Sony A7R II - Serious Mirrorless Camera

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Sony A7r III am a fan of the Sony A7 series. My most recent review of the Sony a7 Mark II and last year I reviewed the 36MP Sony a7R. Sony has now announced the successor - the a7R II with some serious upgrades that challenge all full frame cameras, including DSLRS currently on the market.Sony a7R II Specs:

  • 42 MP Full-Frame Exmor R BSI CMOS Sensor (BSI means Back Side Illuminated which means better low light performance)
  • ISO expandable to 102,400
  • BIONZ X Image Processor
  • Internal UHD 4K Video & S-Log2 Gamma - 4K video with professional codec and profiles
  • 5-Axis SteadyShot INSIDE Stabilization- Stabilization in body like the Sony a7 Mark II
  • 399 Phase-Detect AF Points & 5 fps Burst - Focusing system is 40% improved over Sony a7R which was rather slow)
  • 0.5" 2.36M-Dot XGA OLED Tru-Finder EVF -world's highest viewfinder magnification at 0.78x
  • 3.0" 1,228.8k-Dot Tilting LCD Monitor
  • Silent Shutter Mode
  • Durable Reduced-Vibration Shutter Design
  • Built-In Wi-Fi Connectivity with NFC

 Sony has seriously packed in the features in this camera, providing a much more well rounded offering that can handle anything. The original a7r felt like a landscape camera only with it's slow operation and didn't provide great video options. Now we have significantly faster focusing system and the ability to shoot 29minutes of 4K!  And a full frame BSI sensor - this is going to provide some excellent low light performance. Honestly I am a bit stunned by everything they have packed in here and putting this camera side by side with current Canon cameras like the 5D Mark III, the 5Ds and 5Dsr and the rumored specs of the Canon 5D Mark IV. . . it is not pretty- No 4K, I doubt drastic improvements in low light performance. Sure the 5DS series offers great megapixels but low light performance and dynamic range are about the same as the 5D Mark III and when I did my testing versus the A7r last year the low light performance and the Dynamic range of the Sony a7r was significantly better.   Usually the response to battles of Sony vs Canon is Canon has the lenses but again that is changing as I look around our office at the Sigma lenses we use at each wedding and the fact that Sony has made huge improvements on focusing with adapters - in fact they have demoed using Canon glass with a metabones adapter and focus is significantly improved.The Sony a7R II will be available for Preorder in June and shipping in August.   Check it out on B&H Photo Video Price: $3,198.00For reference the Canon 5D Mark III was $3,499 when first release and the Canon 5Ds and 5Dsr are $3,699 and $3,899.  You can buy a nice lens for $700 dollars and as it looks right now- get a better all around camera for most people's needs. Sony Videoshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Jor_WkheaE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FZW09bD0m4