On August 12th there will be a special A7rII live streaming at BHphoto (all info can be read here). Also Sony manager Kenta Honjo will be part of the panel and this may be the occasion to also discuss the A7rII “flaws”. Because as with any new cameras you will have issues and bugs. Some of them can be fixed by Sony via firmware update and some not. Here is the “A7rII issues” roundup:
Autofocus: Marko on Dpreview writes:
Today I got the new A7RII. Everything is very good. But I have one Problem with the SEL2470Z. When I focus with the camera AF-S (Focus-Field is green), everything from 35 to 70 mm has massive front focus and the object which should be in focus is blurry. This is heavier when I use F5.6 to F7.1 or higher and not so heavy in F4.0.
All other lenses work great !
Manuel Focus on the SEL2470Z works fine !
I don’t know, if this a Problem of the lens or a Problem of the new camera. I tried my old A7R and here everything is fine. When I use AF-C on the new AFRII I often got good focus, but not everytime. Can someone try this with the new A7RII and the SEL2470Z ? Should I send the lens to Sony for repair ? Or is it the new camera ? Thanks for helping !
RAW: Diglloyd says the A7rII Raw Files Are Still ‘Cooked’:
While I can double or quadruple sharpening on a Nikon D810 file with minimal ill effects, doing so on a Sony A7R or A7R II files looks godawful.
I have to be very careful with sharpening Sony A7R II files, just as I had to with Sony A7R and A7 II and A7 files. The raw files are pre-cooked. Very disappointing to see this practice continue with the A7R II, which has superb sensor quality.
Front focus issues: Marko on Dpreview writes:
Today I got the new A7RII. Everything is very good. But I have one Problem with the SEL2470Z. When I focus with the camera AF-S (Focus-Field is green), everything from 35 to 70 mm has massive front focus and the object which should be in focus is blurry. This is heavier when I use F5.6 to F7.1 or higher and not so heavy in F4.0. All other lenses work great !
Autofocus jitter: Bphoto writes on SonyAlphaForum:
Picked up new camera and my first lens (switched systems entirely today), the zeiss 55. Now I’ve noticed the lens is still using firmware v.1 and I don’t have my computer with me to try updating to v.2.
That said, I’m using P mode with afs and wide focus settings, and I’ll focus on something (accurately) as usual right? Then after I release the half-pressed shutter button, focus should (on af single) remain on target, but it jitters and loses focus intermittently and kinda jumps around.
Long expsoure chroma noise: Again Bphoto writes on SonyAlphaForum:
I had read about these Chinese tests and a few others indicating poor performance by the new camera with long exposures. This concerns me as I do a bit of nighttime astro and landscape stuff. I wanted to check it out before getting to bed so here’s a couple RAW crops showing what I think is chroma noise in shadows. You can see my adjustments on the right. I haven’t really seen such noise before. Not sure what’s causing this, but I hope it’s something that can and will be addressed via firmware. I never had anything like this with my Nikon. The JPEG versions, i’ll note, are so compressed that banding happens far sooner than would have on the Nikon /:
Long exposure affects dynamic range: Anonymous:
http://forum.xitek.com/thread-1485077-2-1-2.html. Here some chinese users in the largest chinese camera gear forum, were discussing the noise issue with long exposure. They are not blindly accusing Sony in the chinese scene. You can see a lot of comparison pictures of A7rII A7S D800 D800E D810 D810A(which is specialized in long exposure) 5DSR. Can the raw decoding softwares include Rawdigger, exiftool, Capture One Pro(Sony recommends), RawTherapee. Also, they are referring to a similar test JimKasson @dpreviewforum was doing. You can download the raw files if you look for links in this currently two-page post.
Conclusion: A7rII did perform worst (worst dynamic range, most noisy) of all cameras tested here, in terms of long exposure, no matter it’s low iso (100, for normal landspace) or high iso (3200 6400, for astronomical photography).
This is a long list o issues I hope Sony will tackle down. And while we are hear…please Sony also improve your service! If you want to become successful you have to give us great hardware (which yo do) great software (give us “real” RAW) and offer decent service (in some countries you really don’t do a decent job here).
Feel free to add your issue description on our SonyAlphaForum.
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.
A7rII case:
Gariz leather case in [shoplink 39113 ebay]Black (Click here)[/shoplink], [shoplink 39108 ebay]Camel (Click here)[/shoplink], [shoplink 39110 ebay]Orange (Click here)[/shoplink], [shoplink 39111 ebay]Brown (Click here)[/shoplink] and [shoplink 39112 ebay]Red (Click here)[/shoplink]. Also available on Amazon US (Click here).
Gariz Alcantara case in [shoplink 39094 ebay]Black (Click here)[/shoplink] and [shoplink 39095 ebay]Red (Click here)[/shoplink]. Also available on Amazon US (Click here).
Lim’s case in [shoplink 39107 ebay]Black (Click here)[/shoplink], [shoplink 39102 ebay]Brown (Click here)[/shoplink], [shoplink 39103 ebay]Red (Click here)[/shoplink], [shoplink 39104 ebay]Yellow (Click here)[/shoplink], [shoplink 39105 ebay]Navy Blue (Click here)[/shoplink] and [shoplink 39106 ebay]Khaki (Click here)[/shoplink]. Also available on Amazon US (Click here).
