Sony A7Rii field tested review (vs Nikon D810)
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- Опубліковано 8 вер 2024
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I added the Sony a7rII system to my tool kit. I shoot the Canon 1Dx for wildlife and sports, but everything else; I like the Sony. The files are very nice and detailed. I have not noticed any sluggishness or delay that you mentioned. Since I shoot the 1Dx, I think I would notice if the Sony were slow. I have used the A7rII with metabones and my Canon big glass, with focus fast enough to capture moving birds. I still wouldn't give up the 1Dx unless I decided not to shoot wildlife and sports anymore. The best thing I can say about the Sony is that I always have it and get a lot more photos. If any camera is seeing less use because of the Sony, it is my iPhone6. My wife also added the Sony a7rII and has completely stopped using her Canon 5DIII. I would like a FE mount 24-70 2.8 with iq equal to my Canon 24-70 2.8 II. I do get great results using it on the Sony with metabones, but it is very large.
Ron Paulk thank you for your comment. I especially liked what you said about the iPhone 6 because that's what I'm shooting on now and looking for a camera to buy. I'm thinking the a7rii here for real estate photos and video. Still unsure though
Did you get the a7rii stickdiggler? I shoot real estate too and deciding between this and the a7iii.
Great review and gorgeous photos of Bhutan!
+Tony Northrup Cheers Tony/Chelsea
Refreshingly honest and open review. Thanks Matt.
Hey Matt, the video was great! In response to your question, I've been a DSLR enthusiast for a number of years, my current body is the D800. Earlier this year I added the Sony a6000 as a lighter weight more portable option. I have a number of awesome lenses for my D800, and for the a6000 I bought the Sigma 19mm and the Sony 35mm to go along with the kit lens. I can carry the a6000 body and all three lenses in a small messenger bag, and it is very nice. I am in alignment with your thinking that I have *added* mirrorless, but it does not replace DSLR. Thanks for all the videos over the years!
80% of the shots taken with the Sony kind of says it all.
What I like about the tests is that it is about gear and not about emotional hysterics as in some cases.
In that regard, your tests are way up on top, just like Tony Northrup's
great comments, nice to hear what someone really thinks, especially after using it for some time in the real world..
I own a Nikon D800 with huge lenses, but I bought a Sony A7II to take on my Eurotrip
so much better to carry around and still get beautiful images
I also have a D800 and LOVE my camera; however, I have tried to decide upon a F to E mount adapter that would reliably work. I tried the Fotodiox Fusion and it seemed to work okay (tested in camera store only), but, I recall Matt G. saying he tried it and get best results from the Commlite EN-EF1 PRO (I think it was). What adapter did you use or did you use native Sony glass? Thanks for your time. I REALLY toggling between the 7rII and A7riii (rented both and really don't want to pay $2,500 for the A7Riii right now...good lord...plus adapter ($370, etc.). Your adapter recommendation, please?!
Great review Matt and great images too. Thanks for your professional opinion on the A7r ii.
DSLRs are clearly still the way to go for now, but the mirrorless cameras make great backup cameras.
+Matt Granger, as others had commented, you actually can change the iso button. it is marked on the body as iso, but you can change it in the custom keys menu as the "right button". but the fact that your iso changes accidentally may be because of the wheel rather than the button, as by default when you turn the wheel it changes the iso immediately. you might want to disable the wheel or change its function.
you can also change the focus point with one button press just like on your nikon body (i have a D300, so i loved that setup too), simply set the center button (the one in the middle of the wheel) to "standard" in the custom keys menu. it is rather hidden, because "standard" does not mean anything, but it is actually the exact function you need.
for quick access to less frequent functions, you can also customize the Fn menu. that's where i put the silent shooting option.
i was wondering if the delay with a black screen you get comes from a full buffer. if your card is slower than what the camera expects, the camera will still allow you to shoot while it writes to the card until the buffer is filled up. As you shoot RAW+JPG, it has a lot to write to cards, so i think your delays occur less frequently if you upgrade your cards to latest speeds, like UHS2 U3.
if you like the Black & White rendering of the Sony (they had great B&W since the RX1, but requires JPG), you might want to try and disable the noise reduction completely. the noise then becomes grain and adds a very nice visual touch to your image like what we had on film, instead of making it worse. you then might actually like to shoot in high iso on the A7RII after that :)
great review. I always appreciate it when a reviewer acknowledges their biases. It will be interesting to see what you think of the camera in a year. The mirrorless cameras work fundamentally different than DSLRs and that can take some deep level rethinking.
Very high quality review. Punchy, gets to the point, and raises important issues.
