Master your Sony A7CII! The responses have been amazing so I reduced the price of the A7CII Menu guide that walks you through every setting on the A7CII, how to use it, and my tips and tricks for how to customize everything: www.danwatsonstudios.com/products Also, if you would like to access my RAW files, edited images, and have access to insane cars photographed with every camera including the A7CII, I'm posting new shoots every week! patreon.com/DanWatson
@@mdw1927 I'm working on finding out what the issue is. My website uses PayPal only and that system is requiring a US address for some dumb reason and I haven't figured out a way of changing that
Hi Dan just retried it and although I have a PayPal account, which it accepts, when I get to the last page it states that your site only ships in the USA. Hope that helps. 🤞It will be available sometime shortly.
Just bought this camera 4 days ago and as a Canon shooter for 7 years I just decided to switch to Sony and the a7cii is the perfect camera. I also bought a sigma-mc 11 adapter so that I can still use both my sigma and canon ef mount lenses and very happy that the Ai autofocus works perfectly especially to my Canon 24-70mm f2.8 L (Photo mode only) very happy that I can still keep my canon body and lenses
What do you think of 1080p 120fps do you notice a difference in quality? What’s the overheating like if your recording for over 30 mins or using it as a webcam
I haven't even got a chance to play with it fully by me being in school so busy, but now from your video you have saved me alot of time sir. Thank you for your video and you have a new sub sir
My endgame camera would be the A7CII body quality and heat management, full hdmi port or at least mini hdmi with a 24MP 4K oversampled from 6K sensor, 422 10 bit & 4K 120fps
I have the A7Cii as a travel/edc/backup to my A7RV. Thanks for the shockless WB tip, I forgot about this. The is such a nice little powerhouse camera. I do wish it had a fully mechanical shutter, but I shoot my A7RV mostly.
Thank you. I have the A7CII and for travel its large sensor brother the A7CR. Video was fun to watch and I’m going to take a look at your guide. Just wondering, since I really only shoot stills is the guide organized to allow focus on those features and not get bogged down in Video? Take care.
Awesome! Appreciate that. So yeah, the guide is set up that I go through the entire menu in photo mode first, then the entire menu in video so if you don't care about the video, you'll just stop after the photo section but you definitely won't need to skip over any video sections.
Thanks for delving into some bulletpoints that are less talked about on other reviews so far 👍 Seems like pros and cons to this release, but looking fwd to getting one in hand
Thanks! I mean anytime you make a camera that is a scaled back version of an existing camera (A7IV) , you're basically compounding the cons that were already in the original camera. Doesn't make it a bad camera but you feel the cons way more.
@@learningcameras well said. def impactful when making bigger gear decisions. nonetheless, keep up the good work on the objectivity, YT in general has gotten horrible in this regard last several years, always a relief when I get notification with your name on it ✅
@@learningcameras with Canon touting triple-base ISO in releases last month, was hoping to see them announce (at least) a compelling *dual base on these releases today; we know these Canons are damn good in low-light, but seems like a missed opportunity on their part to underline this capability better and excel in this regard. famous last words lol but "maybe a future fw update" will bring this yea? 🤷♂
@@kernzilla So the R1 does dual base at 12,800 and the R5II at 4,000. My hands on with the R1 is going live shortly and the R5II just went live. None have the 3-base ISO of the C400 that I could tell. No camera manufacture "advertises" a dual base iso in photo cameras though. Whatever the reason that language is ONLY used for cinema cameras. A rep admitted to me once that in order to technically be a dual base ISO, everything has to be the exact same at both ISO and most likely in photo cameras, there is just a slight difference in color or noise at the 2nd base ISO that they aren't fixing. But either way noise significantly cleans up on the R5II at 4000 and the R1 at 12,800 which is really high ISO for a 24mp camera
@@learningcameras Thank you Dan. I ended up buying the A7C ii based on your review and your previous A7IV videos. Not a professional and prefer portability. Btw, if you ever do any videos on how you do car shoots, I'd LOVE to watch any series you have on that. Absolute fire channel!
