Sport photographer Philip Palermo (Engadget) tested the A7rII in the possible least favorable scenario: Sports Photography. And the conclusion is surprisingly positive:
The A7R II held its own for the most part — despite not really being designed as a pro-level sports cam. I wish write times were peppier and hopefully Sony’s designers find ways to cram a bigger battery and, perhaps, a second memory card slot into this line’s compact frame. But overall, I came away impressed with how far Sony’s come with this line. Both the A7 bodies and first-party lens lineups are steadily improving. And thanks to the company’s rapid pace of deployment (six new models in two years) it seems like we’ve finally reached the point where “pretty damn good for a mirrorless camera” has turned into just “pretty damn good.”
And Dpreview updated their first impression review of the camera:
Looking at the a7R against the a7R II doesn’t reveal anything immediately mind-blowing. Linear resolution is increased by around 8%, but the differences go deeper than just a megapixel count. It may seem silly to focus at all on JPEG quality on such a heavy-hitting camera, but there are some changes worth mentioning. The JPEG engine for the a7R II shows great improvements over the a7R.
What difference does BSI technology make? Compared to the a7R there’s already an immediate difference. In fact, the gain is nearly a full stop over its predecessor. At 51,200, the maximum for the Nikon D810, the a7R II is again ahead by roughly one stop. Interesting, but what if the sensor is bigger and gathers more light, like the sensor in the Pentax 645Z? Almost unbelievably, they’re right on par with each other.
Ivo Scholz also posted his A7rII review:
I used to shoot with Canon, Nikon and Fujifilm. All of those have their advantages (well, except for Canon), but none of those camera manufacturers have come this close to a perfect camera. The A7RII is small, light and sturdy. It feels great, sounds nice and shoots wonderful pictures. Its EVF is by far the best I’ve seen and the autofocus is better than ever.
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.
The A7sII preorder list:
In USA at Amazon, BHphoto, FocusCamera, Adorama.
In Europe at WexUK.
In Asia soon at Digitalrev.
87 Responses
Bring on the A9. A77II sized with same…well, same everything…dual card slots though and touch screen. Steel body with reinforced concrete frame.
Yup. Not sure the touch screen is a must have. Unless they use the proximity sensor to detect when you’re close to it, so that you don’t accidentally touch it with your nose or cheek. Actually. I’m sure they’d do just that. So that’d be fine, sure. Give the touch screen people a touch screen.
I’d also like to see the A9 launched with an LA-EA5 that has no pellicle mirror, but that does have a screw drive for operating A-Mount lenses that aren’t SSM/SAM. Better yet. Include the adapter in the box, or at the very least, in an optional bundle with the camera instead of selling a body only version and a version with a kit lens!
I also spent some time looking through the viewfinder of an A7rII the other day, and while the larger, T* optic in front of the EVF is nice, I’d still like to see the EVF itself be higher res. I can still see several stair-stepping pixel edges on the image as I’m composing it, and I’d prefer the EVF to feel at least as retina as an Apple retina display, especially if I’m going to be holding the thing up to my retina all day long!
I could also go for a display mode that gets out of the user’s way. I.E. a shooting mode that doesn’t overlay ANYTHING onto the screen. Not even Fstops or shutter speeds along the bottom of the screen. In my opinion, the less I see on the screen (that isn’t the image in front of me), the more likely I’ll be to accept that what I’m looking through isn’t an EVF…
agree, a good implemented touch screen is absolutely cool and very helpful to switch focus points in sertain situations. I played with some mirrorless Canons in the store – it makes so much fun to use the touchscreen, I was surprised how quick und intuitive is it.
As well I would like to see the fully articulated screen in Sony’s A9. This is THE feature I will surely miss in A7rii if I buy it. I used to have a fully articulated screen over many years in my A77 and it was absolutely essential and needful in many situations. Plus the possibility to just turn the screen around and close it with the face to camera is absolutely handy and keeps the screen safe from your nose or harder stuff which can scratch it. Sony, this technlogy takes not really so much space but give a huge advantage – please give us this great funktionality back!