207 Responses
+1 to the last comment :
“And while we are hear…please Sony also improve your service! If you want to become successful you have to give us great hardware (which yo do) great software (give us “real” RAW) and offer decent service (in some countries you really don’t do a decent job here).”
That long exposure noise just looks like they’re not using the Long Exposure NR setting. You know, the one where it takes a shot with the shutter down for the same period to deal with the exact problem of hot pixels.
The “Autofocus jitter: Bphoto” this is a non issue that was caused by user error. If you read further down the thread, he had Pre AF & Centre Lock AF turned on which was causing the lens to modulate focus as he moved the camera. Once those were turned off there was no more issue. I have tested the 55mm on my A7RII and AF is working just fine. I guess I will have to check the 24-70 now, as I have not mounted that lens to the camera yet, but it does not sound like a system wide problem, or I am sure that Sony or one of their beta testers would have picked up on it.
Yup, that is always the case when people report focus jitter with these cameras. A lot of people publish a lot of stuff in order to be first but don’t actually take the time to really understand the camera.
After being hard on the 24-70 last year around this time, and after a weekend shooting predominantly with the 24-70…it’s him. This combo is tight, certainly much better than when paired with the R
As far as sharpening…I can see every pore, every strand of hair, all of it…and this is just shooting around the house..
…bulb mode is something else. It was an issue with the R and it was a bummer to hear about it making a reappearance. I honestly don’t care about the whole uncompressed lossy raw thing. Just give me the full dr of the body when doing long exposures. Not the end of the world, of course. Worked around it with the R, will do the same with Rii…but it would be nice 🙂
Pre-AF is incredibly annoying. The first thing I do when setting up an E-mount camera is turn the damn thing off. All it does is suck the battery and continually hunt for something to focus on.
Once again, widely known, lossy raw compression does affect image quality albeit only people that strive for the best possible outcome of their files will be able to see it. This may be a minority compared to the many thousands who disdain any critic of Sony, but it is a specialised minority, often enthusiasts and professionals as well.
Lossy RAW helps Sony boost some numbers like burst frames per second, efficiently sell their slower cards and make feel they are comparable to the fast cards (Sandisk Extreme Pro, Lexar) because the smaller file sizes make buffers clear faster. I know this, I have their 32GB 95mb/s card, but the writing speed is actually 40-45mb/s, unlike Sandisk cards (which I also have) that can consistently write on the 85-90mb/s level.
Really, there is a point and a positive side to use lossy files, especially for those for whom storage is a premium. But the negative side of it is really disppointing for those of us who can and wish to do more with our files. Even more so when we cannot use certain images because retouching the artifacts from compression is a no-no in our fields. It is just stupid not to be able to offer the option. Downright stupid.
I was blown away by announcement and pre release information and even fell for some of the marketing. However, the fact there was no full size samples at release left me to wonder…Now, Real world though, I feel I was right to wonder, I feel quite let down and disappointed by it. I do not see myself buying the a7r II and I have become very wary of Sony’s deceptive marketing and gimmickry. Enough for me to forget Sony all together and confirm my suspicions that they are making toy cameras for amateurs.
Do you own one?
What in particular is disappointing?
can you not read? The IQ is nothing special. Infact, it looks average and disappointing.
you fell for th hater reviews now. Grow up and wait for some review from serious sites like DPreview. There are lots of people now holding a Sony in their hands for the first time with crazy settings they don’t understand claiming the cameras are mediocre.
You grow up. I’m not even talking about negative reviews. I’m using my own eyes looking at average image samples.
it’s okay troll
fck off fan boy
Read this: http://blog.kasson.com/?m=201508
More solid answers about this camera and it’s performance you won’t get anywhere. Where you can see that this camera dont shine?
Data is all good and well but it means nothing when all the full sized samples I’ve seen look average.
average in what? sharpness? contrast? color?
I made a test on saturday. sharpness was great and contrast/color are like my setting was. And even with +5EV the outcome is still great (in my eyes): https://flic.kr/s/aHskgcH3V7
And there are professionals (not like me) on dpreview or here in the forum, who made really great pictures with this camera. It sounds like you expecting 5-star pictues with this camera every time you hit the release button in P-mode.
It’s not that is bad, but just looking at your link, it is relatively soft, flat and noisy.
I’ll go out enyoing my camera. 🙂
So you don’t own one. Thanks.
I didn’t say I did. I said I wasn’t going to buy one. I don’t need to buy one when I can see the output is average.
In what way is it average? You need to explain yourself better.
I don’t need to do anything. Can you not look for yourself?
Well you do if you want people to take anything you say seriously.
That’s what separates trolls from posters who actually contribute with informed comments.
Contributing? lol
Why would I care if you did or didn’t take me seriously? If people can’t see it for themselves then hey, knock yourself out. Ignorance is bliss I guess.
Again, can’t understand the output unless you understand the input.
The IQ is spectacular!!!!!!!!!!!!
Try the camera yourself!!!!!
Well I guess it depends on where you standards lay but I wouldn’t personally use the word spectacular.
Thats because unlike me you have not used the camera
I don’t need to use the camera. I have eyes and a brain that can advise me that I don’t need to buy something that is relatively average.
This camera has many functions, i still need to learn how to use them.
You have eyes and a brain……..
You have never even tried the camera, yet in your infinite wisdom you have chosen to ignore all the positive comments and argue with those of us that have used this camera abought its quality…
So lets pose this question only for those tjat have actually used the camera….do you find the image quality to be just average, or spectacular?
