Controls and Handling
Grip
In terms of controls, the a7R II has evolved slightly, compared to the previous version and gains the revised grip and dials that appeared with the a7 II. This is a mixed blessing: everyone in the office prefers the new grip, but it's still not enough to get a full grip around with all your fingers. A vertical grip goes a long way to solving this problem without adding much weight to the already lightweight camera (and gives you double battery life to boot). Yes, we understand that things get heavier with bulky lenses, but it's specifically with the bulky primes I'm holding well extended over my subject that I appreciate any and all weight savings when it comes to the body. And let's face it, some of the new Zeiss FE lenses come in at quite modest weights. A Sony a7R II with vertical grip, two batteries, and Zeiss Batis will give you a very hand-holdable, robust, yet lightweight feel.
Dials
The repositioned and slightly cowled dials are a different story, and split opinion considerably, with some shooters finding them harder to access. The rear thumb dial, in particular, is too recessed, making it hard to turn in that your thumb will often brush past it rather than turning it. And when you do turn it, the 'clicks' and detents are so subtle that you often won't know exactly how many clicks you've turned the dial, which means it's not easy to dial in a specific exposure change of, say, three 1/3 EV shutter speed increments. The larger detents and more substantial clicks of a DSLR like the D810 mean that, despite fewer total increments you can dial in in one full left-to-right swoop with your thumb, you know exactly how much you changed your shutter speed or aperture, without having to check it every time. In other words, you can change exposure with precision, which we struggle to do with the dials on the a7-series cameras.
In fact, almost all the dials and buttons on the a7R II are more or less mushy, particularly the AF/MF toggle, as well as the back dial and its 4-way buttons. You think you've pressed it, when you haven't, or where at least the system didn't register your pressl Or perhaps you think you pressed the DISP (up) button on the 4-way dial, but you actually turned the (ISO) dial upwards as you went to press 'up', and changed your ISO from Auto to 50 and your screen goes dark. This can make for a frustrating experience, especially for landscape photographers wearing even light gloves. Dials, and to an extent buttons, simply need to be done a la Nikon D810-style, or perhaps O-MD E-M5/10 II style.
Button Customization
The Sony a7R II has plenty of customizable buttons, including C1, C2 and C3 on top of the camera. And on the back of the camera: C4, Left, Right, Down, AEL, AF/MF, and the center click wheel button. |
---|
The a7R II offers 10 customizable buttons, assignable to a large set of useful functions. For a body this small, the number of customizable buttons (and dials) is formidable; however, if you're a seasoned shooter or pro, you may find yourself still needing quick access to more options, and you'll be left assigning them to the Fn menu (see below) which is slower to operate. Hence, we wouldn't mind seeing even more customizable buttons on the a7-series cameras, and there's space for a full-fledged dial on the top left shelf of the body. Furthermore, given that the functions we like to access for stills shooting are very different to those we tend to use during video shooting, it behooves the camera to offer discrete button customization for stills vs. video. Perhaps a switch between two custom setups, a la Olympus.
And though Sony has recently become quite good at making most options assignable, some things like movie and crop options, amongst others, remain unassignable to the Fn menu. Below we list out all of the possible assignable options for the buttons, as well as the control wheel on the back of the camera.
Key | Available functions |
|
---|---|---|
Back control wheel | • Aperture |
|
C1, C2, C3, C4 Left, Right, Down* Center button AEL button AF/MF button Focus Hold button |
• Standard (center button only) |
• [Spot] AEL hold* • [Spot] AEL toggle • FEL Lock hold* • FEL Lock toggle • FEL Lock/AEL hold* • FEL Lock/AEL tggle. • AF/MF Control Hold* • AF/MF Ctrl Toggle • Center Lock-on AF • Eye AF* • AF On* • Focus Hold* • Aperture Preview* • Shot. Result Preview* • Bright Monitoring • Zoom • Focus Magnifier • Deactivate Monitor • MOVIE • Zebra • Grid Line • [Movie] Marker Disp. Sel. • Audio Level Display • Peaking Level • Peaking Color • [Stills] Silent Shooting • Finder/Monitor Sel. • Send to Smartphone • Download Appli. • Application List • Monitor Brightness • TC/UB Disp. Switch • Not Set |
*'Hold' functions, and all other functions that require the button to be held down, cannot be assigned to the left, right or down buttons of the four-way controller.
Menus and Fn menu
Sony's full menu system, accessed by pressing the 'Menu' button on the back of the camera, is frankly a disorganized mess. For example, 22 AF options are split across 11 different submenu pages under 2 different main menu headers. The lack of organization is inexplicable, but what makes it even worse is the lack of a customizable 'My Menu', which would at least have allowed user to collate all frequently used menu options under customizable tabs. It's silly that I have to go to the second line of the fifth page of the sixth tab simply to format my memory card, something you might (and should) often do.
