A7rII review by Mark Galer
SAR readers notified me that their US preorders and EU preorders (Sony Germany and Fotomundus) are shipping the camera today! Check out the usual A7rII preorder list:
In USA: at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, SonyStore US, FocusCamera, Uniquephoto, [shoplink 39078 ebay]BestBuy eBay[/shoplink], BestBuy.
In Europe at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT. Wex UK.
In Asia at Digitalrev, CameraPro.
Marg Galers review:
Here is a review movie on YouTube (embedded on top).: https://youtu.be/uu43uhx8gsI
Here is a 4K sample movie on YouTube at ISO 3,200: https://youtu.be/vJQs3IwzjLU
Here is a link to a folder of Raw files captured with the A7RII: http://adobe.ly/1ItECWN
Gallery of 4K files on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/markgaler/sets/72157655787552128
New A7rII test:
Plenty of readers and bloggers keep sending me links to their A7rII test. So here is a new roundup and to start with something different let’s talk about the “negatives” listed by Alex Pasquini:
There are a LOT of cool things about this camera but for now I’m just going to concentrate on some negatives.
- Switching between Full Frame and Super 35 has to be through the menu. You’re unable to assign it to a shortcut. Sony please fix this through a firmware update!
- I’ve found Peaking to be a little buggy, sometimes it just stops working, haven’t narrowed it down to why just yet!
- Magnify during recording to check focus is awesome. Downside is, it’s still quite hard to tell without peaking. In the Canon 5dMk3 the image kind of popped into focus. With the Sony it’s a little more subtle. Need to get used to this.
- You can’t take photos in video mode. Pretty annoying.
- When shooting 4k it can be a little slow to start. Not an instance record, a lag of a second or so. A bit frustrating when shooting fast action like skateboarding but not a massive deal.
More A7rII tests:
Ongoing A7rII owners report at SonyAlphaForum
Long time Nikon (D4/D4S) wedding photographer’s first thoughts on the a7rII with examples. She will be selling the Nikons and replacing with Sony (Agatomaszek.com).
Handheld shooting and grading test (Youtube).
Sony A7R II with the Sony FE 55mm Sample Images (Photographyblog).
Sony A7R II with the Sony FE 28mm Sample Images (Photographyblog).
Sony A7R II with the Sony FE 90mm Sample Images (Photographyblog).
New RAW and JPG files availabe at SonyAlphaForum via Le Butler.
Slow motion and slow shutter test at Newsshooter.
Image samples by Brian Smith.
Sony a7R II – First hand impressions + RAW Download (Brian Matiash).
A Mega Star is Born: Sony Singapore unveils its much anticipated full frame mirrorless A7RM2 camera (Stardoms).
Sony α7R II review – DAY 3: FIRST IMPRESSIONS AND LOW LIGHT TESTS
The A7II bug found by David Sampson is also “valid” on the new A7rII:
If you attach a 3rd party lens after using an OSS (eg the 24-70 FE) lens then IBIS does not work
If you attach a 3rd party lens after using a non OSS lens (eg the 55 f1.8) then IBIS does work.
There is a workaround to fix the issue when it appears. David S. sent me this:
If you unmount (take off) an OSS lens without turning the camera off (or at least turn it off after you have removed the lens) then when you attach a third party (dumb) adaptor ‘steady shot’ (IBIS) continues to work normally. Of course this is not a thing a photographer would normally do as it usually common sense to turn the camera off when changing lenses so would still benefit from a firmware upgrade
A7rII preorder list:
In USA: at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, SonyStore US, FocusCamera, Uniquephoto.
In Europe at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT. Wex UK.
In Asia at Digitalrev, CameraPro.
Uniquephoto (Click here) organized a special A7rII launch event with Sony Artisans. If you cannot participate don’t worry, there is a livestreaming too.
A7rII preorder list:
In USA: at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, SonyStore US, FocusCamera, Uniquephoto.
In Europe at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT. Wex UK.
In Asia at Digitalrev, CameraPro.
