Basically; to boil it down to a simple concise form of the thought: I have a mstly-working-if-mildly-inconvenient D700 which I love and am not planning on getting rid of. I’d been thinking of acquiring a small light street photography camera for a while but hate the idea of giving up full-frame. This sony is both full frame and rather compact. I got a few older 24mm, 35mm, 50mm lenses with E-mount adapters built in so I wouldn’t need an extra piece here; except when I’d want to shoot some of my Nikons.
Why not 810? Cost is one thing; but I also would prefer a new body (and I’ll probably warm up to the idea fo a used one someday). And I might get one of these or a D750 sometime in the future (though I’ll probably save up and get my stupid mirror fixed instead haha).
I do want to take the time to thank you for the reply! I much appreciate the feedback. I find it interesting how nobody yet recommended or defended the Sony. I wonder if it really sucks or if people just really love Nikon a lot.
My dream camera would have been the Nikon Df btw; I do love what Nikon does, I just can’t afford it currently
Yeah I did some reading on the topic and I soon realized that if I go down the Sony path I’ll have to get used to doing a fair amount of manual focusing.
I had a Pentax K10D for a long time, it traveled with me around Europe and took a beating. Years went by and it was time to upgrade. I was going to buy a Nikon D800, then maybe a Nikon Df, then maybe a Nikon D810 or D750… so I eventually bought a Sony ILCE-7M2. I love it.
All cameras listed above have awesome sensors and are senslesssly awesome. Why the Sony? I was backpacking in the Lake District in 2013 and eventually there came a point when I couldn’t walk any further up a mountain with my very heavy backpack. I felt crushed. Fast-forward 2 years when I was getting new gear, and now weight was a primary concern. All the cameras listed above would have made me happy, but the Sony is the lightest, and the future looked mirrorless. Being such, it had some bells and whistles the other cameras lacked, so I went for it.
Image quality is great.
It is
If weight is a concern, Sony is your answer. If it isn’t, any of the listed Nikons will prove that only skill is your limit.
Sony lenses are expensive, while old Nikon lenses are good and cheap. I use a manual-focus Nikon 50mm f/1.8 and a manual-focus Nikon 24mm f/2.8, both through a Novoflex adapter. I take most of my photos using these two. I also have a Sony 70-200 f/4. I’m considering getting a Sony 16-35mm f/4 or a 24-70mm f/4, but would like to try them out first. As I don’t know anyone who has them, I’ve been stuck in this state of consideration for some years now… They have newer “GM” counterparts (f/1.something or f/2.something) but those are ridiculously expensive.
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.
@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.
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
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.
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!
@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).
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.
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 … )
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.
)
