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4season

Well-known member
The A7R Mk II is still lighter than the Leica M.

Leica could lighten the M simply by ditching the brass covers. At first I welcomed the return to engraved brass + painted finishes, but in retrospect I think they should've stayed with the die-cast alloy covers and hard metallic finishes as used on the M6: I don't need my new camera to start looking brassed after just a few months of light daily use.
 

ErikKaffehr

Well-known member
Hi,

I have just ordered the A7rII with a Batis 1.8/85 lens.

This is essentially the camera/lens combo I have waited for.

I will complement it with adapters for my A-mount lenses and a Canon 24/3.5 TSE using a Metabones adapter.

Would be nice if I would have it for planned trips in August/September

Best regards
Erik
 

Chuck Jones

Subscriber Member
Hi Chuck:

When you handled the A7RII were you able to tell how good the autofocus was? I've been wondering when Sony would reach parity with a DSLR for both static and moving subjects.

Would love to hear your opinion.
John, I am probably the WORST person on the planet to even ask that question of, as I use manual focus almost all of the time. I only own one autofocus lens on the Sony mount in fact, though I am adding the two Batis if I can swing the budget next month.

That said, reports I am getting from those who do use autofocus are saying the addition of the phase detect points has really improved it. But again, I would caution that every prototype A7R II body in existence today all are running beta firmware that is very much still being developed and refined. Trying to judge something as critical for you as this on beta firmware is not going to be accurate until the actual cameras start shipping. Remember, one of the big new differences with the A7R II is the addition of the phase detect autofocus points, so I expect some fine tuning for that right up to shipping time.

Is the A7R II autofocus equivalent to say a Nikon D4? I doubt it. Or a Canon 5DS autofocus? Again, I doubt it, but it should be pretty close. Give it another generation, and it will be there I'm pretty sure. Sony is on fire in their engineering department from everything I am seeing.

But you really do owe it to yourself to try the live view magnification and the focus peaking tools on the Sony, as I find them excellent to nail focus every time. More accurate than any autofocus in my book, as using these two tools you never land focus on the back wall... :eek:
 

Chuck Jones

Subscriber Member
As I already pointed out, these "Artisans" have to be handled with a glove online.

As for the "honesty". Hmm... there are several shades. When Sony had few lenses for the FE, it is the same artisan who recommended a ZM 18/4 for A7r (!!!) and the NEX 10-18 f/4 zoom.

Soviet union had an official newspaper called "Pravda". LOL

The first "artisan" who writes an article critical of the crap load of NEX' and other blue labelled stuff that Sony churned out would make me believe. ;)
You and I both know you will never see that.

It would be almost like Tiger Woods coming out and saying Titleist Golf Balls smell like stinky rubber or some such :ROTFL:
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
The A7R Mk II is still lighter than the Leica M. ...
It's an interesting mix when you compare the two bodies. According to CameraSize.com (http://camerasize.com/compare/#389,624):

- Leica M is 10% (12.1 mm) wider and 16% (15.7 mm) shorter than Sony A7R II.
- Leica M is 30% (18.3 mm) thinner than Sony A7R II.
- Leica M [680 g] weights 9% (55 grams) more than Sony A7R II [625 g] (*inc. batteries and memory card).​

Given how close the two bodies are on any given dimension, it's pretty much a draw. The lenses will be a larger differentiation between them. I think there the Leica is going to prove the smaller overall package; most of the Sony lenses other than the 35/2.8 seem quite large and heavy.

G
 
V

Vivek

Guest
You and I both know you will never see that.

It would be almost like Tiger Woods coming out and saying Titleist Golf Balls smell like stinky rubber or some such :ROTFL:
Yes, it is the nature of the beast and no point in shedding tears over it. :)
May be it was a one of my meaningless posts. :eek:
 

jfirneno

Member
John, I am probably the WORST person on the planet to even ask that question of, as I use manual focus almost all of the time. I only own one autofocus lens on the Sony mount in fact, though I am adding the two Batis if I can swing the budget next month.

That said, reports I am getting from those who do use autofocus are saying the addition of the phase detect points has really improved it. But again, I would caution that every prototype A7R II body in existence today all are running beta firmware that is very much still being developed and refined. Trying to judge something as critical for you as this on beta firmware is not going to be accurate until the actual cameras start shipping. Remember, one of the big new differences with the A7R II is the addition of the phase detect autofocus points, so I expect some fine tuning for that right up to shipping time.

Is the A7R II autofocus equivalent to say a Nikon D4? I doubt it. Or a Canon 5DS autofocus? Again, I doubt it, but it should be pretty close. Give it another generation, and it will be there I'm pretty sure. Sony is on fire in their engineering department from everything I am seeing.