55 Responses
Shooting in bulb,Silent Shooting,Long Exposure NR,Continuous Shooting,Continuous Shooting Bracketing all are 12bit files everything else is what 13bit what on Earth is wrong with Sony? how exactly can Nikon using a SONY sensor do 14bit in every shooting mode? plus Nikon manages to do RAW loseless, i would think SONY would know how to work with a SENSOR they created but i guess not hopefully the A7RIII will be a proper camera.
“Nikon manages to do RAW loseless, i would think SONY would know how to work with a SENSOR they created but i guess not”
It has next to nothing to do with knowledge of the sensor. In fact what Sony’s doing now needs more knowledge. Lossless compression is like zip or rar… you can do it on any data.
Sony, I’m sure is doing it to keep file size lower. However, there is no reason they cannot include the ability for uncompressed RAW in a menu function. Keep the default at compressed Raw for 80% of people and the people who want uncompressed and can switch it on.
They can provide an option. But they did not.
because dropping to 12bit in almost every shooting mode shows the camera has issues that they cant get true 14bit
I think Sony is like a toothpaste tube. Every time you squeeze a little out of it. Of course they know how to do it. It’s just not the time to do so.
come man if they can get 14bit lossy from bulb or any of the other modes that drops to 12bit you think they wouldn’t? its a hardware limitation that’s why it drops to 12bit compared to Nikon where they manged to get 14bit loseless in every shooting mode not once does it drop to 12bit unless you go into the options to change to 12bit lossy to save space
Why won’t they leave you a reason to change camera next year? Just before 7r2 got shipped they published a new sensor design. You see, it is how you use toothpaste.
yes of course they can fix this with a new A7rIII but with the A7rII we are stuck with 12bit and lossy 14bit when you can get it.
there is no 14 bit on 7r2 so far. It is compressed to 12 bit when recording so you end up with 12-bit file.
yes there is 14bit lossy RAW for single shot mode but any other mode its 12bit lossy RAW
Not true why does the camera drop to 12bit in almost every shooting mode? you think that’s to save file size ? it clearly shows Sony cant manage to use their own sensor properly even CANON is getting better results out of a Sony sensor then SONY LOL
Yeah if you read my posts Im all for it and have been since day one.
Just wanted to clear the misconceptions about the sensor’s involvement in it.
Yea Sony has so much knowledge that they have to drop to 12bit in ALMOST every shooting mode LOL come on you lose 1 stop of shadows 1 stop of DR
Are you talking about the lossy compression they use? Because it doesn’t drop stop fulls like that.
no i am talking about the fact most of the camera shoots at 12bit lossy RAW only time you can shot 14bit lossy RAW is when your in single shot mode any other modes its 12bits
Because nobody shoots in single shot mode anymore right?
Sure works fine on a Nikon using same sensor and all DSLR provide RAW 14bit in all shooting modes YUP defend SONY for idiotic limitation.
It isn’t idiotic! The processor is crap. The fact that the camera is still awesome should tell you something…
Hmm i don’t spray and pray so I have no idea about this to be honest. While Sony’s working on it these people can also learn how to press the shutter button on time 🙂
yea because using bracketing is spraying and pray YUP defend idiotic SONY decisions when Nikon can even shoot lower ISO on same sensor
I bracket manually. It’s not magic.
Yep, Sony need to sort this out. The first thing my clients always ask is ‘your raws are lossless, right?!’ I’m losing so much work over this issue.
nah, in my case when someone saw my picture on 500px the first thing they said is “damn, that 11+7 bit making your picture like a modern art”
i guess you don’t need a 42mp sensor if your using 500px, some of us like to PRINT and print large and this is somewhere where you CAN see the compression artifacts.
jeez that’s called sarcasm, i am not even owned 500px account nor a7rii
“all are 12bit files everything else is what 13bit what on Earth is wrong with Sony?”
In fact their RAW files are 11,7,7,7,7,7,7,7 bits anyway. Primitive lossy compression leaving just 8 bits per pixel on average. Even the usual 4:2:2 high-quality JPEG has 12 bits per pixel.
pardon?