@@BowlersRant Appreciate that! So I'm definitely working on videos like that but in the meantime, I do post the RAW files and my final edits from my car shoots which you can subscribe to get access too! patreon.com/DanWatson
The A7CII is a massive upgrade for video features and quality and a decent upgrade for photos so if you are shooting video too, I'd say it's definitely worth the jump
Thanks! Absolutely...almost everything is identical. The only difference is there are I believe 2 extra settings in the A7CR that won't be in the guide
Mate ive been a canon user for like 10 years and just a switch to sony like 2 days ago lol i got the a7cii and i am suuuuuuper happy already and even though ive discovered most of what you explained in the video already but the extra bits i just learned from your video are defiantly valuable so thanks a lot
Not sure if I should swap my A7IV for an A7CII? What’s your opinion? Is it worth to switch or is it to similar? The A7CII got also some things that are worse than the A7IV but then it got some new features.
I don't think it's worth the swap unless you absolutely need a smaller camera. There are a few new features on the A7CII but the A7IV has better hardware and can be used for more professional work
@ okay thanks! I think the same way. I want to upgrade for the AI AF, but all photostores told me the af is only a little bit better in subject recognition and not better in tracking. Than it’s not a real win, because the recognition on the A7IV is already awesome. Thanks mate, you helped me, I will keep the A7IV! 😊
Your videos are great. Do you think it is better than the x100vi because that maybe does not resolve all those 40 megapixels with that older lens? Is this better to get right now or wait for a new a7ciii release, I have the Canon R5 its big, I have a RF 15 to 35 2.8 and a 50 mm 1.8 Canon, what do you think I need something lighter? What would you be getting? I might take Canon with me when I go on trips like Tokyo and places like that but for when I’m just doing street photography, maybe this is still the best option please advise….Maybe the A7cii with Sony FE 40mm f/2.5 G Lens 6 oz Sony FE 24mm f/2.8 G 5.7 oz is better? Then I can keep the R5 for rhe big wildlife stuff and use the A7cii for street travel.
I do think this is a better camera than the X100VI when it comes to image quality and the focus ability. I love the X100VI but more as a casual, manual, tactile camera. I also don't think we will see a A7CIII for a long time so I wouldn't wait. This Sony will definitely be lighter and Sony has TONS of lightweight lenses to go with it. But I do think the Canon R5 is a better camera so it wouldn't be an upgrade for sure.
@@photographerimageswhat’s about an Canon R8 as a second Body. It’s pretty small and even lighter than the Sony A7CII. You can buy all lenses only for Canon, check out the 16mm and 28mm f/2.8 Not that much expensive and very small.
Tough choice but I would lean towards the A7IV if you plan on using it for anything professional because the hardware is better but go with the A7CII if you want something super compact for more casual use
Helpful tips! One thing you mentioned at the beginning was not entirely accurate. You can disable the PASM dial when switching to video by enabling Flexible Exposure Mode. I have a video on my YT channel about "best way to shoot hybrid" with the A7Cii that covers this feature in a lot more detail. It's an awesome feature that a lot of people either don't understand or don't even know about. Check it out if you have a few minutes to spare. Keep up the great work!
Hello sir I am from India, I want to buy a7cii for high quality travel video content and photography purpose. Please give me a suggestion...I am very confused!
Not really. The only benefit for cars with the A7CII is the car specific subject detection but I rarely use it for cars. Like I said in the video it works when you want to focus on the entire subject, but most of the time for cars I'm focusing on a wheel, spoiler, steering wheel...and the subject detection AF mode doesn't help for that. So then it becomes all about hardware with the A7CII being smaller and lighter but the A7IV has a better viewfinder, dual card slots, and extra custom buttons
@@itsm0g the cable might be slow but you'll never get anything close to advertised speeds. It's literally just the theoretical capability of the connection but not an actual expected transfer speed unfortunately. I hate that they do this but you will never get these spec speeds...or even 1/10th of them
I've owned the a7cii for just a few days, is it normal for the screen to jump to info mode after timing out when viewing a shot? View finder stays on. On manual, the screen stays on as long as I am focusing.
Hi Dan! I ordered the guide but I didn't receive any confirmation. I assumed it would be a downloadable digital file but the picture shows a physical box. Will I receive something in the mail?
It is a digital file. If you still have not received anything, check the spam folder or email me a purchase confirmation and I will send you a link to the file. Thanks!!
