First Sony A7R II user experiences - global shutter and native ISO 800?

[Andrew Reid]

The Adorama Fair on the 14th June provided a hands-on with the Sony A7R II according to user reports.

I haven't verified the claims so take this news with a pinch of salt for now, but with or without salt the A7R II is looking very tasty indeed.

Get all the full info on the blog

[cpc]

Yeah, they put global shutter in-there, then forgot to mention it in all the marketing blurb.

Not really.

[AaronChicago]

That would be bizarre to feature global shutter and not mention it in the release specs.

[Gianluke]

Andrew  are You sure  about  14 bit lossless  raw???? Sony  doesn't  tell anything  about it.

[Ed_David]

Even with a perfect global shutter the test videos still were pretty weak in highlight handling and moire and macro blocking in the slo mo.  I'm not optimistic for this camera.  I think by the time the A7S mark II comes, we'll have something better maybe.  But I could be wrong.

Also you can't knock Canon too much - they have skintones nailed down very nicely.  The new Sony S Gamut has a weird magneta shift to highlights and yellow-y skintones.  I'm rooting for Canon to return to glory.

[Joel]

I agree that a true global shutter this isn't. However, it could be down to F5 territory (5ms I believe?) in S35 mode. I'm very curious to see what the IQ is like with the full 135 sensor. Sony says it used in sensor binning which (in theory) is better than line skipping. Could have some aliasing but shouldn't have much moire. Personally I'd rather see a 24mp camera  with a true global shutter, full 6k readout down sampled to 4k, and faster FPS/focusing but this is quite the camera.

[Joel]

Andrew  are You sure  about  14 bit lossless  raw???? Sony  doesn't  tell anything  about it.

​I doubt they'd highlight it because it would draw attention to the deficiency in their existing camera lineup. Still no one can be certain until people can get their hands on actual RAW files. 

[wolf33d]

I bet there is no Global Shutter. They would have highlight it. 
As for 14 bit, remember that ALL the A7 cameras have "14 bit raw" written on their specs on the Sony website. So the guy on this forum just saw 14 bit and he thinks it is true 14. 

Truth is 99% chance no global shutter, and 80% chance no real 14 bit raw. 

[photographer-at-large]

elimination of rolling shutter in S35 mode probably due to faster sensor readout

Data can also be output from the sensor at an approximately 3.5x faster rate compared to the original a7R. 

[Geoff CB]

No way they don't draw attention to it if they had global shutter. BUT this at least means that it has a fast readout, which is great news.

[Jimmy]

The elephant in the room with these articles that lead to the inevitable Canon monologue.... Why not bash Nikon? at least we know why Canon do the things they do, and at least they do release things like the 1DC (Camera of the year!). Sometimes I think they are pressured by Sony to stay a step behind.

Anyways.... A7R II looks damn cool, hoping the 5 axis stabilisation is good, that would be the cherry.

[tosvus]

I thought I read somewhere that they have some technology to "eliminate the jello effect". Whether it is Global Shutter (maybe switchable?) or not remains to be seen. This looks like a very interesting camera for sure. I use my m43 equipment for a mix of video and pictures, and I sometimes wish I had better resolution for pictures. My other gripe is lack of IBIS. This would satisfy both counts. I have some a-mount lenses that I have not used in a while, maybe this and an adapter would get new life in my interest for Sony.

[DBounce]

The elephant in the room with these articles that lead to the inevitable Canon monologue.... Why not bash Nikon? at least we know why Canon do the things they do, and at least they do release things like the 1DC (Camera of the year!). Sometimes I think they are pressured by Sony to stay a step behind.

Anyways.... A7R II looks damn cool, hoping the 5 axis stabilisation is good, that would be the cherry.

​I believe it's because many here have previous positive experiences with Canon cameras. For this reason we would very much like to see them make reasonably priced cameras that we can utilize for serious work. To sum up how I feel about Canon... Disappointed.

[Cinegain]

The elephant in the room with these articles that lead to the inevitable Canon monologue.... Why not bash Nikon? at least we know why Canon do the things they do, and at least they do release things like the 1DC (Camera of the year!). Sometimes I think they are pressured by Sony to stay a step behind.

Anyways.... A7R II looks damn cool, hoping the 5 axis stabilisation is good, that would be the cherry.

​Because people enthusiastic about video (with a photography backgroud) bought into the Canon system (550D/T2i/7D/5DmkII and lenses). Now Canon is falling behind. Nikon on the other hand never really was in front to begin with. Although I do have to say I was kinda tempted to get the D750 myself... more so than for example Canon's 5DmkIII. Atleast great about Nikon is their lenses are easily adapted with aperture control...

[Jimmy]

At least with Canon there is some hope for trickle down though (plus they fell as backwards into the ML Raw delights), Nikon ride on the coattails of the industry, generally putting out the bare minimum. Canon have shown some initiative, like the 1DC and C100 mkII, even if it is overpriced.

Luckily, I have generally stuck to manual lenses that can usually be attached to anything, so don't feel attached to one system or the other. I can see how it breads resentment/disappointment though.

[Andrew Reid]

Ever considered it might actually be too late for Canon to get back into it?

[Andrew Reid]

​Because people enthusiastic about video (with a photography backgroud) bought into the Canon system (550D/T2i/7D/5DmkII and lenses)

​And these guys are on a 2 year delay... I think 2015 marks the tolling of the bell.

[DBounce]

Ever considered it might actually be too late for Canon to get back into it?

​They are a $50 billion company. It's certainly not too late. But they're losing a lot of their customers. If they keep this up they could well go the way of Blackberry.

[Andrew Reid]

Blackberry were given about 2 years to 'do the right thing' as well and they failed.

[Jimmy]

Very few stills photographers will ever move to Sony unless they seriously sort out their lenses. No matter how much crying the video world does, it will have little impact on Canon's key market.

But the elephant still wanders the room... If Canon are this sinking ship, surely so are Nikon? Canon have a 4K DSLR and will doubtless have another, this year. Nikon, who knows?