Review: Sony A7R II by LensRentals.com

[Canon Rumors Guy]

Joey Miller, a longtime employee of LensRentals.com has completed his brief review of the upcoming Sony A7R II. I have a lot of respect for Joey, he’s a great shooter and shoots a lot of different cameras and mediums. If you want the opinion of a working photographer, his is worthwhile.</p>
<p>From Joey:</p>
<blockquote><p>I really think Sony nailed it with this one. Maybe I wouldn’t shoot roller derby with it yet, but for pretty much everything else, I think this is going to be my go to camera, especially once the lens line up is filled out more. I absolutely love the Sony FE 28mm. The Sony FE 90mm macro is nice, but it’s slow. I had good luck with M mount lenses, though, with the Leica 90mm APO-Cron and Leica 21mm Lux really knocking it out of the park on this high res sensor. If you’ve been waiting for a better alternative to your big, bulky DSLR, this might finally fit the bill. I’ve been hesitant to say that for the a7S, a7R, and the a7 II, even though I love those cameras, but the a7R II, I think this is the one. Try it out ASAP! <a href="http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2015/08/sony-a7r-ii-a-brief-review" target="_blank">Read the full review</a></p></blockquote>
<p><strong>Sony A7R II Body $3198: <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1159878-REG/sony_a7r_mark_ii_digital.html/BI/2466/KBID/3296/DFF/d10-v21-t1-x647086" target="_blank">B&H Photo</a> | <a href="http://www.adorama.com/ISOA7R2.html?kbid=64393" target="_blank">Adorama</a> | <a href="http://amzn.to/1LhKh5l" target="_blank">Amazon</a></strong></p>

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

Once they arrive in stock here in Spokane, I'll probably go in and try one. I have big hands and have difficulty with small controls, so the only way is for me to try one.

It seems unlikely that I'd actually buy one though.

 

[Maiaibing]

Joey Miller, a longtime employee of LensRentals.com has completed his brief review of the upcoming Sony A7R II. I have a lot of respect for Joey, he’s a great shooter and shoots a lot of different cameras and mediums. If you want the opinion of a working photographer, his is worthwhile.</p>

Sounds like some of us are in for a treat! ;D

Now if only I did not have to wait so long for mine to fall into my hands... :'(

 

[Perio]

Once they arrive in stock here in Spokane, I'll probably go in and try one. I have big hands and have difficulty with small controls, so the only way is for me to try one.

It seems unlikely that I'd actually buy one though.

For exactly the same reason I went to the B&H store in NYC last weekend. Even though my hands are not large at all (7-7.5 size gloves), all A7 series cameras felt very uncomfortable in the hands. I actually liked how Sony a99 fit into my hands, very nice ergonomics.

 

[TeT]

getting there... (means there for a lot of us)

I have no reason to try one, but am pleased that capabilities are growing in the mirrorless arena...

 

[siegsAR]

I hope A7s II would be as improved as A7R II is, it would be my first mirrorless camera.

A review of the A7R II against the 6D in terms focusing while shooting sports, now that would be fun! ;D

 

[Dylan777]

Once they arrive in stock here in Spokane, I'll probably go in and try one. I have big hands and have difficulty with small controls, so the only way is for me to try one.

It seems unlikely that I'd actually buy one though.

You mind if I ask, Why a7 series? A7II and A7rII has same body size. Yes, it's smaller than 6D.

If you chasing after high MP, the 5DsR is really good, plus huge L lenses to chose.

 

[Dylan777]

I hope A7s II would be as improved as A7R II is, it would be my first mirrorless camera.

A review of the A7R II against the 6D in terms focusing while shooting sports, now that would be fun! ;D

It's SR2 and I hope it dead wrong ;D
http://www.sonyalpharumors.com/sr2-sony-a7sii-will-give-up-the-classic-a7-form-and-become-mroe-like-a-canon-cx10/

 

[TeT]

I hope A7s II would be as improved as A7R II is, it would be my first mirrorless camera.

A review of the A7R II against the 6D in terms focusing while shooting sports, now that would be fun! ;D

It's SR2 and I hope it dead wrong ;D
http://www.sonyalpharumors.com/sr2-sony-a7sii-will-give-up-the-classic-a7-form-and-become-mroe-like-a-canon-cx10/

oof, that would be an interesting development. If they did so, I would love to hear why...

 

[siegsAR]

I hope A7s II would be as improved as A7R II is, it would be my first mirrorless camera.

A review of the A7R II against the 6D in terms focusing while shooting sports, now that would be fun! ;D

It's SR2 and I hope it dead wrong ;D
http://www.sonyalpharumors.com/sr2-sony-a7sii-will-give-up-the-classic-a7-form-and-become-mroe-like-a-canon-cx10/

oof, that would be an interesting development. If they did so, I would love to hear why...

So Canon after all, must've done lots of things right w/ CX10? A7s II also w/ 4 mil. ISO!

Seriously though, why? And if that happens I might as well grab the A7s. Should be a lot cheaper by then, no way I'm going to spend that much on the A7S II for my intended purpose.

 

[xps]

The successor of the 7R will become the Camera of the year, of course. Colleagues who work for technical testing laboratories received their first models. And they did not deny that the 7R2 is superior to the Canon high MP model.
Their hinti s to use the Batis lenses on the 7R2... you receive an incredible (and payable) IQ.

On the other hand, the 7T2 body is expensive (3500-3600€ in Germany) and all other accessory equipment too (powerful flash about 650€,...). And Sony has no prime >400mm that has an good optical quality. (Two members of our local fotoclub owned the 500mm Sony lens and they were not satisfied).

