SONY α7SII
Review and Photo Examples of the SONY α7SII Mirrorless Digital Camera.
Table of contents
Gallery
- The lenses used in the photo examples were LEICA ELMARIT-R 15mm, LEICA ELMARIT-R 35mm, and Voigtlander COLOR HELIAR 75mm.
Review
α7SII is a 4K video digital camera equipped with Sony’s 12-megapixel CMOS sensor.
As for me, this is my first α series digital camera in 10 years, and the pixel count has been significantly reduced to 12 million pixels, which is about 1/10 of the pixel count of the Hasselblad X2D.
It’s been 8 years since the camera was released, but the used price is about 100,000 yen, the number of shutters is 34,000, and the LCD and exterior are somewhat worn out, but so far there are no problems with operation. It can be used in active duty. Judging from the used price, there is still some residual value left.
α7SIII was released as a successor in 2020, but the list price was quite high at 450,000 yen.
As of 2023, the higher pixel A7R-II has a similar used price, but I bought this camera because I don’t see many examples of Leica R lenses being used with the α7SII.
However, the small and light size of the α7 series, which I often use, is important, and if I set the α7SII to Auto-ISO, the ISO sensitivity increases quickly in dark places. When the display in the viewfinder says ISO 100,000, people who have lived with an ISO of 800 at best can’t help but laugh. In the menu settings, you can set up to ISO 400,000, but I feel that ISO 15,000 is actually acceptable for taking photos.
I chose this 12-megapixel model with the assumption that I would be using an old lens, so I feel like the lens would be sad if it couldn’t withstand the 40-megapixel resolution of the α7RII. That’s why I chose this low-pixel model.
When I took pictures of night scenes, I didn’t know if it was due to the sensor or the lens, but sometimes stray light appeared with strange color separation.
It seems that the problem can be suppressed with firmware improvements, but Sony has a reputation for being cold towards older models.
In the case of this camera, the firmware has been updated to Ver. 3, but this problem does not seem to have been resolved.
However, since this camera does not use genuine Sony lenses, I understand that there is no point in complaining.
I’m glad that I can use the mount adapters I bought when I used to use the α, such as α lenses, M42 lenses, Nikon-F lenses, Leica M lenses, Leica R lenses, and Leica VISO lenses.
I wanted to get a Canon EF mount adapter soon, so I got a cheap VILTROX adapter and tried using it, but the AF is almost useless, so I’m using it for MF lenses.
The battery life is certainly not good, and I can only take about 200 shots with a fully charged NP-FW50 during MF shooting. If the battery is running low, it will become suspicious after about 100 shots, so spare batteries are essential for this camera.
Specification
| Model name | α7S | α7S-II | α7S-III |
| Camera Effective Pixels | 12.2-Megapixels | ← | ← |
| Sensor size | 35mm full size 35.6 x 23.8mm | ← | ← |
| Back LCD Size/Pixels | 3.0 inch 921,000 dots | 3.0 inch 1,230,000 dots | 3.0 inch 1,440,000 dots |
| EVF | Built-in 2.36 million dots | ← | Built-in 9.44 million dots |
| Maximum shutter speed | 1/8000 | ← | ← |
| Silent Shooting (electronic shutter) | ○ | ← | ← |
| Shake reducrtion | × | ○ | ← |
| Battery | NP-FW50 | ← | NP-FZ100 |
| Touch panel | × | ○ | ← |
| WIFI | ○ | ← | ← |
| NFC | ○ | ← | ← |
| AF | Contrast Image phase difference | ← | ← |
| Recorded media | MS-Pro SDXC | ← | ← |
| Release date | 2014.6 | 2015.9 | 2020.10 |
| Size (Grip to monitor) | 127 x 94 x 55 | 127 x 96 x 60 | 129 x 67 x 70 |
| Weight (Body only) | 446 | 584 | 614 |
| Color | Black | ← | ← |
Options
- HVL-F20M(Flash)
- HVL-F28RM(Flash)
- HVL-F46RM(Flash)
- LA Series Mount Adapter
- Accessory Kit
- Strap
- Cases
Reference links
Update history
- 2024.02.28:Update
- 2023.11.30:First draft
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