Nice Shane Hurlbut impressions, Dave! The overheating is definitely a downside that needs to be considered when using it for interviews. Once again impressed by the low light performance. Sony is really pushing it. Good job on the review and also a good length. Not too long and not too short.. -Moritz
THANK YOU for acknowledging the fact that the batteries being smaller = shorter battery life. It's common sense that most people can't grasp. I find it funny that people will spend $3200 on a camera but won't spend the money on extra batteries.
+Dave Dugdale I got a question for ya. I'm a video guy first but I like taking photos so I was planning on buying the A7rii, but then I was using my school's A7s and I was taking photos and they were looking pretty great so how bad is 12 me
Dave! Hi, big fan btw. Sony just released a firmware update for the a7rii. I have been recording in a room that's about 69 degrees and I'm happy to say that firmware 3.0 is currently getting me to one hour and 23 minutes of recording. Obviously after the 29:50 mark I just hit record again immediately. Current settings are at 4K 100mbit and s35 mode. It's definitely worth a look and test! I'm still recording as I type this comment. Take care!
I'm really looking forward to your learning video tutorial specific to the a7rii. Are you getting close to finishing that? I want to shoot my kid around the house with my a7rii more than my iPhone, but am having such a hard time keeping him in focus. I hope you're getting close. I'm sure planning on purchasing it.
I am a poor uni student who loves to do a bit of cinematography on the side. I could only afford a crop body and I have slowly been collecting good quality lenses. You mentioned that you prefer to shoot in the crop mode (super35). This practically means that this camera in combination with my good canon lenses and the Metabones adapter will work quite well for 4k video. It is good to know that I can use the lenses later and it is not a waste of money! :D
hi bro , i need ur favour i going to buy sony a7rii but i m confused which lens is best to buy coz i need it for music video shoot , using gimbal , crane nd slider . so which lens is best to buy for music video shoot . pls help me with that so i can go with that , thanks
I've read many reviews on the A7RII and most have been favorable about the EVF. I've owned the camera now for about a month and I guess I'm alone when I say in no way does it compete with an optical finder for composition or manual focus, I just don't get it.
Great review Dave! Hoping Sony releases an A"9"r that is identical to the a7rII, only with a bigger battery, slightly bigger body (to remove overheat issues and accommodate said battery), dual SD card slots, and weather sealing. That would be the professional Sony body I would need to leave Canon.
Its so nice to hear someone not bitch about the battery life. haha I never thought it was a huge deal, it takes 10 seconds to switch tops. Yeah it is a slight annoyance, but for everything else you get I think it is fair.
+skatertwig26 Professionals bitch about it because it's a huge issue if you're doing event work. I can't risk losing all my footage if an hour wedding ceremony runs long, and i don't want to miss something because I'm changing my battery.
Carl Miller I understand that, I have done event work on my a7 and you are fine if you pay attention. For weddings I would have to have a backup camera. I wouldn't go solo on a a7 without a battery grip. Sure I would want better battery life but it would lead to a larger body which more people would just complain about haha(I would take it) Its hard to please everyone. Also in terms of video many high end( red epic styled) cameras get bad battery life too. It takes a lot of power and collects a lot of data. Of coarse this is not the same but it is something pros have to adjust to. There is a tool for every job and instead of people complaining they should look at all the things they did right. If it is not for you get something else.
Just stumbled across your channel and hooked! subscribed! top top reviews... Loving your GH4 coverage... Will you be reviewing A7S2 any time soon? I'm stuck between purchasing the GH4 / A7S2 / R2 - Thanks again :)
Great great review Dave, i'm really leaning towards getting one after Christmas, the only thing holding me back a bit is the lens offering, i'm actually holding my breath in hopes regarding the 8 new FE lenses to come. But in the mean time if you do (or already have) a video about what lenses are the best match for this camera i'd love to hear about it. Thank's for the great vid man :-)
I'm seeing a lot of claims that if you tilt the display away from the body, the overheating issues go away. You might want to test that if you haven't. I haven't seen anyone do any repeatable or credible tests on that as yet.
+Dave Dugdale That's too bad. Hopefully we'll get an A8S next year that solves that and adds internal 10-bit recording. I was interested in that rumor about the A7S II that said they were going with a thicker body, perhaps ala the BlackMagic Micro Cinema Camera. That would've been interesting and allowed for better cooling. And maybe ND filters. Oh well - nothing's perfect.
+Dave Dugdale I liked how you mentioned in might be 10 years before we see a Canon body with 4k, full frame, and IBIS. Been shooting the 1dc with the 16-35 IS F/4 and 24-70 F/4 IS in 4k all summer. No it's not in-body, but in-lens is far better for longer focal lengths. No overheating with 1+ hour 4k takes. But, it's a big ol' honking monster, so obviously something not for you. My kids play baseball / basketball so it's super handy having 12 FPS with amazing AF. But I doubt a gimbal exists under $5k that could handle the weight of this pig...
