Sony A1 II Firmware 4.0: The Wildlife Photographer’s Dream Update?

I was in Shenzhen when the firmware 4.0 news dropped. Had the A1 II in my bag the whole time, but no way was I updating behind the great firewall on slow-mo Chinese hotel Wi-Fi with 38% battery. Normally? I’m a total sucker. New firmware drops, I’m on it like a gull on chips. Not this time. Just got home, plugged in, hit update. Let’s see if it’s as good as the notes say.

Why I’m Already Sold (Without Touching It)

I haven’t fired a single burst with 4.0 yet. No field tests. No dramatic saves. Just me, a can of Pepsi Max, and the release notes open on my laptop for the third time.

But I’ve been through enough Sony updates to spot the real deal. And this one’s got my attention.

1. Better at Holding Focus When the Subject Gets Hidden

"Improved subject retention during temporary loss of visibility"

Translation: Leopard ducks behind a log for three seconds? Camera remembers it. I’ve lost way too many shots to focus jumping to the background. If this holds up in January with snowy owls diving through powder, I’ll be stunned.

2. Better Bird Eye AF in Wide Area

"Enhanced detection of small/distant subjects in complex environments"

White owl on white snow. Yellow eye at 80 meters. Blowing snow. Old firmware? Good luck. 4.0 claims it’ll find the eye anyway. My Stafford is about to get dragged into the garden whether he likes it or not.

3. Preset Focus

Finally. I’ve been racking focus manually on perches for years, praying the bird lands where I left it. Now I can save two distances and flip between them with a custom button on lenses that don't have this feature already.

The Verdict (So Far): Hope in Firmware Form

Gotta love that the old Sony habit of holding back is gone: trickle out a half-baked update, then lock the good stuff behind the next body. Remember the A1 to A1 II jump? Yeah, it wasn’t that big. Better EVF, slightly faster readout, a few tweaks. Nice, but not “sell your kidney” nice. But as a gear lover I sold the A1 and got the A1 II at release anyway.

But this? Dropping 4.0 with real AI upgrades, better tracking when subjects get hidden, and preset focus on a body that’s barely a year old? That’s the proof I needed. Skipping the A1 and going straight to A1 II was the right call. This is more than iterating; Sony is fighting the competition to show who the new boss is. Now I want to see Canon release a major kick-ass R1 firmware update let them battle about the No.1 position.

Side note:
After posting this, I stepped into our dimly lit living room late in the evening (near pitch-black conditions) with the 50-150/F2 lens mounted. From about 10-12 meters away, the autofocus instantly locked onto my wife's face. I deliberately tested its limits: yanking the camera out of frame to lose focus, then swinging it back in. Even when I moved erratically like a caffeinated maniac, the AF snapped back and held steady with impressive reliability. Now I’m itching to take this out into the field and put it through its paces on wildlife.