Sony A7RII Review and Hands On Report

[Hans Kruse]

E-M1 does with delay = http://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/3651827  , was it something like 25ms ?

Exactly and I had this in mind as well. But since Sony did not do such a firmware update or if they couldn't because of the design of the shutter, we will not know for sure...

[Wayne Fox]

Exactly and I had this in mind as well. But since Sony did not do such a firmware update or if they couldn't because of the design of the shutter, we will not know for sure...

Maybe. But certainly the data from the link and looking at the chart definitely shows the vibrations are pretty stable and at baseline after the 1st curtain is wound and the action of the first curtain firing and stopping cause the main vibration at the start of the exposure. sony engineers certainly had even better equipment to test with.

None of us a7r owners liked their answer that it wouldn't help, but to me it looks like they were being honest.

[dreed]

I had a chance to try one out in store... mind you I was under time pressures..

The store did not have a Metabones III/IV adapter, only the Viltrox one. With the Sony lens on (24-70/f4), no problem. With the Viltrox + Canon 24-70/f4...

Focusing on a person, it could do easily.

Focusing on the shelf on the other side of the store (maybe 5m away), with lots of cameras and a backlit wall, it had a lot of trouble with.

That didn't concern me as much as...

The A7RII has no equivalent (that I was able to use with Canon lenses) to the contrast-detect AF feature on Canon cameras. This is a method where the joystick is used to move a box around the screen, do a digital zoom in (5x/10x) and press AF to focus. The closest Sony comes to that is "focus magnification" that only worked with manual focus which then relied on focus peaking to ensure you get your subject in focus. I'm not sure that would work for me.

[GrahamBy]

I'm intrigued by the logic of this. It seems to me that all the hardware and software needed to decide if the scene is focused or not lives in the body. All the link to the lens has to do is instruct it which way to move. So at the first level, if the camera can focus on a given scene with one lens, why should it not be able to do it with any other with equivalent aperture and the basic connections correct?

Agreed, when it comes to treating the lens camera system as an active negative feedback system to track focus, the speed of the communication and the lens movement becomes critical, but why should that be the case focusing on a shelf in a store?

[Uhoh7]

This is true of lenses, such as those designed for Leica M cameras, with exit pupils relatively close to the sensor. Not an issue with SLR lenses. Nor is it a fault per se, rather just a design choice that happens to degrade image quality if you insist on using (most) wide rangefinder camera lenses on A7x cameras. Don't do that.  

-Dave-

If you think SLR glass 35 and wider is "not and issue" you are just not looking closely at a proper landscape test. Certainly the sensor induced FC is more subtle, but it's there. The only way to go with these Sony A7 series is native glass if you are looking to rival a D810.

Sure you can slap anything on there and central frame will be fine. And closer shots may even seem very good outside the central frame. But hit infinity and the weirdness begins. So if IQ is really the goal, better study up on the Sony glass. No UWA yet. The camera cannot compete with M240 or D810 wider than 25mm, or at 28mm for that matter. You need the huge Batis 25/2 if you want serious performance, then FE 35/2.8, then 55/1.8 and that new 90.

or have Kolari strip off the silly thick cover glass for 500USD (r2), and things get alot better non-native.

[Robert Katz]

From the Sony website:
Sony has announced an uncompressed Raw option for its forthcoming a7S II model and will offer firmware updates for some existing models, starting with the a7R II. Up to now, Sony's cameras have only recorded compressed Raw files which can have a visual impact on some images (as we detailed in a recent article). The company says the move comes in response to feedback from its users.
I guess they have been listening
Robert Katz

[MarkL]

From the Sony website:
Sony has announced an uncompressed Raw option for its forthcoming a7S II model and will offer firmware updates for some existing models, starting with the a7R II. Up to now, Sony's cameras have only recorded compressed Raw files which can have a visual impact on some images (as we detailed in a recent article). The company says the move comes in response to feedback from its users.
I guess they have been listening
Robert Katz

It is a start, though lossless compressed would be better. I imagine the gimped 12bit mode in bulb, long exposure noise reduction, continuous and silent still remains.

[Isaac]

From the Sony website…

See LuLa A7RII - uncompressed RAW coming soon