+Shawn Clay No its not. You are correct that inlens is better than conventional sensor shift in body which was mostly digital but 5axis is changes proposition. When coupled with a stabilised lens, it becomes 5 axis (3 axis in body and 2 axis in lens) so it makes the in lens stabilisation even better
Right now I have a cheap one. I sold my tiffen because it didn't fit and was too large for the smaller Sony glass. It's almost time for another shootout of nd filters since there are some new exciting ones to review.
I shot with the Sony A7r ll this past week at Yoshi's Oakland and found that there were surprising results with stills in low light. Using a 70-200 2.8 ll with a medabones adapter ring the focus was superb. However some other Canon lens did not seem to find focus. Looking forward for some testing on the native lens..
Thanks Dave. In it's day the 5Dmk3 was a solid ONE-camera for stills and video. I feel like with these Sonys you gotta go A7RII for stills and A7SII for video. So for me they fail to do both great, and I won't be opening my wallet quite yet. As someone that shoots either stills or video, I just want one camera. The overheating just reinforces my waiting a bit longer for 4k. Not that they aren't tempting and at the least, one hopes, putting Canon on serious notice.
Hey, Dave. Great work as always. While the IBIS is very attractive - I think the overheating issue is a huge deal breaker for this cam. I'm still 100% happy w/ my GH4 - and IMO is still the overall better choice here. Keep shooting, boss. -Mark from CA.
Very nice review, as always. It's good to know the pros and cons about this camera. Now they should fix the overheating issue, the too-expensive price and some other little problems to just begin thinking about using it instead of my wonderful GH4.
Wow! Great review and I loved the stabilization test that you did with the volley ball players using the A7RII and the gimbal. Can you give the details of the gimbal that you used? Is it the Pilotfly H1+. If so, where did you purchase it from? Thanks!
I read someone on DP Forums say "I have never suffered from overheating using an Atomos Shogun. Make sure you disable dual record in the menu settings of the camera and trigger recording from the external recorder not from the camera directly." Did you manage to test if the camera would overheat when using an external recorder?
+Anri Orlow Arri is big and expensive. Surely has great color but the point here is to test, review and use consumer / prosumer grade products that can fit in a backpack, won't break the bank, shot handheld without the need of external accessories such as monitors, mic, SDI, etc I guess Dave compared it to a Red because his friend had one and he wanted to give an unscientific quick comparison to see if it could be a match for a pro camera.
Great video. I'm looking to jump into a Sony full frame camera and lenses. I just switched to Sony a6000 from a Nikon and love it. And this was a great video. I'm not sure if I should get this camera or just get more glass for my a6000. So thanks for this video.
Hi, thanks for the review. I've been looking for this camera and would like to know if the colours that you have shown are straight out of the camera. If so i like it a lot and that would be a bonus for me.
Thanks Dave, good honest review, and the volleyball footage looks superb BTW! Came to the same conclusion as you, the good & bad, but I also bought the camera as its such a lovely stills machine too. It pairs up very well with the RX10M2 which makes for a better long-form recording camera that'll run all day without issues. The A7RM2 & RX10M2 match up beautifully, and they make for the best of both worlds and a nice compact system.
Hi Dave- when you shot the coffee shot - you mentioned that we might be thinking this or that - but what I was thinking was -What lens do you have on there? Camera reviews seem to forget mentioning the lens and as we all know - it's really important information. I am more likely to be less impressed with a camera if there is a $15,000.00 lens on it when reviewed because that is not an option for myself as a consumer. i am only mentioning this because the quality that you show on here is exceptional. Nice to know what exactly is being used to get that exceptional quality. I will guess that it is the Zeiss 50mm. But it may not be. Also - I think your under playing the let down of the camera shutting down in 4k when in use. I think Pros won't like that at all. Would be nice to know if Sony is doing anything about it or is it something they think that people will live with. Because of that issue I personally will not be an early adopter. The price differential between selling my A7s and buying the A7rii or just buying a Shogun for my A7s is roughly the same. So in my case if the camera shuts down - I think I get more benefit by buying the Atomos or PiXe. I bought the A7s and FE 4/24-70 Sony/Zeiss and although it's a beautiful lens - I still can't manually focus with it. I thought that Sony may fix that with a firmware update but it appears I am stuck with using the lens for auto focus situations .
Tested the a7rii last night at a wedding. S35 mode is amazing in 4k. 1080 not so much unless shooting higher fps but noise is an issue. I free hand using the oled on a 28-300 L lens. Very impressed. I literally walk around like a photog half the day with a camera strap. -very invigorating
I have a FS7 Super 35 and use the AR7ii super 35 as a B camera for small film clips, slow motion at times and all of my stills and for me it a match made in heaven. I Love it and yes it was worth it for me, Love it. Thanks Dave and another great Video.
I cant afford the A7Rii but could buy a A7ii. Would the same be true for video low light crop mode? Would I get better results shooting video in crop mode on the A7ii? Would it be as good as the A7Rii? What would be the difference?