Please only answer the question if you have actually used the a7rii.
It’s the same old arguments – I don’t need to own the camera to see what it’s output is like. Do us a favour, since you have the camera, show us an example of this “spectacular” image quality. I’m willing to be wrong here….
You cannot possibly evaluate a 42mp camera from the tiny little files discus would allow me to upload..plus I post from the road on my cellphone so I an not even able do so.
No one actually cares if you buy this csmera or not….but you are totally unqualified to argue the quality of this cameras images with us.
lol – excuses, excuses. Just post a link to a full res jpg.
I’m highly qualified thanks. Show me something that shows this “spectacular” image quality.
Yes you do…you need to understand the original scene to appreciate how the camera rendered it.
I don’t agree, sorry.
True, because concern trolling doesn’t require any real knowledge of what you’re talking about.
Uh oh
oooohhh…do you want some cookies little winy boy?
There are cookies on this site.
no thanks creepy paedo
Just what are you expecting? Do you think a camera that does more things than any camera in history will have every single one of those perfect on the first day it comes out?
I expect file quality that doesn’t look average.
Could you be any more vague?
soft, flat, noisy. How’s that sht head?
you know, nobody cares here if you dont like the output. You can now move on to your favourite brand and stop crying and trolling here about some tests you have seen online. ciao babe
Given the fact everyone is so up in arms about my opinion tends to suggest they do care. I wish you didn’t care, yet here you are, bugging me. Now go away you petulant child.
That’s exactly what is expected of Nikon, however. The argument that every new release has issues wasn’t accepted for the D810 (LE Noise) or D750 (flare) and people made fun here. I think most issues to be really minor, too, however.
Or D800 (AF alignment issues), D600 (shutter problems), 1DX (shutter problems), 5D3 (light leak), 5D (mirror falls off)…
High end cameras without early falws seems few and far between.
I wouldn’t argue that. But I remember the internet buzz when the D810 showed the white dots during long exposures, for example.
Lets not forget the Nikon Df, according to Dpreview the Df stands for “don’t focus”
After using the camera I’m totally impressed by it, a significant improvement over my A7II and 5d3 it replaced. And it shoots some fantastic 4k video. This is truly a powerhouse camera. I’m sure others waiting for their cameras to ship appreciate your decision not to buy.
Troll.
I guess it depends on your standards doesn’t it. If you are so happy with it then why should you care about someone else’s opinion that differs from yours?
The difference here is the fact that Chris actually owns this great camera and is speaking from first hand experience. You’re just trolling based on third hand information from forum posters that know even less than you do, which is next to nothing.
It’s seems your definition of trolling is anyone who doesn’t agree with you.
I don’t need to own the camera, or even use it, to comment on the output of it.
No, trolling is running your mouth spewing negativity about something you know nothing about. Get over your petty jealousy and be happy with what you have. It’s not equal in capability or image quality to this new and expensive camera but it’s serves your purposes. The fact that you totally discount the findings from actual users makes you a troll.
It’s having an opinion formed from experience of shooting for 30 years, working with the best gear in the world, something you clearly have no reference to, or experience with. Your naivety, combined with your feeble passive aggression, while a mildly entertaining, is wearing thin.
If you are happy with it. Good for you. bye bye now.
just curious, what is this “best gear” that you use. You say that the A7rII output is average. What are you comparing it to, if I may ask?
With all that experience I’m surprised you saying what you are? You should know better with all those years behind you!
Do you own the camera or are you formulating your opinion based on internet conjecture? It doesn’t sound like you’ve actually shot with the A7RII. I really don’t care, its an amazing imaging tool with a features that’s unmatched.
I don’t get all this “do you own the camera” sh*t. No I don’t own the camera. I don’t need to own to camera to see average output. I don’t need to listen to any negative reviews and I don’t need to listen to someone tell me it’s “spectacular” when my own eyes tells me it itsn’t. I am able to look at full size samples myself and see they are average. I don’t anyone else telling me that because I can see with my own eyes.
Perhaps you need glasses? The photo/video output is unmatched by any single camera.
You are blind and well as deluded
Another troll. At least rent one before joining the unwashed masses…
Concern troll.
Sony, you have good products, but in the U.S., using Precision as your repair depot is not the best thing you’ve ever done. The issues with the new camera is not unexpected, as many new cameras have problems at launch. Sony needs to address the problems as soon as it can. Some of the problems will also be user error – new users are always anxious to use, test, and talk about their cameras without full mastery of the instrument. The SEL2470Z problem seems more like a firmware problem with the lens and/or camera. The fact that the front focus and overall focus problem lies with this lens and not the other lenses indicates that it is not a hardware issue with the camera itself. This problem, if widespread, needs to be addressed as well.
I don’t expect DR to be affected when shooting videos, as the exposure time for each “frame” is not really that long. I don’t know much about the rest of the problems, until further tests are completed on multiple camera samples to gauge the severity of the problem (if it can be corrected, if it is a production batch problem, sensor batch problem, etc.).
This is a totally new camera and it does more things than any camera has ever done…including full compatability with more lenses than any other camera in
No we do NOT want -uncompressed- raws! It is -looseless- raws that we need!
Just like the pro companies (Canon and Nikon) 🙂
Amen!
