Note: Amazon (Click here) is again taking preorders on the A7II!! Europe too at Sony Germany, Sony UK, Sony France, Sony Italy, Sony Spain, Sony Austria, Sony Switzerland, Sony Netherland, Sony Belgium, Sony Portugal, Sony Sweden, Sony Finland, Sony Norway.
Newsshooter spoke with Sony Europe at length about the new Sony A7II. And this is ome of the key info they got:
1) the A-mount 16mm f2.8 fisheye, 20mm f2.8, 28mm f2.8 and 500mm f8 AF mirror lens when used with a Sony A-mount to E-mount adapter only offer three axis stabilisation.
2) With third party lenses without electronic communication on the a7 II you can program the focal length into the menu for optimal operation. I was told you set the focal length closest to the one you are using – although I don’t know what you are supposed to do when using a manual zoom that doesn’t communicate with the camera.
3) Changing of the programmed focal length can be assigned to a custom button to make changes quicker. Sony say the stabilisation system will likely perform well with third party lenses, but there are no guarantees.
4) They were keen to point out that the roll axis stabilisation is likely to aid video shooters the most. When running-and-gunning this is often the hardest motion to stabilise.
5) One added bonus of the sensor shift system is that is also improves the sensor cleaning as the camera is now able to physically shake dust off the sensor.
6) I was told the a7 II uses the same sensor as the original a7, but has some improvements in the way it processes that data which may improve image quality.
7) Interestingly the lowest ISO setting for S-log 2 in video mode seems to be ISO 1600 as opposed to 3200 on the a7S.
Thansk Newsshooter for prividing that additional info!
SAR reader Michael had the chance to play with the A7II in UK and told me that:
I played with it extensively in the past two days and it is a nice upgrade. The focusing is much much better and I like the implementation of the tracking more along the lines of the a7S, The stabilisation works on just about any lens, The Camera is definitely a little heavier which is a good thing as it feels more solid less plasticy and the way the camera sis in ones hand makes it a pleasure to use.
And Ilovehatephoto wrote the Reasons why A7 Owners Should and Shouldn’t Upgrade to the Sony A7II.
USA preorders:
Sony Alpha a7II (Body Only) for $1,698 at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, SonyStore.
Sony Alpha a7II with FE 28-70mm OSS Lens for $1,998 at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, SonyStore.
Sony 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 G SSM II Lens for $1,148 at BHphoto.
EU preorders:
Sony Alpha a7II (Body Only) for 1.799 Euro at Sony Germany, Sony UK, Sony France, Sony Italy, Sony Spain, Sony Austria, Sony Switzerland, Sony Netherland, Sony Belgium, Sony Portugal, Sony Sweden, Sony Finland, Sony Norway.
Sony Alpha a7II with FE 28-70mm OSS Lens for 2.099 Euro at Amazon Germany and at Wex UK. In Finland at Verkkokauppa.
64 Responses
A kinda out of topic question: I keep reading about the autofocus of the A7 being slow. As an old SLT-A33 user, do you believe I will be dissapointed with the A7 AF or is it actually faster? Has anyone compared the AF performance between these cameras (or maybe with another of that age, A55/A65/etc perhaps)?
What most people don’t realize is that the PDAF points on the A7 are only near the center of the frame, so if you set the AF region to the entire frame the AF is painstakingly slow. This is the default setting.
However, if you set point or zone AF to the center region it can be quite decent.
But with that huge bright EVF I prefer manual focus anyway.
From my experience, slower than the a77, much slower than the a77ii and a6000 but dramatically faster than the nex c3 and a5000.
The newsshooter article states “… the a7 II uses the same sensor as the original a7, but has
some improvements in the way it processes that data which may improve
image quality.”. Af far as i know, data is processed by the image processor (Bionz-X on both the A7II and A7). Which makes me hope for Sony to release a A7 firmware upgrade boosting AF performance (and possibly image quality if they claim it’s better on A7II).
Any new infos about the shutter noise?
What shutter noise? the shutter is the same as A7. Use EFCS…. SIlent shutter on the A7 II? no there is not
that still means it could be more damped and less noisy. There was no comments so far about it, I’m also interested.
wear some hearing protectors while shooting, problem solved….