Is there a big advantage with using the Shogun vs internal 4K? Does the IBIS work with Canon glass using metabones adapter? Can IBIS and the lens IS work together? Thanks for great review.
Why do people keep putting a demand on camera company's to build a DLSR style camera to do video? Then have to add many high price add-on's to make it a real video camera. Demand them to build better video camera's.
Question for you: I went to a Sony presentation here in Milan and while the Sony guy was all happy and proud talking of all the amazing new features that the new A7R2 has and how it just "destroys" the GH4 under all aspects, suddenly, scrolling down the camera menu, I noticed that the FullHD format is only recorded at 50Mb/s. WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? Please, wise Dave, please tell me why on Earth the Sony A7R2 - that everyone seems to love so much - is shooting FullHD at 1/4 of the GH4 resolution and at 1/3 of the resolution of my old hacked GH2... I find all this quite ridiculous from Sony to propose a camera at such high price and then offer this low-end quality features.
IBIS 5-xis vs. 3-xis ... 5axis is for native FE lenses, 3 with non-FE lenses. Just to CLARIFY. Barely anyone uses the native FE lenses unless you're a photographer (like me).
Hi Dave thanks for this great Review. I have shot a Short and i had the a7r as c Kamera. Unfortunatley all the shots were very noisy. i guess because it was full format. Is there a way to repair this somehow?
Sorry ... "feel" is not good enough. Red Epic = $15K, A7rii = $3K. I think if I'm doing a comparison between a Ferrari and a Yugo, I think I'm going to look at the "scientific" nerd facts to make sure I'm making a right choice.
Also, I'm really looking forward to your a7SII review! I just got mine and it got me worried. I would like to know how to minimize the noise and get a better grading potential with all those different profile options. The auto focus on my a7SII is horrible with the metabones adaptor mounted on my Tamron 70-200, 15-30 and Canon 50/1.4. How's the native Sony lens perform on a7SII?
I agree with all he says... I too bought this camera and I love it BUT whilst issuing firmware updates for things like uncompressed raw files and internal heat problems using video Sony also included a fix for Sony G lenses which have focus shift issues. It wasn't made clear and thousands of photographers are now upset that the camera no longer focuses with the lens wide open. Try setting the aperture at f8 on say a f2.8 lens. It no longer focuses at f2.8 but with the lens closed down at f8 and at that aperture the phase detection AF fails and the camera can not track a moving subject. A similar situation occurs in a studio environment where f8, f11 or f16 is used for the strobes, the camera can't autofocus at those f numbers especially when using the limited light from modelling lamps. A DSLR will do it because they focus at max aperture but not the A7RII. A search on the net on this subject will reveal many many photographers are upset about this and some pros have ditched the system because its useless in a studio. Sony has been contacted by email and phone by many people for a year or so but ignore the requests for a firmware fix. It disgraceful. So here I am having bought this camera and can't autofocus on a moving subject unless I'm using f5.6 or larger. Only being able to use a couple of aperture stops on my lenses severely limits my options when shooting a moving subject and I find this so annoying as do many many other "mugs" like me who bought this camera. They'll probably to the same with the A9 to again fix the G lens focus shift issue. I ditched Canon for Sony so come on Sony fix this problem for me and thousands of other photographers and once again you'll have a truly amazing camera out there!
I shoot the a7s all the time. love the colors. And if they aren't as I like, 2 seconds in Resolve with the Vectorscope and I'm all set. Color correction is just part of any professional workflow. Sony is giving us such great cameras that we're really splitting hairs to choose one over the other. I think people will continue to compare these two cameras. I guess that's fine. But they just aren't in the same category. the a7r II is a stills camera that shoots great video in s35. FF on the a7r II is just not good looking video, and that's what kills is for me as an A cam. A lot of people will look seriously at the a7s II when it comes out instead. But the bottom line is with the exception of a couple of things, like IBIS and improved autofocus, it's essentially the same camera. Internal 4k isn't a selling point for me since you really need an external monitor for critical focus. may as well have one the records 4k. you need to storage space anyway.
Hi Dave! Found a test of newsshooter who compared the a7rii in super 35 mode with speedbooster on a canon EF lense against the a7s in full frame mode. Results are great for the a7rii! Could you do the same with the a7sii when you get your hands on it? And if yes - when?! Take care and cheers from Austria ;)
Just shot a pilot doccie show with the cam, the over heating is a serious issue, but besides that for me its an almost perfect camera. Waiting on the A7s2 overheating report, if its not an issue then its my next camera, full frame 4K video with my voigtlander 15mm with that IBIS is stunning. How do you find it in the grade? Getting everything you want out of it?
After watching a bunch of videos on this camera I'm sold after watching yours, I would be interested in your opinion on the Sony rx100iv for a pocket video camera instead of the go pro
Thanks Dave - great review. I would love to have one of these! I guess the other thing to consider is that if you are someone like me who likes to do time lapses of the stars [which can take 2-4 hours], then the battery life might be an issue... :)
Overheat? sony use worse cpu for this camera a7r2, maybe they should get the cpu from apple which never happen. hopefully a7s2 require less cpu power do not have overheat issue.
does anyone think the sony a7s ii is just a better option because it excels in full frame mode having little noise in low light. and you could just crop to the equivalent to super 35 in post anyway? it also has slog 3 so really good graders could pull of something close to the black magic or red epic? it seems like the only reason to buy this camera would be if youre more of a photographer.