I mean it's not significantly worse than most other cameras at this price but it's up there. More megapixels means slower readout and Sony didn't improve readout speeds with this 2nd gen camera so you have the same readout speed with more pixels to read out so it's fairly slow which makes rolling shutter fairly bad. In my opinion, Sony should have gone with slightly less pixels to increase read speeds and also be able to get 4k60 full frame like the Canon R6II and Nikon Z6III. But then the advantage of the A7CII is the small compact size so it's a trade off
I use the camera with two of the three small G primes from Sony plus two of the small primes from Sigma and I love working with one of these combinations, so I'll probably end up selling two of my GM primes from Sony, as they are no longer used .....
If you just want a compact camera with the quality of the A7IV, get the A7CII. If you want a camera where hardware matters so if you're using this semi professionally or for events, or rugged use, get the A7IV. The hardware on the A7IV is much better but the quality is the same. The A7IV is on a massive sale right now though so I might consider this: bhpho.to/3LYxxYW
Do you also experience the fact that the Sony battery dies super fast? Literally it goes down super quickly when my camera isn’t even turned on… thank for the help!
I actually find it's one of the better cameras for battery life in high powered cameras. But the processors required by these new cameras definitely consume more power than cameras 5+ years ago
For the Shutter when power off, it's quite risky since Sony camera is well known for a very fragile shutter. Lots of my friend, when they turned it on, the shutter stucked. I think it's better to just leave it off, and when opening the lens, just point the camera downward
Personally when changing lenses in the field, I still prefer to have it close to prevent dust, especially when shooting video because dust can render footage almost unusable. Think about it, I shoot 500-5000 images in a normal shoot, even if I turned on/off the camera 20 times during that shoot causing the shutter to actuate, it's still a incredibly small change to shutter wear. If the shutter got stuck during power off, it was going to get stuck anyway
and here i thought this one doesnt have heating issues looks like it does so does 6700 i thought this might nothave that issue but goddamn i had switched to fuji because of this heating issue
I mean...I'm in a pretty hot environment in FL so most cameras struggle to survive. Fujifilm doesn't really do much better than Sony, but people tend not to push Fuji cameras as hard for video...they are just seen more as stills oriented cameras even though they have gotten really good at video lately
Thanks!! I shot that for SPYDER boats. They haven't posted the main vids so it's not on my IG yet but one of their resellers I work with has a few clips: instagram.com/p/C9Uzo2Wu6gS/
Master your Sony A7CII! The responses have been amazing so I reduced the price of the A7CII Menu guide that walks you through every setting on the A7CII, how to use it, and my tips and tricks for how to customize everything: www.danwatsonstudios.com/products
Also, if you would like to access my RAW files, edited images, and have access to insane cars photographed with every camera including the A7CII, I'm posting new shoots every week! patreon.com/DanWatson
Hi Dan the guide looks great but unfortunately only for those in the USA, pity there is a big world out there.
@@mdw1927 I'm working on finding out what the issue is. My website uses PayPal only and that system is requiring a US address for some dumb reason and I haven't figured out a way of changing that
Hi Dan just retried it and although I have a PayPal account, which it accepts, when I get to the last page it states that your site only ships in the USA. Hope that helps. 🤞It will be available sometime shortly.
My favorite lightweight lenses for my A7CR. Viltrox 20mm 2.8, Samyang 24mm 1.8, Sony 35mm 1.8, Sony 40mm2.5 and Samyang 75mm1.8
Love it!! Owned it for 3 months now and very happy. It did overheat on me after 1hr20 min in a hot church choir loft. Otherwise no overheating
Awesome! Yeah, 7k oversampling is crazy processor heavy so over an hour with a small body is great
CAN YOU DO sony a7c ii v nikon z6 iii please
Just bought this camera 4 days ago and as a Canon shooter for 7 years I just decided to switch to Sony and the a7cii is the perfect camera. I also bought a sigma-mc 11 adapter so that I can still use both my sigma and canon ef mount lenses and very happy that the Ai autofocus works perfectly especially to my Canon 24-70mm f2.8 L (Photo mode only) very happy that I can still keep my canon body and lenses
Thant's awesome! Enjoy
Couldn’t agree more, also switching over from canon and it’s been a fantastic journey
What do you think of 1080p 120fps do you notice a difference in quality? What’s the overheating like if your recording for over 30 mins or using it as a webcam
Just bought this camera! Thanks for the video!
