Not only we hobbyist on SAR purchased the new Sony A7rII 🙂 The White House is using the Sony for their official pictures! Check out the EXIF on Flickr.
And here are two more A7rII news:
Dpreview published the A7rII Dynamic range test and writes:
When comparing against the Nikon D810, the differences between the two cameras are subtle. The difference between the Sony and the Canon EOS 5DS is much easier to illustrate.
ThePhoBlographer posted a High megapixel camera comparison between the Canon 5Ds, Nikon D810 and Sony A7rII:
Sony is very close to catching up with all that Canon and Nikon can do; but it’s still not totally there. In many ways, they’re far ahead of what Canon and Nikon are capable of–and those ways appeal most to the non-professional photographers. For working pros in the wedding and photojournalism world that need TTL flash and more lens selections; we’re going to need to wait.
A7rII store list:
In USA: at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, SonyStore US, FocusCamera, Uniquephoto.
In Europe at Amazon DE, Amazon UK, Wex UK and ParkCameras.
In Asia at Digitalrev, CameraPro.
103 Responses
It has begun!
The Pro grade that Ken and few others talk about probably needs A9. There are many things there – battery, physical size to match the flash and heavy lenses. Pro grade camera needs the Minolta Maxxum/Dynax 9 body. We have the Dynax/Maxxum 7 bodies today.
There are TTL & HSS flashes for Sony including some quite tantelizing options. May be Sony needs to make a little push working with vendors like Nissin, Godox, Phottix, Prophoto etc. to get even better HSS, TTL compatiblity with Sony cameras….may be if they can build in radio trigger like Canon in the A9 that will be great.
well said , but the Ken rockwell bullshit about that pros are not using FE mount !!! I’M a Pro by the way . http://www.andyschulz.net
but as you said TTL , HSS with PRo Studio lights like Profoto air remote, Pocjket wizard , phottix Mitros for indra 500, is missing and yes this is a 30% lack for Pro shutters. But its not only Sonys fault.
Exactly. No one’s stopping ProFoto and the like from designing their lights to be TTL-compatible with Sony; that’s their decision. Hopefully as the Sony market share grows, they’ll reconsider developing to that platform, too.
I’m a pro as well. Pro SAR commentator that is.
Pro wedding photogs need TTL Flash? I’ve found most people use manual flash mode and trigger grouping controls with off camera flash. Also, if you use sony flashes, you get TTL control as well as having a couple options with the Pixel Kings and Phottix triggers.
Clearly there are more options for Nikon and Canon. Especially higher grade equipment like Prophoto and Pocket Wizard only support Canon and Nikon. That is a problem.
Probably reviewers meant TTL in more general sense like tighter integration with flash vendors. For example HSS – even if you can live without TTL in darker conditions HSS is something important that is not as easy to workaround.
Well, I realize that sony’s flashes are expensive and the F60 isn’t even worth getting due to it’s overtemp issues. But, all options stated in prior message are HSS compatible. The very simplest solution, if sticking with Sony is to utilize the F20 as a TTL/HSS Wireless Trigger. If not, the Phottix line is a pretty awesome alternative.
Going back to actually using an on camera flash trigger like the F20 or using a real flash on camera to trigger, is that you can dial it down to light up the eye sockets when using off camera flash.
Even Phottix don’t quite work with Sony. If you need a powerfull HSS or TTL flash there simply is not ANY option.
Here is the Phottix – it clearly says – Nikon and Canon ONLY!
http://www.phottix.com/index.php/en/indra500-ttl-and-accessories/phottix-indra500-ttl-studio-light-with-battery-pack-kit.html?options=cart
Same goes for ALL other more powerful flashes.
You just linked to a studio strobe… were we not talking about off camera flashes (speedlights) and application in wedding photography? practicality of carrying around items like these are ridiculous.
Nissin Di700a with Air commander supports Sony Mi shoe, in TTL and HSS. They are suppose to release receiver later this year.
This is a great combo, and yes its TTL and HSS.