Love the natural ungraded shots. Like the pure tones in natural light. Tough to shoot we know, but its real. Yeah the heat. You testing the A7S 2? All the best DaveD!
Great review as usual. The endless quest for creating the highest quality video needs to be replaced with the quest for finding clients who that will pay for it. Gear addiction is a terrible trap. How about a video on how to pay for all your gear and feed a family?
Here's the hinging question for a guy like me. How long can I shoot 1080 outdoors in 90+ deg weather? Does shooting 60FPS or higher limit that as well? Thanks for the review, Dave.
Thanks Dave, this was a great review. How do you feel about lenses now on the A7rII? Does IBIS lead you to using the non-IS, lighter, faster primes more (28/2.0, 35/2.8, 55/1.8, loxias, batis).. or are you sticking with the 24-70/4 in the normal range for OSS+IBIS?
Well... you just COULDN'T do a Sony camera review without the usual pro Canon bias could ya Doug? Oh well; when CANON offers a package that surpasses the A7RII, then you can jump back HAHAHAAAAA!!!!
very intuitive, thank you for posting this video! I couldn't agree more about A7S WB and colours in video, auto WB is just not set right in low light and has to be adjusted, and, for GH4 hair comments, don't you have a custom Colour Style settings in camera to adjust sharpness and contrast to address that oversharpening?
Hi Dave. Great review as always. I hope you'll review Sound Devices/Video Devices PIX-E series of video monitors/recorders. It looks like a price competitor with the Atmos Assassin. Having used Sound Devices equipment, I can attest to the outstanding build quality. I'm still waiting to here back from VD if they record 10 bit 4:2:2 like the assassin. videodevices.com/products/portable-video-recorders/pix-e www.atomos.com/ninja-assassin/
Awesome review, can't wait until you review the A7Sii
+N2 the Talking Cat I am looking forward to that camera as well!
+Dave Dugdale very informative and honest reviews.
Nice Shane Hurlbut impressions, Dave!
The overheating is definitely a downside that needs to be considered when using it for interviews. Once again impressed by the low light performance. Sony is really pushing it.
Good job on the review and also a good length. Not too long and not too short..
-Moritz
+Fenchel & Janisch Hey, I like your videos! :)
+Fenchel & Janisch thanks, I really appreciate that coming from you. I would love to see your review of this camera, will you take a look at it?
+Dave Dugdale Not sure if this one or the A7s II.
4K overheating fix courtesy Tom Antos. Lift camera monitor away from body, resulting in improved air flow. New run time 45min. Cheers.
Dave Dugdale: "I am a terrible colorist."
Every video Dave does has great color. :-p
+Benjamin Gadberry he's definitely gotten pretty good at this point/
you should try it someday with the speedbooster.with it you get similar noise performance as the a7s :D
Great Review keep on going !
This is your best video yet! You have really improved in the last year.
+Casey Bassett I totally agree!
Wow, zero info for a still shooter. Maybe should be titled "....Review on video"
THANK YOU for acknowledging the fact that the batteries being smaller = shorter battery life. It's common sense that most people can't grasp. I find it funny that people will spend $3200 on a camera but won't spend the money on extra batteries.
NOBODY reviews a camera like you Dave... thank you and the color on these clips were beautiful !!!
Thanks Dave, very helpful. Based on your insights, I'm seriously considering selling my Nikon D750 and going with Sony.
+Curtis Judd thanks Curtis. The a7sii should be a good one to look at if you want to switch.
+Dave Dugdale I got a question for ya. I'm a video guy first but I like taking photos so I was planning on buying the A7rii, but then I was using my school's A7s and I was taking photos and they were looking pretty great so how bad is 12 me
Dave! Hi, big fan btw. Sony just released a firmware update for the a7rii. I have been recording in a room that's about 69 degrees and I'm happy to say that firmware 3.0 is currently getting me to one hour and 23 minutes of recording. Obviously after the 29:50 mark I just hit record again immediately. Current settings are at 4K 100mbit and s35 mode. It's definitely worth a look and test! I'm still recording as I type this comment. Take care!
Very cool!
I'm really looking forward to your learning video tutorial specific to the a7rii. Are you getting close to finishing that? I want to shoot my kid around the house with my a7rii more than my iPhone, but am having such a hard time keeping him in focus.
I hope you're getting close. I'm sure planning on purchasing it.
Great review Dave! I'm loving my A7rii as well
+MichaelTheMentor Thanks Michael!
Hi Dave, great review again! So, would you still use an Atomos Shogun now you have a 4k Sony? If so, what benefits are there to you?