Which arsehole did you drag the 13bit number out of? Compressed 14 bit is still 14 bit. But maybe you’re right. So go enjoy silent shooting and blazing fast continuous shooting with your Nikon then.
non of those are 14bit all 12bit idiot, i want to use bulb on A7rii nope i get 12bit file, i want to use Continuous Shooting bracketing nope i get 12bit files, Silent again 12bit,Long Exposure NR 12bit when the camera does 14bit its lossy and has compression artifacts. I will wait until A7rIII when Sony finally figures out how to use a Sony sensor properly even CANON get better results out of a Sony sensor then SONY WOW.
Because Canon use Sony sensors all the time… right? But my point still stands. Go ahead and stay and enjoy your Canon or Nikon then. The Sony has plenty of reasons that it is superior to both, but apparently you don’t care for them. Then why bother complaining?
because i want a A7rII with 14bit RAW files
And I want a 100mp iPhone. so?
Admin your Sony DE link is wrong, I jumped to a weird website.
fixed
“L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican’s newspaper, quotes a reliable source who says that the Pope is considering replacing the bible with the A7rII because of the great significance of the content and beyond.”
Hm, this may promote Sony artisans to martyrs if not saints. Could be good for us users.
The word artisans makes them sound like bread bakers. It’s such a stupid name.
Agree, they suck as much as their name does.
Glad to read that some intelligent and humorous writers are amongst the mostly GAS-driven SAR readers. Excellent post! 🙂 Thanks for this good reason to come back here now and then for a good laugh…
Unfortunately this is the end. Canonizing camera companies is the greatest height that Sony could go. However, that leads to delayed innovation and disappointing products with low DR…
Ha! Way too funny!
who changes lenses without turning the camera off?! I think this bug is in fact located in the camera user’s brain..
I do 🙂 I think you haven’t read the text carefully.
“agenius”
Clearly not.
It said if you do turn the camera off, the IBIS won’t work under the condition stated. Keeping the camera turned on while changing lenses, the IBIS does work. No one wants to be forced to do that to have functioning IBIS.
Sony SE link is also wrong.
“The A7II bug found by David Sampson is also “valid” on the new A7rII:
If you attach a 3rd party lens after using an OSS (eg the 24-70 FE) lens then IBIS does not work
If you attach a 3rd party lens after using a non OSS lens (eg the 55 f1.8) then IBIS does work.”
What, they haven’t fixed the bug on A7II STILL? What, they don’t even fix bugs with new camera releases now? It has to be a new low in Sony’s anti-Kaizen MO.
It’s outrageous that Sony released the $3000+ 7RII with this problem since it was known to be a problem in the 7II and needed a firmware fix. It’s either Sony’s incompetence or arrogance, take your pick. Not the way for a camera manufacturer to reach the goals they cite.
I bet it happens for the 3rd reason – greed. They just want to sell you their overpriced “Zeiss” lenses. How dare you to use that $10 Canon FD 50/1.8 when they have $1000 55/1.8 to sell! 🙂
What is the source of this comment –
The A7II bug found by David Sampson is also “valid” on the new A7rII:
If you attach a 3rd party lens after using an OSS (eg the 24-70 FE) lens then IBIS does not work
If you attach a 3rd party lens after using a non OSS lens (eg the 55 f1.8) then IBIS does work.
I have my 7RII now, did some tests. I had no problem mounting and using a “dumb” adapted legacy lens when turning of the camera regardless if I was changing from an OSS or non-OSS FE lens. I was easily able to enter the focal length of the legacy lens. No bug as best as I can tell.
Cheers, mate. Glad you enjoy it.
An other highly hiped halfbacked bread for 3200$.
It is sade to see these people to have sold their soul for a few $ -it washes cleaner then clean , don’t miss it. The bugs are for free too!
Its disappointing that you can’t take photos while recording video. That is something I do. Please fix this Sony.