Sleepless Over Sony’s a9 - What Is It Really, and Who Is It For?

Yes, the a9 is sick-fast, arguably sickest-fastest general purpose camera out there. But I actually lost sleep after shooting with it for a full day, wondering “why this camera, why now, and for whom?”
The rise of mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras is incontrovertible, part and parcel of the equally incontrovertible fall of DSLRs. You don’t need to take my word for it – CIPA has been publishing shipment volumes and values for years, and the last half dozen have been truly horrifying if you’re a camera manufacturer.
Still, Canon and Nikon continue to dominate the world of professional sports photography and photojournalism, relegating mirrorless ILC’s -- even as accomplished as Sony’s a7 series -- to the status of “consumer” or maybe, grudgingly, “prosumer” gear in the eyes of many pros.
With the a9, Sony is laying down the gauntlet. “You DSLR manufacturers offer 14fps? You have big bright optical finders to capture the decisive moment?” “Fuggedaboudit. Your shooters miss the dec...