I am a poor uni student who loves to do a bit of cinematography on the side. I could only afford a crop body and I have slowly been collecting good quality lenses. You mentioned that you prefer to shoot in the crop mode (super35). This practically means that this camera in combination with my good canon lenses and the Metabones adapter will work quite well for 4k video. It is good to know that I can use the lenses later and it is not a waste of money! :D
hi bro , i need ur favour i going to buy sony a7rii but i m confused which lens is best to buy coz i need it for music video shoot , using gimbal , crane nd slider . so which lens is best to buy for music video shoot . pls help me with that so i can go with that , thanks
Love your videos Dave.. You explain fine details of cameras that are generally overlooked by casual reviewers..
Hey Dave, How do you like the the a7rii when it came to running around and shooting stills? especially compared to you 5Diii.
I've read many reviews on the A7RII and most have been favorable about the EVF. I've owned the camera now for about a month and I guess I'm alone when I say in no way does it compete with an optical finder for composition or manual focus, I just don't get it.
Great review Dave! Hoping Sony releases an A"9"r that is identical to the a7rII, only with a bigger battery, slightly bigger body (to remove overheat issues and accommodate said battery), dual SD card slots, and weather sealing. That would be the professional Sony body I would need to leave Canon.
Its so nice to hear someone not bitch about the battery life. haha I never thought it was a huge deal, it takes 10 seconds to switch tops. Yeah it is a slight annoyance, but for everything else you get I think it is fair.
+skatertwig26 Professionals bitch about it because it's a huge issue if you're doing event work. I can't risk losing all my footage if an hour wedding ceremony runs long, and i don't want to miss something because I'm changing my battery.
Carl Miller I understand that, I have done event work on my a7 and you are fine if you pay attention. For weddings I would have to have a backup camera. I wouldn't go solo on a a7 without a battery grip. Sure I would want better battery life but it would lead to a larger body which more people would just complain about haha(I would take it) Its hard to please everyone. Also in terms of video many high end( red epic styled) cameras get bad battery life too. It takes a lot of power and collects a lot of data. Of coarse this is not the same but it is something pros have to adjust to. There is a tool for every job and instead of people complaining they should look at all the things they did right. If it is not for you get something else.
I like what Sony is doing. Gonna wait for A7r3 next fall. I think Sony will fix most of the issues by then.
I always enjoy your video's Dave, thanks for all the time you put into them. Looking forward to the arrival (eBay) on my A7R2 as my new A9 backup.
Just stumbled across your channel and hooked! subscribed! top top reviews... Loving your GH4 coverage... Will you be reviewing A7S2 any time soon? I'm stuck between purchasing the GH4 / A7S2 / R2 - Thanks again :)
Great review, an enjoyable watch. That pilotfly gimbal footage looked really good.
+David Huxley thanks David.
you are a master of real world reviews!
wow! This is knock out punch to Canon and nikon. Well done sony. canon fanboys are going to hide their cameras and will feel shame to take it out.
Great great review Dave, i'm really leaning towards getting one after Christmas, the only thing holding me back a bit is the lens offering, i'm actually holding my breath in hopes regarding the 8 new FE lenses to come. But in the mean time if you do (or already have) a video about what lenses are the best match for this camera i'd love to hear about it.
Thank's for the great vid man :-)
I'm seeing a lot of claims that if you tilt the display away from the body, the overheating issues go away. You might want to test that if you haven't. I haven't seen anyone do any repeatable or credible tests on that as yet.
+genjii931 I tried that and it didn't help.
+Dave Dugdale That's too bad. Hopefully we'll get an A8S next year that solves that and adds internal 10-bit recording. I was interested in that rumor about the A7S II that said they were going with a thicker body, perhaps ala the BlackMagic Micro Cinema Camera. That would've been interesting and allowed for better cooling. And maybe ND filters. Oh well - nothing's perfect.
+Dave Dugdale I liked how you mentioned in might be 10 years before we see a Canon body with 4k, full frame, and IBIS. Been shooting the 1dc with the 16-35 IS F/4 and 24-70 F/4 IS in 4k all summer. No it's not in-body, but in-lens is far better for longer focal lengths. No overheating with 1+ hour 4k takes. But, it's a big ol' honking monster, so obviously something not for you. My kids play baseball / basketball so it's super handy having 12 FPS with amazing AF. But I doubt a gimbal exists under $5k that could handle the weight of this pig...
+Shawn Clay No its not. You are correct that inlens is better than conventional sensor shift in body which was mostly digital but 5axis is changes proposition. When coupled with a stabilised lens, it becomes 5 axis (3 axis in body and 2 axis in lens) so it makes the in lens stabilisation even better
hi Dave, what ND filter system you prefer to match to the a7r2? is the tiffen always your favourite? what about the LEE NDs?
Right now I have a cheap one. I sold my tiffen because it didn't fit and was too large for the smaller Sony glass. It's almost time for another shootout of nd filters since there are some new exciting ones to review.
I shot with the Sony A7r ll this past week at Yoshi's Oakland and found that there were surprising results with stills in low light. Using a 70-200 2.8 ll with a medabones adapter ring the focus was superb. However some other Canon lens did not seem to find focus. Looking forward for some testing on the native lens..
