Readers chime in on the Sony A7II!

December 30, 2014 Mirrorless, News, Sony, User Reports 59

Readers chime in on the Sony A7II!

Before posting my own Sony A7II Review I asked if any readers had gotten their A7Ii yet and if so, send in some thoughts about it. A couple of you sent in your own thoughts after getting the camera, so here they are!

The A7II can be ordered at Amazon or B&H Photo

My full A7II review is HERE

DSC05862

David Scott

Steve — I’m a long-time reader of your blog and solidly am with you on the Sony A7, A7s and A7II. I’ve all but abandoned Nikon, having sold everything save one D600 and a couple of lenses — but they never get used.

This message, however, is about the fabulous (in my opinion) combo of A7II and the Tamron 150-600mm for Sony (mounted with an LA-EA4 adapter). Below is one of the very first shots I’ve made using this duo. Top is the original, bottom a crop. So far, virtually every image I’ve captured at 600mm has been tack sharp. Autofocus seems very fast. However, I haven’t yet had a chance to try nailing birds in flight. At the moment, the hawks and buzzards that ordinarily circle the skies here are nowhere to be seen.

I literally have had the camera and lens for only a couple of days and December wildlife north of Atlanta has been, well, sparse. I don’t send this image as an example of fine art but, rather, a demonstration of the how well the A7II and Tamron get along.

I have become a thorough Sony A7-line fan and only wish the A7II had a silent shutter option like my beloved A7s. Still, it’s extra megapixels and stabilization feature mean I’ll be carrying both bodies on every shoot. Since most of my regular work is indoors under ordinary, daylight-balanced fluorescents, the A7s has been my go-to camera.

For me, smaller, lighter, quieter — and now steadier — rocks!

www.davidscottimages.com

Handheld at full tele (600mm), ISO 1000, 1/500th sec., f/6.3 (wide open); SteadyShot set manually at 600mm via the camera menu.

(Keep in mind this is at 600mm and HANDHELD! If you never tried this it is NOT easy and about impossible without good IS)

——

David Fonseca

Hey Steve! You asked for A7II impressions and here are mine. Hopefully they are useful to you. You were the main reason why I purchased my EM1 and A7 so here is my help to you in return! I am including some test shots I took with my 2 Canon FD powerhouses, the 50mm 1.2L and 80-200 F4L. This is what I wrote on a forum site I contribute to, talkemount.com. The original post is here: http://www.talkemount.com/showthread.php?t=9372

So the A7II arrived today, a day later than I expected when I first put in the preorder but a day earlier then I expected from just a few days ago. I own the A7 and love it. It has become my go to camera. Reasons I felt the upgrade were important to me were, hated the original grip and button placements, no IBIS, a tad slow, poor video features. The A7II seemed to cover these very well. The things I wished for but didn’t make the cut was, silent shooting and a newer improved sensor.

1st impression out of the box are pretty consistent with what we have seen from online reviewers. Noticeably heavier but the grip is fantastic. Very comfortable shooting without a strap with a heavy solid metal lens like the FD 50mm 1.2L that I have on it now. Overall construction is VERY good. Buttons, dials and screen. Very smooth but solid movement and actuations. Startup time is fast. Almost instant for me in most cases. Shutter is definitely quieter but not stealthy by any means.

Things I’m not sure about yet. The front dial on the grip is a little hard to get to with my fingers and I have to struggle a bit to get to it. Tilt screen is also hard to get to. Not a lot of edge to grab a hold of (Tip From Steve: On the right side of the LCD, underneath, is a lip to grab onto to pull out the LCD). The self-cleaning shutter-clang at power down still happens sometimes. Also when you turn it on and the SteadyShot is engaged there is a small vibration in the body right at boot-up. I tried it a few times and got it to do it fairly constantly. EVF is identical to the A7.

OK so now for a quick steady shot comparison. These are shot with the FD 50mm 1.2L. The steady shot ability with non electronic manual focus lenses was what I was most looking to get with this camera and so far I think its working really nice.