Sony is being foolish with their high end products. :/
Worry about that when you can actually afford to buy a high end product, in the mean time enjoy your IPhone.
Lovin’ that iPhone though
On the money front, I’m very frugal with my money 🙂
First sentence +1, second sentence unnecessary. That being said, many people will still choose the lossy raw for the ability to stick more pictures in their memory card and to save space in the storage device, but they do need to provide other options for when “you need the very best.”
Just avoid bulb, continuous shooting, and the long exposure noise reduction setting. You want 14bit, not 11+7…
Makes all the difference.
avoiding bulb,continuous shooting and LENR…dont you think that its a LOT of BASIC camera operations to “avoid”?
I can shoot my own dark frames and while continuous is somewhat of a drag..its really not that big of a deal. Bulb is the only true bummer, but I haven’t gotten a chance to play with that to see what degree it exists in this body.
bulb is a total mess for me since I love long exposures (no, 30s is often not long enough). Continuous is quite a big deal for me too. Yes, we can go around LENR, however I dont understand why this one has to be limited…
…overall, I dont like those limitations. I dont understand the loosy compression rants, that stuff is harming only in rare specific situations. This 12bit limitation, this is the real bummer!
Its not always that bad. I’m not sure with this body yet, but the R had its sweet spots settings wise where you could minimize issues. Not to mention this bsi sensor is an unknown. Don’t let a bunch of people pulling sliders on the web get you down just yet.
Show us the difference between your 12 & 14 bit images! I would really like someone to demonstrate a REAL difference. I’ve used the A7R, A7S and A7 II since they’ve been released. The A7R & A7S for astro/nightscape photography and have yet to conclusively see any difference.
There appears to be camera specific problem relative to artifacts that are not applicable to other Sony products in the same way. ie, the Sony A99 seems capable of producing high contrast shadow/highlight with deep shadow recovery without issue whereas the A7R II cannot. As this has been explored in a DPRreview thread recently.
Its called QA. It’s quite rude to tell people who spend $3000 for a camera to not expect it to function as advertised. Is that how you buy your cars? Just except when the brakes don’t work? This is how you get recalls and items fixed. Enough people complain. Maybe you just like spending your money on items that don’t work properly.
How can you have front focus on a camera that uses a hybrid combination of phase and contrast detect? I thought contrast detect made front focus with certain lenses impossible?
I can’t really get the need to push sharpening so far… Just buy a good lrns. Does Lossless raw can improve the ability to sharpen ?
If the answer is yes, i need explainations…
Try Google for the full explanations. Summary is, compression affects high frequency contrast boundaries where the delta between adjacent pixel groups goes beyond the ability for the lossy algorithm to completely recover. This will affect sharpening as most sharpening algorithms work by increasing the contrast at such boundaries. With missing data, it may show up issues.
It’s an ingenious compression format, and one that I haven’t encountered any issues with (on my a7R) even when sharpening but I can’t understand why Sony doesn’t make lossless compression an option…
Ok Thank you…
Never had issue with my a7r/fe 55 and don’t feel the need at all to push sharpening with this combo. Maybe on missed shots when i’ve moved, but they are missed shots anyway..
I haven’t been convinced that it’s not down to demosaicing of the Sony ARW format. I don’t recall these sharpening artifacts being different between the compressed and uncompressed formats available on the A900.
I’m not convinced they exist at all. Until I see some evidence that is 🙂
Interestingly I can push sharpening in Lightroom with my A77 without problems but with the A6000 it doesn’t work (first doesn’t effect the image, when pushed looks just awful). Same with Clearity: It has a much different effect with the A77 but less so with the A6000’s files.
I can’t explain it why this is or if this is want Diglloyd means.
Hey, mine switches the AF field selected back to WIDE when I turn the camera off. Instead of flexible focus point that I selected I see the WIDE AF area when I switch the camera on next time. This seems to happen randomly. Maybe it is related how quickly I switch off and on again? Have you seen this too?
Probably based on mostly defective camera, ever tech release has a few lemons. Send it back and get a replacement
I thought the same of some of these issues. Because only one has or a few have them.
Didnt find any issues with my copy in the last three days. 🙂
Seems like the threat to Canikon is really becoming serious as we see more of this kind of BS “issue” report.
Just to put things in the proper perspective.
IT IS ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN THE A7RII WILL BE THE 2015 CAMERA OF THE YEAR !
Now all you critics out there, go ahead and arque that.
Even I’m on your side. Isn’t it a bit early in this year to say so? I mean, we are in august and Sony is quite fast in releasing new stuff. 🙂
Loool
Hope you are right but I’m not so sure, people that get a vote on stuff like that are wowed by megapixels so the 5Ds/5DsR might have a shot.
Highly unlikely, only a few more megapixels and not nearly the camera the a7rii is.
Admin there’s an easy fix for the long exposure noise, its something Sony cameras do internally every 30 days. Here’s a thread discussing it: http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1380165
And now we know why the Pana GX8 turns IBIS off when recording video.
Digiloyd is a great guy, but why in the world does he “quadruple sharpness” with D810 files? Oversharpening is ugly in itself. Owned a D800 and never needed heavy sharpening, neither with my A7r. On big advantage with a large, high resolution sensor is you do not need much sharpening.
Other issues are need to update firmware rather then something wrong with the camera. With long exposures and high ISO settings DR goes down: law of physics. The question is how dire consequences are.
