Today Sony officially announce the new Full Frame 42mp a7rII mirrorless camera. It is the successor to the wildly popular Sony a7r, that had a 36mp sensor. While the a7r was incredibly well received by photo community (especially landscape and travel photographers), it wasn’t a perfect camera. It didn’t have the best AF system in the world (mirrorless or DSLR), was prone to some shutter shake with longer telephoto lenses and had some auto bracketing limitations that were eventually fixed with later additions to the Sony a7 line of mirrorless cameras, such as the a7s and a7II.
This time around it looks like Sony has listened to the feedback and come out with one heck of a full frame camera. Not only does it have a new 42mp sensor, but a vastly improved AF system, electronic shutter and silent mode (a fix for shutter shake), updated ergonomics and button placement and much more.
Specs
- 42MP Full-Frame Exmor R BSI CMOS Sensor
- BIONZ X Image Processor
- 5-Axis SteadyShot INSIDE Stabilization
- 399 Phase-Detect AF Points & 5 fps Burst
- Internal 4K XAVC S Video & S-Log2 Gamma
- Weather-Resistant Magnesium Alloy Body
- Built-In Wi-Fi Connectivity with NFC
- ISO 102,400
- no shutter blade motion
- 3.5x faster than the A7r
- A7rII focus is almost 40% faster than the one of the A7r
- Minimum ISO w/ Auto ISO
- 14bit RAW file
- Fast AF with Canon lenses using lens adapter
- Shipping in August
*estimated Price of $3200 USD
Videos
Here are a collection of marketing videos that Sony released on their YouTube channel today along with their announcement.
My Thoughts
In my opinion, Sony has taken the best of the Sony a7r, a7s and a7II and combined them into one incredible and highly capable camera. It will be interesting to see how the new sensor preforms in terms of both Dynamic Range and ISO performance, as an increase in MP from 36 to 42 might have an effect on noise. Additionally, if they pulled off an accurate AF system this time around for the a7rII, this camera will become a point of both envy and desire for many photographers around the globe.
Through my partnership with Sony, I am hoping to get early access to this camera and will post a full review as soon as I actually get around to putting into use out in the field, which will probably be sometime in July.
Share Your Thoughts!
What are your thoughts on the new a7rII? Are you going to pre-order one? Is it missing any features you really wanted it to have? What are you most looking forward to? Share them in the comments below!
