Video Field Test: Theron Humphrey and the Sony A7R II

Believe it or not, there are countless people who are shooting without the need for "pro support". I'm a lifelong Canon EOS user, and I've never needed "pro support." As for a D810, that's only 2.7x heavier and double the size of an A7R II, and it still doesn't have such nice things as IBIS or 4K. For those of us who enjoy traveling with lighter, less conspicuous gear, FF DSLR gear such as a D810 is not really the go-to choice. You can carry two A7R II bodies, with batteries, for the weight than a single D810 body, and they'd take up about the same amount of space.

"Two and a half grand" for A7RII? D810 would be great but I will have to buy extended warranty since Nikon QC sucks and then I would still need to buy a video camera since video ___cks again. So yeah it's a very simple choice winner A7RII.

Then... whats this Sony pro services card doing in my wallet? Must not be real.

Sony is the only company bringing something new to the table. What's there to say about Olympus or Panasonic, with their same old same old 16mp sensors? Does Oympus even bother to offer 4K? FUJI are still banging on with with their good ol' 12mp sensor, now 5 years old, that's barely good enough for stills and incapable of video. Samsung have quit for good. And Canon and Nikon are asleep.

Hey to be fair Samsung got a recent article, might not be good news but they got coverage.

When you see Sony on the sidelines of a football game, at a lot of weddings, or anywhere professionals are, you'll know they've made it. So far, not that I've seen.

12 mp sensor... must have missed that one as the current models all have 16MP and next models will face 24MP sensors.

Not exiting for you, but X-Trans makes all up for the lower resolution.

@Photoworks
Why don't get your info right before speaking?
And now all of a sudden. a photo camera is judged based on wether it has 4K video or not. Not just even just video!! Seriously? Who are the DPR audience these days? This is not Engadget or The Verge!

Well, Rich, the photographer (Gene Lower, Google it) for the Arizona Cardinals is using it as his main camera. As far as weddings, it's popping up all over the place, both for video and stills (nice to have something that's versatile!). I don't know why people are so threatened by this camera - it's a piece of gear, and while I own one, I wouldn't hesitate to go back to Canon or switch to Nikon if they would start INNOVATING, instead of just creating cameras with bigger sensors. This was a nice video, although I don't think I would go so far as to call it a review (but that's been done a LOT, so why do another?). Really inspiring and enjoyable to watch!

@RichRMA - There is always a beginning to everything. And the beginning often looks as if nothing is really happening.

I think it's a bit silly to compare the "number of pros currently using..." You have to remember that the number of pros using Canon and Nikon equipment is literally the accumulation of decades of Canon and Nikon systems being in the market, whereas the Sony FF mirrorless system has only been in existence since October 2013. These so-called "mass shifts" do not happen overnight. But as I said earlier, everything has a beginning. And we are at the beginning, as we speak. The writing is on the wall. And you can tell your grandchildren that you were there at the beginning.

@RichRMA - "dump their old system en masse"?!? No. It would be a gradual transition that will take years. There will be a steady attrition of DSLR users over the course of time. That's the natural, realistic course of things. Any expectation that thousands of users are suddenly going to dump their existing system "en masse" is simply foolish and unrealistic. The transition is going to take some time...more time than the transition from film to digital probably; with the film-to-digital transition, you just bought a digital version of your film body. Plus, let's not forget that the Sony FF MILC system was only introduced 2 years ago, and the cameras are still evolving and maturing. In 5 years, I think Sony FF mirrorless bodies will be far more advanced than they are now, and only then will the bodies be truly attractive to a wider swath of pro users. We are still in the very, very, *VERY* early days of this camera system. As I said early, it's only the beginning.

My professors would be so dissapointed in me! :D

But yep...last time I shot film I was using Portra VC 4x5 and I was putting the highlights in one of those "zones" (maybe, IV? I forgot these days) and then pushing the development...or something like that! Been years now

... and digital should be exposed for the highlights, and pushed in post, for LDR displays anyway.

This shift in exposure philosophy or, more to the point, the lack of doing so has, in my opinion, caused a lot of DPs to think that neg film still far surpasses the DR of digital sensors, because of a perceived lower number of stops between midtones and clipping. But really, the two mediums need to be exposed differently. And if anything, almost all tones had lower SNR to boot with negative film, as DXO rather eloquently showed

Log gamma capture is, at least, trying to help videographers expose digital more optimally, by brightening shadows/midtones so much as to essentially encourage underexposure to protect highlights. It's a very interesting topic.

Yes, that's correct, highlights should be hitting close to the right edge. That is exposing for the highlights - I'm not suggesting exposing highlights as middle grey :-P

And for high contrast scenes, like sunrises and sunsets, even when you do get the highlights up against the right, the shadows are black when displayed on our LDR/dim monitors. Doesn't mean they're even really dark shadows per se - these shadows may be visible without any shadow pushing whatsoever on future, bright HDR devices. Recall that the post-processing step is to work around our dim/LDR output devices, as well as for artistic intent.

This is why the argument of 'shadows shouldn't be pushed' is wrong on so many levels - not only does such an argument ignore artistic intent, it also ignores the realities of our limited output devices, and the role the output device plays in the photographic imaging chain.

That's hilarious, because it's so obviously an advert for Stetson hats and vintage Toyota Land Cruisers.

Stetson offered me 15% on my next purchase to wear it.

That's hilarious, because it's so obviously an advert for Prada.

I was given 1% my next purchase of a Prada manbag.