Powerful HSS/TTL for Sony:
http://flashhavoc.com/cononmk-abc-ttl-transmitter-for-k4t-strobe-released/
http://www.lightingrumours.com/cononmark-k4t-review-6241
Thanks! This is interesting.i found few listings but the kit comes quite steep 1400$ for flash and trigger set. This is not all that far from ProPhoto. I kind of trust ProPhoto more
If you’re shooting pure sony for a wedding, most likely you’ll have the equipment that works right for you for your style and there are options. However, I think the true issues come when you’re intermingling shooters and personal equipment where cross-compatibility really becomes the issue here.
Yes, if you use Sony flashes TTL is not a problem…but overheating shutdown of the flagship flash is a real problem. A successor to this flash that fixes this problem is sorely needed preferably with inbuilt radio control.
I read some place that you can send it in and they update the firmware to fix the issue
Sony devised a workaround for flash owners whereby they update it and slow down the recycle time. Sony has made this service to obtain and some owners report being without a flash for 6 to 12 weeks. An fixed f62 flash should have been released by now.
The Nissin Di700a works nicely.
Exactly. I shoot Sony for weddings and have no problem. I use manual third-party flashes (w/ on-camera grouping controller) for my off-camera portrait work, and then use my Sony flash (the F60 – I’ve never had any overheating issues) on-camera in TTL mode for the reception and other candid shots.
maybe you got a updated flash. I read that they have a firmware fix but you have to send it in so maybe you have one with the update. Every sony flash I ever had has the problem to varying degrees when compared to nikon and canon.
Yeah, that could be. Or maybe I’m just firing off continuously enough to overheat. Either way, knock on wood, I haven’t had the problem yet. I do concede, though, that Sony’s overall flash system really kinda sucks compared to their competitors. That’s not to say it sucks, but it sucks comparatively.
At first glance this sounds discouraging…basically that Sony has surpassed Canikon for the general consumer but not quite caught up for the proffessional.
But far more cameras are sold to general consumers than to professional, and those same comsumer friendly features make it a good grab and go additional camera for pros.
Furthermore the compatability with Canikon glass makes it very easy for pros to simply add an a7rii body to thier existing system.
That is basically all Sony can reasonably expect to achieve with a single new camera.
Win over a growing number of consumers, and just get a foot in the door at the pro level.
No matter what Sony does they would not possibly be able to just take over the proffessional market.
That is a longer tetm goal that will require more than just the latest technology.
Sony has the tech, but still has a long uphill struggle to win the pro market.
And Canon is not about to roll over and let that happen….we will see some serious competition ahead.
Very well said! I guess Sony are playing a bit longer game here. They want to put their foot through the door with A7 cameras. A7r2 is may be the most expensive way and probably A7 and a6000 get a foot through far more doors.
Next steps are things like line up of high quality lenses, deal with big complaints about ergonomics and performance. May be increase industry partnerships – like adapters, flashes, camera apps by 3rd parties, 3rd party lenses and so on.
At some point Sony will need to put out a pro level body like A9 with all gizmos people miss today.
Based on what you say though that day is not near. It is way too early for Sony to waste resource on A9. Also that A9 would not be up to scratch with expectations – some technology is still missing from mirrorless. Also Sony still need to execute on the “foot through the door” step by fixing RAW files, AF, menu system, sensor reflections, movie button, minimum shutter speed etc. etc. It is only when everyone loves A7 cameras and there is great lens line up and there is some momentum in the ecosystem that A9 will make sense. If they release A9 with crappy meny, sub-par AF, lacking lenses or other irritating things – it will be waste.
PS Anyway 7 series has always been amateur level body with all pro level features – just laking the size and durability and may be speed and abttery life of the pro body
I agree, I wanting for more adoption from the pro market for studio strobes, speedlites, radio triggers. As long as Sony stops with changing the hotshoe for the camera [MIS] then they could very well be on the path. It’s annoying how everything is set for the canon/nikon group. Barely anything for sony as of now.
They are clearly holding the A9 name for that.
I’ve said it over and over to the idiots that whine about the lack of “pro” features, lenses and so on – most of whom are obviously not paid professionals. Sony doesn’t care about the pro market and pros are a small part of the overall market. Sony wants to move as many cameras as possible and catering to a small niche is not the way to do it.