Just a comment as requested. I have had a 5d mkii for a few years now (hobbyist not a pro) and recently purchased a Sony A6000 as something I can take anywhere. I still like the Canon but I feel I am happier to bring the Sony with me on walk and with family. Of course not a direct comparison but I seem to be using it more. Especially with the wifi to post online with easy for quick shots (often edited with snapseed).
+michael p Did you just compare an iphone to the a6000 ???
Thanks Matt... think I'll stick to the 810!
@Matt: You *CAN* reprogram the right button, as well as the left button, the down button, the center button, and the AF/MF button in both positions (AF/MF and AEL) and of course the 4 custom buttons seperately. Only few buttons are fixed (e.g. up button is always DISP). ANd there you have the 6 more customizable buttons...
Very fair and accurate review. I own this camera and agree 100% with the dipped in oil analogy. I've found it to be unpredictable too. It can suddenly become unresponsive especially if you use the Metabones adaptor with EF lenses. When it works it works beautifully and then again, it can be frustrating and can make you miss shots. Then again, there's no perfect camera and one has to choose their priorities before making the purchase.
Come back to your video after a year experienced with Sony and I actually found your review a positive. Apart from being slightly slow (I actually consider it a trade off since the cameras use an operating system which makes them "smarter") I find it fits me quite well. The fact is I did experience the "black screen" issue, which I finally realized it was the eye level sensor that switched the camera to VF mode when I shot from hip level.
Agree with you on the conclusion. I'm holding back with a7R2 and waiting for the next generation to come, hopefully, there's something better
Great review. I'm looking at this camera, and you touched on a lot of real life practicality bits that would matter to me.
On a side note, my D800E also occasionally just locks up for what feels like 10+ sec as it seems to access one of the cards (has happened with all my cards).
An honest and brave review ! Respect.....!
It is very useful to hear your opinions regarding handling issues. To me, that makes a big difference.
Hi Matt, On 12th Sept I went to China for a month. I normally use Nikon D3 & D4 with a variety of lenses. However, I was determined to travel light and wanted a mirrorless camera to go with. I tried a number of them but each seemed to 'not quite fit the bill'. Then along came the Sony A7rii which seemed to have all the bells and whistles. I read about it and watched several reviews before buying one at the very last minute. The camera arrived the morning before I set off. I bought a 24 - 240mm lens which I thought would be a good all purpose lens and would be less to carry and eliminate the need to change lenses all the time. Having used it extensively during the past few weeks I TOTALLY agree with your review. This is the most accurate, unbiassed review I have read. All the irritations you mention, I have experienced and I could not have done a better job than you did in pointing them out. Like you I still like the camera and will persevere to master it. The video is excellent and I'm sure that given a little more time I will crack it. It will never replace my Nikons but it is a useful addition to my bag of tricks.
The fact that you bought the sony is probably the biggest endorsement of the review.
i shoot an A7 and am generally happy with it but I also shoot olympus em5 which is a great camera. I really miss the touch screen and the faster focus when I switch back to my sony.
I will get an A7r2 as soon as I can find a buyer for one of my kidneys but I also stay with the M4/3 platform coz I have a lot of fun with it.
A very balanced review.
+Shane Doyle thank you - but buying it isn't a huge endorsement - we all buy things that turn out to be rubbish :)
+Matt Granger agreed, but you are in a better position than most to try before you buy and even with the best mates rates the A7r2 is not an impulse buy.
+Shane Doyle True - but I had to beg and borrow from a viewer in Manchester as Sony wouldn't/couldn't/didn't loan me one for early access
+Matt Granger Thanks for the review Matt, most reviews don't tell you the bad. Matter of fact most reviews swear up and down that this camera is the end all be all and basic state the the AR7 2 is an all but perfect camera. The camera going black for a second is MASSIVE if I'm at a wedding, let alone several seconds. like I've been saying, it's a solid camera but not for me yet. At weddings I need the high sensitivity to be as solid as possible. In the future, without doubt will switch but for now I'm sticking to DSLR.
Just converted to this system from Samsung (NX1, APS-C system). I'm glad some of the issues have been fixed via firmware
Those pictures are beautiful..... It doesn't have anything to do with the camera.... You just have a good eye..... Those pictures gripped me like I wanna go
I switched from Olympus FourThirds (didn't switched to MFT) completely to the FUJI X System and I don't regret it. I love the FUJI lenses and their optical performance. I was never a prime guy but since I own the X-E2 I bought the 35mm 1.4 and it's super sharp even wide open. The low light capability of the FUJI X-Trans sensor is amazing too.
I can see you going with the A7S2 as your second Sony. They've got 8 new FE lenses in the pipeline, plus new offerings from Tamron and Sigma coming along very soon.
