New Sony A7RII announcement

[Guy Mancuso]

Jorgen these batteries are really small and light. Think of a pack of cigerattes . I can get 6 batteries in that pack. This whole battery thing is more internet lure than anything else. Even when I'm shooting 15000 images in 4 days. I go through about 8 batteries total. Meaning I change the batteries in my vertical grip 4 times.

 

[Guy Mancuso]

:thumbs:

No brainer upgrade for me. I love the fact that the batteries are the same and that they've kept with the superior ergonomics of the A7II series. I've been using my A7II almost exclusively since I got it and much prefer the layout and handling compared to my A7r and A7s. Heck, if they come out with an A7SII I'll get that too.

I was going to upgrade my Phase One DF+ body but to be honest I won't bother now. For DSLR work I've been using the Canon TS-E lenses on the Sony system and it's been great.

Time to send the A7r off for an IR conversion me thinks. August is just around the corner.

The TSE make this one powerful combination. I'm thinking of buying back the 17TSE. Than Batis 25 dump my 16-35

 

[etrigan63]

Like Rick Flair, I am saying "Woooooooo"!!!!!!

Now there's a pop culture reference!

I just hope that some of the firmware related features (and possibly the silent shutter) are backported to my A7II. C'mon Sony, I know you can "kaizen" too!

(Not Holding Breath)

 

[mazor]

ISO Auto Minimum Shutter Speed

Prevent blur in a shot of a moving subject by setting a shutter speed at which ISO sensitivity starts changing when ISO AUTO (while in P or A mode, or in Multi Frame NR) is selected.

Usually the auto ISO responds to focal length as well, where a longer focal length will push a higher ISO and hence higher shutter speed. Can both work together?

 

[mazor]

Durable reduced-vibration shutter

The new shutter's braking mechanism cuts mechanical front/rear curtain vibration by about 50%7. Also, use the electronic front curtain for even less vibration. This not only minimizes camera shake that can blur details in 42.4-megapixel images—it makes the shutter durable enough to have been tested to 500,0008 cycles.

liking this feature. I have always been a fan of the electronic first curtain since the Nex 5N.

Did not know though by using an electronic first curtain would improve the durability of the shutter. Nice information

 

[mazor]

Damn this is hot stuff

Priority setup in AF-C/AF-S

In AF-S (Single-shot AF) or AF-C (Continuous AF) mode, choose AF priority for taking pictures only when subject is in focus, Release priority for taking pictures even when subject is not in focus, or Balanced Emphasis for balancing the AF and Release options to achieve accurate focus, yet not miss a decisive moment when shooting moving subjects.

It is probably about time they added in this feature, wonder if it will filter to the other a7 models by means of a firmware update. I have seen this feature implemented on the Olympus E-M1, and it works well.

 

[mazor]

I agree with you. The back-illuminated CMOS sensor seems to make that possible, doesn't it?

Question begs though, how good is the image quality from this BSI image sensor. Are all the bugs ironed out. The reason I ask, is that in the past, smaller BSI sensors had inherent issues of cross talk between pixels, plus there was issues of the red channel bleeding between pixels. Samsung tried to fix it with ISOcell technology. Has all this been finally resolved, or are we going to see cooked RAWs and clever image processing that will apply the relevant corrections.

 

[mazor]

Whoa! It apparently focuses Canon lenses pretty fast too!

DPR staff comments

<snip from the article>
"One of the most impressive features of the a7R II is its autofocus system. 399 phase-detection AF points cover 45% of the frame, which means over 60% coverage in either horizontal or vertical directions in the frame. That gives it more coverage than any full-frame camera out there. PDAF will work even with third-party lenses via existing adapters, including in continuous AF tracking mode. This is potentially a huge deal - especially for Canon users. We've used an a7R II with a Canon 24-70mm lens and a Metabones adapter, and focus is indeed very fast indeed. We'll be looking at this in more depth as soon as we have a production sample camera, but for now, we're highly impressed."
</snip>

hmm, makes sense too, as the MB smart adapter emulates an LA-E3, and if Alpha lenses can now achieve fast AF, I do not see why the Canon lenses would not be able to achieve similar performance!!

I think after reading that, I too am getting excited!

 

[thompsonkirk]

I spent (or wasted?) an hour or so reading about the Leica Q before hearing about this new Sony. But now I've e-mailed my dealer with an A7RII pre-order.