I’m a fan of the A7r II but engadget has earned such a bad rap for horrible camera reviews over the years that I’m doubting many people will take their report seriously as a result. :/
That said, nice to see they had a good time shooting with the A7r II, though it would have been nicer to see them use a native e-mount lens such as the 24-240 for their sports shooting tests also.
if anyone takes engadget or even kai from digital rev ( whom i like to watch btw ) serious for their reviews …well you should feel home on this website. I am watching sony evolve ( own a few sony cameras too ) but they are still not there with canon and nikon. they might give you 4k iso … etc. But the 5d mark iii is still prefered by everyone who knwos what he is talking about ( stills or video ). That’s why canon is still very very confortable to screw the customers and hold back on their technology..( hope this is changing now and they are getting nervous fingers crossed ) . They just know people who need reliable and beautifull images wil forget about all the perks and new stuff from sony and go with the good reliable images from canon. you want 4k you will pay…and if you are making good mioney you do pay 10-20k for a camera which on paper cant do wat sony gives you for much less….on paper that is in real life no. not yet.
Well said Canon shill, bravo!
no, what do you mean is canon is know that people will hold on brand power & loyalty (just look up on apple), the best seller canon’s DSLR is rebel lines which mean newcomer know shit about the current camera news or they look upon another people that they felt professional.
Agreed. If Sony isn’t bringing out a99-2 then a large bodied, dual card e-mount body is needed for action, sports and rugged shooting. Making it a mini-1d style body (mini in the sense it would be thinner and lighter) with a larger double size battery / vertical shutter button and an inset for an a-mount adapter (providing great support & sealing) would be hot. Speed and AF performance/coverage should take priority so 18-24mp would be sufficient.
And native big lenses. No more ‘adapted’ BS.
hopefully one of the eight FE lenses coming through spring 2016 is a big supertelephoto. I would like 200-400 or maybe an affordable 150-600.
That would mean that Sony have to finally abandon their ‘compact’ BS and start making big lenses for FE. So far they’ve been reluctant to do that.
35mm 1.4 and the 90mm macro looks pretty big to me already
This would be a huge mistake and very unlikely because the reason photographers from Canon/Nikon are buying into E-mount is to lighten their load. They want small and compact.
Second issue — Sony has marketed the cameras as universally compatible via adapters. Note the depth of the A99/A77 is the mirror block area. If Sony were to increase the depth of an E-mount body in the other direction, then when the adapter is added, it would be even bigger, heavier and clunkier than a dedicated DSLR.
I don’t think we will see much bigger bodies than A7RII, but I won’t be surprised if the look changes cosmetically to more rounded lines as some point. Also, it’s very likely that an A9/A1 Pro variant with a built in grip with a new type of single long battery for better battery power performance will be seen at some point.
In the mean time, however, I still believe that an A99II will be announced within the next 12 months, and that it makes no sense for a pro E-mount body right now until they have fully built out the native lens line-up, unless they can both truly perfect OSPDAF and 100% native performance with A-mount glass, but they aren’t there yet!
>photographers from Canon/Nikon are buying into E-mount is to lighten their load
Sony also have their own customers, who need full-sized cameras.
That I agree with 200%, and that’s precisely why, contrary to the beliefs of many on this site, Sony has not abandoned A-mount! It’s why they are updating all their best A-mount glass, it’s why they spent a hefty amount of R&D on new AF tech debuted a year ago in A77II and why we will likely see new A-mount bodies in 2016.
A redesign of the Minolta Maxxum 200mm 2.8 APO into an E-Mount version would really make it a “pretty damn good” sports camera.
I see no need for a bulkier system but for enough flexibility.
Need bigger battery: Why not use battery grip?
Need a belt and pair of braces for your trousers (2nd slot for memory card)? Perhaps Sony can improve WiFi transmission to a smartphone with large memory card that backups not only JPEGs but also RAW files (compressed of course…).
wifi really eats battery, and your realistic transfer speeds are low… and its prone to flake out too
i own a eyefi card, and its about as well behaved and consistant as a modern cheap printer
802.11ac would be fast enough. You can not compare eye-fi cards which are slow by themselves and shielded by the camera body. Current WiFi implementation in A7 series eats battery but you know from modern smarthones that it can be designed more economically.
I was talking about an improved solution here, you will always find a reason why the current solution is not enough. Nevertheless, it can be used as a live backup at least for the JPEGs already now.
After downloading and viewing all the soccer photos that Engadget posted on Flickr, I found almost NONE of the photos were really sharp. Although A7RII has very quick AF-C system with native and Canon lenses, but it’s accuracy is questionable, it’s just not tacky sharp.