If there is to be no a99 successor then an a9 is needed to plug the hole in the lineup.
I have an A99 and love it, but honestly, what does it really offer that the A7rII doesn’t?
Two SD slots
Dual cards, larger battery, GPS, potentially better weather sealing, AF-D, and higher FPS. A performance-oriented, slightly larger bodied e-mount (with a built in screw drive for la-ea3 focusing for screw drive lenses) would round out the full frame e-mount lineup nicely.
Fair enough, I suppose. I’ve always thought the dual-card slot thing is overblown, though, as it’s not like film cameras shot dual rolls of film, and photographers still survived… AF-D means nothing to me because of how few lenses it actually works with, and I never even use the GPS feature (I have it on, but never find myself actually using that data). I guess the larger body bight be something if that’s your preference, but it’s exactly that: a preference. Being bigger doesn’t make a body more “pro”.
>I’ve said it over and over to the idiots that whine about the lack of “pro” features, lenses and so on – most of whom are obviously not paid professionals
You obviously don’t get it. A7rII is missing major features, that is a fact, and while there’s no such thing as “pro” features, A7rII is still an unconvincing choice for many things, whether you’re doing them as a pro or a hobbyist.
I do get it, Sony isn’t wasting resources to produce a camera that doesn’t sell in numbers like the A-mount duds that were dragging down the bottom line. Dual cards and bigger batteries will make the A7 a DSLR sized pig. Those complaining just don’t get it, go buy a DSLR and STFU.
There are customers out there who don’t want either dated OVF tech or crippled pseudo-compact bodies. We aren’t going to buy a DSLR, and neither are we going to STFU.
Sony tried with the A77 and A99 and the few complainers are not enough to support the A-mount. The A7’s and FE lenses got imaging into the black for the first time in years. The lack of success of the A-mount speaks louder than the few still pining for a A99 successor or some mythical “pro” body. The rest is just noise. If you can’t get a decent image with the A7rII, its not Sony’s fault.
Cheers
Another bunch of BS that has been debunked many times.
Imaging was heavily in the red until the A7’s hit, now they’re reporting the largest profits in years and credit the success of the A7’s as the driver behind it. A-mount = Loss, E-mount = profit. Are you calling Sony’s financials BS? Please.
Remember, Sony killed A-Mount, not customers. A-Mount had a large userbase (which Sony now lost to Canikon) and was doing well. Sony just got competitive edge with the SLT tech, but very promptly decided to switch their whole R&D and PR budgets to E-Mount, even before the release of the half-baked A99. This is what happened, not the other way around, get your facts straight.
That facts show imaging is more profitable than it has been in years and being driven by the A7’s. The rest of what you’re saying is pure conjecture, not fact, unless you have actual knowledge of where Sony is allocating its R&R and PR resources. But I get the feeling you don’t and you’re talking out of your bum.
Cheers
There are a whole plethora of professional photographers including myself who shoot with Sony A7 cameras. Many professionals who say it’s not suitable for professionals are wedding photographers who seem to think that the only type of professional photographer is a wedding photographer.
And there are even wedding photographers using them…
I shoot weddings exclusively with the a7 cameras. Sold all my Canon gear and don’t see myself going back.
Your latest wedding on your site, very nice by the way, shows still some Canon images (Exif) ;-). I still make use of my 70-200/2.8 a lot, there is no equivalent form Sony so far to abandon the Nikon gear completely. As Nikon uses Sony sensors, the difference in IQ isn’t huge anyway. What about you? Did you try attaching Canon lenses using Metabones on A7rii?
Thanks 🙂 Yea that was still pre a7rii, so I still needed the 5d3 for certain situations. The AF tracking is crazy good now so I sold my last bits of canon gear excluding a sigma 35 art (which works brilliantly with the metabones btw).
On the long end I’m being really ballsy and replaced my 70-200 2.8 with a Zeiss 135mm f2 Apo! For speeches and ceremony people don’t move much and manual focus is easy on the evf. Now my speech shots look more interesting !