Not that new cameras have flaws. My Nikon D800 had to be sent for repair as there was a problem with AF control at the factory resulting in soft left side. My Sony A600 + 16-70/4OSS ZEISS/Sony was poor sharpness on the right side. The Sony service worked flawlessly! Got a new “zoom and focus unit” plus fine tuning and a much better (not perfect) sharpness.
My A7r has been problem free.
Let me add to this my issues:
1. Phase detect autofocus is not available at f/9 or above. This is stated in the manual. What it means is only CDAF, and the camera hunts for focus on low-contrast subjects. It also means that the camera stops down in live-view, and to focus, instead of focusing wide open, as it should.
2. Silent mode affects image quality. This too is stated in the manual. You get vertical line artifacting when shooting with artificial ambient lighting.
No camera I know of offers phase detect AF at f/9, this is an optical limitation. Also the camera will open the aperture to focus in low light, and it will leave the aperture open all the time if the “setting effect” option is set to off.
Regarding “setting effect,” I thought so too, but changing that has no effect on the way it focuses. And in low light, it still apparently doesn’t open the aperture to focus. Instead, it very annoyingly hunts with CDAF. This seems like an easy firmare fix – to just have the camera focus wide open at all times.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e8f7f046064bd5a1bf90e9c2b4b44a92b5082448c4bbac9f3fba165b47b499fe.png
But maybe it helps with focus shift, if there is any. Focusing wide open would invite the possibility of that issue.
Good point. I hadn’t thought of that, but my A-mount cameras always focussed wide open.
I think usually that’s the case. That’s why it can be a real problem when a lens has focus shift. (You’d have to work around it.) But I think it’s rare for lenses to have this issue to a great extent.
“It also means that the camera stops down in live-view”.
Not sure if I’m misunderstanding what you mean, but that is completely normal. It will always try to focus when stopped down too, apart from in low light (although you’re saying that doesn’t work). It basically gives you a permanent DOF preview.
Theoretically the camera should AF wide open, and then switch the aperture to F_whatever while you’re taking a picture? I guess the f/9 limitation would matter only for video.
Mirrorless cameras use aperture wide open until exposing the frame.
But DSLR cameras close aperture to selected aperture because the lenses aperture mechanism is so slow that it doesn’t get closed down fast enough.
So A7r II requires that when using those lenses the aperture is limited to f/9 for AF. But Canon and Nikon cameras AF is limited to f/8 and past that you need to manual focus.
nope, not true. certainly not L lenses
Does the camera open its Aperture if you have LiveView set to OFF and Af set of AF-C? My A7 always closed down aperture in AF-C and worked well on AF-S.
I tried this to see. The result is interesting. When live view is set to effect off, it gives an image at aperture wide open. But, as you focus, the lens stops down and the live view image changes to reflect the stopped down DOF. But it doesn’t show the stopped down image until you focus, or alternately until you push the aperture preview button without focusing. So it seems no matter what, the camera is stopping down to focus, and we’re stuck. This may turn out to be a learning curve issue, but from what I can tell so far, this is just a difference in the way the A7R2 focuses compared to my A99, which always focused (and showed live view) wide open. I used to push the aperture preview button on the A99 and adjust aperture at the same time to get my DOF, and upon release, the live view would revert to wide open view.
Would be nice if Diglloyd learns to read manuals at some point. Many of these comments simply reflect the learning curve of people not knowing how to use their camera……
The front focus one is clearly case where Sony need provide fix. May be they did already via lens FW update…but this is support issue. There will be always some percentage of cameras/lenses that do not work well out of the box. Very disappointing I agree.
How is reading the manual going to help with his comment regarding pre cooked Raw files and the problems sharpening them? Care to tell us which page of the A7rII instruction book covers that?
Sony is very good at producing sensors, but still not so with cameras. If this turns out to be the “Camera of the Year”, as some are suggesting, it will likely be nominated as that because the other companies remain too conservative.
Hopefully they can iron out these kinks with a firmware update. Perhaps if they provide 14-bit lossless RAW files, it will be better.
“The aftermath.”
So does this mean the D810 is still king of the hill in terms of image IQ or image fidelity?
That said, with all I’ve been reading lately, I can’t help but feel as though Sony is great at making sensors but no so good at building camera’s to use them :/
645Z
Respect!
Nope…. Mitchell Feinberg’s 8×10 digital sensors holds the torch for that. Even when just 10Mpix, it is still 8×10 sensor 😛
Apparently you have a hard time reading complete sentences; the D810 has marginally better 0.1 Stop dynamic range at ISO 64. Everywhere else the A7RII beats it handily. And yes Nikon is good at making cameras but only after 2-3 recalls for design flaws.
fidelity = no artifacts 🙂
Crack=Drugs 🙂 Put down the pipe and join the real world troll.
HAHA! you are too funny :p
That said, insults and personal insecurities won’t help motivate others to invest in Sony camera’s. What Sony needs is to address the issues head-on to secure there share of the market.
You need to address your own issues, your a chronic complainer. This manifests itself in your constant trolling. Get a F’n life.
6/10
Most points were lost for being too obvious =:)
On the bright side, you seem quite easy to wind-up and so that keeps it fun :p
Don’t you have artifacts to look at? Get lost troll.
Does this mean you are my newest fan?