The images are more than adequate for posting in a printed periodical or web publication. Fast moving objects are rarely tack sharp and no one would expect them to hold up to a pixel peeping inspection. Unless you have some of your own sports images to share for download and critical inspection to prove your point your criticism is meaningless.
If you have basic knowledge of photography ( as many fanboys seem to lack ) with a sufficient shutter speed and if the focus is right you have to have tack tack sharp images. Nothing to discuss or prove there. a shutterspeed of 1000th is mostly enough if you can go a bit higher in certain instances…. good for you lol
You “knowledge” of photography obviously comes from reading forum and blog posts and not actually taking pictures. Not every situation allows using that high of a shutter speed, so you must rely on photographic skills like a steady hand or monopod and good panning technique. If you know what you’re doing and have some skill, you can get perfectly acceptable and usable results under less than ideal conditions. Others, like yourself will just spray and pray and blame the camera if the images look like crap.
if the subject is moving rapidly and you arent following/panning, as you may not be, then u need a faster shutter speed to freeze the motion
I noticed the same thing, I think some of it is due to the extremely heavy compression but on the other hand some of those shots just flat out missed focus.
Most of the photos are missing ‘the moment’ as well. That is most likely due to the shutter lag. Try to use these in a UK newspaper sports section and most would end up being rejected.
What’s the point of posting a review from Ivo Scholz, who says that all cameras he used (Canon, Nikon and Fuji) have their advantages except Canon? Come on guys, what a piece of crap is this review?
engadget reviews have always been known to be amateur.
You’re absolutely right, better to believe the half baked opinion of a know nothing anonymous forum poster.
’bout time you yield to my superiority.
I wasn’t referring to you Esstee. 🙂
I understand… your taking the modesty route.
Good on you for taking the initiative and bending a knee.
Ouch, someone’s feelings got hurt. 🙁
What does it have to do with anyone’s feelings? I’m trying to see if I should add SONY to my Canon gear and I hope to get more or less objective information reading the SAR. But when I see articles like that I doubt about credibility of the information they provide.
Rent the camera and spend a few days with it to see if it’s something you would find beneficial to your current setup. Don’t let someone else make a desicion for you.
Yeah, that’s the plan. But before I spend ~$100-150 I just want to see what other say. I’m 99% sure I’ll have a7rii some time soon, unless A99ii is released…
Meanwhile, Pentax is announcing 24-70 f/2.8 for their upcoming FF camera.
If they do, even they will be ahead of Sony on the full frame front.
Is the Pentax supposed to be mirrorless? If it is a normal style DSLR then Pentax is just par with everybody else with a FF DSLR. If it is mirrorless then yes, they would have that possible advantage over Sony. Would depend on how big and heavy the lens body combo ends up being.
>If it is a normal style DSLR then Pentax is just par with everybody else
…Except Sony who discontinued the A99 and currently have no replacement.
You will be able to put a native 24-70 f/2.8 on the new Pentax, and an adapted vacuum cleaner on A7RII.
A99 discontinued? Where can I read about this?
On Duott’s column.
You mean the rebadged Tamron 24-70 f2.8?
What’s wrong with Tamron? It will be a native lens with no stupid adapters
And it will have a Pentax label on it.
And it will cost twice as much.
Tamron and Sigma make K-Mount APS-C lenses, may as well produce FF too. It’s not like they’d need new designs as for FE
Yes, and they should not charge customers as if it where a new design. I get it that you want native fast zooms for e-mount but Sony sure had it’s reasons to deprioritize this. My guess is that the 24-70 f2.8 will have to be as large as a dslr 24-70 f2.8 with adapter. No matter how stellar the performance of such a lens might be, it would corrupt the thought of a light system. This was a major selling point for the A7 series. You cannot blame them for having a philosophy that translates into a marketing strategy.
If rumors hold up, however, you might see a native 24-70 f2.8 around christmas 🙂
By not having the Sony badge it gets the seal of aproval.
Enough of your self-flagellation, the earth aint flat, you false profit you……. duott akbar…….LOL
Because Sony does not have a 24-70 f/2.8. Jesus people can post some stupid stuff on here.
Wow!
You have clearly not owned a Pentax body. 🙂
ie, even with the limited e-mount lens selection it currently has, Sony is still light years ahead of Pentax insofar as glass goes. And the reasons for this are clear for anyone who’s owned and shot with Pentax over the years.