I started with a dslr but completely moved over to mirror-less about 6 months ago and no regrets. I'm currently shooting with an Olympus E-M1 but looking at also getting a Fuji X-T1. The smaller factor and lighter weight I absolutely love. I'm more than happy with the IQ from the E-M1 so will imagine the IQ from the X-T10 will be even better :) Great review as always.
Personally I see no reason to trade my DSLRs for a mirrorless camera, this Sony camera is muched hyped and talked about but I'm keeping my D4/D810/Df set and nikkor glass, I see no real reason to change, maybe mirrorless will be great in some years but certainly not now, at least for me.
Hi Matt, you mentioned the ISO change by mistake, you can turn off the ISO function for that button. Ended up doing that on the a7s. But as for the blank/black screen I think your actually taking long exposure shots, with Electronic First Curtin shutter you don't hear the start of the shot but only the end... it takes a bit of getting use to when doing long exposure...
Good review; informative without any fanboy drama one way or another. Right now I'm shooting entry level Canon T5i with some L lenses (huge improvement over the kit lens, which is pretty good in its own right). I honestly have no desire to consider mirrorless at this point. I have nothing against them, I am just so satisfied with the ergonomics and responsiveness of my DSLR, and I love having the optical view finder. I am a still shooter; video is a novelty to me at this point. One thing for sure, I am budgeting to upgrade to full frame. The 5Ds cameras are very appealing to me, though I hear they may be making an announcement at the end of this year, or early next. I am curious to see what they are offering next.
Nice review Matt. Refreshing to have your perspective.
Hi Matt, great review. I have been in discussion with some people who say that these cameras are rubbish and no pro would ever use them. I left Canon last year for the Sony A7s & A7ii as I shoot wedding photos and films. It has been an amazing year and my products have improved beyond what I thought. My main drive was size and EVF. I was initially worried about image quality before moving but when I heard the Sonys were great I hired, loved them and moved. Now with the A7R ii it opens up even more options. I'm not saying that my 5D3 was a bad camera it was great but I found it very un-versitile due to size and the fact that I had to have too many accessories for filming and canon left stuff out so you had to buy a different camera. The face & eye focus was unexpected and now the use of the whole sensor to focus means weddings are bliss. I watched your review on the 85mm batis and have been scratching to justify it in a few weeks. I have not had the blank screens yet but they are slower to start up ... not really a issue for me yet. I did a portrait session for the first time using the auto eye focus and got 100% of the images in focus. This is unthinkable with the DSLR at 1.8 or wider. There are issues but like anything you have to weigh up what is best of you. The issues I had with the DSLRs were greater than the issues with these mirrorless cams. I would like a 2.8 70-200 but actually at a wedding F4 gives me nice out of focus blur and more shots in focus so not yet an issue. I used shoot a lot with the 24-105 F4 anyway. The ISO button is a pain for me and I took the 24-70 back after a week ... what were Ziess doing ????? I put this cam on a gimbal then to a monopod, then hand held, then on fig rig during events with one fitting very easily. With use of the memory button I can take incredible stills and XAVC very high quality/bit rate video. I trained my team in a very short period to use this system as well. If you are using a DLSR for a specific reason then I would not necessarily recommend moving because all the cams cost too much but if you want to offer a modern hybrid product or you would like a smaller more desecrate look and feel then I highly recommend them. My canon glass now works with auto focus as well. I have only ever shot with the Nikon once so can not really comment on them. Love the reviews so please keep them. PS I am glad that you did not have any major issues with batteries as people forget .. smaller camera means smaller batteries. +Chris Prouse this might be of interest to you...
Hi Matt, I have made the conversion to Sony, for me it's a love-love relationship. Something I had never had with either Canon and Nikon. I do agree with your comments. I am a full -time professional.
I shot with Nikons for many years including black and white 35mm film. Tried the Sony A77 and A99 for a few years and came back to Nikon with the D750. I think Sony will take away more market share moving forward and hopefully come out with better lens options at which point I may consider moving back again.
The right pressing of the dial is customizable in the page 2 of the key customization menu (9:00)
started with a bridge camera, jumped to a sony mirrorless 5N then trade it for a Nex 6 and have an older dslr just for collection purposes.
As you said, the portability outweghts dslr by much. i have manual focus pancake lenses that fit in every jacket pocket, i have older lenses and i adapt projector lenses that suits my needs and i am happy. every time i hold a dslr i just don't feel the appeal. for each their own.
good video in pointing the good and the bad. hope that sony listens more carefully to it's customers and fixes the bugs.