And there’re a lot of hobbyists who aren’t satisfied with E-Mounts. Weddings are still mostly posed photography
Seriously, why all the butt hurt at us/them analysis between supposed “pros” and “non-pros”? Use what you use and know how to use it. Beyond that, I am constantly amazed by how self-identified “pros” like to leverage their little clique in some fashion like they’re the illuminati of the industry. Seriously, who cares? Know your tools, use them wisely and forget what the others think. Now, I’ve taken some amazing photos with my iPhone 6s+, but, would I shoot a wedding with it? Likely not. Are the photos from it as technically advanced as my a7rii? Hell no! But then, this doesn’t diminish the images from either. Let the illuminati have their say, it makes them feel good.
That’s one bad quality photo.
Its a JPEG, and not shot on the public schedule. Meaning, Pete Souza is probably testing a new camera. The bigger question, and more interesting one is “why?”
And the rest of them are done by Canon and look much better. Go figure.
If by “much better” you mean blown out highlights then yes.
More often than not it is better to leave highlights “blown” and have focus on the subject than pulling them back and having this god awful image of the windows in the president´s office.
That image was made by a lame “just learning how to lightroom” guy.
I like them. But maybe they hire someone like you as you know better than the rest.
It’s photojournalism.. you don’t edit other than having your proper shadows, highlights, and white balance on your subject – which it is.
This one was edited, look at the windows. He pulled the highlights too much and lost the color information.
If you pull highlights in post it will actually gain color in the highlighted area. Don’t you know anything?
Unless they were so badly blown lightroom has to guess the color.
First off, it’s photoshop… it’s in the exif info. secondly, the software does not guess color info. It’s pulled from what’s recorded in the raw file. It’s not like you have 20 minutes to get your perfect shot. These are shot ‘in the moment.’ – that’s what photojournalism is at its finest.
Yea right, as if it didn’t go through lightroom first.
And there is nothing fine in this photo. It’s out of focus, HDR failure.
The workflow would be Adobe Camera Raw then Photoshop.
It would be Phase One then Affinity Photo.
It is slightly front focused, nothing that much terrible. He should have used much wider or narrower aperture, f/2.5 seems like the worst possible solution for this scene.
Exactly that. I don´t think this photo was taken by a professional.
It would be troll then feeder.
Looks in-focus to me. And seeing the blacks still in the curtains, jacket, and side of the unlit chair, pretty sure it’s not processed HDR and just pulling the shadows from the raw info. Any other claims you’d like to make?
Change the monitor, that picture is abs() out of focus. He pulled the highlights just too much.
Right.. because a bad monitor will make an out of focus picture appear in-focus. It’s a miracle!
Exactly.
The focus on the President looks tack sharp and the detail on the front of the desk is also incredibly sharp. It’s not HDR, it’s a typical post processed Sony sensor image, in fact I would have pulled a bit more highlight to make the windows and outdoor colors look better. Being that this photographer is used to using the 5DM3, he probably didn’t realize there was more detail and color to be had.
A good photographer can have highlight detail and good focus, guess you choose one or the other but never both. Speaking of just learning. LOL
Why in the world would someone want all the time all the highlighted areas?!
Damir, I’m just DYING to see your portfolio. Would you please post a link to your work so we can see how it’s supposed to be done? Thanks!
The latest shot was a Sony and shot in September. All the previous shots were shot before February of this year. Either they got a new photographer, this was a chance encounter, or the photographer switched cameras.
All you need is access to the president and then you can show us how its supposed to be done.
Interesting to see that Pete Souza’s group is using the A7Rll as well as 5D3’s. Wonder if they’ve started to snag a little more video, hence the change-up.
Always said E mounts were good for still life pictures 😉
Pretty much all of the images on the White House flickr page are Canon, and the official photographer – Pete Souza – carries a lot of Canon gear. This image seems to be the exception.
All the prior images were shot on or before February of 2015. There’s a huge time gap between any posted image and the latest of the Sony shot in September. I don’t really think any claims can really be made.
https://twitter.com/petesouza/status/632356609667244033
He’s trying out the a7rII – most likely for the silent shutter.