Light years? No.
I guess you missed the part where it has a one stop advantage over the competition? Oh that’s right, you can only be any good if you shoot f2.8 zooms, because you’re so profesh.
Nikon and the upcoming Pentax use Sony sensors.
And? Nobody has this sensor.
A7RII’s? That’s the sensor the Pentax is rumored to be getting.
Although if Sony ever make A99II, I’d much rather it had A7SII’s one, not this 42Mp monstrosity.
These are ‘wishful thinking’ rumours than anything based in reality. Regardless, a stop increase in sensitivity means less need for overbloated f2.8 lame zoom lenses.
Recent Pentax cameras got Sony sensors, that’s fact. And the announced 24-70 f/2.8 is a fact as well.
Well they announced a rebadge job and nobody is getting the latest and repeat Sony sensors other than Sony. They might get this sensor in the next iteration in two years time. There’s some facts for you boy wonder.
Sony doesn’t have any, rebadge or not. Nothing wrong with the Tamron design. And I couldn’t care less about latest 90000 Mp sensors stuck in mirrorless bodies.
No they have never had any FF f2.8 zooms *facepalm
I know you have big lens envy because you lack the length and girth of a man, but please stop spewing the same tired size envy over and over. It is clear that a) You don’t even own ANY decent gear from any brand and b) that you have a narrow man… I mean mindset.
Looks like you have found your next camera and hopefully along with it a new forum to moan in.
It is near as supergood, if nobody moves. Af performance is good on still subjects.
Sony is two laps ahead of the competition and still running at full speed
If only Sony made a A-mount body with the same specs as A7RM2. There would be no complains about AF performance and it would be better than any Canon or Nikon offering (video 4K, in-body AF-D Range, full-time AF with Live View, etc) while being closer to C&N on battery performance compared to tiny E-mount camera’s batteries. Not everyone is after focus-by-wire crap, adapting lenses (which break any weathersealing statements), SAL14TC/SAL20TC teleconverter compatibility and since sports shooter usually carry their big telephoto lenses on a monopod, smaller body doesn’t bring any benefits at all and in fact, puts limits on what engineers can do (dual card slots, faster/better shutter mechanism, better heatsinking capabilities, tilting/rotating LCD screens, Top LCD for changing settings without having to turn on the LCD or look at the EVF, etc).
We don’t need a dead-end a-mount for any of those features.
Oh I see…Sony E-mounters are full of A-mount haters.
Well to be fair, I own both, though I thought your x-mounter statement was very funny though.
actually a mount has that mirror to gives, or should give it a advantage in af-c situations, and could have on sensor af stuff too, and not have shitty focus by wire too 🙂
Dpreview now starts to spit out reviews bit by bit? Isn’t a first impression and a full review enough?
They figure they can milk the A7Rii for at least another year with bit by bit reviews. Click bait at its best
Sony need to just come up with a dual slot for the battery, they may have to change the shape of the a77 battery to do it but I am sure they can come up with a way for you to use a larger battery if you want and use the smaller one if you don’t.
Get a grip. Problem solved.
it would be nice to have a grip which is not replacing the camera’s battery by adds to it. this is the only one request I’d like to adress to sony.
It increases the shooting time between battery changes and adds another set of buttons for portrait mode. That’s what grips do. Just because some grips adds two extra batteries rather than one, doesn’t mean every other grip is useless.
A7RII – Aka Atomic Bomb that destroys Canikon! Very well sony. Mirrorless is future!
LOL If anyone on here actually read the review, he says the minute he tried to use any of the wide modes it didn’t work so well. Now in the A7RII’s defense, it doesn’t seem the reviewer even knew how to use the AF system to begin with. But if you shoot sports and work with Sony cameras, do yourself a favor and buy an A77II. It’s really Sony’s only true sports camera & best option at present.
And best APS-C camera ever in any system to date.
Absolutely!
GIGGITTY!
giggitty!
Giggitty.
Well they have some lenses that are nearing 20 years old, so that’s something. Add a few rebadged lenses because they never bothered to make them in K-Mount anyway and I suppose you have what A-Mount had 8 years ago.
‘It’s pretty damn good.” That’s a qualitative statement that means nothing. I want cold heartless facts. No opinions, just nasty evil stone cold data.
What professional sports application are we talking about if there’s no fast telephoto lenses (200+ mm) available for the e-mount?