And don’t take this the wrong way, because I am honored to have a follower such as yourself even if you are a little rough around the edges 🙂
As opposed to being a little soft around the middle, LOL. You’re a funny man.
Unless of course, I wasn’t a man … :p
You live in a world that is a total illusion, and in this world you create by your thoughts and actions other illusions, some have dreams and even realize them, so leave others dream there dreams, buddy.
D810 sensor in my 6D body = would be win.
Everything I’ve shot so far has been very clean. 6400 is stupid good for what it is. Haven’t played much with bulb mode tho.
Could this be hot/stuck pixels? Edit: I guess not if it only shows up in long exposure.
Yes, Here’s a thread discussing it: http://www.fredmiranda.com/for…
Also it looks more like an Adobe ACR issue, the files are much, much cleaner when opened in Capture One.
Capture One for the win!
Is Capture One better than Lightroom for Sony cameras?
In my experience, yes. It appears to hold more detail, better dynamic range and the speed of processing (compare to Lr 5.4) and working is faster. Mind you, C1 can use Open GL more efficiently for faster drawing times. Your mileage may vary.
the pixels are there in rawdigger, so no.. not an ACR problem.
But not in Capture One, so its a ACR/Rawdigger problem.
rawdigger shows you the unmosaiced actual data, so umm yeah.. it’s still a problem (you’d think that someone would guess that from the product name!) capture one has single pixel NR or something of that effect that you can turn on that masks it. the effect is still there.
I don’t shoot photos with the lens cap on, looking at the results in C1 this is totally overblown as it was present in the A7r and in the d810. YMMV.
Cheers.
typical fanboy response to a problem .. cover your ears and scream “I don’t hear you.. “
You are so wise.
Is Capture One better than Lightroom?
manual focus with x5 magnification – http://diglloyd.com/blog/2015/20150806_1638-SonyA7R_II-EVF-5X.html
Go tell the guy to read the manual! Really this is getting annoying. Total iliterate making reviews….fun!
I’ve been using ‘High’ for the EVF quality setting (on A7rII), and it is beautiful. Very bright, clear, and has a very nice feel. No complaints here, from a former optical viewfinder-only guy;)
But why isn’t “high'” the default option? To be able to claim better battery life in the specs?
Most likely. I purchased the A7rII knowing full well it wouldn’t match the battery performance of my previous Canon cameras. I bought it because the camera itself can outperform my previous (and any current) Canon cameras. So the battery life isn’t good (shrug) – I just bought extra batteries. 🙂
I thought front/back focusing can’t happen with mirrorless?
Yes it can depending on lens.
Has anybody tested the flash sync speed? I’m getting banding @ 1/250s, ~5-10%, very visible. 1/200s works fine (same as the A7r, but its official sync speed is 1/160s).
I’ve used 1/320s so far. No issues with that.
What strobe? EFCS enabled/disabled?
With the 60 as master and the 43 as slave. both fired. EFCS enabled
Thanks! I’ll try the Sony flashes when I get home. I’m primarily interested in the studio flash though. I was using PCB’s Einstein e640, those are pretty quick and shouldn’t have any issues syncing at 1/250s (A7-II worked no problem). For indoors photography the sync speed doesn’t matter much, but for outdoors having a “real 1/250s” sync would be nice. I may also try a different Einstein strobe or maybe a sync cord…
How do you trigger the flash? cord or radio? May be the radio is adding some latency. I have had issues with much cheaper YongNuo flashes syncing at 1/250th on A7.
By the way at what speed is A7r ii rated? A7r original is rated 1/200 unlike A7 and A7ii at 1/250
It was PCB’s wireless (radio) transmitter. I’ll definitely try the cord and the Sony flashes tonight. On the manufacturer’s web site I found a note the wireless mode can cause some delay, but as I said the A7-II worked fine at 1/250s. The A7r officially supports only 1/160s, but I didn’t see a banding at 1/200s, same as the A6000 (1/160s on paper, but could go to 1/200s with no issues). Will keep you guys posted 🙂
I don’t have any third party transmitter. But I would love to hear, which one works for you.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zf_XPZnvXk
It’s the A7S, but he’s obviously using more than 1/320sec… and I don’t think we have a more restricted flash system on the A7RMII.
Just for the record: Did you used silent shutter? 🙂
cool wedding shoot!
even he is posing and entertaining a little bit too much in his videos, I like his ideas. 🙂
That’s not a long list at all, especially for such a complex camera. There may be deep issues involved of course, but there’s so much contractory stuff out there who knows.
I agree!
All we need now is for Sony to address these in fw or whatever and we’ll be good to go
One guy that has a problem with a lens is not necessary a camera model problem, It may well be just his problem. Other things listed are just small potatoes.
Sorry but this is sensationalist at best, one guy with one – non native – lens (that nobody has reproduced or checked), another who hasn’t updated the lens firmware…give me a break!
I got my Sony a7r mk2 over the weekend. First test run was with recording 4k at 60mbps and 100mbps. After approx. 5 minutes into recording at 100mbps the camera shut off. Same thing happened at approx 7 minutes into recording at 60mbps. The camera wouldn’t power back on until I removed/replaced the battery and flipped the switch back on. I’m going to test this again later today in a studio environment.
Shooting environment:
Covered outdoor patio, camera was not in direct sunlight.
