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Sony A7R II official user thread


Andrew Reid
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Hello!

I haven't slept much last night but here it is, the α7R II low light test! (i also posted my initial thoughts at the beginning but feel free to skip to the test if you get bored!) :grin:

The results are very surprising, whereas during the day i couldn't really spot a difference in quality between the FF and S35 modes things are completely different when the lights go down: the S35 mode is vastly superior to the Full Frame, they are not even in the same league! I don't know if that is only the result of the better readout from the sensor in S35 or there is some noise reduction wizardry happening in real time but the output from the S35 mode is way cleaner.
And not only the S35 mode is cleaner, we're actually talking about α7S levels of performance! :open_mouth: (at least up to ISO 25,600 which is the maximum for the α7R II)
don't believe that? I included a low light shootout with the Queen of the night itself!
In the end i decided not to include the 1080 samples because they're quite bad, way worse then the both the 4K modes so it's definitely better to downscale when a 1080 output is required.

What else to say.. i'm very impressed.. this camera keeps getting better and better by the minute!! 

Today i'm gonna shoot some real word run and gun footage to see how the Steady Shot performs and how is the footage when graded, needless to say i have very high expectations now!

Thanks for watching!

ps. i just noticed how badly YouTube compression affects the video so I uploaded a better version here if you want to have a better look!

http://we.tl/XBCZm1NsgK

 

 

 

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Hello!

I haven't slept much last night but here it is, the α7R II low light test! (i also posted my initial thoughts at the beginning but feel free to skip to the test if you get bored!) :grin:

The results are very surprising, whereas during the day i couldn't really spot a difference in quality between the FF and S35 modes things are completely different when the lights go down: the S35 mode is vastly superior to the Full Frame, they are not even in the same league! I don't know if that is only the result of the better readout from the sensor in S35 or there is some noise reduction wizardry happening in real time but the output from the S35 mode is way cleaner.
And not only the S35 mode is cleaner, we're actually talking about α7S levels of performance! :open_mouth: (at least up to ISO 25,600 which is the maximum for the α7R II)
don't believe that? I included a low light shootout with the Queen of the night itself!
In the end i decided not to include the 1080 samples because they're quite bad, way worse then the both the 4K modes so it's definitely better to downscale when a 1080 output is required.

What else to say.. i'm very impressed.. this camera keeps getting better and better by the minute!! 

Today i'm gonna shoot some real word run and gun footage to see how the Steady Shot performs and how is the footage when graded, needless to say i have very high expectations now!

Thanks for watching!

ps. i just noticed how badly YouTube compression affects the video so I uploaded a better version here if you want to have a better look!

http://we.tl/XBCZm1NsgK

 

 

 

 Much better review. Your commentary is welcomed. We are interested in how you feel about the camera in real world use. 

Is it possible to upload higher resolution? Seems YouTube limited it to 1080p.

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Color me impressed. FF looked pretty good upto 10k. Cropped looked usable upto the limit. It seems like the A7Rii is very flexible. Great for both stills and video. I'm still waiting for more footage... Some cinematic stuff would be great, but I'm starting to see some real potential here.

So now the question: How do you decide which glass to buy for this camera? Do you go FF, cropped with speed boaster or both?

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Guest Ebrahim Saadawi

S35 seems close to a7s lowlight performance, I mean WOW. 

It's apparently clever noise reduction algorithm coupled with elegant scaling from 15mps PLUS a good near artefact-free codec compression. 

Well done Sony. This actually seems to be the biggest gain from switching to s35, as FF has similar resolution/sharpness, minimal aliasing (which also apparently in s35 mode) and even less rolling shutter.

I didn't expect the FF mode to be as good as it does, the s35 mode to be a7s league noise performance, and certainly didn't expect similar DR (reportedly slightly more) to A7s in all modes. 

@Dbounce: with a camera that has benefits/downsides in each mode, no one way is best. Utilizing the two modes is the best way. FF for less rolling shutter scenes, and for getting the FF aesthetic, and s35 for the lowlight performance and slightly more sharpness/less aliasing (though sharpness and resolution seem to have a practically negligible advantage in s35 vs FF- Check out Cinema5D.com). The best way is to have all options.

 

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Is it me or a7rii kills a7s in video?

better DR (test was done and 1stop better)

internal 4k

FF 4k super clean

S35 with same if not better than a7s low light. Crazy no?

not to mention stills.

so yes a7sii will have FF 4k internal full readout and probably better slowmo but then the stills will be no where near as good as A7rii so it seems if you also care about stills like me the a7rii is the way to go.

and if you want slowmo then get on top of a7rii a Rx100iv.. Because a7sii will for sure not be better in slow mo (maybe as good but I doubt they do full readout 120fps) so...