I personally will wait for the 5DIV and then decide, if my landscape equipment will become an 7R2 with Batis lenses and an 5DIV with 500 or 600mm Canon lenses.
Maybe Canon will decide to meet the Sony 7R2 and put the almost best (the best for the 1DX2) parts they have in the coming 5DIV.

 

[Hector1970]

Interesting to see a more thorough review of the camera. I like the size of it. While I like my 5D III and 7D II there are times where they are their lens are just too heavy and something smaller but high quality would be preferable.
I wish personally Canon would produce a smaller lighter camera with a good sensor.
I know alot of people like the chunkiness of the current bodies but I think in years to come they will be seen as being like old laptops or CRT TV's.
There is a strange pink tone in alot of the photos. There is also a photo half way down of an elderly man with a very strange hair-do. I don't know if it was a joke or whether he's always like that. The photos used to demonstrate the camera didn't really impress me to rush out to buy it.
I'm looking forward to seeing more creative and detailed photos. The high ISO performance seems to be good.
I'd like to have heard more of any weaknesses it had to see if I could live with them.
Is there any chance Canon will produce a smaller format high MP full frame camera?

 

[ScottyP]

I don't get the appeal.

Pros:
It is kind of smaller, it you like that.

Cons:
It is too small to have the proven right ergonomics like 1dx or 5d3, etc. .
It is not small enough with lenses attached to really help portability in a truly meaningful way.
AF still inferior.
Lens selection still inferior. Adapters do not helpthe AF problem.


The small camera thing won't last. Remember how cell phones got tinier and tinier and everyone wanted one smaller than their friends'? But they got so small it was hard to use buttons or even to talk into. Now the iPhones are bigger and getting bigger still in a new race to have the biggest screen. Cameras too are handheld electronic devices that need to fit comfortably to hands and face and need to have easily manipulated controls.

 

[Hector1970]

It's interesting the different views on ergonomics.
I guess if you are bigger and stronger the weight is not an issue and the size is required or else the buttons are too fiddly.
As I get older I must be getting weaker as I am finding the weight an overkill.
It can't be ergonomically good for anyones neck to have that weight around it.
I moved to Sunsniper and Blackrapid to cope with that weight.
I think Canon need to offer that option of a smaller lighter format.
Sony are uncontested in that area at the moment.
For general purpose use like family occasions or street photography a 1DX or a 5DIII I think are overkill and inconvenient to carry around. Sony have focussed on this market and it seems to be doing well with that strategy.
Canon have all the technology to compete with them in that area but are choosing not too (except for the M series but they don't seem to be achieving alot there).

 

[RGF]

In the review

If you’ve ever tried using your Canon lenses with the previous generation bodies and the Metabones IV, you’ll see right away how much faster things are now. Do note that in AF-C with either the Metabones or the LAEA3 there is no lock-on tracking option, only wide, center, and flexible spot. To get the full advantage of the improved AF, you have to use native E mount lenses.

Note sure what this means. What is AF-C? what does lock-on tracking option, ... mean in real life?

Thanks

 

[3kramd5]

- Sensor based stabilization (adds IS to all your lenses!)

Are we sure about that? Or does IBIS require communication between the lens and the body? I recall you don't get 5-axis IBIS if you aren't using recent native lenses because they don't communicate the info required for translation, just rotation. Do the roll/pitch/yaw components of IBIS work with dumb lenses?

To compare with the 5DsR...
- $3899 vs $3199 (5DsR price is 22% higher)

Given that you mentioned "Works with all your Canon lenses" as a pro for the A7R2, you need to add an adapter, which runs you anywhere from 30-400 bucks depending on capabilities. My metabones IV cost me ~$399, which shrinks the gap a bit.

 

[RLPhoto]

This is why I wait for Gen2 products. The A7RII is a beast.

 

[3kramd5]

- Sensor based stabilization (adds IS to all your lenses!)

Are we sure about that? Or does IBIS require communication between the lens and the body? I recall you don't get 5-axis IBIS if you aren't using recent native lenses because they don't communicate the info required for translation, just rotation. Do the roll/pitch/yaw components of IBIS work with dumb lenses?

I haven't seen any information on that. I wouldn't have thought that the lenses supply telemetry, only the body?

But in that case, the camera can still only have the focal length input, and not the focal distance–which has to do with how far away from the sensor the lens is. From the focal length information, it can figure out the right amount of pitch and yaw to provide. However, roll compensation doesn’t require any information from the lens because it is always available. Roll compensation is all based on how the user moves the camera around as you can see in the graph above.

The behavior of the system is largely dependent on the lens. The lens bears a responsibility if it’s going to enjoy five axis stabilization. It needs to provide focal length and focal distance to the system. But we put in a provision for you to manually put in the focal length. But you cannot put in focus distance. We thought that would be pretty cumbersome.”

So, I presume you'll roll compensation with any lens, roll/pitch/yaw for lenses if FL is supplied, and roll/pitch/yaw/x/y only for lenses which transmit focal distance data.

Cons:
...

Another is the loss of precision (to 12-bit linear) when either bulb mode or the fully electronic shutter are enabled. If you want very long exposures with zero camera shake, you lose DR and gain noise. I rarely shoot longer than 30 seconds, and would probably stack multiple exposures rather than go to bulb mode as a workaround, but there is no way to work around the electronic shutter limitation.

 

[PhotographyFirst]

Some users of the new camera are already noticing that the AF is fast but not very accurate. DPR had pitched a huge trouser tent over how the eye tracking AF was going to change the world. Seems from early reports that it doesn't really work very well when considering actual accuracy in focusing on eyes.

I have a feeling it will be a great camera, but it got super-duper overly hyped like all mirrorless cameras so far.

 

[crazyrunner33]

So far it's the best hybrid camera. I'll probably use the 5D Mark III as my main still camera, but the A7RII would be my go to video camera for freelance work.