Sony A7RII, RX100IV & RX10II: Just Announced in 60 Seconds
Sony FDR AX100 review (Cinema5d).
Sony aims for more clients, 20 pct sales growth in image sensors (Reuters).
Sydney (AUS) – Vivid Light Festival 2015 – A6000 + SEL24F18Z (SonyAlphaForum).
Even older “selfies”: Self-portraits from early 20th and 19th century (TheNakedCamera)
Sony A7 II Compared To Nikon D750 And More On The ‘Mirrorless Myth.’ (Soundimagesplus).
Zeiss C-Sonnar 1.5/50 ZM (on Sony A7r): Moody Modern Retro (DearSusans).
90mm FE lens test at Mobile01.
24-240mm FE lens review at SonyAlphaLab.
Robbert: “Last week I got my new DJI Ronin M and shot a Brazilian Zouk dance party with it and my A7s + Sony/Zeiss 24-70 f/4. Left the OOS in the lens on to correct for small shakes and used autofocus all the time which did surprisingly well in the poorly lit environment. Shot everything with 50 frames/sec in S-Log2. The link: https://vimeo.com/130699038“
22 Responses
Sweet video Robbert. TFS!
You’re welcome!! Thanks for the support.
The d750 comparison was clearly biased but as soon as it started arguing that it was better for manual focusing too, it wasn’t worth reading any further
Soundimagesplus surely has a point with Sony FF mirrorless not having as much of a size advantage, in particular with respect to lenses. However, there’s two statements in the article that I don’t subscribe to at all:
1. I don’t need a battery grip to get 600 exposures out of my a7R – I just take another battery with me. I take the battery grip if I want added comfort for verticals, in particular portraits. So, as many have pointed out before me the Sony has the advantage that it allows me to go both light and compact, but also gives me added heft and comfort if I need it.
2. Funnily enough, nearly two years ago I decided against an Oly E-M1 (I had a small mFT system at that time) and bought a Sony a7R exactly because the mFT Pro lenses that Oly had announced would not provide any significant size advantage over the announced Sony FF lenses, either. Admittedly, this problem was much worse with the FT lenses – look at the Zuiko 14-35/2. But still, it seems as if lens size not only correlates with format but also with quality: My a7R together with the FE 16-35/4 will only be marginally larger than the E-M1 with the 7-14/2.8, also in optical terms the 7-14 has an opening that’s one stop smaller than the Zony’s.
I personally say: Forget about all that post-rationalization – buy the system which best suits your needs and also has the most appeal to you in emotional terms.
if that guy who compared the a7ii to the Nikon d750 doesn’t already feel stupid (which, in fact, he should, for writing like 2 thousand words to basically say he prefers the nikon & claiming this has some value to other readers), I bet he will when the a7rii drops (especially since he does say “but for me the ‘mirrorless revolution’ hasn’t really materialised as yet, at least not at this ‘DSLR killer’ top end of the interchangeable lens system cameras. It may still, but to be honest. I’m not holding my breath”).
I’d definitely like to see him rerun the weight test with the 55/1.8 and a Sigma 50/1.4…
The one is 1.4, the other 1.8. Why compare those? Why not let him use the Otus on the D750 and make a weight test against the Loxia 50/2 to render the test even more in favour of Sony?
So you accept that having lighter lenses is an advantage? And what does Nikon have that can go head to head with the baby otus?
No, your words. What is a baby Otus? The 55? A very good lens. But slow to focus especially in dim light. Nikon’s advantage is to choose among many different lens suppliers. Sony uses Zeiss, a very good but expensive manufacturer. I use the 1.8g lenses if I want it light with very good quality and Sigma or the 1.4g lenses in low light, 2.8 zooms if required or telephotos (does Sony have those?) I have the A7ii, too, for casual stuff. It is still not at a level to use it for weddings, for example. The 55 and 85/1.8g (preordered) are my lenses for it. I found the 28/2 not as good and sold it. I can’t justify right now buying the 35/1.4 compared to Sigmas 1.4 Art. Not as sharp wide open and very expensive. Maybe if the price comes down. Weight? The lenses I want to use, like 35/1.4, 85/1.8, 70-200/4, 90mm macro are similar to DSLR counterparts.