First set. Shot at 1/10 at f8 ISO 200 handheld with dim desk lamp as only source of light. I cropped in a lot. This figure stands at about 3.8″ tall

Without SSI (5 Axis)

With SSI 

This next one surprised me so much that I had to take it twice to be sure. Shot at 1/6 at f8 ISO 50. Same desk lamp

Without SSI

With SSI

So SteadyShot Inside is not too shabby on a 40+yo lens. Now I know some of us were wondering if the steady shot is engaged in the preview. Id say it is engaged with a shutter half press but using it on a 50mm lens is hard to tell. However when using the focus zoom feature, it doesn’t seem to engage as I couldn’t tell much movement change with it on/off. This weekend I plan on trying it on my 80-200mm and see how it fairs with the longer FL. So far so good though

And then here is a follow up with the 80-200mm f4L:

Ok so finally home and playing around with my 80-200mm. The steady shot is way more noticeable at 200 mm. Also it’s very comfortable holding the camera with this beast on it. A few other things I am noticing.

Menu and C3 buttons are much easier to get to than previously.

I was able to map the FL selection to C3. Very convenient for me to be able to make quick adjustments with a legacy zoom lens.

The higher resolution screen seems to allow you to magnify the image in review a lot closer than previously.

Wi-Fi access is much more reliable – A big plus for me as I use this feature often!

Emount is definitely more robust. I nice solid ‘click’ when you engage the lens

Not seeing steady shot when using focus magnification. Will have to check the manual to see if there is a way to engage it.

Here is two shots indoors and hand held.

200mm f4 ISO 100, 1/25, with and without steady shot

Here is what the 80-200mm fdn looks like on it

—–

Mikee Catacutan

Wow, this things feels like a brick. Not a bad brick but just a really solid magnesium alloy framed brick. I like the weight of the original A7 but definitely like the feel of the mark II better and if I had to choose, I’d go with the more solid feel as I think it could withstand some serious traveling.

Other physical difference include the finish. It’s way more premium looking and feeling over the original A7’s shiny plastic like finish. As we all know, the grip is also larger. It feels good but I also didn’t have a problem with the original, however the added real estate for the placement of the shutter button absolutely feels perfect.

On the original A7, there was a little movement between the body and lens. I’ve used the camera in light showers with no problems but the A7II has a much more improved lens mount. The click you hear when mounting a lens sounds confident and there’s absolutely no wiggle between body and lens.

All the button feel similar, with a few feeling more solid adding to the premium aspect of the camera. I thought the screen would be exactly the same however the black borders on the LCD are reversed with the thicker border being on the right of the LCD. That means the A7 screen protector won’t align with the A7II unless you flip it upside down resulting in an upside down Sony logo. I ended up leaving it on for the time being for protection and will change it out later, or maybe not. It doesn’t bother me. You can see it below:

So without a doubt, the camera feels great. I will admit needing to get use to the added weight. It’s not heavy, it’s just different from the original A7, which I’ve been using extensively for a year.

As far as internal improvements go, I can already feel the auto focus has improved greatly in that I don’t feel it’s a concern anymore. We’ll see how it goes as I do more shooting but I’m super happy with it. Start up time is a bit faster. Not by a lot but it’s definitely less annoying.

And then there’s IBIS. This is why I decided to sell my A7 and upgrade. Any help in taking care of camera shake, I’m all for it and I think it’s definitely worth it for me. Especially when I’m shooting in constantly changing scenes/light and without the ability to set a minimum shutter speed but want to keep my lens wide open, the added image stabilization will give me more confidence that if it does go down to say 1/30th of a second, I’ll still be ok. I don’t venture too far below 1/80th for handheld shots because I absolutely hate blurry images, so now that I can feel more comfortable at lowers shutter speeds, I’ll worry less and focus more on composition.

So there you have it. My first impressions of this beast. I have a shoot on Saturday so I’m excited to put this guy to work. I’m already a fan of the quality of the A7 so I’m sure I’ll be just as happy, if not more, with these files.

And some images from Mikee Catacutan

–

Beau Reyes

Hello, Steve im a long time Sony alpha user and just received my A7II. The camera reminds me of my old a900 but shrunk down. I take pictures for an adult basketball league and was able to test out the camera this past weekend. While they say the af is 30% faster id say its 100% more accurate. Aside from having to shoot at high iso, the camera performed beautifully paired with the 70-200mm f4 G.

Thanks for running an amazing website.

