Yes, I'm happy
My case:
I shoot mostly food and drinks visuals, I've done this with a P45+ on a Sinar P2 for about ten years. Plenty of lighting power, controlled environment of a studio kind.
Last summer I've thought maybe it's time for change my camera/back and I decided to give the new Sony a go.
Just a couple of casual shots in the studio, not (much) pixel peeping. When I put together a Phase and a Sony files, side by side on the same monitor, I've thought "Damn, this Sony is pretty close to P45, but the Phase is still an inch further", only to realise, seconds after this, that in fact that better looking image I was starring at was made on the Sony
.
Short after this, I kept the A7R2, I swiftly bought an Arca Swiss M2 instead of the Sinar, sold the P45+ and bought one more A7R2 as backup.
Why I'm happy:
- excellent, excellent image quality, IMHO
- faster, way faster than my previous workflow due to the (now) decent live view and the possibility to shoot during live viewing, which was impossible before, on my Phase/Sinar combination.
- better speed when shooting liquids, splashes, pourings, etc, a kind of images that I usually do. (again, compared to using a MFDB)
- don't laugh, but I'm also happy that the IQ3100 launched 5 months after, otherwise I might have been attracted to it. But honestly, I still could not expose during the live view. And the recent tests made by the kind people from Digital Transitions (Doug and Co, thank you very much) still show how difficult it is to focus properly on MFDB (These tests show more miss-focused points in the IQ3100 images than in the Sony ones, IMHO).
- and I'm way happier with the extra $30k in my pocket, compared to the IQ3100 price, of course. Again, if I need to choose between them at the same moment, I might have taken the Phase route. Now, I'm not looking back and I know those $30k would not have been helping me to earn a cent more, from my (present or future) clients. Choosing "the right camera" is lesser and lesser important than having "the right" lighting, "the right" studio, making yourself known (self promotion and representation).
Why YOU might be happier:
- the stabilisation for any used lens is a killer, when you need it. (I usually don't)
- very good hi ISO performance (not for me, I usually shoot at 50-100 ISO)
Why YOU might not be happy:
- still poor lens range, depending on your subjects and style (in my case I use the view camera lenses anyway, 2 Schneiders and 4 Rodies, 1 Nikkor, plus the 55/1.8 and 90 macro which are, indeed, impressive)
- camera still looks and feels like a toy
(compared to EOS1s, D4s, RZs, RBs, 500c or any other older or newer workhorses). In my case, I use the view camera anyway, the A7R2 is more like a digital back, so I would rather want it even smaller, please.
- short, very short battery life, compared to, let's say, EOS 5D Mark III. (Me? I don't care, I shoot tethered, so I'm using USB charging anyway. In five months, I used the charger just a couple of time, before firmware updates, just in case)