Thanks Dave. In it's day the 5Dmk3 was a solid ONE-camera for stills and video. I feel like with these Sonys you gotta go A7RII for stills and A7SII for video. So for me they fail to do both great, and I won't be opening my wallet quite yet. As someone that shoots either stills or video, I just want one camera. The overheating just reinforces my waiting a bit longer for 4k. Not that they aren't tempting and at the least, one hopes, putting Canon on serious notice.
Hey, Dave. Great work as always. While the IBIS is very attractive - I think the overheating issue is a huge deal breaker for this cam. I'm still 100% happy w/ my GH4 - and IMO is still the overall better choice here. Keep shooting, boss. -Mark from CA.
Very nice review, as always. It's good to know the pros and cons about this camera.
Now they should fix the overheating issue, the too-expensive price and some other little problems to just begin thinking about using it instead of my wonderful GH4.
Wow! Great review and I loved the stabilization test that you did with the volley ball players using the A7RII and the gimbal. Can you give the details of the gimbal that you used? Is it the Pilotfly H1+. If so, where did you purchase it from?
Thanks!
+Alan Stankevitz yes pilotfly.
I read someone on DP Forums say "I have never suffered from overheating using an Atomos Shogun. Make sure you disable dual record in the menu settings of the camera and trigger recording from the external recorder not from the camera directly." Did you manage to test if the camera would overheat when using an external recorder?
Great review! Keep up the good work!
Awesome review. I just wished TH-cam didn't down sample the results in compression...
If you call Canon color "good"... Em... Eh...
SRSLY?!
Look at Alexa footage. this is GOOD COLOR!
+Anri Orlow sorry, I have never used that camera.
Dave Dugdale
but it has really the best color, pretty much as any other Arri cam. Check it out!
+Anri Orlow Arri is big and expensive. Surely has great color but the point here is to test, review and use consumer / prosumer grade products that can fit in a backpack, won't break the bank, shot handheld without the need of external accessories such as monitors, mic, SDI, etc I guess Dave compared it to a Red because his friend had one and he wanted to give an unscientific quick comparison to see if it could be a match for a pro camera.
Great video. I'm looking to jump into a Sony full frame camera and lenses. I just switched to Sony a6000 from a Nikon and love it. And this was a great video. I'm not sure if I should get this camera or just get more glass for my a6000. So thanks for this video.
Great review Dave. You always put the the right information in. Keep it up!
Hi, thanks for the review.
I've been looking for this camera and would like to know if the colours that you have shown are straight out of the camera. If so i like it a lot and that would be a bonus for me.
Just hearing you say "old a7s" makes me sad. haha. oh....technology.
+mattcarlson12 The a7s is still an outstanding camera.
The Sony a7RII is a still camera, probably one of the best around. When it comes to video, the a7SII is mind blowing
Thanks Dave, good honest review, and the volleyball footage looks superb BTW! Came to the same conclusion as you, the good & bad, but I also bought the camera as its such a lovely stills machine too. It pairs up very well with the RX10M2 which makes for a better long-form recording camera that'll run all day without issues. The A7RM2 & RX10M2 match up beautifully, and they make for the best of both worlds and a nice compact system.
thanks nice video Dave Is this camera good for wedding videos? or music clips?
Hi Dave- when you shot the coffee shot - you mentioned that we might be thinking this or that - but what I was thinking was -What lens do you have on there? Camera reviews seem to forget mentioning the lens and as we all know - it's really important information. I am more likely to be less impressed with a camera if there is a $15,000.00 lens on it when reviewed because that is not an option for myself as a consumer. i am only mentioning this because the quality that you show on here is exceptional. Nice to know what exactly is being used to get that exceptional quality.
I will guess that it is the Zeiss 50mm. But it may not be.
Also - I think your under playing the let down of the camera shutting down in 4k when in use. I think Pros won't like that at all. Would be nice to know if Sony is doing anything about it or is it something they think that people will live with. Because of that issue I personally will not be an early adopter. The price differential between selling my A7s and buying the A7rii or just buying a Shogun for my A7s is roughly the same. So in my case if the camera shuts down - I think I get more benefit by buying the Atomos or PiXe.
I bought the A7s and FE 4/24-70 Sony/Zeiss and although it's a beautiful lens - I still can't manually focus with it. I thought that Sony may fix that with a firmware update but it appears I am stuck with using the lens for auto focus situations
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Amazing review !
Tested the a7rii last night at a wedding. S35 mode is amazing in 4k. 1080 not so much unless shooting higher fps but noise is an issue.
I free hand using the oled on a 28-300 L lens. Very impressed. I literally walk around like a photog half the day with a camera strap.
-very invigorating
What do you think about the a7s2? Will you buy one? Are you going to review it?
Dave, does that "Running on NTSC" when you first turn it on bug the crap out of you?
