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Sony Alpha a7R II First impressions
In recent years, cameras have become so good that it’s time to choose them depending on the color or shape of the body. Looking good is very important, for some it’s the most important thing. And now we are hearing something like – oh, dude, you have a cool camera, I like yellow, cool. And no doubt there is sense in it, yes – the price is different, but that is another question.
The forums ask for miracles. Miracles become a market trend.
The Sony company has responded to the request of the photographic community by releasing the revolutionary in many ways Sony Alpha 7R II, or in the terminology of the manufacturer – Sony ILCE-7RM2 – lightweight, compact, full-frame, high-resolution, with image stabilization and a high-speed autofocus. Of course, all Sony Alpha 7 family cameras deserve close attention, but Sony Alpha 7R II is a powerful breakthrough in all the possibilities, with great design.
The most important advantage of all the mirrorless cameras is their small size. Sony Alpha 7 camera has no match in diminutiveness among mirrorless full-frame cameras.
Despite the fact that in recent years the size of SLR cameras decreased significantly, they still remain enormous. A power show-off? I feel especially sorry for the fragile girls who carry huge SLR cameras looking like Amazon women. It looks very strange, and rather sad. So there’s a desire to say – lady, this camera doesn’t look good on you.
After I started shooting with the mirrorless Sony Alpha 7R, about a year and a half ago, I am often asked – and what about the respect of the clients? Big cameras look respectful and so on? The question is far-fetched, if it’s the result that’s important for us. The large size of the camera is often confusing for the person portrayed. As the face of the photographer is covered by a huge device, your objects will not pose for you so relaxed and calm.
Yes, everything «professional» is associated with larger sizes, everyone is used to it, but I can say that we, likewise, gradually will get used to the small size of the new professional gear. Obviously, the anatomy of the hands dictates the ergonomics and the final size.
The ergonomics of Sony Alpha 7R II became noticeably better in terms of the overall dimensions and the location of the shutter button – it is now in the right place. The control dial on the back of the camera was fixed, so there is no random parameters’ switching.
The vital lock has appeared on the shooting modes’ disk. Due to the small cable protector console now there is an opportunity to protect the cords from unwanted pulling. Sony Alpha 7R II can be charged via USB from any source. Compared with the previous model, the new ILCE-7RM2 became noticeably more economical in battery power consumption.
The decisive factor, in addition to weight, is a short working distance, which gives the possibility to use any lens via an adapter. Sony full-frame system with FE bayonet is open, it is universal, unique in the world, which allows to mount on absolutely any lens that has ever been produced. The Sony wisdom is that they told us – guys, take any lens, even designed for APS matrix ( the camera will recalculate) and shoot, and no matter what gear you’re using today, any Sony Alpha 7 won’t hurt. It is clear that it ‘s hard to move to a new system, even such as the Sony FE, but it only seems that way. It only seems that it ‘s hard to part with the old optics, to which we are so used to. In this case, we protect our experience rather than investment. So in fact, you don’t have to part. Adapters solve almost all problems.
Particular attention needs to be given to an electronic viewfinder of the new Sony Alpha 7R II – with an unsurpassed level of magnification among digital cameras. A few years ago I bought an interesting camera – Fuji X100, which, among other things, was remarkable for the presence of the optical and electronic viewfinders simultaneously. So, after a while (and it was an auxiliary camera for traveling) I found that I shoot only through an electronic viewfinder (EVF). That is, I prefer namely it. We realize that the real scene is different from that obtained in the image. Thus, using the optical viewfinder, we are inside the actual scene and moving away from the final image control. And here I am even willing to put up with the mythical delay, which testing staff is so fond of describing and so on, but I only heard about it. The EVF is a bridge that brings us closer to the final image, in the «real time», which is crucial in commercial photography when you can not say – oh, how cool it came out! And you need to know exactly what will come out when you look into the viewfinder, see and control in the image space that, what is happening right in front of our eyes.
Pressing the shutter button, we hear an entirely new sound. It may seem that the shutter sound is secondary – it is not, especially when we know that the shutter does not give any vibrations that can degrade the final image quality. Sony did a great job by creating essentially a new shutter with the vibration reduction technology for up to half a million actions and with the absolutely noiseless shooting mode when the electronic shutter is released.
Autofocus is really fast and tenacious. An impressive number of focus points – 399, covering almost all the frame field. You can instantly change the focus point without looking up from the viewfinder.
You notice immediately that all the shots are sharp. There are no autofocus malfunctions.
And the result is that we get the image of a fantastic size.
We have the image of the 530×795 mm size (254 dpi) for printing on Durst Theta device at our disposal – without any interpolation!
Perhaps, this camera is “a challenge for the medium format”? You can, of course, use the iPhone 6s for professional purposes, but it is unlikely it will be a challenge for the medium format?