Try the Sony 55/1.8 for a hell of a lens.
It's difficult to describe just how good that one is. Small and light as well.
Interesting thoughts and I appreciate the comparison with the D810. Thanks for taking the time to do the video.
Thank you Matt for a well balanced and fairly unbiased review: I can't contradict anything you said. I switched from a Canon 7D (18mp) first to a Sony a7s (12mp) for its low light ability and the "promise" that I could adapt my Canon lenses to it. I found that the "promise" was over-stated, even with a Metabones Mark 4 adapter. However, I liked the Sony enough to buy the a7r2 (42mp) and also bought three "Sony" lenses, the 90mm f2.8 macro plus extension tubes, the Zeiss 16-35mm f4 and the Sony 24-240mm travel zoom. My Canon mount lenses also now adapt to the A7r2 perfectly well. The macros are much sharper than with the Canon 100mm macro on the 7D and I can crop in much further. The menus and the plethora of options are bewildering but I love the results. In a recent three way interclub competition, our club (Port Hacking Camera Club) came first and more than a fifth of the points were from my Sony system and covered macro, landscape and portrait genres. What more can I say? Use the system that appeals to you and inspires you to take great photos: for me that is my Sony system.
I own three different technologies when it comes to mirror/viewfinder setups. I have a Sony A100 (optical VF), Sony A57 (EVF with translucent mirror), and an NEX-F3 (mirrorless, no VF, live view LCD/LED display). The three are very very different from each other. While the portability of a mirrorless is nice, it doesn't have the conventional SLR feel and appears "slower." The A57 is nice, but I sometimes miss a true optical viewfinder. The A100 is great for being able to see exactly what is happening AS IT HAPPENS, but you miss out on seeing the exposure in real-time. There are pros and cons. Depends on the shooting situation mostly. If I'm out for a casual stroll without a bag, I'll bring mirrorless with a Minolta manual-focus lens. The NEX-F3 without a viewfinder really hurts when you're trying to nail focus. Thinking about purchasing a used A7 or A7II to replace the NEX-F3 and A57 altogether.
I have this camera, I agree with all the points, although I think Image quality should be underlined much more,. I.e. if you set this beast up properly do your homework and shoot, possibly on a tripod (even at higher speeds) it gives you the best images I have ever seen, excluding medium format obviously, really truly outstanding.
9:40 This is because Nikon have made cameras since before you were born, whereas Sony only started making them very recently. Sony make wonderful machines for taking pictures, but it seems to me they don't really understand what it takes to make a camera. There is a subtle but important difference.
It is very interesting that you point out these delays when the camera keeps you from taking pictures - I fully agree with you, that those "bugs" are almost unforgivable. A camera firmware has to be "bulletproof", especially if it is a high class camera like the 7RII. It is like with a touch screen of a smartphone, if you touch it, you expect that it responds immediately. I hope Sony takes it as an serious flaw and will fix it soon. btw., wonderful pictures. Enjoy your trip.
My D800E's used to pause for ages sometimes when reviewing an image on the LCD. Was fixed with firmware update though. No issues with my D810's so far.
Regarding ISO, Sony cameras work great processed through DxO Optics & there 'Prime' noise removal if you have to shoot over 1600. Try it & see.
You've still lost loads of colour and tonal detail
+Matt Granger Perhaps but the sensors these days are much more tolerant. I'm happy shooting up to 6400 on my a99 and that's a few generations ago now!
+Keith O'Keeffe if you are happy at 6400, great! That opens up a lot of options for you
+Keith O'Keeffe it grieves me to ever take any cam past 100iso.. i have just come from dpreview and compared the A99 100iso test images with 6400 iso and 6400 iso images look like they was taken with a phone ....look great at 100iso
+david appleton Must make shooting extremely difficult for you in that case. I've owned the camera for 3yrs and can assure you my high iso shots don't resemble phone shots. I pay attention to my real world user experience not Internet tests 😉
Your comment about three batteries in a7R II is right and possible.
Actually Sony a99 has this technology. Sony a99 has simply a power connector at its bottom which contacts the battery grip. Of course the weight is increased but this is unavoidable with battery grip.
Thanks for the video Matt. I'm in the same ballpark at the moment. I started back in the day with a Nikon EM, F100, D700 and at the moment i use my Nex-6 a lot. Wanne do an upgrade between these two but not sure what to do.
I travel a lot and use my cameras during hiking, trekking... Think I'm gonna wait til Photokina 2016 and see what Nikon and Sony are comming up with...