I saw that tweet too. If you watch presidential coverage, he’s always lurking in the background, every time I see him he has Canon. I still haven’t seen him carrying the A7rII. Here he is in the background during the POTUS visit to Alaska last month wielding a Canon overhead with flash attached.
Perhaps the Sony was a completely different beast. After being used to something for so long, it’s really hard to switch to something different and perhaps the completely silent shutter was not enough to make the swap
I’m sure it’ll find a place in his bag, but he uses the 24-70/2.8L II a lot and he’s shot the 5d3 from day one, I’m sure he knows his gear inside and out. Given his hectic schedule – since he’s working just about every day, switching systems would probably take time. He shoots with a flash a lot as well, that alone will keep him in the Canon camp.
Mixed WB hurting my eyes.
Maybe it isn`t mixed WB. Maybe they are Putin` the ice on windows…
Most of you guys who claim to be “professional” photographers, always have something to complain about. This guy has most likely got paid a pretty buck to be getting an official shot of the President in his office for the White House. 98% of you won’t make that amount of money he made on that shot for your entire life in photography. Im not being horrible, but people need to stop criticising what Sony are doing, or other photographers, unless you show what you can do yourself. Fix up, boys.
That was shot by Obama’s number one photog, Pete Souza, he’s a lowly paid staffer!
Pete Souza is a White House employee, and has been employed by the president since he first took office, he’s not some cash for shot stringer.
But yes the criticism is ridiculous, he has a slew of amazing images that will be seen for many lifetimes – he’s literally documenting history every day on the job. And he’s the only photographer that gets regular oval office and situation room access, along with just about every other place the president goes.
Admin, you missed a bit of big Sony news today:
http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/News/Press/201510/15-082E/
That moment you know it’s official that Canon is dead…
Wondering what will you say if the next image won’t be taken with a Sony camera? 🙂
Sony ia officially dead of course, serious boy 🙂
No, really, people, lets get serious. Take a look at that dpreview image compare tool. They are all pretty much the same up to ISO 25600 or up to ISO100 +5 stops. D810, A7r, 5Dsr, A7s…
To me, the only difference is that i like EVF more, and compactness of Sony.
On the other hand, there is 2000 euros to be burned for FE55+FE90 combo. And for only 300 euros you can have 50mm 1.4D + Tamron SP 90 macro, second hand, excellent condition. I know, they are about 20% worse in IQ…. but its almost 7 times cheaper. Sony needs cheaper lenses ASAP. Sigma DNs for APS-C are the proof that it is possible.
One thing for sure, the Canon 24-70 2.8 is a fantastic lens. I bet it would be wonderful on the A7Rii.
Low paid photographer who works directly with the president. I would be interested to know what “lowly paid” actually means. Regardless, he still owns the photographs and if any of his images are shown in any publication, he has to be paid a huge amount to be able to use it.
Actually not true. I’m not certain what his G- Level is for being a staff photographer, however, I know military photographers (ones who are actually employed by Govt.) give all ownership and copyrights to the branch they are working for. I assume the same with White House.
Thanks for that. Its interesting to know those types of things. Thanks again.
WH staff salaries top out at $172,000 a year, most of the directors are over $100k, and given the fact he travels with the president almost every day I’m guessing he’s near the top. He’s not listed on the WH salary list so I don’t have the exact number. He is a U.S. Gov employee, everything he shoots is a part of the public record. He owns nothing and they are freely available to anyone at no cost, just like images from NASA or the park service. All the guidelines are public info, usually you just need to credit them.
thats crazy. I never knew that. Thanks for the education! haha Still, I can imagine that being a very dope job to have. Your resume would be pretty powerful with that on it. haha
>For working pros in the wedding and photojournalism world that need TTL flash and more lens selections; we’re going to need to wait.
There’re a lot of hobbyists doing photojournalism too
Alright, they’re adding more interesting cameras, now maybe they can add a more interesting photographer. Pete Souza is the shredded wheat of presidential photographers.
Just a quick develop in LR
Sony borrowed him a A7r2, but he is currently using his beloved 5DMk3 😉 https://www.flickr.com/photos/whitehouse/22700535723/