Take Care,
Beau Reyes

—

Richard M Poniarski

Steve;

I saw your page about people who got the A7mII recently and thought I would send you a couple of shots I took. I got mine last Friday and the next day headed into New York City to the International Motorcycle show, where two of the shots were taken, and then to a local car show on Long Island, where I took the blue Coupe de Ville picture. All were jpgs, as Lightroom didn’t have support for the new Sony, though the update now does and I am returning to shooting RAW.

As to the camera, it is really awesome. All the shots were taken with the Sony/Zeiss 24-70mm f4 FE OSS lens and the combination of the lens’s stabilization and the IBIS is stunning. I have been able to take shots at much slower shutter speeds than I ever have, something very important to me as I have a familial neurological condition that causes my hands to shake. I love the deeper grip and the shutter button placement is perfect. Only thing making it less than perfect is that there still aren’t enough FE lenses to complete my kit. Once that is done, I will be a very happy camper.

Thanks a lot for all your work and keep it up!

Related Articles

59 Comments

  1. Has anyone used the 35mm Summicron non-ASPH (ver 4) with the A7ii? Just wondering if the non-ASPH aspect would have any negative effects.

  2. Hi! Just curious, how is this camera at shooting video in low light? I know it won’t compare to the a7s, but just curious if anyone has opinions about whether you can get a decent image?

  3. Hi Steve.

    Great reviews as usual and really enjoy your website. I’m waiting on delivery of a Summicron 75mm Apo for use on my A7II. Any experience with this combo? Have you used any of the lower cost Adapers (under $150) with good results? How do you find MF on A7II with 75mm?

    Best regards
    John

    • Any manual lens will MF on the A7II in the same manner so the 75 will focus just the same as a 35 or 90 or 200. I stopped messing with other adapters and have stuck with the Voigtlander close focus M adapter. It’s the best one I have found by far and works well. Also allows much closer focus if needed. The 75 cron is a great lens. A but smoother and nicer in its output than the 75 Summarit and an APO lens as well. You should love it if you like the 75 focal length.

  4. My HVL-F43AM flash unit arrived today. Unpacking was a little disappointment in that it feels very plasticy but I don’t want it to play rugby so just accept.. Love the way the head swivels to keep the bounce angle consistent. cute.

    I do have a major problem though: in TTL mode when I try to flash it goes through a 3 step flickering ritual before firing. Dam annoying and guess what, useless for anything not staged. Press the trigger and wait more than 2 seconds before it fires. I read the manual as there must be something I am doing wrong. Couldn’t find a reason for this dance, so must be standard. Cant Be!

    Please any ideas how to stop this infernal 3 step…

    • funny how when you ask the answer comes.. then you look and cant find a way to delete the comment.. Well worked out the problem: Red Eye reduction was set ON. changed to OFF and all is well..

  5. I posted this question over a month ago but received no response.
    I’m shooting a Pentax K5SII but am tempted by the new Sony A7II. Does anyone have both and know if the shutter is much louder on the Sony or comparable? The Pentax has a nice subdued solid feel and don’t want to give that up. If someone has or has experienced both. I’d appreciate your feedback including which model Sony you have as I understand there are different shutters on different models.
    Thanks.
    David

    Thanks for the help.

    David

    • I would assume that no one has responded because no one has both cameras as you asked. I do not have both but I have to say that the Sony A7II shutter sound is a lot more dampened then the original and its not obtrusive or noisy at all. Feels quite solid in my opinion. Not sure why this is important and I don’t think it should be the deciding point on this camera but I don’t think anyone can be disappointed with it anymore either.

      • I often like to take pictures in unlikely situations and don’t like to disturb others or draw more attention to myself than necessary.

        • Look on Steve’s youtube channel, he has a video comparing shutter sounds in one of his first looks. Also the new Olly and the A7s both have completely silent shutter options.

        • Well its pretty average as I said. Nothing like its predecessor. However the A7s may be more suited for you. It features silent shooting via electronic shutter. And from the sounds of it, the higher ISO performance will probably suit you as well.

  6. Hi Steve, thank you for your review it was instrumental in me looking in to and purchasing the a7ii. I am quite happy with the handling but am finding the files I am getting really noisy with NR turned off, even at ISO 800. Am I just spoilt from my D800E? I switched on the high ISO NR, and that helps…
    Did any of you users encounter this as well?
    Thanks again, I really enjoy your site!

    • With the A7II I go up to ISO 8k if need be. I have no issues with noise. It’s all about exposure. With the A7s I go up to ISO 80,000 🙂 The A7II is great in low light but not the best. Still, unless you are shooting in the dark at ISO 800 you should not have noise.

