Sony a7RII Hands-on Tests and Reviews

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The new Sony a7RII mirrorless camera features the world’s first full-frame 42.4-megapixel Exmor R back-illuminated structure CMOS sensor. This sensor design both improves low-light operation and speeds up data throughout, enabling fast high-resolution stills and UHD 4K video recording. Working with the BIONZ X image processor, these images can be produced at sensitivities up to ISO 102,400 and at a continuous 5 fps shooting rate.

Sony a7RII is the best mirrorless camera in the world and we all expected the Sony a7RII to be the best performing camera at DxOMark. Sony a7RII gets 98 points DxOMark sensor score, the highest score of any Full Frame camera and it even beats the Nikon D810 (Previous best in DxOMark) by 1 more point.

The new Sony a7RII is a true Game-changer, and DPReview said “Sony’s Alpha 7R II breaks a lot of new ground in terms of photographic technology “. And lots of news said the new Sony a7RII is amazing and it is the killer of Canon EOS 5DS R and it can even beat the Nikon D810, so, is it true? Check it out!

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Looking at the a7R against the a7R II doesn’t reveal anything immediately mind-blowing. Linear resolution is increased by around 8%, but the differences go deeper than just a megapixel count. It may seem silly to focus at all on JPEG quality on such a heavy-hitting camera, but there are some changes worth mentioning. The JPEG engine for the a7R II shows great improvements over the a7R. (dpreview)

It wasn’t that long ago that I wouldn’t have bothered trying to use a mirrorless camera in a high-action setting like professional sports, but the A7R II held its own for the most part — despite not really being designed as a pro-level sports cam. I wish write times were peppier and hopefully Sony’s designers find ways to cram a bigger battery and, perhaps, a second memory card slot into this line’s compact frame. But overall, I came away impressed with how far Sony’s come with this line. Both the A7 bodies and first-party lens lineups are steadily improving.(Engadget)

Is it a perfect camera though? No. There is still room for improvement. The battery life is better than ever (I used the camera the entire weekend at 3100 meters above sea level during frosty temperatures and still had 20% of juice left after around 300 shots taken). But it’s still nowhere near to a DSLR which shoots way over 2000 photos with a single charge. And of course there is still the AF issue. Don’t get me wrong. And I want to be very specific here. There is NO difference between mirrorless cameras and DSLR’s regarding “Single AF” shots. Not anymore. Period! But when it comes to moving subjects, even the Sony A7RII struggles at certain times to keep the subject in focus. I guess it will take some more time to get to the point, where even for this kind of shooting there won’t be any need for a DSLR anymore…(Ivo Scholz)

If there was one fly in the ointment, honestly it was probably the A7R II’s battery life. Luckily, I had a couple of battery packs on hand, and at every opportunity I got, I recharged them. Hence I never actually ran out of power. If you’re planning on much shooting, I would definitely recommend at least a couple of spare battery packs though, because even without much video shooting I found it very easy to drain the A7R II’s battery in just an afternoon. (Imaging-resource)

Store links:
In USA:
Sony a7RII: $3,198 at Amazon, B&H, Adorama.

Sony RX10 II: $1,298 at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama.

Sony RX100 IV: $948 at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama.

Canon EOS 5Ds: $3,699 at Amazon, B&H, Adorama

Canon EOS 5Ds R: $3,899 at Amazon, B&H, Adorama