Post about the A7R II up now

For discussion of the E and FE mount mirrorless system
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artington
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Re: Post about the A7R II up now

Unread post by artington »

I got my A7RII from Wex last week and have had little quality time with it. However I can say that it's resolution is, unsurprisingly, excellent. There are a couple of links below to shots taken with a Tamron 90/2.8 macro (excellent lens) with the LA-EA4 adapter. I have also tried my old Minolta17-35/3.5G and while it focuses rapidly, as does the Tamron, it's corner performance is disappointing on this body, which is an unwelcome surprise. AF with the FE 70-200G is fast and accurate although care needs to be taken at infinity with subjects like foliage, which I have found to fool the system. Fine tuning with DMF at 12x magnification (there are two levels, 5x and 12x) is necessary in such cases. I have had good results using old manual focus MD lenses. The 35-70/3.5 macro is absolutely stellar and a real bargain at today's prices. The 28-85/3.5-4.5 is very good but easily trumped by the 35-70. The MD 35-135 (early version, weighing 535g) is surprisingly, indeed amazingly, good but again beaten by the 35-70. It is no surprise to me that Leica chose to re-badge the latter for their first version R35-70. I have also tried the MD I 135/2.8. This is the seventh and most sought-after iteration of this lens and is fantastic for its age and relatively light at around 500g. I've decided to add another 135 with the new, fast Samyang 135/2 which has had amazing reviews. A lot heavier, of course, but available in E-mount, which is a bonus. IBIS is a real help here and can be set for the relevant focal length.

I should point out that I used a Novoflex adapter for the MD lenses. This is expensive but built to high tolerance and I suspect (but can only speculate) that lesser adapters may give unsatisfactory results on this large sensor.

Like users of the D800 et al have found, one needs to up one's technique with this camera. The sensor is demanding and unforgiving of sloppy practice.

My first impressions have been very positive but so far restricted to IQ assessment. I am waiting for a Minolta 300/4 to arrive and will be interested to see how it compares for AF via the LA-EA4 with a directly mounted FE 70-200/4 when birding.

One final observation. Battery life is poor. I've yet to take this out for the day but I suspect it will need at least four batteries if the body is left in sleep mode rather than being turned off when not in use (which is my practice). I accidentally left it turned on for an hour and the battery drained despite being in sleep mode. I thought Sony was being generous by including two batteries in the pack but now I'm not so sure. It urgently requires more powerful batteries. As it happens I have half a dozen from earlier A7 and Nex cameras but that won't help if they all need charging overnight!



https://flic.kr/p/wzDdSj

https://flic.kr/p/ws6PrW
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mikeriach
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Re: Post about the A7R II up now

Unread post by mikeriach »

Lots of positive stuff there, I used to have the MD35-70 marco and yes it was a superb and fairly compact lens.
I grabbed an AF35-70 f4 a few years back for my A99 specifically to shoot through the usual square mesh fencing at the airport. Works great as it only has a 55mm filter ring which fits through :D

Pity about the staying power. I thought the A77 and A99 were bad till I began hearing about the A7 series.
A serious shortcoming.

Mike
Last edited by mikeriach on Wed Aug 12, 2015 8:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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David Kilpatrick
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Re: Post about the A7R II up now

Unread post by David Kilpatrick »

I just bought a Meike battery grip (under £60 with a very good wireless remote) and that stacks up two batteries with a proper display on the camera for batt 1 and batt 2 and levels and switching. Also, I have an Expro power pack for Sony and that does the equivalent of 4 to 5 batteries.
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artington
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Re: Post about the A7R II up now

Unread post by artington »

I'm sure that a battery grip would make life easier but you still need charged batteries. My concern is how I would be able to charge 3 or 4 batteries overnight without a couple of chargers when it takes over 3 hours to charge one. I must emphasise, though that I have not yet done a field test and the real-life experience may be better if the camera is shut down when not in use. However, I would imagine video would be pretty demanding in batteries. The Expro power pack sounds interesting, though. I shall investigate.
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mikeriach
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Re: Post about the A7R II up now

Unread post by mikeriach »

Anyone tried a MD70-210 f4? That was my all time favourite MD lens.

Mike
All my Sony SLT gear gone. Still got my RX100 though.
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Re: Post about the A7R II up now

Unread post by David Kilpatrick »

No MD, but tried the 70-210mm f4 beercan -
fullframe135-6p3-70210.jpg
fullframe135-6p3-70210.jpg (373.93 KiB) Viewed 14577 times
Section at 100% - and this is in dull light, f/6.3, iso100, 135mm focal length -
flag135-70210f6p3iso100.jpg
flag135-70210f6p3iso100.jpg (251.82 KiB) Viewed 14577 times
You can see the threads on the flag - sub-pixel res. Still a good lens!
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pakodominguez
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Re: Post about the A7R II up now

Unread post by pakodominguez »