Thanks so much Matt. Even though this is 6 years old, I just broke my D800E and I was going to buy a used A7R II, but I ended up getting a used D810 with only 30k shutter for a great buy because that's what I could afford. If I hadn't seen this review I probably would have dived into a used Sony and made a mistake as I mostly like to shoot portraits.
Great review Matt! I have been a Nikon shooter since I started out in photography a couple of years ago. I am not a pro by any means but I have found that the Fuji X series is great for most of the shooting I do. I took the X-T10 with me on a vacation trip and a photo session for friends and found it performed very well. I have the Sony A7 and do like it but I only have one native lens and don't feel compelled to buy more for the A7 at this point. I do think mirror-less has come a long way in the past few years and I can see myself adding the Fuji X cams to my bag. In fact for an upcoming trip to Ireland I am considering only bringing the Fuji X-T10 and leaving the D7100 and D610 at home.
Ming Thein is not someone whose opinions I put an awful lot of stock in. He's the epitome of a gear elitist and personally I find that severely colors his commentary on anything that falls outside of the uppermost eschelon of camera equipment.
I do find the ISO performance of the Sonys to be lovely across the entire range certainly up to 12,800 I've no issues with it. When I'm doing studio photography I stay 100-400 with my D800 but that applies to all cameras. So nothing given up with the Sony there.
I would say if you want to open up more, the LAEA4 with Alpha Mount lenses will give you access to a host of stellar Zeiss and Sony optics that offer 1.4 and 2.8.
I plan to migrate from the D800 to the a7r II shortly and that will complete my migration away from Nikon bodies. I'll own the a7s II and the a7r II when finished and that combination of low light still, high mp stills, superb s35 4k and FF 4k video just can't be matched by anything I see in either the Canon of Nikon lines.
The same frustrations you have changing settings on the fly I have with Nikon SLRs compared to my Canon which I can rapid fire on the fly. For example switching to auto ISO and back on a Nikon is downright frustrating requiring you to have to go through menus!
The photos are spectacular!! Great review. I think they may be a bug in your system, there is no delay, or sluggishness with my unit.
I think the short battery life while shooting 4k is something every manufacture struggle with (not to mention that nikon nor canon have any offerings with 4k). Having shot with a Blackmagic URSA and some RED cinema cameras battery life would be approximately 15min-20min of shooting before swapping out. And batteries are huge. I find the sony to be stunning in all that it offers in such a small package and price range.
+yonatan soler the Sony battery is 1020 mAh while the Nikon battery for the 810 is 1900 mAh, the reason for Sony short battery life.
Cameras aside, you made some great images there Matt.
The iso button I so agree on! There have been so many times when I've knocked it to 50 iso or worse into the auto hdr mode thingie too
Try the lock on af expand flex spot to compensate for lack of quick movable af point. I've been enjoying it more than moving spot. Use Ina's focus reck pose while in afc.
Hi Matt, thanks for the review, very clear and honest as always! I started my interest in photography five years ago with a Nikon D3000, and I now have a 18-55VR, a 55-200VR, a 50 1.8G, a 24 f2 AIS and a 55 3.5 micro. After five years I really feel the camera limitations so I was thinking about getting a new camera. The logical choice would be the Nikon D7200. The point is that I hate big cameras and I know that I would probably find myself leaving it at home. I also LOVE shooting with manual lenses and doing that with the D3000 is super hard. So I was thinking about a Sony A6000 (or the coming A6100/A7000) with its small size and focus peaking capabilities, but I'm scared of changing system, having to buy new lenses and so on. But I also think that for example I'd really love to buy the Rokinon 85 1.4 that is a manual focus lens that with a DX OVF would be very difficult to use. I'd also love to buy a flash for off-camera use to start experimenting in studio, and I'm afraid that I would have compatibility problems with Sony. I shoot street, macro, portraits, landscapes and architecture and I'm obviously not a professional with a big amount of money. Do you think that a mirrorless could be right for me, or should I stick to Nikon? PLEASE HELP! :D Thank you very much!
matt i grabbed an a6000 and use it instead of a teleconverter 1.5x on all the lenses ans fast af plus burst. just not full frame. amazing combo and tiny backup body
I used to be a smartphone only shooter (nokia phones) and then moved onto sony nex cameras and I just picked up an A7RII! It's a lot heavier than I expected, I had dismissed it at first, but now I'm beginning to find the weight annoying :/
I'd also love to have some more lens options...i'd love a FE pancake lens just to keep the weight and size down, I find mysel using my nex 20mm pancake...maybe full frame mirrorless & dslr's just aren't for me at least as an everyday camera
Great video. Please keep the detailed reviews of e-mount lenses coming as well. You rock!