Here I would say that the Sony Alpha 7R II calmly and convincingly proves its professional destiny, and we gradually come to the conclusion that it is time to sell our medium format cameras.
But perhaps this isn’t the matter, only if you are doing the museum photography, where the medium format is a standard, combined with the multi-shot technology when there’s enough time, heavy tripods, comfortable conditions and so on.
In ten years of work with Canon, I was getting quite a decent picture. I especially liked the Canon 1Ds Mark II (there was a lot of focus issues, and the endless dust bugged, – back then this issue has not yet been resolved, as it is now), but I consistently pursued the idea that I’m shooting with a reportage camera designed for other purposes – for journalism, and sometimes it would be good to shoot with the medium format.
Now, with Sony Alpha 7R II, I have this problem resolved for myself.
Anastasia Praslova / Sony ILCE-7RM2, Zeiss 24-70/4.0 / © Alexander Nasonov
Why do we need such a camera? Who is Sony Alpha 7R II for? It is clear that every camera requires a brain and a desire to use it. We are not talking about the taste preferences.
This camera is for those who are engaged in photography for the sake of creativity, for art’s sake, for the sake of freedom from unwanted worries about the quality.
For those who want to be engaged in the plot, to work with the characters of their shootings. For those who are busy with painting with light, not empty doubts. For the landscape photographers, seeking to travel light. For professional commercial photographers – artists who creat a new reality with the language of photography, which create new worlds, invent, and invent new ways of shooting and shooting styles.
With the Sony Alpha 7R II camera the street photography goes on a different level of quality and compactness, the ability to immerse yourself in the story of reality and translate it into the space of visual world. The small size of the camera gives great advantages, it has proved to be very useful in conversations with security, no disputes, no panic. It’s a complete freedom for the artist, photographer, storyteller. Art photostories as the art of creating a photographic image go to the next level. Delicately, efficiently and professionally.
Anastasia Praslova / Sony ILCE-7RM2, Zeiss Batis 85/1.8 / © Alexander Nasonov
Here is how in one of our telephone conversations the known Moscow photographer Yuri Afanasiev concisely and accurately commented on the main advantages of the new Sony Alpha 7R II – www.photoru.ru:
“Surprised by the crazy sharpness and the photographic width of the matrix. What seemed impossible a year ago, it has been made available today. Thanks to the backlighting of pixels, the value of 8000 ISO becomes a normal sensitivity for shooting. Five-axis image stabilizer allows you to shoot sharp images even in macro mode, with the shutter speed of 1/2 second. But it’s true that the insatiable brains of a photographer always want more. I caught myself thinking that when it was not able to keep the sharpness on the 1st second, I was seriously annoyed. In post-processing, screen magnification to 200% preserves sharp details of a picture – some unreal detalization. In my opinion, the picture ends and graphics begin there, where the texture of the object becomes indistinguishable. Using the latest technologies in the “construction” of this camera allowed pushing the known technical boundaries of photography. Thanks to the most recent matrix with the ultra-high resolution there, where it used to be a solid shade or blinding light, now the texture of an object are clearly discernible. Where once there was moiré – it does not exist, even with the absence of the low pass filter. The quality of the electronic viewfinder significantly exceeded the capabilities of the human eye. This makes it comfortable to shoot in very low light conditions, where in a traditional optical viewfinder the subject is utterly indistinguishable by the eyes. Sony Alpha 7R II allows controlling how the image will look like after the end of exposure in the viewfinder, in real-time mode. With this camera, we do not think about the exposure and think of the composition. It allows you to correct the color balance and expositional settings even before the shutter release. This reduces the time that the photographer spends on post-processing images. The wide dynamic range allows to bring out shadows and mute lights of an object losslessly. It allows the photographer to build the outlook of an object during post-processing, even in cases when the shooting took place in a very “poor” lighting.”
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Anastasia Praslova / Sony ILCE-7RM2, Zeiss Batis 85/1.8 / © Alexander Nasonov
Working with this camera, we understand that we have a new creative high-end tool in our hands. We can solve any photographic task, and even in such magical form-factor. Besides, Sony Alpha 7R II gives a new impetus to our inspiration. It is hard to imagine the desire to go out and shoot with some crazy-huge camera. There’s always a simple question – why the heck do I drag this bus? Now you do not need to do that, there is no sense in these crazy kilograms of photographic equipment, we have a compact, perfect tool that doesn’t tire our hands and we do not return from a shoot with a cyborg gait.
In short, Sony Alpha 7R II is an excellent camera, perfect, in a sense. Let’s look at dxomark.com!
But there is always room to grow.
Of course, if tomorrow there is a camera that reads minds at a distance, many photographers will wish that this reading happened not only with the speed of light, but out of time, that is, immediately, well, miracles – this is the current trend.
© Alexander Nasonov
