In this blogpost i´m testing Sonys megapixelmonster the A7rII with 4 lenses, the Canon 70-200 F4L, Sigma 24mm 1.4, Sony FE 50 1.8 for shooting photos and 4k video. For adapting the Canon and Sigma lenses i have used the Sigma MC11 adapter. I also had the Canon 85mm 1.8 with me to test it with the MC11 Adapter for a review, but thats coming in a seperate blogpost and video.
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First of all here are the very impressive specs of the Sony A7rII:
| Lens Mount | Sony E-Mount |
| Camera Format | Full-Frame |
| Pixels | Actual: 43.6 Megapixel Effective: 42.4 Megapixel |
| Max Resolution | 42 MP: 7952 x 5304 |
| Aspect Ratio | 3:2 |
| Sensor Type / Size | CMOS, 36 x 24 mm |
| File Formats | Still Images: JPEG, RAW Movies: AVCHD Ver. 2.0, MP4, XAVC S Audio: AAC LC, AC3, Linear PCM (Stereo) |
| Bit Depth | 14-bit |
| Dust Reduction System | Yes |
| Memory Card Type | SD SDHC SDXC Memory Stick PRO Duo (High Speed) Memory Stick PRO HG-Duo |
| Image Stabilization | Sensor-Shift, 5-Way |
| Performance | |
|---|---|
| Self Timer | 10 seconds, 5 seconds, 2 seconds |
| Internal Memory | None |
| Connectivity | 1/8″ Headphone, 1/8″ Microphone, AV / USB Multi, HDMI D (Micro) |
| Wi-Fi Capable | Yes |
| Power | |
|---|---|
| Battery | 1x NP-FW50 Rechargeable Lithium-ion Battery Pack |
| AC Power Adapter | AC-PW20 AC Adapter (Optional) |
| Physical | |
|---|---|
| Dimensions (WxHxD) | 5.0 x 3.8 x 2.4″ / 126.9 x 95.7 x 60.3 mm |
| Weight | 22.05 oz / 625 g with battery and memory card |
Specswise the A7rII completely beats the A7II, no doubt about that, if you look at the camera bodies they are allmost identical. The A7rII has a logo on the top left corner and it also has a lockbutton, which is nice to have.
Ergonomicaly both are pretty much the same, if you have worked with the A7II you will feel right at home with the A7rII as well. The Viewfinder is of course different as well with higher resolution and bigger field of view, which is always great on any camera to have.
The best thing about the A7rII is not only that it can shoot 42 Megapixel photos, but it can also shoot excellent 4k Video, it can do this in a Super35 crop mode and also fullframe. Since i only had one day i didn´t have time to test all of that, but you can see some footage in my video above shot in fullframe mode and using the SLOG2 flat profile which gives you a very good base to colorgrade it afterwards and room to get more detail out of the shadows.
Since the A7rII also has 5 Axis inbody stabilization built in, any lens attached will get stabilized, just like on the Sony A7II. All my adapted lenses i have tested with the A7rII, the Canon 70-200 F4 L, Canon 85mm 1.8, Sigma 24mm 1.4 the stabilization felt like it worked better than on the Sony A7ii, you can also see that in the videoparts i shot with the A7rII handheld.
Focusing with the adapted lenses was pretty much the same like with the A7II, one thing i noticed though was using the Sigma 24mm 1.4 and the MC11 adapter on the A7rII that when you focus with it you see some shake in the viewfinder, which is a bit strange since i never had that on the A7II, but it didn´t effect the image.
Now let´s look at my image results with full exif data:
Since you have that monster resolution of 42 Megapixels you can crop as much as you want out of your images, here are some examples:
Full image
Crop
Full image:
Crops:
And here is a tiny grasshopper shot with the A7rII using the Sigma 24mm 1.4, normally you would need a macro lens to shoot this, but with the A7rII you can crop in so close that it allmost looks like shot with a macro lens:
Full image:
Crop:
Thats really amazing having that kind of resolution to play with, but there is one thing you have to keep in mind: shooting with 42 megapixels is not an easy task, the 5 axis ibis does compensate for shake reduction, but one thing i have noticed is that i missed some shots i would have not missed with the a7II. 42 megapixels don´t forgive anything, i also had the Nikon D800, which was a lot heavier than any a7 camera and with the nikon and its 36 megapixels its even worse.
As you can see the image quality with all lenses is just great, and the FE 50mm 1.8 is no exception, it also gives you enough resolution for 42 megapixels.
Shadow recovery and Dynamic range is amazing on this camera, you definetly get the best of the best here:
CONCLUSION
The A7rII is a complete package with everything a photographer could whish for really and it will do any job. The 42 megapixels are great for landscapes and for cropping. The 4k Video inside is definetly one of the best at the moment with the SLOG flatprofile. Dynamic Range and Shadow recovery is just amazing too. So is it the perfect camera? If speed is not your priority then i would say yes and i can´t hink of any other camera which could give you such a package, but which of course has its price of $ 3.198 in the US. If speed is your priority, also the processing inside the camera, then you should also have a good look at the newly announced A99II, which also has 42 Megapixels, but a LOT faster processing and it can shoot that with unbelievable, crazy 14 FPS! So If you don´t want to adapt lenses and you want such a camera than definetly make shure to have a look at the A99II which you can also get for the same price $ 3.198.
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