Thankfully, pressing the Fn button brings up the 'Function' or 'Fn' menu on the main display which is customizable, offering a nice, quick way to access most settings. The 4-way controller allows you to select a menu option, and turning the back (or front) dial scrolls through options within a setting. Only problem is: not all Menu items are assignable to this menu (e.g. movie or crop mode, monitor brightness, etc.), meaning that if these items aren't assignable to buttons, or if you simply don't wish to assign them to a button, you're still forced to access the disorienting full menu system. That would be fine if we could collate said items under a 'My Menu', but we can't. Below we list out the options assignable to the Fn menu.
Assignable to the Fn menu: | ||
---|---|---|
• Drive Mode • Selftime during Brkt • Flash Mode • Flash Comp. • Focus Mode • Focus Area • Exposure Comp. • ISO • ISO AUTO Min. SS • Metering Mode • White Balance • DRO/Auto HDR |
• Creative Style • Shoot Mode • Picture Effect • Picture Profile • Center Lock-on AF • Smile/Face Detect. • [Stills] Soft Skin Effect • [Stills] Auto Obj. Framing • [Stills] Image Size • [Stills] Aspect Ratio • [Stills] Quality • SteadyShot |
• SteadyShot Adjust. • SteadyS. Focal Len. • Audio Rec Level • Zebra • Grid Line • [Movie] Marker Display • Audio Level Display • Peaking Level • Peaking Color • [Stills] Silent Shooting • Not Set |
Auto ISO
Auto ISO functionality in the a7R II has been much improved over the original a7 cameras, and currently, along with Nikon and a select couple of Canon DSLRs, represents a 'best practice' Auto ISO implementation. Auto ISO is highly programmable, and in Manual mode, exposure compensation can be used to bias the algorithm. This means that in M mode, ISO can be solely thought of as a bias-able image brightening parameter.
When setting Auto ISO, users can pick a minimum and maximum ISO for the camera to work with (in 1 EV steps). The lowest minimum is ISO 100 and and the highest maximum is ISO 102,400. When shooting in Aperture Priority, with Auto ISO switched on, the camera will opt for a shutter speed that is near or about the equiv. of one over the focal length. This is the case unless you are shooting a wide to normal lens, in which case, the a7R II will try to maintain a minimum shutter speed of at least 1/60 sec.
You can also set a custom minimum shutter speed for the camera to work with, and we prefer to assign this function ('ISO AUTO Min. SS') to a dedicated button or Fn menu item for quick access. You can choose a shutter speed ranging from 30" to 1/8000 sec, in 1 stop increments. You can also have the camera automatically choose a minimum shutter speed based on the following options: Slower, Slow, Standard, Fast and Faster. 'Standard' follows the 1/focal length rule, with faster and slower options biasing this speed by 1 stop in the appropriate directions. And because the a7R II tries to maintain a minimum shutter speed of 1/60s regardless of focal length, 1/15 sec is the slowest the 'Slower' option will allow.
568 I own it 1078 I want it 109 I had it Discuss in the forums |
Sony a7R II Full-Frame Mirrorless Interchangeable Lens Camera, Body Only... | $3,198.00 |
Sony a7R II Full-Frame Mirrorless Interchangeable Lens Camera, Body Only... | $3,198.00 |
Sony Alpha a7II Mirrorless Digital Camera - Body Only | $1,698.00 |
Sony a7R Full-Frame Mirrorless Digital Camera - Body Only | $1,898.00 |
Sony a7 Full-Frame Mirrorless Digital Camera with 28-70mm Lens | $1,298.00 |
Sony Alpha a7IIK Mirrorless Digital Camera with 28-70mm Lens | $1,998.00 |
Sony Alpha A7R II 4K Wi-Fi Digital Camera Body with FE 24-240mm Lens + 64GB Card + Battery + Charger + Case + Flash + LED + Tripod + Kit | $4,099.95 |
Sony Alpha a7R II Mirrorless Digital Camera w Sony FE 35mm F1.4 Lens Bundle | $4,796.00 |
Sony a7 Full-Frame Mirrorless Digital Camera - Body Only | $998.00 |
Sony ILCE7M2/B ILCE7 Mii ILCE7M2/B Mark II Alpha a7II Camera (Body) w/ Sony SEL35F28Z 35mm F2.8 Sonnar T* FE ZA Full Frame Prime Lens, Deluxe Kit 64GB | $2,499.99 |
Sony Alpha A7 Digital Camera & 28-70mm FE OSS Lens (Black) with FE 70-200mm OSS Lens + 64GB Card + Battery + Charger + Case + Flash + Filters + Kit | $2,799.95 |
Sony Soft Carrying Case for Alpha a7 II, a7R II, & a7S II Mirrorless Digital Camera and Select Lenses | $149.99 | |
Sony Alpha a7R II Mirrorless Digital Camera a7RII | $3199.99 |
|
Connect with dpreview
|
Comments