Mark K wrote:Went to a wedding last night, with my A7r, 16-35 and 90mm with big flash nicely packed in a neat "executive" bag. A7r performs great with good lights and hunts a lot at low light. So did the 90mm. The two primes are incredibly sharp. AF remains the main concern for my Sony system because I shoot a lot under adverse conditions like underwater...where low light focusing speed is required. There is still one moth for my a7rII to come...and I cannot stop worrying until it arrived

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mark_k/
If you set "EVF effects = off" the camera will focus a little bit better in low light.
If you over-expose you will also have better AF in low light.
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artington
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Re: Post about the A7R II up now

Unread post by artington »

This is a good watch and has some interesting observations.

https://youtu.be/XxxKAJtBnhA
Mark K
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Re: Post about the A7R II up now

Unread post by Mark K »

Just got mine...and absolutely have not time to do any test before leaving for Taiwan next Sunday. Have to say focusing using fE lenses is very fast but via adapters....to use L lenses is not a good idea.
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Re: Post about the A7R II up now

Unread post by Mark K »

Thank you David and all. 7RII is a huge improvement over 7r. The ergonomics is the first thing to recognize. Even in my small hands, it feels very comfortable. AF is really fast but too bad only in day light. Native 90mm macro and adapted 70-300G have been performing marvelously . Eventually I convert myself of using LR from stand alone version to CC version. :mrgreen:
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pakodominguez
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Re: Post about the A7R II up now

Unread post by pakodominguez »

pakodominguez wrote:
Mark K wrote:Went to a wedding last night, with my A7r, 16-35 and 90mm with big flash nicely packed in a neat "executive" bag. A7r performs great with good lights and hunts a lot at low light. So did the 90mm. The two primes are incredibly sharp. AF remains the main concern for my Sony system because I shoot a lot under adverse conditions like underwater...where low light focusing speed is required. There is still one moth for my a7rII to come...and I cannot stop worrying until it arrived

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mark_k/
If you set "EVF effects = off" the camera will focus a little bit better in low light.
If you over-expose you will also have better AF in low light.
DPR just post an article about A7RII AF on low light:
http://www.dpreview.com/articles/688439 ... erformance
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peterottaway
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Re: Post about the A7R II up now

Unread post by peterottaway »

Unfortunately I won't be able to decide on the real merit of the Mark 2 for a few weeks. Given that I had a near new A7r and RX10 I decided to wait and think about the new camera. And when I did put in an inquiry a couple of days ago I was told that all the stock had gone to the early pre-orders and that Sony Australia didn't think they would be able to give them extra stock until early October.

So it seems that I have been saved from myself for a few extra weeks.
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Bruce Oudekerk
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Re: Post about the A7R II up now

Unread post by Bruce Oudekerk »

Mark K wrote: ... AF is really fast but too bad only in day light. Native 90mm macro and adapted 70-300G have been performing marvelously ... :mrgreen:
Are you using the 70-300G (original?) with the LA-EA3 or LA-EA4? Any additional comments? Would it work well in an indoor arena or a nighttime baseball game?

Bruce
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Re: Post about the A7R II up now

Unread post by Mark K »

I was using a La EA4. My LA EA1 fails to work...probably because of poor contact and my LA EA3 has not arrived yet.
LA EA4 always works...and surprisingly well with 7rII. The main improvement, apart from faster AF, is the much more acceptable of shutter sound. With A7r, LA EA4 produces much louder sound along with A7r's vibration and the two are very annoying especially while you are shooting birds.
A7rII changes this a lot, though not as pleasant A77 but very close.Image
Image
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Re: Post about the A7R II up now

Unread post by InTheSky »

Long time ... but, I got my A7R II yesterday.

First day with my small travel kit : voigtlander 12mm 5.6, 21mm 1.8 , and Leica 40mm 2.0 and 90mm 2.0.

Stabilization Wow with electronic viewfinder in full zoom (the 90mm 2.0 feel almost on a tripod). Video in car moving is very stable even when running on bump on the street (Montreal street are very bad...).

The best surprise, and I recommend it, it is the 12mm F5.6, the corner problem are gone with the A7R II compare even to A7R. The A7S was very better in that way compare to the A7R, but now I think the A7R II is even better. So this tiny little lens can give you very good perspective picture.

Image

Quick pano handled with the Leica 90mm 2.0 (quality of the air was not very good) :
LINK: http://www.pbase.com/nadeauf/image/1611 ... iginal.jpg
Image

Focus peaking with moving scene (bird in fly in front of the little Emylia) 90mm 2.0 wide open:
Image


Just found that my cheap 20$ helicoid adapter I purchase years ago has difficulty to focus to infinity with the detail A7R II render, need to purchase a better one ... Any recommendation ?

Now doing Astrophotography, the Silent shutter is a miracle, the A7R was impossible to user because of too much vibration. I will try the A7R II on the Celestron Edge HD 800 on the full moon this weekend.

See you ...

Frank
Frank
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