@@Coach_Chris_ congrats! It's awesome so use it often
Me too !!!!!
You literally are Mr. Sony! Great work, as usual.
Appreciate that!
New things about a7cii ! I like it
I haven't even got a chance to play with it fully by me being in school so busy, but now from your video you have saved me alot of time sir. Thank you for your video and you have a new sub sir
Awesome! Appreciate that
It just hit me that this camera has FOUR customisable dials! Insane!
My endgame camera would be the A7CII body quality and heat management, full hdmi port or at least mini hdmi with a 24MP 4K oversampled from 6K sensor, 422 10 bit & 4K 120fps
Then check out the FX30...it's basically that with a APSC sensor but it's cheaper than the A7CII to make up for it: bhpho.to/3zvZGnC
The dream!🎉
@@learningcameras But it’s just 12mp unfortunately
@@devilinyourbackyard FX30 is 26mp. The FX3 is 12
Does the camera have bird eye tracking ?? Thanks for the great video.
I have the A7Cii as a travel/edc/backup to my A7RV. Thanks for the shockless WB tip, I forgot about this. The is such a nice little powerhouse camera. I do wish it had a fully mechanical shutter, but I shoot my A7RV mostly.
@@stkuj Absolutely! Nice, the A7RV is my primary photo camera as well
awesome video man THANKS
Thank you so much!
Thank you. I have the A7CII and for travel its large sensor brother the A7CR. Video was fun to watch and I’m going to take a look at your guide. Just wondering, since I really only shoot stills is the guide organized to allow focus on those features and not get bogged down in Video? Take care.
Awesome! Appreciate that. So yeah, the guide is set up that I go through the entire menu in photo mode first, then the entire menu in video so if you don't care about the video, you'll just stop after the photo section but you definitely won't need to skip over any video sections.
@@learningcameras Thank you for answering.
Thanks for delving into some bulletpoints that are less talked about on other reviews so far 👍
Seems like pros and cons to this release, but looking fwd to getting one in hand
Thanks! I mean anytime you make a camera that is a scaled back version of an existing camera (A7IV) , you're basically compounding the cons that were already in the original camera. Doesn't make it a bad camera but you feel the cons way more.
@@learningcameras well said. def impactful when making bigger gear decisions.
nonetheless, keep up the good work on the objectivity, YT in general has gotten horrible in this regard last several years, always a relief when I get notification with your name on it ✅
@@learningcameras with Canon touting triple-base ISO in releases last month, was hoping to see them announce (at least) a compelling *dual base on these releases today; we know these Canons are damn good in low-light, but seems like a missed opportunity on their part to underline this capability better and excel in this regard.
famous last words lol but "maybe a future fw update" will bring this yea? 🤷♂
@@kernzilla Appreciate that!!
@@kernzilla So the R1 does dual base at 12,800 and the R5II at 4,000. My hands on with the R1 is going live shortly and the R5II just went live. None have the 3-base ISO of the C400 that I could tell. No camera manufacture "advertises" a dual base iso in photo cameras though. Whatever the reason that language is ONLY used for cinema cameras. A rep admitted to me once that in order to technically be a dual base ISO, everything has to be the exact same at both ISO and most likely in photo cameras, there is just a slight difference in color or noise at the 2nd base ISO that they aren't fixing. But either way noise significantly cleans up on the R5II at 4000 and the R1 at 12,800 which is really high ISO for a 24mp camera
Do you see a material difference in image quality with this sensor and the a7cr for photos?
Not really. High resolution can help when retouching, croping, or doing large format prints but otherwise, the image quality is extremely similar
@@learningcameras Thank you Dan. I ended up buying the A7C ii based on your review and your previous A7IV videos. Not a professional and prefer portability. Btw, if you ever do any videos on how you do car shoots, I'd LOVE to watch any series you have on that. Absolute fire channel!
@@BowlersRant Appreciate that! So I'm definitely working on videos like that but in the meantime, I do post the RAW files and my final edits from my car shoots which you can subscribe to get access too! patreon.com/DanWatson
I mainly use camera for hybrid, both photos and videos for professional wedding. Should I keep using A7C or upgrade to A7Cii?
