Sony ambassador and renowned sports photographer Mine Kasapoğlu has been at the forefront of capturing some of the world’s most intense sports moments. With a career spanning over 10 Olympic Games, as well as championships and tournaments across various disciplines, she shares her experience testing Sony’s new flagship camera, the Alpha 1 II. Here, she discusses how its advanced features such as high resolution, lightning speed, and innovative pre-capture, enable her to freeze breathtaking, fleeting moments with stunning detail.

I was thrilled to see how Sony took the Alpha 1 to the next level. This camera blew me away from the moment I picked it up!

The first thing I noticed was that it felt better in my hands, like the Alpha 9 III with the larger grip. It might sound like a small thing, but when you’re holding the camera for hours with a heavy lens, that extra comfort is priceless.

The low-light performance improved too, with less noticeable noise even at high ISO settings, which is something I’m often forced to use for my indoor work.

The shooting speed of 30fps is the same as the original model – but – with one super update. The camera now has the Pre-Capture feature that first came out on the Alpha 9 III. This is an absolute game-changer. For sports photographers, capturing hidden in the mini moments that makes the shot often feels like a chase. Now, that chase just got a whole lot easier.

A few years ago, Sony completely revolutionised the sports photography industry and the Alpha 1 II proves they’re continuing to lead the way

The Alpha 1 II is an absolute dream camera for sports photographers. When I’m shooting, I’m after sharp, beautiful images that move people. These moments pass very quickly in sport, and we need to shoot very quickly, at high speed and sometimes in poor light to freeze action and emotion.

So low light performance, reliable autofocus and 30 fps are very important for us. Often, we are forced to shoot from a distance, but with the incredible resolution of the Alpha 1 II, I can crop as needed without sacrificing detail. It’s incredibly freeing.

This camera has pretty much everything a professional photographer would need on any kind of shoot.  A top performance camera, with its super speed and high-resolution, high-quality images, plus pre-capture and improved AI Autofocus. The new AI chip helps predict human body positions, which is a very impressive new feature.

Since the camera is taking care of this technical part, I can fully focus on being creative, finding a good shooting position and go into my flow state, where I create best.

My favourite lens for sports has to be the FE 400m f/2.8 GM OSS. It's great for football, skiing and swimming. The focal length lets us get close and very sharp in the focus point and blurs everything else, which is a feature I love as I feel it illustrates the athlete’s mindset very accurately.

I also love the FE 135mm f/1.8 GM to capture more intimate moments when athletes are training. The FE 35mm f/1.4 GM is a great wide option that also works well as a portrait lens. And the FE 50mm f/1.2 GM has always had a special place for me as 50mm was my very first lens and has the best bokeh.  I prefer using prime lenses as much as possible, but my favourite zoom that I constantly rely on is the FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS II. I have done almost entire shoots with this lens and when I need many angles covered, and I cannot afford to lose a single moment, this lens will be in my set-up. I used all these lenses with the Alpha 1 II and of course they all performed beautifully.

The Alpha 1 has always been my number one choice, and now it's even better. I speak for all sports photographers when I say that our dream is to have the sharpest images possible. The updated features of the Alpha 1 II makes that easily achievable. The updated autofocus with AI features, the improved low-light performance, and that amazing 50 megapixel sensor make that dream a reality.

I love that Sony keeps on pushing the boundaries for creativity. It's in the Alpha system’s DNA. Sony sets the path for the development of sports photography technology, giving creators opportunity and motivation to be creative in different ways.