So, I got banned for five days, for expressing my view on DPrev/Rishi´s reviews. I think it was a hard punishment for a message that wash´t too harsh, I think, but I admit that it wasn't a constructive statement, and I find that the one I made, does not belong in Canon Rumors. I owe Rishi an apology.
So I spent my banned period studying the debate in the treads where Rishi has participated the last week. I´ve noted that DPreview is thorough in their reviews, and they do emphasize weaknesses from all brands, not just Canon. That is a big reason why Rishi can defend DPr´s reviews seemingly well. Further, I find that it is partly the rhetorical angle that Preview use in their conclusions, along with their scoring system, and things they don´t emphasize, that is most upsetting to many Canon users. So asked myself, how would the A7RII conclusion look like if it were written by someone with a Canon bias, such as myself.
So this is the A7RII conclusion, rewritten. Points that I did´t care to rewrite are marked with strikethrough.
Conclusion - Pros
Impressive low light Raw performance, especially when images are downsized
Some photographers will appreciate the impressive dynamic range in Raw
Dramatically improved JPEGs, with sophisticated sharpening and well-controlled noise reduction
DRO and S-Log2 offer extensive dynamic range in JPEG
IBIS and electronic first curtain ensure ease of high resolution imaging
Continuous Eye-AF is very handy for portrait shooting
Autofocus with certain adapters work pretty well with third-party lenses
Provided you use very fast primes, low light continuous AF can compete with most DSLRs.
First full-frame mirrorless to come close to, in some particular situations, to challenge DSLR phase-detect systems
Industry leading AF frame coverage, but with poor manual controls to chose AF-points.
Offers silent shooting, though with some image noise cost
Extensive set of video support features including S-Log2, Zebras, and peaking
Sharp 4K footage especially from Super35 region of sensor
Face detection autofocus in video
Programmable Auto ISO implementation
One-touch AF point magnification in image review, making for quick focus check
Camera operation possible during USB charging - useful in emergencies
Conclusion - Cons
Unlike competing DSLRs from Nikon and Canon, no direct AF point control, which makes manual control over AF cumbersome
Lock-on AF still remains unpredictable and often unreliable
Camera focuses stopped down in AF-C, often crippling AF at small apertures or in low light
Eye-AF and Lock-on AF not available with 3rd party lenses, nor in video
Camera drops to 12-bit mode in continuous shooting, dropping dynamic range
Exposure parameters frozen while shutter is half-depressed (save for Dial EV Comp)
Viewfinder eye sensor is over-sensitive
Unlike Canon and Nikon, buttons and dials are either too small, recessed, or mushy
Inane interactions between menu items lead to poor experience and too many greyed out items
Buffer is sluggish to clear, making quick image review and focus check difficult
Video never shows low-light advantage of full frame sensor
No in-camera Raw conversion
No touchscreen
Very limited battery life, especially compared to DSLRs.
Overall Conclusion
Sony Alpha 7R II has impressive image quality, and have brought new and handy features, that we hope other manufacturers will implement. Our testing of the A7RII shows that it is very capable in quite a few situations, but it also has some serious shortcomings.
The A7RII has a few tricks up it´s sleeve. IBIS is a welcome addition in deed, and Eye-AF is very handy for portrait shooting. Further, continuous AF has improved. However, you can´t expect the uncompromised AF performance that you can from a DSLR. Unlike the A7RII, DSLRs work very well in (as good as) all shooting conditions, whether i´s still or moving objects, or the light is bad. Add to that, that the serious DSLR offerings has a direct AF-point controller, that makes it very easy for the photographer to choose were to focus. We find it very strange, that Sony has overlooked such a controller, when they at the same time offer the widest AF point covering seen in a full frame camera. (Arguably the dual pixel AF-system from Canon has wider covering when shooting in live view.)
In terms of handling and ergonomics, the A7RII still has a way to go, before it can compete with the much more refined offerings from Canon and Nikon. The A7RII´s bad menus, bad buttons and a general lack of response in many situations can have a very negative impact on the shooting experience. Canon on the other hand, often uses two, and sometimes three processors to handle both AF and captured images. Due to this, Canon cameras are always ready for whatever you want it to do. The A7RII will frustratingly often freeze up, sometimes at the wrong moment. This makes us wondering if the A7RII should have gone through more R&D and more testing, before release.
In terms of image quality, we must admit that the A7RII has impressed us. Dynamic range at low ISO is very impressive, although for most shooting, we rarely see the real world need for pushing shadows more than 3 stops. Only to the most DR demanding photographers, such as astrophotografers, we think high dynamic range could or should be a deciding factor, when deciding which camera to buy. In our opinion, a more important aspect of image quality is lens quality. Compared to the competition, Sony has a very immature selection of native lenses. Sure, they do offer the possibility to use third party lenses with an adapter, but we really don´t think that is a good solution. The poor ergonomics compared to DSLRs, makes using adapted lenses a bad option, because the lens-camera combo becomes very front heavy. Leica-lenses aren´t really a very good option either. For some reason, Sony uses a different filter stack than Leica, which makes many of the lenses perform bad in the corners, when adapted to the A7RII.
Of the few lenses Sony has released so far, one should be aware that unlike Canon, most of them has a a lot of copy to copy variation, so the chances that you get a bad copy, is quite big.
One should ale be aware that at least some of their lenses, the 24-70 f/4 and the 55 f/1.8 has proven to have frequent AF-failures. In this article from lens rentals, it says: "My paranoia increased when I saw that the linear electromagnetic focusing motors (LEMs) in the Sony FE 24-70mm f/4 and FE 55mm f/1.8 lenses broke a lot."
https://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2016/04/a-look-at-electromagnetic-focusing/
The problem with these two lenses, seem to relate to a bad choice of construction, where they use glue to attach moving parts in the AF-system, as described in this article:
https://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2015/04/tearing-down-the-sony-24-70-f4-za-oss-vario-tessar/
Sony has made other bad design choices in their lenses. In a tear down from Lensrentals.com, where they took apart Sony FE 35 f/1.4 ZA, they found heavy weather sealings everywhere, except in the lens mount, where it, arguably, matters the most. We wouldn't expect such an oversight even in a cheap chinese pirated copy of a lens.
https://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2015/12/sony-fe-35mm-f1-4-za-lens-teardown/
The final word
Sony has brought a lot of good things with the A7RII, and is a worthy competitor to every full frame camera on the market, when it comes to pure image quality and for certain types of shooting. For the photographer that don´t need a camera that can handle every situation, that don´t need the ability to have full manual control over AF, and that can do with the lenses that are offered, the A7RII could be the right camera. However, before making the sizable investment that the A7RII and lenses is, even those shooters should take into consideration whether or not the questionable quality of some of Sony´s offerings, reflects on a risk that they are willing to take.
NAvsPR-5 by NAVBPhotos, on Flickr
Lucas Oil Pitts Special - Cherry Point Airshow by Ron Yorgason, on Flickr
Corkscrew - Cherry Point Airshow by Ron Yorgason, on Flickr
Sunset - Cherry Point Airshow by Ron Yorgason, on Flickr
Propeller Vapor Trails - Cherry Point Airshow by Ron Yorgason, on Flickr
