As a manual author and camera guru, David Busch started using the original Sony A7R camera in late 2013, Sony’s full-size cameras topped his list of favorites for several reasons. Today we’ll explore the top 10 features of the Sony a7R II and A7 II, hoping to get excited about its long-awaited guide, David Busch’s Guide to Sony A7r II and A7 II Mirrorless Digital Photography.
1) AF phase detection. Surprise! The incredible 42. 4 megapixel resolution of the a7R II is not the most significant aspect of Mark II models. My favorite feature is the excellent autofocus accuracy and speed provided by the hybrid autofocus system, which uses 399 built-in AF pixels. (on the a7R II) or 117-pixel AF (on the A7 II) to start af at lightning speed, followed by the contrast I need to detect fine tuning. To understand why this is important, you need to consider the Biggest Bottleneck for capturing images on most mirrorless cameras (and in Live View mode?No mirror?) Is the slow deactivation of AF to conventional contrast detection.
- When focusing using the image captured only by the sensor.
- The camera should carefully examine the contrast of the edges of the parts of the object and often appear and disappear until the highest contrast image (the sharpest) is found.
- Only contrast detection.
- And even optimized systems may not be so fast to achieve focus.
- As the slowest one depends on phase detection.
- The main advantage of AF with contrast detection is that the focus is not limited to a small set of AF sensors.
- As well as the relative simplicity of the system.
The A7R II’s backlit Exmor R CMOS sensor has 39 phase sensing AF collimators integrated into its full frame and the A7 II has 117, meaning cameras can use phase detection via the rangefinder for much faster focus, up to 40% faster than the previous model, according to Sony. Hunting, isn’t it necessary; When examining autofocus collimators, the camera instantly knows where to focus and how much adjustment should be made. This top-phase AF can elevate cameras to the level of high-end dSLR cameras in terms of autofocus. Birds in flight (see Figure 1) can be easily captured. An additional 25 contrast detection zones are also used as required by Sony’s Fast Hybrid system.
2) Sony five-axis image stabilization introduced the SteadyShot IS 5-axis with the 24 MP a7 II, followed by the 42MP to7R II and 12MP a7S II. It is an internal system that works with virtually all lenses (and can change some stabilization tasks to optical image stabilization lenses, if applicable). The system makes adjustments along the xey axes and also compensates for pitching, rolling and yawing. (In simple language, the xey movement of the camera is performed along the plane in the left/right, high/low directions, respectively; the tilt tilts the camera up or down; the roller rotates the camera along a centerline of the lens; the rotation rotates the camera from side to side along the axis, for example, from the tripod socket. ) Depending on the motion of the camera, one of these elements or any combination can occur during framing and photography.
This improved SteadyShot should give you a conservative minimum of two or three stops (that is, you can shoot at 1/30 seconds, where it may take 1/250 seconds before) and potentially much more (remember that SI does nothing). to prevent the subject from becomes blurry. ) Because A7 Series II cameras are so compact and lightweight, the ability to use them without tripods in many situations is a significant improvement.
3) Low-light performance The Sony Mirrorless a7 II works great in low light, which you’d expect from a full-size camera with large pixels, but the a7R II, which contains 18 MP plus pixels in the same space (approximately) 24 mm – 36 mm, has even better features in low light conditions. As explained in Chapter 1, Sony pioneered backlit sensor technology and intelligently applies them to the new A7R II, allowing images like the one shown in Figure 2, taken at ISO 12800.
With conventional sensors, photoite matrix and wiring?They need to reflect some of the light that strikes them, preventing the light from reaching the photosensitive layer that actually captures the image. For a backlit sensor, the order of the layers is reversed, so that the lighting directly affects the photosensitive elements. , with the matrix and wiring relegated to the back. This allows the sensor to use almost 100% of its surface to capture light, making it more sensitive. No optical filter for him? Blurred step? Sensor A7R II (a7 II still has one). This improves the resolution (but you may need to delete the muaré manually).
This configuration offers three advantages. It managed to compress 42. 4 megapixels into a 24 mm and 36 mm sensor without having to reduce its size as much as would be necessary with a conventional sensor, which also results in better sensitivity. The a7R II should offer improved image quality with ISO configurations up to 25600. Si is willing to accept some noise, you can also take pictures with the equivalent of ISO 102400.
The backlight configuration also improves wiring on the back of the sensor (because there is no longer any concern to interfere with light capture), indicating that data transmission can occur up to 3. 5 times faster than with the original Sony A7R. Does the anti-reflective coating on the sensor surface help improve light capture?and this should also reduce the problems you may encounter due to the light reflected by the sensor and then through the rear elements of your lenses (often older pre-digital lenses).
Don’t expect the a7R II to compete with the current A7S in the low-light championship, but the results should be good. Better yet, you won’t have to make difficult decisions to increase ISO and reduce image quality. eat cake and eat it too.