The A7CII is a massive upgrade for video features and quality and a decent upgrade for photos so if you are shooting video too, I'd say it's definitely worth the jump
@@learningcamerasI upgraded from the original A7C and it was totally worth it! Many improvements!! 📸
@@Pfagnan Awesome!! Enjoy the new camera
Great video. I have the A7CR though. I'm assuming that most of your recommended settings for the A7CII will work on that camera as well?
Thanks! Absolutely...almost everything is identical. The only difference is there are I believe 2 extra settings in the A7CR that won't be in the guide
@@learningcameras And the video crop is 1.17x instead of 1.5x.
@@DavidBcc yeah but that doesn't really matter in the menu guide
Mate ive been a canon user for like 10 years and just a switch to sony like 2 days ago lol
i got the a7cii and i am suuuuuuper happy already
and even though ive discovered most of what you explained in the video already but the extra bits i just learned from your video are defiantly valuable so thanks a lot
Appreciate that!
Any tips on the exposure meter wheel locked whilst filming video on manual and set iso.
Cheers
Not sure if I should swap my A7IV for an A7CII?
What’s your opinion? Is it worth to switch or is it to similar? The A7CII got also some things that are worse than the A7IV but then it got some new features.
I don't think it's worth the swap unless you absolutely need a smaller camera. There are a few new features on the A7CII but the A7IV has better hardware and can be used for more professional work
@ okay thanks! I think the same way.
I want to upgrade for the AI AF, but all photostores told me the af is only a little bit better in subject recognition and not better in tracking. Than it’s not a real win, because the recognition on the A7IV is already awesome.
Thanks mate, you helped me, I will keep the A7IV! 😊
Your videos are great. Do you think it is better than the x100vi because that maybe does not resolve all those 40 megapixels with that older lens? Is this better to get right now or wait for a new a7ciii release, I have the Canon R5 its big, I have a RF 15 to 35 2.8 and a 50 mm 1.8 Canon, what do you think I need something lighter? What would you be getting? I might take Canon with me when I go on trips like Tokyo and places like that but for when I’m just doing street photography, maybe this is still the best option please advise….Maybe the A7cii with Sony FE 40mm f/2.5 G Lens 6 oz
Sony FE 24mm f/2.8 G 5.7 oz is better? Then I can keep the R5 for rhe big wildlife stuff and use the A7cii for street travel.
I do think this is a better camera than the X100VI when it comes to image quality and the focus ability. I love the X100VI but more as a casual, manual, tactile camera. I also don't think we will see a A7CIII for a long time so I wouldn't wait. This Sony will definitely be lighter and Sony has TONS of lightweight lenses to go with it. But I do think the Canon R5 is a better camera so it wouldn't be an upgrade for sure.
@ Thank you. What would be your top two smallest best quality lenses for street on the R5?
@@photographerimages I'd say the 35mm F1.8 bhpho.to/40BDzER
@@photographerimageswhat’s about an Canon R8 as a second Body. It’s pretty small and even lighter than the Sony A7CII.
You can buy all lenses only for Canon, check out the 16mm and 28mm f/2.8
Not that much expensive and very small.
Hello, i just need a suggestion. I want to switch to sony and am confused between A7IV and A7CII. Am a hybrid shooter for which one I should go for.
Tough choice but I would lean towards the A7IV if you plan on using it for anything professional because the hardware is better but go with the A7CII if you want something super compact for more casual use
Helpful tips! One thing you mentioned at the beginning was not entirely accurate. You can disable the PASM dial when switching to video by enabling Flexible Exposure Mode. I have a video on my YT channel about "best way to shoot hybrid" with the A7Cii that covers this feature in a lot more detail. It's an awesome feature that a lot of people either don't understand or don't even know about. Check it out if you have a few minutes to spare. Keep up the great work!
Hello sir I am from India, I want to buy a7cii for high quality travel video content and photography purpose. Please give me a suggestion...I am very confused!
Is the a7cii the better choice compared to the a7iv for car cinematography?
Not really. The only benefit for cars with the A7CII is the car specific subject detection but I rarely use it for cars. Like I said in the video it works when you want to focus on the entire subject, but most of the time for cars I'm focusing on a wheel, spoiler, steering wheel...and the subject detection AF mode doesn't help for that. So then it becomes all about hardware with the A7CII being smaller and lighter but the A7IV has a better viewfinder, dual card slots, and extra custom buttons
I have a deep question
The usb c speed is 5Gbit but when i transfer my files only get 35MB
The cable is okay
Can you help me with that?