Wow! Those are some amazing shots! Great and honest review. I really think the A7x are very interesting cameras, but they are not perfect. I'm still waiting for the A6000 replacement, as it doesn't fit my current economy to step up to FF.
I am quite interested in the Silent Shutter modes of the Sony cameras .
+Sam Toby Silent is silent. I used it in a church today. You loose some functionality, for example high frames per second doesn't work, but that is not a problem for how I shoot. Single shot focus also has a sound with focus lock but is also silent in other focus modes.
Hi Matt.
How many lenses do you have for the A7Rii? In the meantime will you be using adapters to use your f-mount lenses as a sort of stopgap?
Thanks for the review. I own the A7RII and use it along side my Canon 1DX and 5DIII. I've got some great lenses for mine not and the single small backpack I use for the system makes it more portable for sure. I also use a battery grip with mine. Curious which quick release plate was on the bottom of your grip. Hoping there will be an excellent 18mm to come from Zeiss but I still adapt my Zeiss 21mm and 18 ZE to it. Also have a really nice set of Nikkor AI-s lenses that adapt well.
I'm pretty certain you can disable ISO on the wheel, then just reassign it to a different button.
Just bought the A7rii after 7 years with Nikon. Anyone have experience with using adapters for MF Nikon glass? I would love to keep my 50 1.2, and Rokinon 85 1.4. I have got the Fotodiox adapter, so we'll see when the camera arrives this week...
I am curious of your results with the Fotodiox adapter. Your opinion? Any issues with Nikon lens? I shoot with a D800 and Tamron G2 lenses (85 1.8, 45.1.8, 80-200 G2, 24-70 G2 and did NOT want to have to give all this up for a great camera that fails more than succeeds due to a haphazard lens adapter. I was thinking, if I get this camera, of the Commlite En-EF1 PRO (I think it's called), but, I just am wondering your experience with an adapter for Nikon glass. Thanks for your time
I am still an amateur, I stared with an NEX 7 and haven't ever regretted it! I am really considering going up to the full frame mirrorless system, but I am debating about going cheap and getting the A7r. Thoughts?
Gorgeous images man combined with an objective review of a much hyped camera. It's probably preferable that Sony releases a non-compromising non-sizeadvantage camera in the future for day2day work, they get so close to achieving it every year that having them miss the mark leads to another year of waiting, with each iteration costing more and more to buy.
I'm sure a lot of this stuff will be ironed out by firmware upgrades.
Regarding the battery; Its a hangover from Sony uying Minolta and I totally agree - the other downside is that the battery pack is L shaped and almost impossible to stow away when not needed. Frankly, they should put some of their Playstation developers on their camera bodies, that'd move things forward.
I am still an amateur, I stared with an NEX 7 and haven't ever regretted it! I am really considering going up to the full frame mirrorless system, but I am debating about going cheap and getting the A7r instead of the newer A7r2. Thoughts?
doesnt the d810 use the Sony 36MP sensor same as the original a7r interesting you see some of these differences. good review. like that you qualify its subjective good to know.
I wonder if Matt had to work harder to get the same results as he would otherwise using his D810. Like, did he have to fiddle with the menus more. Although, I do loved the results
Great video Matt. I am wondering which camera you would choose in your opinion for portraits, weddings etc .. can A7RII do a great job with the lenses that are on the market currently? Thank you for your insights
The most objective A7Rii review I've seen so far..
Thanks for the review Matt, very informative. I was thinking of switching to Sony from Canon, but may wait to make that move as you bring up some great points. I was wondering what you're view of Canon is in comparison to Nikon? Just taste?
Would you choose the Nikon D750 or the Sony A7ii? I'm an Amateur photographer who prefers shooting more nightly portraits of family. Thank you.
I think alot of the common lens "holes" are going to be filled in the next announcement. According to SAR 8 lenses are due to be announced in the next month for release early next year. At least they are releasing some really high quality lenses. Out of the 11 Sony made FE lenses, the only real disappointment has been the 24-70 f4, the kit and 24-240 travel lenses haven't been anything great but i think they are certainly better than expected for the types of lenses they are. All the rest have been either great or amazing. Also it seems like the batis demand has been blown away zeiss's expectations so hopefully they will expand that line and quickly.
I honestly don't understand everyone's issue with battery life. Yes it sucks but these batteries are so small and light that sticking one or two in your pocket can't be that big of an issue. I agree the grip would be nicer if they allowed for an internal battery but i also personally didn't like the bulkiness of the grip on my A7R and never use it. Thus i dont plan on getting one for the A7R2. Being able to plug an external USB power source while using the camera is a big plus the originals didnt have. Helps alot with timelapse.