  7. I received my new sony a7 II for christmas through sony. The camera does not function. When I was trying to set it up the screen kept showing this message : Lens not attached Attach lens properly. I was using the lens that came with kit. I have many other sony lenses, but had not purchased the adapter for them yet. The first person I dealt with was on the chat from their website. He had no idea how to deal with this issue and told me to call back the next morning to customer service. When I called “customer service”, they offered NO service. I was on the phone for over an hour and they clearly had no familiarity with this camera. On the web there are multiple comments from purchasers with same issue as well as same issue with other sony models. Surely they are aware they have a problem. Anyway, I was first told after going through multiple tries on basic function protocol, I could send the camera back to their “repair dept”. REALLY? A brand new camera which is defective? I was transferred to another dept. and went through the same protocol and run around. I asked to speak with a manager and after being on hold for a lengthy time, I was told that I could either send the camera in to the repair dept. or return it. They had NO option to return defective camera and receive a new replacement. The various people I spoke to showed no concern for my issue, nor ANY knowledge of the functionality of the camera.
    I have owned two other sony alpha cameras and other sony digital cameras. Until this huge disappointment, I was their number 1 fan.
    Since all of this I have found that Sony has outsourced their “customer service”. Absolutely the worst “service” I have ever received on any item I have bought anywhere.

    • And that is why B&H and Amazon are in business. If it doesn’t work, you can return it, no questions asked!

    • I have had my fair share of Sony support. I will never ever buy a camera from Sony again. It was in the workshop and I was on the phone with “support” more than I took photos with it. Eventually the firm that sold it to me decided on their own that I should not have to put up with Sonys treatment anymore and they gave me my money back and said they would handle it instead.

      An entire summer lost to Sonys crap. Never again.

  8. Duho! Just realized that I wasn’t aware of the front wheel located under the shutter button on the a7II. Like I said it will take a while to get used to the Sony system. Embarrassing. And I call me self a photographer. Geesh.

    • Yep the scroll wheel in the front of the grip is hard to find sometimes hehe. I knew it was there from owning the A7 but its more discrete on the A7II so don’t feel bad 🙂

      The monitor thing and battery power is a little tricky. I think in Tab 2, option 2, DISP button, monitor. Set to For Viewfinder and you will just see the relevant info that you would need to see like Shutter and ISO and such on the monitor. Then turn auto review to OFF. You could set a custom key to turn off the monitor but from what Ive seen in the A7 it doesn’t help battery life that much. My suggestion would be a vertical grip and/or pack several extra batteries. I use the Vivitar ones and they work just as long as the OEM batteries at a 1/3 the cost plus buying the 2 pack includes a charger with a car adaptor. Ive seen others who are coming from your type of shooting on DSLRs complain about the same thing so maybe start a petition on the Sony forums 🙂 You will have to learn to live with the short battery life on the Sony bodies for now until they change the battery pack all together. I also wouldn’t be surprised if Sony releases firmware to increase the battery life being that it has dropped significantly between the A7 and A7II.

      Review magnification for me works with the wheel but only AFTER I tap the +Magnifier glass first. I assume this is how it works not he A7s as well. You need to initiate the magnification first then use the scroll wheel. (The little blue magnifying glass with a + sign when in review mode)

      Hope this helps!

      • Nyartboy: Supremely helpful! Thank you so much. Yes, even after taping the Magnify button and trying to use the scroll wheel i’m still not able to zoom in and out on the image I’m reviewing. I’ll have to check my settings in Custom Key Settings for the scroll wheel. Thank you again for your insight. Cheers, M-
        p.s. Testing out Pano Sweep and Bracketing today for a commercial shoot tomorrow.

        If you have any info on a tethered intervalometer for the a7 series please let me know I haven’t be able to find one anywhere on the net yet.