I have a FS7 Super 35 and use the AR7ii super 35 as a B camera for small film clips, slow motion at times and all of my stills and for me it a match made in heaven. I Love it and yes it was worth it for me, Love it. Thanks Dave and another great Video.
I cant afford the A7Rii but could buy a A7ii. Would the same be true for video low light crop mode? Would I get better results shooting video in crop mode on the A7ii? Would it be as good as the A7Rii? What would be the difference?
Is there a big advantage with using the Shogun vs internal 4K? Does the IBIS work with Canon glass using metabones adapter? Can IBIS and the lens IS work together? Thanks for great review.
Why do people keep putting a demand on camera company's to build a DLSR style camera to do video? Then have to add many high price add-on's to make it a real video camera. Demand them to build better video camera's.
The clean ISO is only in 4K @ S35 mode. Any other mode it falls apart at anything above ISO 1600, especially in 1080p.
Question for you: I went to a Sony presentation here in Milan and while the Sony guy was all happy and proud talking of all the amazing new features that the new A7R2 has and how it just "destroys" the GH4 under all aspects, suddenly, scrolling down the camera menu, I noticed that the FullHD format is only recorded at 50Mb/s.
WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?
Please, wise Dave, please tell me why on Earth the Sony A7R2 - that everyone seems to love so much - is shooting FullHD at 1/4 of the GH4 resolution and at 1/3 of the resolution of my old hacked GH2...
I find all this quite ridiculous from Sony to propose a camera at such high price and then offer this low-end quality features.
Great stuff! Shame about the sup35mm vs full frame with the ISO, but it sounds like the test cam they've released before the a7Sii
IBIS 5-xis vs. 3-xis ... 5axis is for native FE lenses, 3 with non-FE lenses. Just to CLARIFY. Barely anyone uses the native FE lenses unless you're a photographer (like me).
Hi Dave thanks for this great Review. I have shot a Short and i had the a7r as c Kamera. Unfortunatley all the shots were very noisy. i guess because it was full format. Is there a way to repair this somehow?
Sorry ... "feel" is not good enough. Red Epic = $15K, A7rii = $3K. I think if I'm doing a comparison between a Ferrari and a Yugo, I think I'm going to look at the "scientific" nerd facts to make sure I'm making a right choice.
Also, I'm really looking forward to your a7SII review! I just got mine and it got me worried. I would like to know how to minimize the noise and get a better grading potential with all those different profile options. The auto focus on my a7SII is horrible with the metabones adaptor mounted on my Tamron 70-200, 15-30 and Canon 50/1.4. How's the native Sony lens perform on a7SII?
Best reviewer there is people. Be sure to subscribe.
Which SDXC card did you use? The CameraTV Store is reporting that they didn't get overheating in 4K.
I agree with all he says... I too bought this camera and I love it BUT whilst issuing firmware updates for things like uncompressed raw files and internal heat problems using video Sony also included a fix for Sony G lenses which have focus shift issues. It wasn't made clear and thousands of photographers are now upset that the camera no longer focuses with the lens wide open. Try setting the aperture at f8 on say a f2.8 lens. It no longer focuses at f2.8 but with the lens closed down at f8 and at that aperture the phase detection AF fails and the camera can not track a moving subject. A similar situation occurs in a studio environment where f8, f11 or f16 is used for the strobes, the camera can't autofocus at those f numbers especially when using the limited light from modelling lamps. A DSLR will do it because they focus at max aperture but not the A7RII. A search on the net on this subject will reveal many many photographers are upset about this and some pros have ditched the system because its useless in a studio. Sony has been contacted by email and phone by many people for a year or so but ignore the requests for a firmware fix. It disgraceful. So here I am having bought this camera and can't autofocus on a moving subject unless I'm using f5.6 or larger. Only being able to use a couple of aperture stops on my lenses severely limits my options when shooting a moving subject and I find this so annoying as do many many other "mugs" like me who bought this camera. They'll probably to the same with the A9 to again fix the G lens focus shift issue. I ditched Canon for Sony so come on Sony fix this problem for me and thousands of other photographers and once again you'll have a truly amazing camera out there!
Dave, have you compared the natural, ungraded footage of the A7R II vs. the GH4. If not, can you please?????
Great Review Dave! What kind of computer hardware is needed to edit the 4K video files from the A7R Mark 2?
+Unique Photo and Video (UniquePhotoandVideo.com) depends if you have the viewer set to full quality, if you do you need a monster computer like mine.
+Dave Dugdale Thank you! Do you edit using proxy or original media?
Original
+Dave Dugdale Thanks!
I shoot the a7s all the time. love the colors. And if they aren't as I like, 2 seconds in Resolve with the Vectorscope and I'm all set. Color correction is just part of any professional workflow. Sony is giving us such great cameras that we're really splitting hairs to choose one over the other. I think people will continue to compare these two cameras. I guess that's fine. But they just aren't in the same category. the a7r II is a stills camera that shoots great video in s35. FF on the a7r II is just not good looking video, and that's what kills is for me as an A cam.
