All About the Gear

Sony a7S II

11.16.2015 - By This Week in PhotoPlay

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The Sony a7S II is the second high-ISO “S” model and the sixth overall in the company’s a7 line of full-frame mirrorless cameras. It shares the improved body with the other “mark II” models (better weather resistance, in-body image stabilization, enhanced controls and a new electronic viewfinder) and uses the same 12MP sensor as the previous A7s. With a maximum ISO of 409,600, it’s very usable at ISO 25,600 and in some cases to 102,400.

The autofocus is still contrast-only (no phase-detection points), and while Sony claims it’s improved over the original model due to better processing, Gordon says it’s still not his first choice for sports or other action-photography uses. He says the killer app for this camera, however, is 4K video, which the camera can now record to an SD card rather than only to an external device. Between the low noise (high ISO) large pixels — 4K video is only about 8 megapixels anyway — and image stabilization, this is a great platform for 4K video or slow-motion 1080p.

On the other hand, Doug received an a7S II on day one and immediately returned it for an a7R II. Listen or watch to learn why!

Read Gordon’s detailed review on CameraLabs.com.

Buy the Sony a7S II from Amazon US, B&H; or Adorama.

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