But you really do owe it to yourself to try the live view magnification and the focus peaking tools on the Sony, as I find them excellent to nail focus every time. More accurate than any autofocus in my book, as using these two tools you never land focus on the back wall... :eek:
Chuck:
Thanks for your info. Sony's recent statements have been quite candid. One of their managers agreed that high end DSLRs (like the D4) have better AF. And I don't have a problem with that. I don't even need super fast and moving object AF. I'd settle for shooting a couple sitting at a table and have the focus on their faces being perfectly sharp. When that happens then it's a real AF camera.

I definitely am a believer in the magnified manual focus. The focus peaking on the other hand seems a little less precise.

Thanks again for your time.
 

iiiNelson

Well-known member
It's an interesting mix when you compare the two bodies. According to CameraSize.com (http://camerasize.com/compare/#389,624):

- Leica M is 10% (12.1 mm) wider and 16% (15.7 mm) shorter than Sony A7R II.
- Leica M is 30% (18.3 mm) thinner than Sony A7R II.
- Leica M [680 g] weights 9% (55 grams) more than Sony A7R II [625 g] (*inc. batteries and memory card).​

Given how close the two bodies are on any given dimension, it's pretty much a draw. The lenses will be a larger differentiation between them. I think there the Leica is going to prove the smaller overall package; most of the Sony lenses other than the 35/2.8 seem quite large and heavy.

G
While many FE lenses are physically large compared to M lenses I don't really find any of them to be heavy. Fact of the matter is that Sony does an excellent job of building the larger native lenses to balance well on the camera in my experience.
 

mazor

New member
While many FE lenses are physically large compared to M lenses I don't really find any of them to be heavy. Fact of the matter is that Sony does an excellent job of building the larger native lenses to balance well on the camera in my experience.
guess it is all relative to the weight balance of lens and camera body. Some may think Canon lenses are not that heavy, and they too balance well on on the 5d3 ;)
 
V

Vivek

Guest
One observation: The latest FE 28/2 isn't that great on older NEX'. The Zony 24/1.8 is far better.
 

iiiNelson

Well-known member
guess it is all relative to the weight balance of lens and camera body. Some may think Canon lenses are not that heavy, and they too balance well on on the 5d3 ;)
Perceived weight and how it relates to ergonomics is a relative but real thing. Hold a light weight away from your body in a static position and it quickly "feels" heavy while lifting a weight that's technically heavier closer to your body will feel lighter because more muscles will be used to lift/distribute weight. So yeah while relative the differences in perceived weight can be real.

That being said a M and Noctilux doesn't feel heavy to me (nor does an A7R with a 35 Distagon) personally but to some they're too large of a lens. So yes that's a relative thing.

The issue that I have is that often the people who make these claims never once held the body and lens combination to qualify their opinion that is based solely on looking up the specification data. IMO that's why some don't understand why the 55FE costs a lot more than a Canon nifty 50 or why a Leica 35 Summilux is 10 times the price of a Samyang.
 

Uaiomex

Member
Does the A7R2 bring disruptive AF?
Yesterday DPR published this article. It was very easy for me to understand a few things that I had either wrong or unclear about AF.
Go the second page if you want to get there faster.

Opinion: Did Sony just do the impossible?: Digital Photography Review

No rainbow's end... yet.
Eduardo



Hi Chuck:

When you handled the A7RII were you able to tell how good the autofocus was? I've been wondering when Sony would reach parity with a DSLR for both static and moving subjects.

Would love to hear your opinion.
 

4season

Well-known member
- Leica M is 30% (18.3 mm) thinner than Sony A7R II.
[stuff omitted]
Ain't life in the first world grand? These days, there's practically nothing but good choices in the camera store; they're just good in slightly different ways. How did I get to be so lucky? :D
 

ohnri

New member
I am catching action pretty well with the Af on my Samsung NX1 and the pro level lenses. Better than my D800, not as well as my D4.

But, it is also far more versatile than the D4 and allows me to get a lot of shots I would not even try with any OVF based DSLR. On balance, the NX1 focus is better for my needs than any other camera I have used.

My A7 is not even playing the same game. Hopefully, the A7rii comes closer.

If Samsung had a decent high level lens lineup I would call it a day on Sony but they don't. Worse is the opaque strategy Samsung has taken regarding future releases. So, I am getting the A7rii and I expect it to be roughly D800 level AF, maybe a bit better at some things and a bit worse at others.

I suppose I must also now look into the highly praised Batis lenses.

-Bill
 
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