A lot of people will look seriously at the a7s II when it comes out instead. But the bottom line is with the exception of a couple of things, like IBIS and improved autofocus, it's essentially the same camera. Internal 4k isn't a selling point for me since you really need an external monitor for critical focus. may as well have one the records 4k. you need to storage space anyway.
Hi Dave! Found a test of newsshooter who compared the a7rii in super 35 mode with speedbooster on a canon EF lense against the a7s in full frame mode. Results are great for the a7rii! Could you do the same with the a7sii when you get your hands on it? And if yes - when?! Take care and cheers from Austria ;)
Just shot a pilot doccie show with the cam, the over heating is a serious issue, but besides that for me its an almost perfect camera. Waiting on the A7s2 overheating report, if its not an issue then its my next camera, full frame 4K video with my voigtlander 15mm with that IBIS is stunning. How do you find it in the grade? Getting everything you want out of it?
After watching a bunch of videos on this camera I'm sold after watching yours, I would be interested in your opinion on the Sony rx100iv for a pocket video camera instead of the go pro
another great review as usual. Good job Dave!
As for cooling. The Red -> is basically an air conditioner. The heatsink and the cooling is ridiculous FYI as well. :)
Thanks Dave - great review. I would love to have one of these! I guess the other thing to consider is that if you are someone like me who likes to do time lapses of the stars [which can take 2-4 hours], then the battery life might be an issue... :)
Overheat? sony use worse cpu for this camera a7r2, maybe they should get the cpu from apple which never happen. hopefully a7s2 require less cpu power do not have overheat issue.
does anyone think the sony a7s ii is just a better option because it excels in full frame mode having little noise in low light. and you could just crop to the equivalent to super 35 in post anyway? it also has slog 3 so really good graders could pull of something close to the black magic or red epic? it seems like the only reason to buy this camera would be if youre more of a photographer.
Dave, nice review! On overheating, what about shooting at 60bps. Is there a problem with that which makes it an undesirable choice?
Love the natural ungraded shots. Like the pure tones in natural light. Tough to shoot we know, but its real. Yeah the heat. You testing the A7S 2? All the best DaveD!
Great review as usual. The endless quest for creating the highest quality video needs to be replaced with the quest for finding clients who that will pay for it. Gear addiction is a terrible trap. How about a video on how to pay for all your gear and feed a family?
So are you using A7RII for video mostly? And have u tried the autofocus with canon lens adapted for photo and video?
Here's the hinging question for a guy like me. How long can I shoot 1080 outdoors in 90+ deg weather? Does shooting 60FPS or higher limit that as well?
Thanks for the review, Dave.
+Tim Kyle It doesn't overheat when shooting 1080p.
Dave whats your opinion on the canon XC10? Will you be reviewing it? Thanks
I do mainly wedding video work and wonder if I should make the jump to sony. or stick with my canons?
Best review as usual
+Burning Everything thanks!
Aww... Missed you Dave! Haven't seen your videos in a loooong time!
I still use a 5D Mk2 with Magic Lantern. It's fine.
you always talk about moire and blabla.. come up with more arguments ... boring
+TheWaguila sorry you found it boring, I will try to do better.
thank you for this review Dave :-) very informative!
Waited so long for your review thanks thanks!!!
Thanks Dave, this was a great review.
How do you feel about lenses now on the A7rII?
Does IBIS lead you to using the non-IS, lighter, faster primes more (28/2.0, 35/2.8, 55/1.8, loxias, batis).. or are you sticking with the 24-70/4 in the normal range for OSS+IBIS?
This is a camera for still images, not for video filming!?
Well... you just COULDN'T do a Sony camera review without the usual pro Canon bias could ya Doug? Oh well; when CANON offers a package that surpasses the A7RII, then you can jump back HAHAHAAAAA!!!!
+FAMUCHOLLY sorry I couldn't help myself.
Great but a7siii will launch march 2016
Dave, can I ask what lens you were using for the volleyball shots?
very intuitive, thank you for posting this video! I couldn't agree more about A7S WB and colours in video, auto WB is just not set right in low light and has to be adjusted, and, for GH4 hair comments, don't you have a custom Colour Style settings in camera to adjust sharpness and contrast to address that oversharpening?
+Nature Pi (by g9000kTV) even with the sharpness all the way down it still has this slight over sharpened look to it.
Great Review of the Sony A7rII Dave, you're always so thorough with you review. Thanks.
Very informative video. Good job as always :)
One Question. Could you tell me how to manually adjust the Audio-Recording Level?
Hi Dave. Great review as always. I hope you'll review Sound Devices/Video Devices PIX-E series of video monitors/recorders. It looks like a price competitor with the Atmos Assassin. Having used Sound Devices equipment, I can attest to the outstanding build quality. I'm still waiting to here back from VD if they record 10 bit 4:2:2 like the assassin.
videodevices.com/products/portable-video-recorders/pix-e
www.atomos.com/ninja-assassin/
+Robert Shaver I took a look at them at NAB, it looked like some features were missing back then, I will have to take another look.