Not really helpful if you’re shooting in a quiet environment or on a street, unless you’re suggesting we give them to the subjects too…
Yes, because a city street is a quiet environment at 3:00 AM.
Depends on the location I suppose. The a7 is more discrete than my a77, but the shutter noise offsets that to a point… It’s fine on London, but noise would be more noticeable in the back streets of a city like Venice…
I can all also see how it might be an issue for wedding or threatre photography.
Venice is so quiet you could hear a pin drop, weddings too (BS). This shutter noise issue is a red herring, and overblown by chronic complainers on internet blogs.
Jesus, it looks like these people are going to photograph Kim Jong-un’s bad leg from behind a curtain at his place… What’s this desperate prosumer need for a noiseless shutter?
you’re not the kind of person who I wanna deal with as an engineer when it comes to problem solving 😉
i totally agree 🙂
I’m hoping the extra bulk will dampen it a bit. It’s not as loud as my old a580 at least…
Also doenst work with the e-mount aps-c zooms like the 55-210mm. Which they say will only use the lens oss.
Nope… Lens will provide for yaw & pitch movements while the sensor will provide for the other 3 axes… Basically both will work together for all 5 axes.
Quote from the nwesshooter article linked to in this SAR article: “except in the case of the E PZ 16-50mm F3.5-5.6 OSS, E 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 OSS, E 18-200mm F3.5-6.3 OSS LE, E 55-210mm F4.5-6.3 OSS which use solely in-camera stabilisation”
growing pains for sony or do we need to wait –wait for canon? Sony better start delivering allot more lenes-soon
They are developing lenses at a fast rate…… 6 lenses came out this year, beat that Canikon
And more to follow in March. Compared to canon’s 0 full frame mirrorless bodies and an impressive 0 native lenses to with them, I know which brand gets my money…
But which camera brand is still vastly out selling the other?…
In the mirrorless market? Let me think…
No that is not the question. Sony failed with their DSLRs so mirrorless is their last hope to try and take some of the sales away from Canon and Nikons DSLR sales. At the moment they have failing to do that. They are not even making a dent into the sales figures. It is more like a small stone chip. So Canon and Nikon do not even need to do anything yet. If when they do and their systems allow their existing lens ranges to be used then Sony is dead in the water again if they have not made decent headway into attacking Canon and Nikon sales. At the moment they are simply failing to do that.
1. you obviously haven’t seen the latest figurse of increasing mirrorless sales (Sony selling more) in a decreasing overall interchangeable lens camera market, DSLR (yes Canon and Nikon) selling less. There might be more total number of cameras sold by Canikon today but the direction changes, in 5 years from now the world might look very different.
2. Who cares about sales? We are customers, we should care about getting the best product for our money. It’s the company’s problem how to sell it, not ours.
Stupid5 is a troll.
Ha Ha… hilarious. Now try and learn what the word troll actually means as your understanding of it is incorrect. It always pays to understand a word for before deploying it into a sentence. A troll is not someone who happens to just have a different opinion.
Zeisschen yes I have seen the figures. It’s really not enough to cause a concern. Plus sales do matter as the customers are saying they still prefer DSLRs from Canon and Nikon as that is what is selling. Sony have an opportunity to grab a slice of the market but they are making such a mess of it. They need to launch a FF mirrorless camera where it is not so obvious they are holding something back for next years replacement camera. They need to start launching lenses much quicker and at more affordable prices. They need to replace both of their short zooms with something better quality. To not replace the kit lens for the A7II with a non I.S lens with better optics was just plain lazy. Just bringing out IBIS was not good enough. It needed to be as good if not better than what is already on the market. They have limited time to sort it out before Canon and Nikon decide to launch something.
You are mixing company issues with you own desires.
The point isn’t to “cause a concern”, but whether Sony is making profit. Also, profit and market sure are two different things. In any case, that idea that mirrorless haven’t made a dent in DSLR sales is a joke.
from the canicon camp…. You dont see that with Sony users, but Canikon fanbois are trolling all the time. Envy?
