New Sony A7RII announcement

[uhoh7]

I will be very interested to see the new backlit sensor with RF wides. It's possible they could really work well.

But no lust for the R2 here, yet. No one is surprised at the 3200 price tag? Once you factor in how fast Sonys depreciate, we are close to Leica territory.

But I can't wait to see what all the great shooters around here will do with the new beast

 

[jafleming3]

Im going to sell my A7II as soon as I get this. NO QUESTION

Me too, Guy. Plus my A7R. I'm on the fence about what to do with my A7S. I really like having one camera do what three did.

john

 

[Annna T]

One of the really annoying things is that with the vertical grip on (which contains 2 batteries) it own't charge. Since getting the H-Cam Mirex adaptor recently I can use the grip, which is great. But charging means having to take off the grip and mess around with the fidley door and still charging one at a time with the usb port

Didn't you get a separate charger ? then you just take the batteries out of the grip and load them separately ? I got a charger for a single battery, but I think there are charger able to load two batteries at a time.

 

[turtle]

Yes, the double chargers are about $15.

I just bought a plug in single, including car adaptor. I also have a travel plug adaptor with twin USB ports, so this set up allows me to do two batteries in body, one off the mains and one off my laptop. I have the 12 volt car option in case the unthinkable happens.

I have not come close to getting in trouble, but have not spent a week hiking the Inca trail either. Even if I did, I'd just buy another couple of batteries and be all set. Four weeks in the Antarctic without power might change viability of the A7, but that has not happened to me yet.

Didn't you get a separate charger ? then you just take the batteries out of the grip and load them separately ? I got a charger for a single battery, but I think there are charger able to load two batteries at a time.

 

[iiiNelson]

I am now thinking of a lens lineup for Sony.
As a zoom, I would continue to use my Canon 24-70, with Metabones adapter.
But maybe a few primes on top ?
The Bati look very very good. What's the word on the original 35mm and 55mm from Sony - Zeiss ? The Loxias are probably optically very good, but I want AF.

The 55FE is pretty much universally accepted as a great lens but somewhat clinical. Sharpness or clarity can be removed to taste to aid in a bit of softness if that's your desire as it can be a extremely sharp lens across the frame. I personally love mine and before the 35 Distagon I'd say it was the only FE lens I had no reservations about at all (mind you if they make an updated 55/1.4 Distagon ala the 35 Distagon then I would possibly jump on that.)

The 35/2.8 is a mixed bag... Literally (and this is me being nice about the lens and I believe that I had a decent copy with no extreme decentering that I could readily tell.) The majority have bought and sold due to QC, not living up to reviews, or speed. I sold mine because I didn't think it lived up to the hype personally and I value optical goodness above weight otherwise I'd buy a LensBaby and be done with it all. It's not that the 35/2.8 is bad in performance as it checks the sharpness boxes, the color boxes, and the technical performance boxes outside severe vignetting wide open without a lens profile. I just that I found it to be possibly the most forgettable lens I've ever owned.

The kicker with the 35/2.8 is the "mythical good copy" that is rumored to be able to photograph unicorns, Sasquatch, the chupacabra, and the Loch Ness monster all singing barbershop songs in perfect four part harmony.

I'm sure these lenses exist out there but I still find that the 35 Distagon is unequivocaloy the absolute best rendering lens in the FE system. The 28/2 is great too for the price and size if that's important. FWIW it outperforms the 35/2.8 slightly in the scientific metrics but I'd say it's head and shoulders above it in performance from the pictures I've seen taken with both.

 

[Guy Mancuso]

I'm sure these lenses exist out there but I still find that the 35 Distagon is unequivocaloy the absolute best rendering lens in the FE system. The 28/2 is great too for the price and size if that's important.


Could not agree more. Wish it was in 5 other focal lengths too

 

[ShooterSteve]

Seeing as the pixel wells aren't nearly as deep down anymore, the microlenses are obviously going to have to be of a different shape too, but it's anyone's guess until someone with M glass gets their hands on this camera.


A roughly ~8000x5300 file is listed as using 42MB, so there's definitely compression going on, as Pentax 645D images weighed in around 50MB+ of data.

Compression seems to be Sony's weak point right now, the internal 4K is rated at 100mbps, which is a broadcast quality bitrate... for full HD. 4K needs at least 300~400mbps to be considered "master" quality, like 100mbps is for 1080p.

I think they assume any serious video work will be recorded uncompressed out of the HDMI into an external recorder. Not sure what specs that data would be... looking forward to the tests.

 

[turtle]

Miska,

I rate the 55mm FE Sonnar very highly indeed and its not clinical at all when shot wide open, but what it does not have is a particular fingerprint, especially stopped down. The again few modern lenses do, especially those that are pin sharp from corner to corner. And trust me, the 55 FE is just that. Its a great landscape or scenic lens that can pull of portraits just fine, as long as you are not expecting the soul of a 50mm f1.2 L!

The 35mm FE Sonnar can be very good and I uploaded full rez samples to my blog to prove it as shown here. I may soon add a shot I took while comparing the A7R with the Monochrom, because I have a f2.8 shot there off the 55mm that is quite remarkable, showing its performance at this aperture is within a gnats whisker of its best. Certainly this is a lens you can shoot a distant skyline at f2.8 or f4 and get results better than some 50mm primes at f8, is uniform resolution is your bag.