Normally I wait for the early buyers to Beta-test and then complain about their new cameras before I get in line to buy one. But this seems to fix all the A7R problems that had concerned me, particularly the shutter/vibrator.

I've been using MM 95% of the time, and A7 for occasional color. But after using MM for a while, I checked its files against A7r's BW conversions and found they were virtually equal in resolution and IQ at the size of my BW prints (never over 17x22).

So I'll just swap my 24mm Elmarit for a 25mm Batis and use it as the bridge lens between WATE and MATE. Bye-bye to Leica's double-priced Monochrom bodies.

Kirk

 

[Vivek]

Question begs though, how good is the image quality from this BSI image sensor. Are all the bugs ironed out. The reason I ask, is that in the past, smaller BSI sensors had inherent issues of cross talk between pixels, plus there was issues of the red channel bleeding between pixels. Samsung tried to fix it with ISOcell technology. Has all this been finally resolved, or are we going to see cooked RAWs and clever image processing that will apply the relevant corrections.

Many of these issues were addressed by Sony (RX100 sensor, also used by Samsung in their NX mini). I guess they took care of a few more before coming with the FF camera. One thing to keep in mind though- the cross talk is inherently reduced when going from 1 micron to 5+ microns sized photo diodes.

 

[turtle]

Exactly.

6 x 150g batteries (or whatever they weigh) = 900g
3 x 300g batteries = 900g

If the 150g battery gives 250 shots and the 300g battery gives 500 shots, so....

... I do not get the big deal about the small batteries. You just need more of them and the weight is the same (in your bag) as a camera with fewer heavier ones. The weight in your hand however, is lower, as is the bulk in the grip.

I have never found 15 seconds for a battery change at lunchtime to be a great problem. I shot the A7 and A7R in Iceland in January during severe and cold weather. I don't recall replacing more than two batteries (in total) in a day and usually only one (or occasionally none).

Bigger battery means bigger body. Look at Leicas battery it's the same size. I have 7 I rarely get past two a day. Battery drain over the Internet sounds like running water. Hardly the case when in use and aware of saving battery time.

 

[lambert]

Exactly.

6 x 150g batteries (or whatever they weigh) = 900g
3 x 300g batteries = 900g

If the 150g battery gives 250 shots and the 300g battery gives 500 shots, so....

... I do not get the big deal about the small batteries.

Nor I. I guess some people just need something to complain about.

 

[miska]

I really want to test my Canon lenses + Metabones on this new version. I was already pretty happy with the A7R + Canon lenses. Just the slower-than-snail AF was a bit annoying.
Yesterday, I was thinking that my next camera may well be the 5DsR. But now, I'm not so sure...
Not ridiculous AF, humongous dynamic range, smaller size, flexibility to use Canon lenses or Zeiss Batis. It all sounds really good.

 

[Vivek]

Now there's a pop culture reference!

I just hope that some of the firmware related features (and possibly the silent shutter) are backported to my A7II. C'mon Sony, I know you can "kaizen" too!

(Not Holding Breath)

Silent shutter will not happen to A7ii.

It is hard to picture Dr. Rao in Flair' s outfit though.

 

[Jorgen Udvang]

Exactly.

6 x 150g batteries (or whatever they weigh) = 900g
3 x 300g batteries = 900g

If the 150g battery gives 250 shots and the 300g battery gives 500 shots, so....

... I do not get the big deal about the small batteries. You just need more of them and the weight is the same (in your bag) as a camera with fewer heavier ones. The weight in your hand however, is lower, as is the bulk in the grip.

I have never found 15 seconds for a battery change at lunchtime to be a great problem. I shot the A7 and A7R in Iceland in January during severe and cold weather. I don't recall replacing more than two batteries in a day and usually only one (or occasionally none).

Sony A7 battery = 42g
8 batteries = 336g = 2,320 shots

Nikon D810 Battery = 88g
2 batteries = 176g = 2,400 shots

No, the weight is not the issue, charging is, at least for me when I travel. If I use 4 batteries within a day, I will have to charge 4 batteries in the evening. That means more than one charger or sitting in the hotel room changing batteries to be charged while I would rather have visited a local restaurant to have dinner. It's not a big issue, but it's a hassle. I had it with the Panasonics, and I often started the day without full charge on all batteries. In addition, many batteries means more items to be remembered, packed, stored etc.