On custom buttons i agree, i wish they had at least 2 more. I think having them on the top left would work since there doesn't seem to be much room to add any on the right. One thing i'm not a fan of is the locking mode dial. I never had issue with accidentally switching modes on my A7R, and it's just a annoyance. I like the beefier shutter speed/aperture dials of the A7R as well. A 2nd SD card would be nice, but more importantly WHY NO UHS-2? I don't know if its because the chips sony used dont even keep up with UHS-1, or power issue but otherwise such a fast write speed seems like exactly the thing these cameras need as the buffer can easily get overwhelmed. I think some of that lag could be avoided with a SD card that can write 3Xs faster. I personally liked the metal accessory doors on the A7R, these plastic/rubber ones feel like they can easily break after repeated use. Ultimately i would love to have (but i'm not sure if it's possible/practical in such a small size) doors like the battery door, which would be easily removable. Having them open & out of the way should make things much easier when the camera is being used in a cage.
Finally I wish, and i think many others agree, they would update the software to allow us to rearrange or at least create our own lists in the menu/settings. There are plenty of functions that i adjust often but are not important enough to put as a custom button or on the function menu. Having to go through screen after screen (offering me to adjust many functions i can already get to through my function menu or custom keys) is really annoying. Not to mention my disagreement with under which categories certain functions are listed. This seems like a simple thing that would make many happy. Also being able to select exactly what i want to i have on my screens for display info. They have allowed some customization by being able to take out certain display screens. But I wish i could cut some of the clutter to only what i want to know.
Dont get me wrong, i love this camera, to me its 95% perfect. Hopefully a few tweaks and it will be just right.
Some of those image are absolutely gorgeous.
The camera was so light it rendered my ballhead (FLM 58FTR) useless. I use this single head across all my formats from 35mm through 8x10. I had to return the camera. I also was not keen on spending 400 dollars on an adapter to be able to use other manufacturers lenses, that just burns. I now have a D810 after a wild ride with the Pentax 645z. The Z is an amazing tool that smokes both cameras but QC and the whole Ricoh / Pentax situation leaves much to be desired. Within 20 days of owning the Z I had a mirror mechanism failure, no drops or any reason for it occurring. Sure they offered a new one but I declined, refunded and went with 810.
Hi from Back home! (Sydney) :)
Thanks for your review Matt. I agree with the laggy-ness of the A7RM2.. Surprisingly this is the least laggy a7 yet! Ergonomics wise I think this is the best of the a7's but it's still no Nikon.. Though I'm actually a FUJI user who was Nikon.. Went small after a trip to the states with a D600.. Experienced the dust spots and was just done with the size considering my style of photography being "lifestyle" documentarian and street stuff..
Still wouldn't mind a D750 or similar though my XT1 is honestly my favourite camera I've ever had, I have fun I feel creative and I take it with me almost everywhere everyday.. (Wouldn't mind a 24mp sensor though) but it's ergonomics are pretty friendly. JPEG processing is awesome. Lens choice is good for me.
My journey:
Canon 40DOlympus E-P1Nikon P6000Nikon D600FUJI X-T1
Anyway, thanks for all your videos and enthusiasm.. Always makes me wanna get outside and shoot. Thanks for your humour. And thanks for Tina 😉
Cheers,Matt
You mention that you use a teleconverter quite often, which of course degrades image quality somewhat. So in a perfect world would you prefer to carry a companion aps-c body to get the extra reach, if it had the same pro features?
Sony 70-200 lens is coming. Sony has announced new FE E-mount full frame lenses for 2016.
Matt if nikon came out with a good FF MILC that ticked all the boxes and it will probably focus good with nikon glass (with a Nikon adapter) and probably have common batters/flashguns etc etc would you dump the sony?
Thanks for all these usefull information! Congratulations for the channel.
I think mirrorless is the future but I´ll wait.
I am Nikon D800 user and the lenses are a big issue
I'm using Nikon + Olympus OM-D.
The main goal of the mirroless system is to be portable, so there is no point in adding 2.8 lenses for Sony FE and making the bodies even bigger.
+Anastas Tarpanov Hi Anastas - don't you mean it would make the LENSES even bigger?
+Jason Respini 2.8 will make the lenses bigger, but I was talking about this, that Matt wants a bigger body.
+Anastas Tarpanov the 2.8 lenses have bigger glass, but the lens bodies are pretty much the same size.
I absolutely disagree that main goal of mirrorless is to be portable! Absolutely not!
This is how it was sold to you by the specialists of marketing. Because among numerous downsides of first mirrorless cameras compactness was the biggest (if not the only) advantage.