  9. Hi Steve, Long time daily reader and moved all my personal photography to Oly EM5 two years ago & EM1 this year thanks to your reviews. I’ve used my Oly’s for many weddings and commercial shoots. Just sold ALL my Canon gear, last week, had a full pro suite of L glass x7 and 2 bodies. Received my Sony a7s and a7II in the past two weeks with 55 f1.8 ZA, 16-25 f4 ZA OSS, 24-70 f4 ZA OSS and 70-200 f2.8 G OSS. I’ve been getting used to the system and used it on a commercial shoot today for the first time. I have a couple of questions for you and your readers. #1) Is there a function to disable the rear LCD except with you want to review images? This would allow me to use the EVF for all my shooting and only use the rear monitor to review which would save me some battery juice. Seems like there is only an option to turn off the rear LCD completely. #2) When shooting in Manual mode, seems like you need to select the Aperture first {in say AV mode}, then when in M mode you can only change the shutter speed. Am I missing something here or is there a custom function, dial, or toggle that I’m not seeing? Finally, #3) When reviewing images on both cameras seems like the a7II will allow me to use the scroll wheel {surrounding the display button} to zoom in and out of the image, the the a7s will not allow this function. And for any of your readers that have an a7s with a Sony battery grip on it I found this: http://www.promediagear.com/Sony-Alpha-7-Series-7a-7r-7s-with-VG-C1EM-Battery-Grip_p_189.html … which seems to be the only L bracket on the market that will fit that set up. I’ve used the company before and they produce solid products.

    • Mathew, I’ll give this a try today. I’ll be testing out certain features of the camera including Pano Sweep and HDR and Auto Bracketing and follow up with you. Some speed I’m sure will have to do with the class and speed of the SD card one uses but I will make not of that also.

    • Mathew to answer you questions: I’m shooting my a7II with a Lexar Professional 16GB Class 10, 400x speed card. After a burst of 5 images I’m not able to review images until the burst is written onto the card. However they do write to the SD card in a matter of seconds self timed to approx. 4 sec. Stalling, no, I think it is just writing to the card. During that time I can not access the main Menu but was able to access the custom menu via the Fn button. Hope this helps. M-

  12. Thanks Steve for including me in your post! I do think its funny though that some people take posts like these as a direct attack against their equipment and photographic choices. This post is designed to inform you about other people’s experience with this new camera aside from Steve’s own opinion. Not a “mine-is-better-than-yours” thing. Anyway, hope it was helpful to someone out there! Happy shooting!

  13. Wow, a lot of people so proud about dumping their DSLR for a Sony a7 (II). Well, I took the opposite route. Had enough of playing with adapters and lenses and went back to a solid Nikon DSLR with dedicated lenses. Less fiddling and testing, more photography now. But enjoy your new toy everyone… 🙂

    • I think the current optical weivefinders feels like like toys. To dark and does not display properly what will get captured on the sensor. But please enjoy your dark ancient glass OVF.

  14. Thanks Steve for such a detailed review – I got the A7ii from BH Photo immediately after reading your comprehensive review. I arrived yesterday and I got a chance to shoot it with my Leica 35mm Summicron and it did not disappoint! I think I may be putting up my Leica M9 body for sale soon on eBay. I’m going to try out the Noctilux next.

  15. I’ve had mine for about a week now with the Zeiss 35/2.8 and it is indeed a nice combo. I’ve been comparing it with my Fuji X100T and trying to decide which one I would rather travel with. I’m pretty much comfortable with the 35mm focal length, so I’m just looking for the best overall ease of travel and movement.

    The files from both cameras are superb. The Sony has more resolution but the Fuji has better color.

    Steve, I know you say they (Fuji) lack pop, but I think that is a matter of processing. Somewhere along the way people started posting those kind of washed out, faded looking shots that always seem to be taken with a Fuji. I think it’s just a fad. I know I don’t like that look.

    I keep my Fuji files colorful and deep, with plenty of “pop”.

    I have no complaints with the Sony, however. Really an excellent camera. It’s a tough choice. I know these are small things, but if the Sony had a built-in flash I’d choose that. If the Fuji had a flip-lcd I’d choose that. Otherwise the cameras…at the 35mm focal length…are very close.

    So many choices from such wonderful gear these days.

    • I am not a Fuji user, but I have downloaded a number of raw files just to see what I can do with them. I agree wholeheartedly that the software makes all the difference. With Photo Ninja as the raw convertor, the Fuji files have plenty of pop and excellent colors. I suspect that Steve’s disappointingly dull results were obtained with LR/ACR, which is a mediocre raw convertor at best, and a poor one with X-Trans files.

  16. With all due respect the shot of the squirrel with the Tamron does not seem overly sharp. I am getting sharper images with my K5+DA*300+TC and my over all combo isn’t any larger in size.