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Is it me or a7rii kills a7s in video?

better DR (test was done and 1stop better)

internal 4k

FF 4k super clean

S35 with same if not better than a7s low light. Crazy no?

not to mention stills.

so yes a7sii will have FF 4k internal full readout and probably better slowmo but then the stills will be no where near as good as A7rii so it seems if you also care about stills like me the a7rii is the way to go.

and if you want slowmo then get on top of a7rii a Rx100iv.. Because a7sii will for sure not be better in slow mo (maybe as good but I doubt they do full readout 120fps) so...

Sony will leave something extra for the A7sII I reckon, and it could be adding that incredible slow motion. I currently have a Canon 5D Mark III and a Sony A7s and I'd like to get rid of the 5D but haven't yet because I dont want to lose that stills ability. The A7rII does look great...but video comes first so if the A7sII has incredible slow motion thats probably a better option.

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Did anybody notice how the ISOs cleaned up at 4000 and 10,000 in S35? It was quite impressive. The noise would start to get fuzzy, then BAM! it would clean up. The reminds me of the Panasonic Varicam having two native ISOs. Could this be a similar happenstance? If so, then this camera is more surprising than previously thought. What else can Sony do to win me over more? I already own an FS100, maybe this is my chance to get something new? I hope so.

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Hello!

I haven't slept much last night but here it is, the α7R II low light test! (i also posted my initial thoughts at the beginning but feel free to skip to the test if you get bored!) :grin:

The results are very surprising, whereas during the day i couldn't really spot a difference in quality between the FF and S35 modes things are completely different when the lights go down: the S35 mode is vastly superior to the Full Frame, they are not even in the same league! I don't know if that is only the result of the better readout from the sensor in S35 or there is some noise reduction wizardry happening in real time but the output from the S35 mode is way cleaner.

It is not surprising and the reason is exactly the same as the reason FF mode has less rolling shutter than s35: the camera simply uses more photosites in s35 mode, hence less noise. 

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Sony will leave something extra for the A7sII I reckon, and it could be adding that incredible slow motion. I currently have a Canon 5D Mark III and a Sony A7s and I'd like to get rid of the 5D but haven't yet because I dont want to lose that stills ability. The A7rII does look great...but video comes first so if the A7sII has incredible slow motion thats probably a better option.

That's what I'm thinking! A7sII probably will perhaps break out 4k 50/60fps, 1080p up to 480fps at full quality...

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Would someone check if there's any flex in the lens mount, please?

This video posted recently at Vimeo shows an A7s (supposedly the most solid of the first generation A7 series)

with disturbing amount of play:

 

 

 

Just checked to make sure I wasn't crazy, but my a7s does not have this much play... it has NO play. Something is wrong with that camera.

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Hello!

I haven't slept much last night but here it is, the α7R II low light test! (i also posted my initial thoughts at the beginning but feel free to skip to the test if you get bored!) :grin:

The results are very surprising, whereas during the day i couldn't really spot a difference in quality between the FF and S35 modes things are completely different when the lights go down: the S35 mode is vastly superior to the Full Frame, they are not even in the same league! I don't know if that is only the result of the better readout from the sensor in S35 or there is some noise reduction wizardry happening in real time but the output from the S35 mode is way cleaner.
And not only the S35 mode is cleaner, we're actually talking about α7S levels of performance! :open_mouth: (at least up to ISO 25,600 which is the maximum for the α7R II)
don't believe that? I included a low light shootout with the Queen of the night itself!
In the end i decided not to include the 1080 samples because they're quite bad, way worse then the both the 4K modes so it's definitely better to downscale when a 1080 output is required.

What else to say.. i'm very impressed.. this camera keeps getting better and better by the minute!! 

Today i'm gonna shoot some real word run and gun footage to see how the Steady Shot performs and how is the footage when graded, needless to say i have very high expectations now!

Thanks for watching!

ps. i just noticed how badly YouTube compression affects the video so I uploaded a better version here if you want to have a better look!

http://we.tl/XBCZm1NsgK

 

 

 

 

Can you test aliasing and moiré too? With different sharpness settings from zero to lowest?

Comparing with a7S on topic can also be interesting...

 

Thanks for your worthy contribution to those of us who have pre-ordered and are waiting for competent early adopters' reviews.

 

E :-)

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"Remember that the Super 35mm mode would also be able to benefit from the Metabones Speed Booster for an further gain in low light performance of nearly 2 stops."

Huh?  Nearly 2?  I thought all the FE adapters were 1 stop, and only the Micro four thirds had an extreme speedbooster.  I've been known to be wrong though as I HATE HATE HATE using adapters.

 

This is for the micro 4/3rds - http://www.metabones.com/products/details/MB_SPEF-m43-BT3 - 1 1/3 stop.

The Sony FE to Canon - 1 full stop - http://www.metabones.com/products/details/MB_SPEF-E-BT2

Where is the "nearly 2 stops" adapter for Sony?

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