So Barney are you telling me that this Sony is 100% prefect with NO faults or criticisms ?..i watched this for a second time and at no time was an any type of negative comment levied at this camera ....Sony cannot have made a better "informercial "
To me it look just like an advert ...or the only other explanation is total Sony fanboyism
Disclaimer ..i am not anti Sony as i was debating weather to pull the trigger on a A7ii or not

Land Cruiser rules! Loved the vid, the cam and the dog. Funny stetson.

yes if i could not have my old land rovers it will be an old Toyota

Yes, old Land Rovers also rule. Too sad the Defender got out of production.

@dave8, go watch a few of the field test videos on their youtube channel. They are generally a positive impression of what its like to use the camera. Its is apparent they chose cameras that they genuinely like for this type of piece.

I don't think they are intended to be an end-all be-all assessment.

Their list of cons for the a7RII can be found here:

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/sony-alpha-7r-ii/16

It was an advert for Texas.

I was given 100% off my next purchase of a cactus. Also, as the director of this series I would like to point out that while these are not meant to be exhaustive reviews of gear, I literally have zero bad things to say about the a7rii. If I had an extra 3.5k laying around, I would buy it in a heartbeat. This camera is getting a lot of coverage because Sony listened to what people like me wanted and delivered.

Get back to work, Eric. Haven't you got another two videos to edit before thanksgiving?

@davev8 If you want a negative review, wait until they do one on one of your Canon bodies. They'll have plenty to discuss! Your own bias is incredibly obvious.

DAPAL I have no bias i not say any brand so how on earth do you get that?????(please tel us how its so obvious) i own canon, Sony, Nikon, Fuji(dslr &mirrorles). Olympus...very nearly get a Sony A7ii..just recommended a panny GM1/5 to a friend . yes i like canon ..thats my point i can make a list of canon short comings...in fact the camera i have slagged of the most on DPR is the Canon 50D......this vid i liked watching BUT i cannot see it going towards helping any one to make in informed buying decision ..sony will love it so will sony fanboys as it must prove that its is the best camera in the world....ever

Nobody would publish a video just for fun. Glad Sony marketing dept still got some budget to offer dpr ;)

The a7r version 1 is an incredible camera that I really have no qualms with and work with professionally. I don't really see any setbacks or negatives with the improved version. It has everything a camera could ever want to be. Finally content I really enjoyed watching on DP review. Great job.

Well, I hope you shoot it on an awesome camera as well. The first thing I shot with my a7SII was my daily brewing process.

https://vimeo.com/144077089

Nothing, but it has something to do with the series of real world reviews.

We have to see and hold the camera before we can review it...

That is self-evident, Barney ;) And Esstee, a lot of people have a lot of opinions on what Ricoh Imaging (= Pentax) should or should not do, but they have been building very fine DSLRs for years and in contrast to some of their competitors are actually profitable. They've had a looong time to consider this step, and in terms of unique features there are rumours of a hybrid viewfinder (optical with several overlays). Other than that, Pentax has always featured great ergonomics, weather sealing and in-body SR (which also enables tilt-shift simulation, AA-filter simulation, astro-tracing etc.), and the MSRP of its recently released 24-70 f/2.8 ($1,300) is pointing towards a very affordable package. If Pentax can deliver a camera that performs somewhere in between D750 and D810 level for the price of a D750, then quite a few people might be tempted.

@SG:7MkII and D7200 users seem unfazed by this info.

Well said RD.

The A7rII is receiving more coverage on dpreview than any other camera that I can recall. I don't attribute this to any nefarious Sony bias - I'm guessing it's a combination of authentic enthusiasm for the camera in combination with more editorial resources available now vs previous time frames. In terms of proportionality of coverage vs technological advancement things may be a bit off - in reality the A7rII is an incremental upgrade to the A7r, with slightly better resolution and DR, plus the incorporation of technology available in other cameras (IBIS and 4K). Perhaps by dint of all this is being packaged into a single camera is what makes it stand out and worthy of the extensive coverage.

Since the A7R II really is a big deal in terms of camera evolution, this results in the discrete reviews that were seeing now. The first being the stills side and now the video aspect of it.

That said if this feels unfair, then you really need to ask yourself why rather than blaming the reviewers.

Fairness never entered into the equation for me; that connotes a personal perspective on a matter I consider rather dispassionate since we're just talking about inanimate objects. My POV is whether the level of coverage is commensurate with whatever dpreview's strategy/goals are.

If the primary goal is to rightsize coverage vs interest and the site's metrics indicate the majority of visitors are looking for information about the A7rII then that makes sense.

If the primary goal is to be on the leading edge of the camera industry and technology reporting even if that technology is in an expensive body with relatively low volumes but with an eye toward that technology eventually trickling down into lower-end cameras then that makes sense.

If the primary goal is to provide review information for the types of cameras currently searched/purchased most often (esp during the holiday season) then I would venture to guess that the A7rII's coverage relative to other models makes less sense.

The term "fairness" was with respect to the conclusion that comes from bringing new innovations to market. That said, when looking at the current state of the digital camera segment, I'd simply ask "where are the class leading camera's" and leave it at that.

From what I can see, Sony's brute force approach is making waves. And this is precisely why were seeing so much backlash in the comment sections. But the fact remains that no other camera manufacturer has brought anything comparable to the table, and so the conclusion logically follows.

As for the video promo and it's focus, it is identical to the D800 stills and video promo DPR ran back when it was first introduced.