  17. I’m shooting a Pentax K5SII but am tempted by the new Sony. Anyone have both and know if the shutter is much louder on the Sony or comparable?
    Thanks.
    David

  18. Ah yes, all nice camera’s but since photography is dead, I’m selling of all my camera’s (Olympus, Panasonic and Fuji) and buy the only camera worth having……a 600D Canon with a 18-55 kit lense second hand, a Nikon 300 mm and a Canon to Nikon adapter and a Samyang FE. It’s gonna set me back 500 to 600 dollars…..and the rest is a combination of:

    1) A 100 dollar ringflash
    2) Agisoft photoscan (a Russian SfM program that can turn any camera into a potent 3D scanner)
    3) Kolor Autopano Pro (for being totaly independant of any camera resolution)
    4) DxO (for compensating lens errors and processing)
    5) Blender for editing the in 3d and 2d world (composinting) Dutch build and open source!
    6) a 64 Gbyte computer with 2 to 3 (NVidia) videocards (for processing and stitching)
    7) Photoshop (any old version will do) or even Gimp for post processing (since printers are essentially all 4 x 8 bit machines 16 bit is essentially overkill unless you want to pre process)…..aka clone brushing is all I do here….
    8) Magic Lantern (for adding some extreme liberating features to any Canon)
    9) Photomatix Pro (which will do the color processing as well)
    10) A tripod
    11) An industrial cam and David 3D Scanning software for small object 3D scanning
    12) A 3D motorised head build using hardware from Calgary (thanks Greg) an Arduino and some software designed by me……..
    13) An American build Panosaurus 2.0.

    That equals to total artistic freedom IMHO, and that is something no single camera can achieve these day’s not even a Leica M9 with a Noctilux 50 0.95 which is the best camera lens combination ever made by human beings.

    Greets, Ed.

  19. Nice pictures above. Like the squirrel one. So, I’m hoping the next A99II will have some of this magic Sony DNA. Just make it a slightly larger version of the A77II…but with SLT technology and an adapted AF similar to the A77II. PERFECT CAMERA. Until then, I’ll consider this A7II a warm up excercise:)

  20. The following are a ‘baker’s dozen’ reasons why I love the new Sony A7 II camera:

    * more ergonomic grip with the shutter release in a better position
    * improved lcd resolution with ‘white magic’ technology (lcd can be seen under brighter conditions)
    * ibis (works with any lens attached)
    * speedier camera startup time
    * 30% quicker autofocus
    * tracking is one and a half times faster & more accurate
    * weather resistant
    * stronger lens mount and more robust body (magnesium alloy)
    * sensor flare issue improved
    * additional customizable button on the camera
    * enhanced video features such as xavc & x-log2
    * heavier body (reminds me of the solid feeling the leica m6 TTL has)
    * the beveled ledge the menu and c3 buttons now rest on

    My only caveat (and some would say a minor one) is the ‘blinking’ steady shot icon that
    cannot be turned off when using aperture mode on a tripod (a firmware upgrade could
    solve this concern). Note the original Sony A7 did not have this issue. All in all, though
    the new A7 II is a brilliant piece of technology! Thanks for your thorough review ‘re’ this
    camera, Steve!

    • I have used the 35 Summicron ASPH on my A7ii and the results are stunning. If I shoot at f 2 then I definitely have to zoom in to focus properly. I wrote about my first day with the A7 on my blog, and plan to write a follow up soon.

  23. I’ve put up a few video test shoots i’ve done around Hong Kong if anyone is interested to see how the 5-axis holds up for handheld video shooting, and how the SLog2 profile holds up for grading. There are 2 or 3 videos on my vimeo, here’s one I shot quickly today. https://vimeo.com/115649577

  24. Nice captures:) Reading on this lens it seems the Sony version does not have an OSS system while the Canon & Nikon versions do for the same price. Does anyone see a reason why you couldn’t adapt one of those versions to an A6000 with success?

