How do you find the SONY A7ii ?

asn · November 26, 2019, 7:16am

You should take a look at the Tamron 17-35mm f/2.8.

Morgan_Hardwood · November 26, 2019, 8:33am

Thanks!

aadm · November 26, 2019, 10:11am

I understand! A small mirrorless camera for street photography is indeed very convenient, I still love my Fuji for that. If you have small lenses to fit on the Sony then I agree, it’s a reasonable way to go.

However these days I’m trying to use the new toy (D810) also for street, and when it feeels a bit awkward (to me only, everybody else is watching their phones on the street these days and don’t care about me) I force myself to remember Jay Meisel’s modus operandi a few years back: a big, heavy D3 with a 70-300 or 28-200 attached to it!

PS: I also like the Df, I was lucky to test it for a day or so courtesy of a friend and it is indeed a great camera. I’d have love for Nikon to continue supporting this particular camera or the concept anyway, but apparently it was not a commercially successful camera.

aadm · November 26, 2019, 10:12am

I like your photos Morgan! I am curious though, are you american or swedish?

Morgan_Hardwood · November 26, 2019, 10:13am

Thank you @aadm. I am neither.

Entropy512 · November 26, 2019, 2:32pm

@asn - Yeah, Tamron’s FE releases have been known for achieving great weight/price for an f/2.8 lens.

Right now my two most-used lenses on an A7M3 are the 24-105/4 and a Canon EF 85/1.8 + Metabones IV. Personally I wouldn’t recommend the 85/1.8 to new Sony purchasers now that Sony has their own native 85/1.8 that isn’t as obscenely priced as the Zeiss Batis - but the native version doesn’t offer enough over what I currently use to justify re-buying.

Similarly I’d be much more tempted to get some of the Tamrons if I weren’t already pretty happy with the 24-105G. I might have purchased the Tamron 28-75 instead had it been available when I bought my A7M3.

stefan.chirila · November 26, 2019, 4:07pm

It is rather ridiculous. I think in great part the reason why the Df was not commercially successful is that it doesn’t do video. I can’t believe people are so …difficult haha. It is a retro-simulation camera. It is meant to emulate the retro feel of cameras from way back when …that…did…not…shoot…video

I mean okay, I don’t shoot video with mine and don’t care much for it either; but still, I think we can cut that particular camera some slack for not doing video

heckflosse · November 28, 2019, 10:40pm

I got some Sony A7ii shots from @Morgan_Hardwood using a very cheap (though not bad) Nikon Ais 1.8/50 mm lens. Here’s one at F8
Left is unsharpenend, right with RT capture sharpening auto values.

stefan.chirila · November 28, 2019, 11:19pm

What lovely tones
It’s refreshing to see colours unaffected by the Canon or Nikon “secret sauce”
Also, RT’s capture sharpening is one masterpiece of a feature!

heckflosse · November 28, 2019, 11:37pm

Thanks for this honour

It was a lot of work.

Daniel_Catalina · November 29, 2019, 9:17am

@stefan.chirila the ‘black Friday’ deal on Amazon DE for the A7II looks great, so you might consider moving in today for it if the same is the case in Canada (in germany you can have it for 999EUR).

Kalts · November 29, 2019, 2:06pm

Hi Stefan,

have you handled the Sony, with different lenses? Visit some nearby equipment shop before taking the plunge. I have tried different A7 bodies over the years and dislike them all. I even couldn’t find enough room for fingers with some common F2.8 glass as I remember.

stefan.chirila · November 29, 2019, 9:17pm

Here are some first shots.
P.S. Sorry about the double post. I …managed to get myself confused with the posting process…

Camera: Sony A7ii
Lenses:

1: 7artisans 25mm F1.8 (Amazon)
Unfortunately I learned this is a ASP-C lens and (as you will see) leaves a terrible vignette when used in full frame mode … )
2: Nikon AF NIKKOR 35mm f/2D Wide Angle Lens ( Amazon )
3: Tamron AF 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6 (Amazon)
This is not the actual lens (on Amazon); mine has no built in motor …it’s a cheap cheap version hehe but does Macro.
4: Nikon 105mm f/2.8 Micro-Nikkor AIS Manual Focus Telephoto Lens (Amazon)
The lens that photographed The Afghan Girl for National Geographic. Great portrait lens!

Review:

The bad:
The 25mm, which I really like the look of, turns out to be meant for ASP-C. Boo.

The good:
The overall quality of the images, I find, is great, even at high ISO (the lamp picture taken at ISO64000). Highlights recovery seems better than on my Nikon. I am not saying it’s not to be expected, considering the Nikon was designed in 2008 and the A7ii is 2016. I need to do a direct comparison between this an the Nikon D700, same lens and all, because I feel like the colours on the SONY are more close-to-life, which may be an illusion, and I am very keen on figuring out if that is how it is. I also took it out into the street today and will post some more samples.