Z9 or Canon stuff is interesting, it is pretty useless unless someone is planning to completely change their system (and even then it's about the lenses more than the body IMHO). When I decided to go back to FF from Fuji, I picked Sony in large part due to the lens lineup (completeness, size, weight). At this point, I have huge amounts of money tied up in Sony GM lenses and am completely satisfied. I wanted a Sony flagship stacked sensor, high res body for birds/motorsport and the A1ii was it. I have 2 A7RV's and did not want to "go backwards" on the AF and give up pre-capture to an A1.
arbitrage wrote:
I'd say it is worth it over the Z8 but not the R5II. The R5II has pretty much everything you get in the A1II except the zebras in stills. The Z8 lacks all sorts of things like 10FPS, precapture RAW, lack of control wheels, mediocre button customization, not as good AF.
But Canon has no interesting lenses so not on my radar as a valid alternative. Although I do have an R1 and RF100-300/2.8 coming to me this weekend to test out.
For sure you will be able to get BNIB A1II at $5500 very soon. And yes, a used A1 at $3K is a great deal and still a better camera than a Z8 or original R5.
I'm still happy with the sum of its parts upgrade that the A1II gave me over the A1. The net cost between selling my A1 and buying the A1II sits well with me for what I got. ...Show more →
You raise a fair point - I own a Z8 and Z9, but what's prompted me to change systems hasn't been the bodies (although I tested an A1 II and it is stickie, and RAW recapture, better viewfinder are definitely tangible), but the lenses - the 50-150/2 as well as the 300/2.8 which is super lightweight. The combination of these two lenses are ones that Nikon doesn't offer and are game changers for indoor sports for me. And finally I was inclined to switch systems as I am able to get a significant discount on Sony gear...
Douglas L wrote:
I am still in the belief that the A1II is a minor upgrade from the A1, especially with the same 30 FPS. It's quite a bit more expensive than the Nikon Z8 and the Canon R5II. I know it may be irrelevant to talk about other brands but feature wise, is the A1II worth $2000-$3000 more than those competitors? I think after initial enthusiasm dies off and the "must have new toy" guys (me included) got theirs, we may see $5500 new in box A1II on the B&S board here in 6 or 7 months.
I got my II few weeks ago and still have the I. A good used A1 for $3000 is a steal, IMHO.
When Sony makes an A1III with 60 FPS, some of us may still happily bend over and hand over $7000 to Sony....Show more →
I love the A1 II.
Was definitely surprised at the initial demand/scarcity as it seemed like a relatively minor upgrade. It arrived just in time for a big trip and I have no buyers remorse whatsoever at paying the “early adopter” fee of buying at MSRP.
Was definitely surprised at the initial demand/scarcity as it seemed like a relatively minor upgrade. It arrived just in time for a big trip and I have no buyers remorse whatsoever at paying the “early adopter” fee of buying at MSRP.
lol at the A1 III prediction.
I don't regret getting the A1II at MSRP, I sold the A7RV so the A1II only "cost' me $4000. Heck, I paid MSRP for my first A1 and close to MSRP for the second A1. But that was before Nikon/Canon had anything remotely close to the A1. I have about 20 E mount lenses so I am not switching. I made the comment strictly looking at the features/price of the Nikon/Canon competitors vs the A1II, not considering the ecosystem. My comment was more like a Toyota Camry owner complaining why a similarly equipped Honda Accord is $5000 cheaper, with no real intent to buy an Accord.
Douglas L wrote:
I don't regret getting the A1II at MSRP, I sold the A7RV so the A1II only "cost' me $4000. Heck, I paid MSRP for my first A1 and close to MSRP for the second A1. But that was before Nikon/Canon had anything remotely close to the A1. I have about 20 E mount lenses so I am not switching. I made the comment strictly looking at the features/price of the Nikon/Canon competitors vs the A1II, not considering the ecosystem. My comment was more like a Toyota Camry owner complaining why a similarly equipped Honda Accord is $5000 cheaper, with no real intent to buy an Accord....Show more →
Right there with you. Starting from scratch it's hard to argue with the value equation of some of the competition but with my panoply of FE lenses - it really doesn't matter. I won't be switching in the foreseeable future.