  25. Hi,

    I have had my A7II for just a day (currently owning a OM-D E-M1 and after thoroughly having tested a loaned Fuji X-T1). The A7II definitely has the most “Premium” feel, and by far the best resolution. However I like ithe Fuji “pop” and cleanliness of the image which IMHO is unsurpassed – so far. But then I have not tested the A7s yet – and yes, I’m one of those despicable pixel peepers that scrutinize every picture i take, pixel by pixel…

    I’m also surprised about the image quality of the 28-70 kit lens. Far better than expected

    The only negative issue – so far – is the shutter button, which I find both too sensitive, and without a proper half-way resistance stop. It is also very sharply moulded, almost like a knife. No ergonomics there.

    I also get the feeling of a shutter lag, but I’m probably fooled by the electronic first curtain. The shutter button feels like my old Canon EOS 5D MkII, which at some times felt like “bubble gum” with considerable lag. I’m really not sure when the shutter is released.

    My ideal camera would of course be something with the ease of use and size of the OM-D E-M1, with the cleanliness and pop of the Fuji, and the resolution an FF of the Sony. Wishes, wishes..

    • Funny as my least favorite IQ from any camera today is from the Fuji’s, which I feel lack in pop, DR and depth 😉 Goes to show how all of us have different tastes. Also, the A7II shutter button has a very clear and firm half stop. It’s unmistakeable. Press and when you feel the shutter button stop, you hit half way. Apply more pressure and you take the shot. It is very smooth and not rough like many cameras. Just tested it after reading this comment and the half stop is there, easy to feel for me. No shutter lag for me either. Wen I press the shutter to take the shot it instantly fires the shot. Make sure you have “front curtain shutter” set to ON. 😉 The E-M1 is about the same size as the A7II though, a little wider and thicker and a a teeny bit shorter but overall the same. I also find the A7II just as easy to use as the E-M1, maybe a but less confusing for newbies. I own the E-M1, A7s, A7II and a Hasselblad Stellar. Love all of my cameras 😉

      http://camerasize.com/compare/#579,482

      All I wish for the future of the A7 series is better battery life, more refinements to AF and sensors and smaller faster primes. In a pro version ruggedness, superior weather sealing and a less DSLR styled body would be fantastic as well. Enjoy your cameras and have fun wit it!

      • Steve, you seem to be a little bit critical of the kit lens that this guy likes… the kit lens has also been favorite of DXO mark who claim it is better than rhe zeiss zoom which you like better. My question is – for someone who mainly shoot prime lenses doet the difference between the kit and the zeiss worth the 900$ price gap?

        • I used the kit zoom extensively with quite a few other reviewers and we all had the same conclusion – the kit lens is average at best. It is in NO WAY – NO WAY – better than the Ziess 24-70. Not in color, sharpness, corner performance, – none. Whoever says this lens is better is not of their right mind and proves that tech testing has nothing over real world use testing.

    • If you want 3D pop on the A7 series, try one of the Loxia primes…

      The Sony FE 55mm f/1.8 has a more balanced rendering with little 3D pop. It is a different quality, more zen-like. Depends on the images you want to get.

    • Bo w,

      I agree about the shutter lag. Today I went to do my usual ballet dancers which I would normally use my D800E for. I was determined to use the A7ii so I left the Nikon at home – the temptation is strong.

      The result was so many missed shots (all sharp) mostly due to the shutter lag time. Yes I must get used to it, and I will, but the nasty thing was that it appeared to slow down further after a few shots. It got to the point that up to half a second passed from press to shutter release. I had to stop after only 1 hour as I was wasting my time – very frustrating.

      I suspect the argument is that the camera is not meant for that kind of ‘action’ thing but this isn’t high speed action – its ballet. BTW, light wasn’t bad 800 ISO stuff.

      Anyway, I was planning on selling the Nikon…now shelved..

      I am hoping it was something I am doing wrong of there is a patch to apply…

      • I notice no real shutter lag, no more than any other camera I shoot with. Are you sure its not the slow shutter speed making you feel its shutter lag? Also, did you set front curtain settings correctly? Odd, as I have had no issues at all with lag, as I do not even notice any. All cameras have some lag, but some have a teeny bit more..but usually these crazy short lag times are not even noticeable in real use.

        • I agree with Steve about the shutter lag. I also find no shutter lag with either of my Sony’s. Both the a7II and a7s have no noticeable shutter lag at all. I wonder if as Steve mentions is it a slow shutter speed or are you perhaps confusing the fact that you may have your EVF set to a review time that is longish {actually any review time would prevent a shutter burst mode} as it would prevent you from firing off images at a rapid speed.

Comments are closed.