@@itsm0g the cable might be slow but you'll never get anything close to advertised speeds. It's literally just the theoretical capability of the connection but not an actual expected transfer speed unfortunately. I hate that they do this but you will never get these spec speeds...or even 1/10th of them
I've owned the a7cii for just a few days, is it normal for the screen to jump to info mode after timing out when viewing a shot? View finder stays on. On manual, the screen stays on as long as I am focusing.
BTW I'm using the 24-70GM lens
Great Video
Hi Dan! I ordered the guide but I didn't receive any confirmation. I assumed it would be a downloadable digital file but the picture shows a physical box. Will I receive something in the mail?
It is a digital file. If you still have not received anything, check the spam folder or email me a purchase confirmation and I will send you a link to the file. Thanks!!
@@learningcameras Hi Dan! Yes, it was in my spam folder...many thanks!
do you not experience bad rolling shutter with the A7C2? other reviews have kept me from buying for this reason
I mean it's not significantly worse than most other cameras at this price but it's up there. More megapixels means slower readout and Sony didn't improve readout speeds with this 2nd gen camera so you have the same readout speed with more pixels to read out so it's fairly slow which makes rolling shutter fairly bad. In my opinion, Sony should have gone with slightly less pixels to increase read speeds and also be able to get 4k60 full frame like the Canon R6II and Nikon Z6III. But then the advantage of the A7CII is the small compact size so it's a trade off
I use the camera with two of the three small G primes from Sony plus two of the small primes from Sigma and I love working with one of these combinations, so I'll probably end up selling two of my GM primes from Sony, as they are no longer used .....
Super compact setup with those G primes
I’m in between the A7CII or A7 IV and I’m unsure on what do buy.
If you just want a compact camera with the quality of the A7IV, get the A7CII. If you want a camera where hardware matters so if you're using this semi professionally or for events, or rugged use, get the A7IV. The hardware on the A7IV is much better but the quality is the same. The A7IV is on a massive sale right now though so I might consider this: bhpho.to/3LYxxYW
Why black color (not silver) ?
Sold my R5 to get this one and I don’t regret.
Do you also experience the fact that the Sony battery dies super fast? Literally it goes down super quickly when my camera isn’t even turned on… thank for the help!
I actually find it's one of the better cameras for battery life in high powered cameras. But the processors required by these new cameras definitely consume more power than cameras 5+ years ago
My a7cii don't drain the battery while is off, only a little in some days or weeks. Check if you have bluetooth wake up while off
awesome fish!
Z6iii review
Just got it! Coming soon
@@learningcameras 😍😍😍😍😍 bro
For the Shutter when power off, it's quite risky since Sony camera is well known for a very fragile shutter. Lots of my friend, when they turned it on, the shutter stucked. I think it's better to just leave it off, and when opening the lens, just point the camera downward
Personally when changing lenses in the field, I still prefer to have it close to prevent dust, especially when shooting video because dust can render footage almost unusable. Think about it, I shoot 500-5000 images in a normal shoot, even if I turned on/off the camera 20 times during that shoot causing the shutter to actuate, it's still a incredibly small change to shutter wear. If the shutter got stuck during power off, it was going to get stuck anyway
@learningcameras aha... nice point
My biggest question to any a7cii owner is black, or silver and why did you choose silver? ( I definitely chose silver)
I prefer the way the silver looks but I haven't seen it in person so as long as it looks like a metal silver and not cheap plastic, I'd say go silver
and here i thought this one doesnt have heating issues looks like it does so does 6700 i thought this might nothave that issue but goddamn i had switched to fuji because of this heating issue
I mean...I'm in a pretty hot environment in FL so most cameras struggle to survive. Fujifilm doesn't really do much better than Sony, but people tend not to push Fuji cameras as hard for video...they are just seen more as stills oriented cameras even though they have gotten really good at video lately
Dude that fly fishing footage is lit!! whats the instagram to see more of that!
Thanks!! I shot that for SPYDER boats. They haven't posted the main vids so it's not on my IG yet but one of their resellers I work with has a few clips: instagram.com/p/C9Uzo2Wu6gS/
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