Now these cameras are much better. They don't need to be small any more. Now they can be different. For those who want small they can be small, for those who want extra space for grip or dual card slot-they can be bigger, for those who want f/2.8-they'll be it.
Then where are the mirrorless with 2 card slots and 2.8 full frame zoom lenses?
Excellent review Matt - very interesting & helpful.
Thank's for this great, honest and courageous review indeed Matt, i watch a lot of your stuff. I am considering going Sony simply because i am fed up with lugging around my big and heavy Nikon rig (have to confess i'm still with a D3s though) i also lost all loyalty to Nikon (after over 30 years of use) since the on going sagas and customer service (lack of) with the D600, SB900 and even the D810 internal reflection issues. To make things worse Nikon closed their only service center here in Montreal, for me that was the straw that broke the camel's back. It also makes me mad the way Nikon goes about the functions they put in their pro cameras; never made sense to me they would have the wi-fi in the D750 but not on the D810 for example, same as not having a built in flash on the pro models.
I bought a Panasonic Lumix LX100 to have a small camera with me at all times and to also get a quick and cheap video option available (in this case 4K mind you). I since then found myself filming away very often, discovering this new field which was plainly impossible with the D3s. Incidentally your video here represents all too well the inability of Nikon cameras to do good videos in my honest opinion and without wanting to bash your videographer skills. I know you could have done much better had you chosen to. But have to say the yellowish/greenish hue is royally annoying.
All this to say the little LX100 has opened my eyes to the mirrorless possibilities and despite it's M4/3rd limitations i shoot more with it than my FF DSLR, way more in fact. So i'm theorizing something like the A7S II or A7R II would make me very happy. I like the way you go about the +and- of the A7R II, i would probably come to the same conclusions myself if i had one, but at the same time i still see many advantages of the mirrorless over the DSLRs, namely flash sync speed. Jesus christ i'm fed up with having to get Pocket Wizards (i have a small fortune invested in this system that don't always work by the way, had to send one back for servicing as it didn't even work on it's maiden shoot). Then just triggering remotely a Nikon camera becomes a real pain in the ass having to get either cables (expensive ACC ones for the Pocket Wizards system) or a remote which is again insanely expensive (for the D3s at least). Even worse is trying to do wide aperture portraits with studio flashes outside and having to put ND filters in front of the lens to try to get decent results. None of these issues exists with mirrorless; I love triggering my camera with my phone, seeing the results on my ipad immediately without a 800$ external wi-fi gadget, then shooting at any speed with any kind of flash is just a blessing period.
But (and this is why i don't have a Sony camera yet) you do bring up the most important issue about the Sony system as it stands now and that is the lens offering. I agree it will most definitely improve (already reading 8 new FE lenses are on the way) but i'd rather wait a little longer until this becomes a reality before investing massively in Sony (but i'm close to doing it...)
Like you i have no intention of getting rid of my D3s since i still do some occasional sports shooting and rent out a big Nikon lens (400 f2.8 or 200-400 f4) when i need them. Sports shooting for real i mean is not something i see as being realistic for any mirrorless at the moment but this is also something very likely to change in a few years.
Lastly i must say that Jason Lanier really makes a better point than me about the Sony system. If any of you out there are considering getting a Sony or any kind of mirrorless camera, his videos are worth watching in my opinion.
Again thank's for the review Matt, By the way your Bhutan shots are awesome, i don't see the dark thing mentioned earlier.
Keep shooting and may god bless you brother.
OMG, this is probably the best review I've seen. I'm currently inbetween looking at this Sony and the D810, and I am leaning closer to the 810 as a primary camera and using my em5 as a street/2ndary
Are all the images of Bhutan with the Sony A7rII? Also what lens set up did you have for Bhutan? Your images look really nice, Good job..
Very nuanced review and comparison. Thanks for this.
Would have made sense to build an additional card slot into the grip....
Did you see the new version of the nikon to sony adapter? Which allowes the phase detect points.
Nice review. I appreciate your comparison to the D810.
nice review dude. great pics too.
I think the Bhutan woman in the blue blazer has a twinkle in her eye for you. Good choice of dramatic music.
Good Review.
Could Please you recommend a camera for function Photography and Portrait ?
Which is best for photography Sony A7 II or Sony A7r II?
Thank you .
Hello Matt. What did you think of the out of camera color jpeg's (picture profiles) coming off the Sony compared to Nikon's? Also when it comes to RAW processing, are there any major differences (shadow/hjighlight recovery, etc) that you noticed? Thanks.
i think in sony officila website say : the evf take more power than the lcd.
Really liked pictures you took - Sony really killed it!
Really beautiful photos. Good review too.