While I would recommend the 55 Sonnar wholeheartedly, the 35mm Sonnar is a whole world of nuisance, but if you are prepare to play postal ping pong with an understanding retailer, you may well be rewarded with 110g of optical brilliance. In my case, the first two were, aherm, turds (as was the first 55mm, which focused the right and left sides about ten metres apart). I am glad I have my 35mm FE, but would possibly go the Loxia route were I to do it again.

I shot both my 55mm FE and 35mm FE (plus 70-200 FE) heavily during my January trip to Iceland and the photos can be seen here and here. I hope those portfolios will show that the sharp nature of these lenses is no impediment to landscape work.

Hope this helps the decision making and FWIW, I wrote a piece about the FE System and why I think its an absolute game changer here.

 

[turtle]

You make a fair point, Joe. Thankfully it seems the compressed RAW is being looked into by Sony and the grip at least offers a bit more juice for those difficult times. Maybe when the A9 comes, there will be a more DSLR-alike spec with larger batteries. I am guessing so.

 

[jfirneno]

I own two a7R cameras, one converted to IR. And I intend to buy the new a7RII. Having said that, no issue is off limits in a thread that is focused on the excitement surrounding the new Sony offering.

While most of the "wish list" features that we all discussed ad nauseam in other threads, including why certain lenses had too much coma to be adequate for night sky photography (perhaps an esoteric topic deserving its own thread ), two stand out to me as not having been addressed with the a7RII.

My point is this - while we're all excited about the new Sony a7RII, let's not get so frenzied that we ignore real specs or performance that we'd like to see Sony improve or incorporate into their next best thing. I'm going to add the a7RII to my pre-order stable next Wednesday, as many of you will, but I continue to reserve my right to bitch on any forum, including this one, about things that need to be improved.

Respectfully,

Joe

Joe:

You framed out your case well. I'd add one other deficiency and that is pro-level autofocus.

I suspect that both battery and uncompressed RAWs will be addressed in an "A9" model. What I hope is that the battery problem is resolved by a backwards compatible solution (either a body that can accommodate multiple batteries or a new higher capacity battery that matches the size of the current one). But I wouldn't be surprised if they sprang a new battery on us one day. The uncompressed RAW I hope is a choice that they could include in a firmware upgrade (but my knowledge of sensor architecture is close to zero so maybe it's not). Finally, world-class AF may not be something they presently have. That would be a shame. Cause that is the deal breaker that is presently keeping out all those pros with Canikon gear from switching.

 

[Lars]

Two stores I was in today already had full payment preorders from customers.

Sony is changing the game.

-Bill

Well, let's be realistic here. Sony is changing the hype game. We'll see in August if the product actually holds up.

 

[ggibson]

Hopefully Sony understands that people really only take issue with the fact that their compressed RAW is lossy compression. I'd actually prefer compressed RAWs as long as they are lossless.

 

[Rawfa]

S.O.B!!! I´ve just sold all my Sony Gear for Nikon! Here we go again.

Does anyone want to trade all their FE gear for Nikon?

 

[Guy Mancuso]

NO

 

[pegelli]

S.O.B!!! I´ve just sold all my Sony Gear for Nikon! Here we go again.

Does anyone want to trade all their FE gear for Nikon?

Nope, but at least you don't have to trade any lenses (for starters ), they all fit with the appropriate adapter.

 

[Rawfa]

They do fit, but they won´t AF like the Canon EOS

I´ll try to sell all my Nikon gear to Ken Rockwell hahaha

 

[Viramati]

Wow the specs for this camera have really thrown a spanner in the works for me as it seems to have all the improvements that I would like to see. I have the A7s and A7II. I love the A7s for the silent shutter and high iso capabilities and quality of the files. I like the A7II for the 24mp sensor and IBIS. The new A7rII seems to combine all of these while adding the 42mp sensor (more than I need) and at last you can set a minimum shutter speed in auto iso. The thing is I have just bought the leica Q (by far the best camera they have produced in years and a real marvel) and am short of funds for new Sony unless I sell both the A7s and A7II. decisions, decisions!!!

 

[sjg284]

Wait for A7sII ?
That's my plan.

Love my A7s.
Want IBIS, internal 4k and less rolling shutter "jello" look in videos.
Higher resolution, and any other features are an added bonus.

 

[uhoh7]

It sounds like video is driving the tech improvements, from interviews with some of the team.

Which is fine, I understand that may lead to more sales. I still cannot figure out why they want to shoot video from a DSLR configuration, but since 5D, that's just the way, I guess, excluding RED and that other popular vid maker...black magic?

I get a kick out of how defensive many are about the batteries. They were designed for the original Nex-5, and I find them ridiculous with A7. Would not need to be much bigger to get alot more out of them. As Guy noted, the door is pretty funny too, especially on the A7.

But you guys love the batteries, so who am I to rant about it? LOL

I am very curious about the backlit sensor and RF wides, that's for sure, obviously Sony could care less, but if it does well, intentions matter little

 

[Biglou]

" I am very curious about the backlit sensor and RF wides, that's for sure, obviously Sony could care less, but if it does well, intentions matter little "


One reason why i preordered, i suspect also we could have nice surprises with some rangefinder lenses added to others qualities this camera will eventually demonstrate.