Wow, where do you get your facts boy? Canikon is like 1000 years old and well buildt into the marked, of course they sell more. people are blinded by the “canikon” brand also. its like a person who have never touched a camera.. what camera do you want? I wantz a nikonz orz a Canonz!! Sony is doing it very good and selling very much, you need to wake up.It is in the mobile department sony is not soing it so great, even if their phones are very good(read the reviews)
Havent you noticed that more and more pros are leaving the fossils and going to Sony. In denial….
growing pains for Canon or do we need to wait –wait for Pentax? Canon better start delivering a FF mirrorless body-soon
Canon are not so stupid. They’ll bide their time to see if mirrorless can actually catch up to DSLR and offer any advantages of its own. So far Canon has the most versatile system (due to lens line-up) and enjoys dominance on the ILC market, while Sony rushed forward into mirrorless, leaving most of their users behind.
We’ve seen companies do stupid things or simply be left behind when they are too slow to adjust. Canon isn’t some exception to the rule, especially considering their own mirrorless entry. Yes, they can bide their time, but for how long? At the current pace, the FE will be in decent shape in less than two years.
And, again, for the majority of uses mirrorless have nothing to catch up.
Canon doesnt even have a good 50mm, so no thank you Canon.
A-mount is dead.
it is not… New a-mount cam next year plus many lenses… But i could not care less, i use E-mount
Andrea your headlines are very misleading sometimes.
I thought some Sony lenses were not stabilized at all (!!!), then I read they still get 3-axis stabilisation…
Those kind of headlines just invite the trolls, why?
+1
The headline is very clear and correct.
it’s correct now 😉
Ok. Corrected. Hope it’s clearer now…
great, thanks! 🙂
Trolls are here everyday regardless of the headlines, it’s become a place for them to vent over the fact that their cameras lack the innovative features Sony is offering. Self healing if you will.
Precisely. The increased trolling simply means that Sony are gaining traction.
This is obvious as in order to SLT-autofocus to work with 5-axis stabilization it would require the movement of SLT-phase detection sensor as well… in sync with the actual sensor.
the AF module on the SLT is also not stabilized
That’s my point…
he means the SLTs like A77, A99 do not have stabilized AF module.
bulls%%t
It’s obvious you’re smoking crack.
the answer here http://www.sonyalpharumors.com/sr5-good-news-5-axis-stabilization-works-with-all-third-party-lenses/
I would like to hear from someone who has used the camera, about the shutter. Is it still as noisy as the A7 shutter? Does it have electronic front curtain? Is there a silent electronic shutter option? Any info would be appreciated. Thanks
Here’s your answer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTO3duCgiac
“Is there a silent electronic shutter option?”
Unfortunately, there isn’t.
that sounds very loud 🙁
You can use the sound slider at the bottom to make it quieter or even click the mute button.
If there’s no silent shutter, that’s one reason to wait another year for the A7III. The good thing about having a great camera like the A6000 is that I can wait it out until things get so good I am compelled to jump.
A full minute burst? Really? Now that’s a nice way to burn some bucks.
Three-axis stabilization on a fisheye might be seen as a bit of a luxury in itself… 🙂
I wonder what it is about those lenses that stops the rotational stuff though…?
Will someone please try the A7II with the Sony SEL30M35 30mm f/3.5. I always felt that the lack of OSS on this lens being used on the NEX gave me issues and was just noisy. I wonder if it looks good or even great on a camera with Stabilization.
It does not cover the whole frame. Even on APS-C, the distortions are horrible. It is only slightly better than the 16/2.8 as a lens (but anything is better than that 16mm).
This was a very interesting statement in that review “One added bonus of the sensor shift system is that is also improves the sensor cleaning as the camera is now able to physically shake dust off the sensor.” I was always wondering how come my Sony and Fuji mirrorless cameras always accumulate dust on the sensor, while my Olympus EM5 and EM1 never ever got any dust even though I might have changed lenses more often on it. That makes total sense.
On the other thing the negative thing is, at least with Olympus, because IBIS involves sensor which is kind of hanging there, Olympus did not recommend wet cleaning because by touching sensor you can screw up the 5-axis IBIS. I wonder if Sony will issue the same warning.
I guess the sensor is more delicate than the piezoelectric motor, if it can damage the IBIS, it properly damage the sensor as well.
Personally, I worry about the heating issue more.
Both my A77 & A77ii overheat shut down when taking video outdoor under sunlight.
I think the flowing sensor will make the camera overheat faster.
You can’t truly stabilize a fisheye lens by moving the sensor because the scale and angles vary across the image – the 16mm seems to have only mild fisheye distortion, though, and might work to some extent…