80 degrees F at less than 20% humidity
8-10pm (sunset)
Camera equipment:
Lens: Sony FE 24-70 f4
Rode Video Mic Pro
Manfrotto 055 series tripod
Fully charged Sony W series battery (supplied in the box)
Memory card: SanDisk Extreme 95MBPS 64GB UHS-1 U3 Class 10
Camera settings:
PP7 – Slog 2
Creative style off
Aperture: f5.6
ISO: 1600
Shutter: 1/50
Recording format: 4k xavc 60mbps & 100mbps at 24 fps
That sucks…
How was the video quality?
seems if you use an external recorder off the uncompressed HDMI stream, it doesn’t have the heat issue, but any combination of internal recording (including lifting the lcd) causes thermal shutdown.
big threads on dvxuser.com and eoshd.com talking about it.
No wonder if some random company like Fotodiox will make a (liquid?) cooler for the A7r2 soon…
Or a case with (watercooled) fans
I did a run test with 4k, FF, 60mbps, IBIS on, and back-to-back 29+ min takes – no issues but the camera is hot. The battery died at 29:40 of the second take. Not bad – 59+ minutes of recording with the LCD on the whole time. The overheat warning came on during the third take after the battery swap, it shut down just before the 10 min, so just about 70 minutes with 4k at the lower bitrate. I let it rest for 3 minutes and recorded another 29+ min take. Then I went to 1080/60p and hit the max record time with no temp warning and the battery was at 3%. I had no more charged batteries.
there’s no such thing as miracle. if Canon can’t than Sony can’t either. Everything else is a lie.
yet Nikon with a Sony sensor CAN
Nikon never confirmed that fact. Also it’s a mirage. Nikon doesn’t exist.
I’m attaching a screenshot of the same a7rII image processed by Lightroom and by Capture One.
The image is a 30 second exposure at f22 ISO 100 with the lens cap on, using the FE 16-35.
Both programs set to +4 exposure (since that’s as far as Capture One will go it seems, never used it before), and both with any default sharpening and noise reduction zeroed.
Both zoomed in the same amount. Capture One on the left, Lightroom on the right.
Looks to me like LR has more bright pixels and Capture One has red blotchiness to it.
I just did a 60 sec exposure and it is a lot better than the 30 sec one above.
C1 on left, LR on right, same as before but 60 second exposure. Same zoom, but the cropped screenshot is a bit smaller.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/60a3d2929af40460532a2c8c378125c34b7e76efb8a7009d7b4577ab994a0ed8.png
I have to ask, what is the point of tests such as these? Any camera, when used for long exposures, then underexposed, and then lightened significantly in ‘post’ (regardless of the program) is going to exhibit artifacting.
If you look for a “problem” long enough, you are bound to find one. I’ve been using my A7rII for actual, real world shoots (the only “test” that is appropriate) since I got it on Thursday.
No problems so far.
Ignorance is bliss 🙂
May I ask, who is the ignorance comment directed towards?
Those who don’t know better of course. ie, a camera might exhibit major issues in some particular area that would never affect particular shooters. And so in this way, the saying “ignorance is bliss” holds true.
It is important in astrophotography, for example. Like this
http://www.davidkingham.com/blog/2013/11/canon-6d-vs-nikon-d600-high-iso-night-photography. One shouldn’t get this kind of artefacts. When the D810 showed LE white dots, Nikon was stoned although LENR could be used. Whether it is the camera or software remains to be seen. A FW fix should help.
and plenty of people are happy using their iPhone 5 to take photographs – not sure what your point is.
Lots of people do tests, some go way further than this and do all kinds of scientific things – and there are plenty of people that like seeing the results, if you don’t like seeing them, easy, move on.
Thats exactly the point. iPhone 5 users are happy, even with the limitations in IQ. $3k uber camera owners are unhappy about some chroma noise in “a 30 second exposure at f22 ISO 100 with the lens cap on”.
Your test is totally valid and gives a helpful tip to fix the “problem”, no complains about that. But it exhibits the fact that far more iPhone users are focussed on actual photography than so called enthusiasts.
So we have a software issue not a camera issue? 😀
This is very helpful. Thanks alot!
All my ultra long exposures at f22 ISO 100, with the lens cap on, looked so terribly bad, that I almost regretted that I purchased the A7Rii.
Now I can enjoy my lovely chroma noise free lens-cap-on-pictures.
I thought I would try capture 1 but the trial version is not the same as the full version. So I downloaded the full but couldn’t get on with it – mainly because of the library features but also it isn’t as good or intuitive as Lightroom in my opinion. I stopped using it after 3 days and reverted to LR. But anyone else wanting to try the full version please note..if you do this Phase 1 will ABSOLUTELY NOT give you a refund. Buried in their Ts and Cs they stipulate NO REFUND.
Spot on. I bought the A7r new for under £1100. Open box deal. Just bought an A6000 for £379, new.
I can never understand what the great rush is?
But thanks to all those who pre-ordered so they can tell me the limitations of the camera I’ll be buying in a years time for tuppence.
Please keep us updated on firmware improvements too.
Pre cooked RAW prevents the spread of image borne illnesses due to bacteria and parasites. Saves time in the kitchen and it tastes great too!
Come on guys, read the manual!
What Marko is describing, is focus shift related to aperture.
Focusing while lens is set to max. aperture means focus shift after stopping down.
This can be easily avoided by focusing with aperture stopped down.