4) Lens versatility. Series II A7 cameras can be used with an impressive amount of lenses from many different suppliers. There are an increasing number of FE/E mount lenses and many A-mount lenses (including clear and economical Minolta optics) that can be used, while retaining autofocus and auto exposure functions when mounted on adapters. Some have found that with the right adapter, Canon lenses work on both Series II 7 cameras and Canon native DSLRs. As I write this, Nikon’s automatic adapters are also in the If that wasn’t enough, virtually every lens from any supplier can be mounted on your camera and used in manual focus mode, with automatic exposure to priority aperture or manual exposure.
5) Résolution. Il not so long ago, the 24MP resolution of the a7 II was at the top of the scale, as the most popular cameras had resolutions from 12MP to 18MP. Today, 24 MP is a routine and the 42. 4 MP found in the a7R II is the best of any mirrorless camera. Any camera allows a lot of cropping without sacrificing a lot of image sharpness. Figure 3 shows the sharpness we can expect on a regular basis.
The full, un framing image was captured using the Sony 70-200mm f/4 af/11 lens from approximately 12 feet in a studio using an Alien Bees flash (I didn’t cut the extra image area over the model head to provide the full 3:2 image. ) The insert shows my subject’s right eye, enlarged by 9. 5X. This extreme explosion always presents extraordinary clarity. You could easily make a 30-40 inch print from the full image that would withstand closing the view.
Better yet, the high resolution of the a7 II and a7R II allows you to precisely trim to turn almost any lens into a macro lens. With close-up photography, selective focus and emphasis on fine details or textures often take precedence, as shown in a blue and yellow ara photo in Islamorada, Florida (see Figure 4).
I wanted to isolate this ara in a loaded background; I used my Sony 70-200mm f/4 to 200mm lens to capture the bird at a distance of about 40 inches, open af/4 and 1/800 according to ISO 200. As you can see in the insert, this lens can also be used as an excellent macro lens. The telephoto lens allowed me to keep my distance from the ara (I was more likely to bite than scare the bird), while the great opening and pretty bokeh of this lens did not. highlight the background. And for this “macro” photo, no tripod was needed. The camera’s fast shutter speed and 5-axis image stabilization were all you needed for a clear image.
6) A free telephoto lens. In Super 35 / APS-C mode (with a7R II) or APS-C mode (with a7 II), can you win a bit? Reach? telephoto lens to capture images using 1. 5X crop to your advantage (read more about this in Chapter 12). Although my 70-200mm f / 4 lens was used a lot, there were times when an opportunity presented itself where this lens was not available. I was wading in the Atlantic Ocean, photographing the shoreline with the a7RII and the 24-70mm f / 4 Zeiss Vario-Tessar FE when I came across the heron shown in Figure 5. As you can see in the main image cropped to the left, I was actually able to get about 50 feet up to the bird at Long Key State Park in the Florida Keys, before starting to show some rebellious tendencies. I already had knee-deep water so I left. Back in my winter seat, I was happy to find that 42 megapixels were sufficient for a judicious reduction. The exposure was approximately 1/800 of a second at f / 5. 6 at ISO 100, and image stabilization was on. I can’t remember if I was more concerned that my feathered friend escaped or slipped and bathed my mirrorless camera in salt water.
7) 4K video (a7R II only). Videographers will enjoy the ability to record and record 4K videos in a variety of formats, including the Super 35mm format (no pixel grouping) and full frame format, the world’s first for mirrorless digital cameras. While Full HD (1920?1080) worked well, Ultra-HD (UHD) appears on more and more conventional TVs, and the ability to record 4K videos is increasingly appealing to amateur filmmakers.
8) Less shutter tremor. The original Mark I series cameras, especially the a7R, were affected by the blur caused by vibrations/oscillations induced by the physical shutter. Mark II cameras have improved blinds with 50% less vibration and (with the a7R II) a really quiet shooting mode. The first electronic curtain shutter available as an option in both chambers can further reduce shutter shaking. Along with 5-axis image stabilization, you can find a blur in camera/lens movement only at shutter speeds greater than 1/8 second.
9) I love this vision. The 2,359,296 OLED XGA display (organic light emitting diode) now has an magnification of 0. 78, and the 1. 2MP rear panel LCD screen remains to view/view images on the monitor. It’s hard to explain the value of this 0. 78X expansion until ‘A7 II series cameras are the first ones I’ve seen where the EVF is actually as good as optical sights, which rarely offer a view as big and bright as the one found in these Sony cameras. . When you add features such as maximum focus and expanded focus support (explained in Chapter 8), the EVF visualization is actually better for manual focus.
10) Wi-Fi and NFC. Wi-Fi connectivity and near-field communications make it easy to communicate with your favorite Android and iOS devices. Don’t want to send your images to your phone or tablet?You can do much more with Wi-Fi/NFC than you. For example, remote shooting, with the preview image displayed on your phone/tablet screen, allows a sneaky photograph. For example, you can install your camera near a hummingbird feeder and shoot, keeping a distance that does not scare the birds. Or use a time-lapse app to take a series of photos showing a cocoon blooming in a flower. Sony is constantly launching new apps for its a7 Series II camera, so you may be surprised by some of the new features that can be added to your camera.