I still find the Z bodies too clunky and the RF lens range isn't doing it for me either so yep - no regrets for sure.
We were on the exact same path - I sold my A7RV and ponied up an extra $4K for the A1 II. Slightly painful but worth it.
liggy wrote:
Right there with you. Starting from scratch it's hard to argue with the value equation of some of the competition but with my panoply of FE lenses - it really doesn't matter. I won't be switching in the foreseeable future.
I still find the Z bodies too clunky and the RF lens range isn't doing it for me either so yep - no regrets for sure.
We were on the exact same path - I sold my A7RV and ponied up an extra $4K for the A1 II. Slightly painful but worth it.
I had two A1s for a couple years, then replaced one of them with an A7RV. The A7RV is a great camera but for anything moving fast the EVF blackout just sucks. It's hard to go back to this kind of EVF once you are spoiled by the blackout free EVFs. So now I am rocking with the A1 and A1II, plus a converted infrared Canon R5. The Canon R5 is pretty comfortable to hold, the Z8 was already too big for me, the Z9 was just ridiculous.
I went into this year shooting with both Sony A1 x 2 and Canon R5. The A1 II price just seemed about $2000 more than I wanted to spend. I ended up selling one of my A1’s and trying the R5 Mark II in its place. I sold the A1 for exactly the price of the R5 Mark II which was $3575 so an even trade.
I already owned both Canon RF and Sony FE GM & GM II lenses that I used regularly so I’ve been happy..but after almost 6 month I’m still interested in trying the A1 II but I think it will be at least another 6 months before we see any lower prices on it like $5500 if at all. Part of that is the poor availability Sony is providing Another problem is I will also need to purchase a new battery grip for it which adds an other $398 to the price. So with the same sensor at 50 Mpixels and 30 FPS as the A1 I’m just not seeing the justification for its price. What am I missing?
swldstn wrote:
I went into this year shooting with both Sony A1 x 2 and Canon R5. The A1 II price just seemed about $2000 more than I wanted to spend. I ended up selling one of my A1’s and trying the R5 Mark II in its place. I sold the A1 for exactly the price of the R5 Mark II which was $3575 so an even trade.
I already owned both Canon RF and Sony FE GM & GM II lenses that I used regularly so I’ve been happy..but after almost 6 month I’m still interested in trying the A1 II but I think it will be at least another 6 months before we see any lower prices on it like $5500 if at all. Part of that is the poor availability Sony is providing Another problem is I will also need to purchase a new battery grip for it which adds an other $398 to the price. So with the same sensor at 50 Mpixels and 30 FPS as the A1 I’m just not seeing the justification for its price. What am I missing?...Show more →
The AI AF system is new...there's more to the back-end going on to add pre-capture, etc. New body design that has some amortization costs associated with it. But yeah...mostly Sony is charging more because they can. Capitalism! The price will most likely come down over the next year as the supply issues settle down.
jhapeman wrote:
...The price will most likely come down over the next year as the supply issues settle down.
I'm not entirely sure about this, but given the current tariff situation—which will likely remain 20–30% higher than before even after things stabilize—I think there's a good chance that Sony, like other brands and/or retailers, might raise the MSRP on most (if not all) of their products sold in the U.S. If that happens, used prices may not drop much below today’s MSRP, at least in the short term.
I could be wrong, of course, but that’s the reasoning I used to justify buying it now ahead of my trip to South Africa...
cambyses wrote:
I'm not entirely sure about this, but given the current tariff situation—which will likely remain 20–30% higher than before even after things stabilize—I think there's a good chance that Sony, like other retailers, might raise the MSRP on most (if not all) of their products sold in the U.S. If that happens, used prices may not drop much below today’s MSRP, at least in the short term.
I could be wrong, of course, but that’s the reasoning I used to justify buying it now ahead of my trip to South Africa...
Actually that's a great point...for a blissful moment I was forgetting these ridiculous tariff times we live in. If they stick you are absolutely right.
Why... no idea... 
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