The 55 slow to focus in low light? Well in my experience not with the A7s. I’m shooting at dance party’s where people dance brazilian zouk so there’s lots of sudden movement, hair going all directions and at these party’s the lighting is very bad (low and colored). I’m seeing DSLR users struggling to get focus even using the focus beam from there flashes while I have to do without the focus help of the flash and can focus just as good as them. And I did shoot Nikon D750 before this so I know what that one can do. Sure the D750 was better in AFC mode but as far as I can tell in AFS there both good.
And while I might not be a professional, I did shoot a wedding yesterday and my Sony’s handled the day just fine. And my body was glad the weight and bulk was less.
Weight and bulk using a D750 are negligible compared to my A7ii. About 300g. So unless you talk about 2.8 zooms, the difference is not huge. So I don’t think you mean the 300g difference? I find the difference in focus speed in lower light very clear. Unless I do some kind of zone focusing, the A7ii hunts too much. If there is enough light, I need to often use AFC since people are on the move all the time. With AFS focus is off too often. If people stand still it is working ok. Keeper rate was much too low for me compared to the D750.
I do wish the A7 cameras had a larger denser battery to start. This would make the grip bigger but the overall camera size would still be the same. If the battery life could be expanded to match that of Nikon then adding the vertical grip would be less of a near and the size weight argument would actually hold water.
Or do what I do – drop a spare battery in your pocket.
I’ve bought 5 batteries… I never run out of batteries now! haha
You may laugh, but my hit rate with A7ii and peaking is as good as with D750 and dot confirmation. Reason is the abysmal accuracy for fast lenses with peaking. Only using magnification gives my a high success rate. But Sony should improve this. I need to constantly half press shutter for the magnification not to go back to the total view. Very annoying (Oly EM1 or Fuji XT1 do this much better in my opinion). Wasn’t there a firmware update rumored to bring the split view magnification to the A7ii?
What a BS comparison article vs the D750. First, the Sony wasn’t with native glass, but Nikon with a Metabones adapter. Worse, the D750 wasn’t with the decent kit 24-120 f4 (710g), but half the weight 18-35 (385g), both of which use a 77mm filter. On the Sony was the 20 f1.8 (357g plus adapter) and uses the same 77mm filter. By contrast, the FE 24-70 may be 430g but a 67mm filter. And that is the issue…not weight, but BULK – or lack of. I currently shoot a D610 and my bag (Domke F2) is bulging. Tried an A7II and the lack of bulk was impressive. Part of it was Nikon’s plastic to save weight but much fatter than their “D” equivalent, and Sony’s metal lens, adds weight but slimming. The body is also much slimmer – similar to Nikon film SLR than the bloated digital bodies. It was very apparent in my camera bag – 24-85 kit Nikon vs 24-70f4, and matching Nikon/Sony 16-35 f4 (77/72 filters), but not apparent from the photos in the article. The size difference is hidden by 1) camera angle, 2) lens selection, and 3) battery pack.
Sadly, I returned the A7II, but it was either warranty repair which would take it past the return period, or use the return period. Plus, they announced the A7RII the day prior. But I did retain the glass, and my side by side comparisons are a whole different issue…and what is pushing me to Sony. Tempted to post examples in the forum. Now it is biding my time with the D610 then decide between the A7II or A7RII…but don’t have to get the first one on day one.
Please post:)
Thanks for the heads up. I’ve got some more coming up. One of those is a produced dance choreography video. I’m loving the A7s and my other Sony camera’s coming from Nikon gear.
Not impressed. Do it in under 30 seconds and then we’ll talk.
“I personally say: Forget about all that post-rationalization – buy the system which best suits your needs and also has the most appeal to you in emotional terms.”- EXACTLY!
Mirrorless myth: had an A7II together with a FF DSLR for one week, vacation. The DSLR with MF lens the A7 with the 2.8 35mm Zeiss + Loxia 50mm. DSLR has obvious advantages: clear viewfinder, better for people wearing glasses, no magnification mode needed for accurate focusing EVERY time like the A7 & Loxia, battery life. The A7 can take pics with equal IQ but to get there is not as intuitive and fast, especially with mf glass. AF with the A7 not as reliable and quick as with a DSLR. The A7 needs to improve in many details but looks better on paper, a bit advantage in seize and weight, if small lenses are used. The A7 shows clear advantages for most accurate focusing with mf glass with magnification mode, eg. macro. The A7 is attractive to put all those sexy third party lenses on. If the A7 improves for manual focusing, gets a better EVF and better AF for AF glass, then we talk again, battery life -yes – should be better, but no deal breaker.