Choose “Live View Display” settings. Setting Effect ON
This is user error, not camera or lens 🙂
Actually yes it is covered and also there is mention about setting your EVF image quality to high. Care to first turn some pages before posting more non sense?
Again, Bphoto, read the manual!
(It has nothing to do with chroma noise.)
camera setting:
Long Exposure NR
Sets noise reduction processing for shots with a shutter speed
of 1 second or longer.
(On)
I find it interesting that all of these so called issues exist on the current cameras. I’ve often wondered why people seem to troll new cameras with non issues but I recently read something that made sense. That they are trying to lower the price.
I never considered an A7 camera before the release of the A7R II. To me they were nothing but gadget camera’s with no real potential for professional shooting. Whereas the A7R II on the other hand seems designed and priced to compete with the prosumer market. However, unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to have the chops to compete on all levels either. And so what we end-up with here is a sort of situation which leaves people wanting more with this particular sensor(backlight). And more importantly, where Sony doesn’t have the best reputation for listening to consumer needs and relative FW updates after the fact.
And so with this in mind, I’m thinking were more likely going to see Pentax and Nikon show Sony how it’s done for yet another sensor generation as they’ll no doubt implement and make good use of this otherwise fantastic sensor. While Sony sits on the sidelines with a prosumer priced camera that will stay stuck in the amateur photographer market.
To which I’d add, does anyone have the right to complain?
Hell yea! We need to complain loud and clear so that Sony can get off their asses and start paying attention.
Japanese companies rarely compete head on with others these days. It’s not weird that Sony would create a gap between their own products and their clients’ products.
I actually had good information to share on this but the site owner(here) doesn’t allow comments that would otherwise detract from the Sony fanclub. And so it looks like it’s filtered discussion for you I’m afraid. 🙂
Lots of reviews lately, many of them are sufficiently critical. As always some of them are critical in quite obscure ways. I’m interested in the A7R2 because it does offer considerable / tangible improvements over my A7R. Obviously that makes me a Sheeple in your book…
LOL
Hilarious. 55 sucks nuts for focusing, can’t add sharpening for shake and baked files and 24-70 is a dog as we all know. Now I am all for the Sony A7RII, but perfect it is not. Neither is the FE system. Sony better get working on those kinks. I suspect a MKII 55 and 24-70. Wallet say ahhhhhhhh……..
Wow… nice over reaction….
Overall, I agree. However, we should not forget, that it was Sony, and up to this day ONLY Sony, who had the balls to bring a compact AND sanely priced full frame camera to the market. This is a serious feature and we should appreciate this.
Too bad that their cameras are not nearly as thought through as the ones from their main competitors (Nikon,Canon,Pentax,Leica). But this is possibly not due to Sony’s legacy as a consumer electronics (AKA gadgets) giant, but the inheritance of the Minolta way of designing cameras. Very innovative, but never able to establish a serious pro- or prosumer-system.
Wish Sony had bought Pentax from Hoya rather than Ricoh. That would have been a great team with Pentax bringing the camera making skills to Sony and Sony the autofocus skills to Pentax.
that is so funny, I read here that peeps are buying USD 3k camera and they shoot photos with caps on lens, than they push the devellopment to an extreme , gets shit out of it and cry. Others shoot camera test targets and cry too. Wow, when I get a cool camera I go outside and shot real life. But that just me.
That being said, question to Sony. When truly PRO new camera wil see the light? 99II is such a great occasion to show the World it is possible.
But I fully understand to make tests, and to know what 7RII is able to do or not. Obviously there are better cameras for night sky shooting. Or better cameras to shoot with caps on.
Guys forgot this days that a photo is made of content not its resolving capabilities.
when I put my $3K to a camaera I wish it would be the best in every possible aspect and field of aplication.
Sony said they want to be the leader in the market. Pro market, too? Holy cow, I hope this is not only marketing but there is a real move to a bright side of the moon.
With those kind of blogs about problems for this particular camera, they will loos clients. No good. But maybe it will kick their bottoms to psh even further what they have accomplished until now!
Sony are you listening?
Anyway bravo Sony for inovative products!
PS
Sony said they wil not abondon Alpha mount. I have A99. Whiling to buy 99II, 99III and so.
But if you loos me on Alpha I wont get any other product of yours. Switching to others great product is easy. For sure I am loorking on the line of “7” series, but Alpha mount is primordial for me at this very moment.
Thanks and wishing you Sony long live and succes
Agreed with the first part. Absolutely.
But the rest? I’m sorry to say, but you don’t get it. Even if Sony is listening, which i doubt, they won’t care about you. (By “you” I’m referring to disappointed A-mount users in general.) If Sony plans to abandon A-mount, then it will be mainly because the customer base is too small to justify the R&D costs. I repeat it: TOO SMALL. Not relevant anymore.
If Sony does not plan to abandon A-mount, than be happy and wait for the A99ii, A99iii, A99iv etc.. 🙂
But if you ask me, yes, Alpha mount is primordial, but sadly not successful. So, the question will not be “if”, it will be “when”.
I’ve seen everything now. Lens Cap on tests. What a joke. I would take it seriously if they would go a step further….lens cap on…..dip in a bucket of water for 3 minutes. You can easily do this with Canon, Nikon or leica. Please somebody prove me wrong
with the alpha 7r II can u save images to the sd card and internal HD