Currently, I travel with 1 camera, 4 lenses (1 on the camera), 2 batteries (1 in the camera), 1 charger and 4 cards (2 in the camera). That's 12 items, 8 when deducting what's inside/on the camera

With the A7R II, I would travel with 1 camera, 4 lenses (1 on the camera), 8 batteries (one in the camera), 2 chargers and 4 cards (1 in the camera). That's 19 items, 16 when deducting what's inside/on the camera.

When I travelled with the Olympus OM-1, I had camera, 3 lenses and 10 rolls of Velvia. That was 14 units. And they said digital would make life simpler? :ROTFL:

 

[turtle]

Jorgen,

What sort of shooting are you doing, because I had 6 or 7 batteries with me in Iceland and never got close to needing them all on a given day? While the shooting day was not super long, it was severely cold so the battery life was poor.

I too would prefer the Sony cams to have better battery life, but at the same time find it has next to no impact on 'photographic operations' for me personally. I just have to be a bit organised and have an 'end of day' routine for recharging, cleaning, image backup etc. I would not really consider these tiny batteries as 'items' in the same way as others as they are not complicated to handle or manage and you can pack them into any available crevice they are so small. I suppose the other upshot is redundancy. If one fails, its a small % of your overall power. If one of two larger batteries is lost or fails, them its a bigger problem.

For week long hikes and remote travel where there is no power for recharging, the A7's battery life would be a worry, for sure.

And 12 rolls of Velvia = 360 shots = 2 x A7 batteries (not 8), so you are still ahead with an A7!

 

[Chris Giles]

As a Canon, 645z and A7ii shooter I am getting really quite exasperated with Canon.

 

[Viramati]

So the A7II is only 6 moths old and already it is dated as the A7rII seems to have a lot of technology apart from the MP count that could have been and the A7II. I wonder if Sony could add the electronic shutter function that I see the A7rII has (of course along with the A7s).

 

[Jorgen Udvang]

Jorgen,

What sort of shooting are you doing, because I had 6 or 7 batteries with me in Iceland and never got close to needing them all on a given day? While the shooting day was not super long, it was severely cold so the battery life was poor.

I too would prefer the Sony cams to have better battery life, but at the same time find it has next to no impact on 'photographic operations' for me personally. I just have to be a bit organised and have an 'end of day' routine for recharging, cleaning, image backup etc. I would not really consider these tiny batteries as 'items' in the same way as others as they are not complicated to handle or manage and you can pack them into any available crevice they are so small. I suppose the other upshot is redundancy. If one fails, its a small % of your overall power. If one of two larger batteries is lost or fails, them its a bigger problem.

For week long hikes and remote travel where there is no power for recharging, the A7's battery life would be a worry, for sure.

And 12 rolls of Velvia = 360 shots = 2 x A7 batteries (not 8), so you are still ahead with an A7!

I'm partly joking, and the OM-1 comparison was obviously that, although it is food for thought that so many more items are needed for photography nowadays. The problem for me, and probably others who travel to remote areas, is that I go to places that take a lot of effort to get to. Mostly, I would probably manage with a couple of batteries for an A7R II, but sometimes, there's simply no electricity available for charging or I have the chance to take photos at an event where it's simply tempting to take a lot of photos. So, I'm safeguarding.

Another kind of photography I do is motor sports, where around 2,000 photos per day is often the norm. There are others who shoot much more. You shoot all relevant cars at the first couple of laps, in burst mode, then trying to improve the shots throughout the race, and when there are 10 or more races in a day... 2,000 shots go very fast. If there's oil on the track, a fire, it starts to rain or whatever, hundreds of shots are fired within minutes to get the most spectacular one. 15 seconds to change battery is not an option. That will happen when the race leader crashes into a wall in spectacular fashion.

For some reason, camera manufacturers have for years optimised cameras and batteries to get as many shots per charge as possible. I simply don't believe that this has suddenly become irrelevant. For me, it's most certainly not, and when it is, I still feel more comfortable with a battery that covers me for 1,000 or 3,000 shots than one that can only manage 300.

I'm sure the A7R II is a fine camera, probably one of the best out there right now, the best for many. But for me and a couple of others, it's only usable if they come up with a larger battery. I don't think it's wrong to point that out. Hopefully, Sony staff read photography forums

 

[Vivek]

I'm sure the A7R II is a fine camera, probably one of the best out there right now, the best for many. But for me and a couple of others, it's only an usable if the come up with a larger battery. I don't think it's wrong to point that out. Hopefully, Sony staff read photography forums

This is progress, I would say! :shocked: