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Autumn leaves in a stream, NC, Oct 2020 – Sony A7II, Tamron 28-200mm, f/9, 103mm
In June this year, I mentioned I’d purchased a full-frame camera, a Sony A7II. I haven’t said much about it because what with the pandemic, Bonnie, and my evolving home situation, and a lack of photographic enthusiasm during the summer, the Sony camera ended up placed on a shelf. Well, things run in cycles and some photography enthusiasm is perhaps returning.
First, the new camera is an old camera. Sony first announced the A7II in late 2014 so it’s a 6-year-old design but they’re still available new. Purchasing an old camera new made sense to me since I wanted to move back to a full-frame camera but I didn’t want to “break the bank” doing so. Plus, I wanted to try a brand I hadn’t owned before.
After some use, I’m finding the ergonomics for someone with adult-sized hands are pretty good, better than my smaller Olympus OM-D EM-1 MKII. It’s heavier than the Olympus but not as heavy as my old Nikon D700 or D610 was. The autofocus is fairly good, nearly on par with the Olympus, although I hear the latest Sony A7III is better. As expected, the dynamic range of the larger Sony sensor is much better than the small 4/3 Olympus sensor and it seems there’s probably less noise at higher ISO numbers. The menu system is pretty much a mess but not any more of a mess than what Olympus uses. But if all the custom buttons are set up correctly you don’t have to use the menus often. The A7II did come with a not so terrible 28-70mm f/3.5-5.6 kit lens, but I’m using a newly released Tamron 28-200mm F/2.8-5.6 Di III lens and have been very pleased thus far. It comes mightily close to being an all-in-one lens for my purposes.
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Autumn leaves, NC, Oct 2020 – Sony A7II, Tamron 28-200mm, f/5, 114mm
Autumn leaves, NC, Oct 2020 – Sony A7II, Tamron 28-300mm, f/5, 114mm
I’m enjoying the more readily available shallow depth of field (DOF) a full-frame camera provides. Yes, it can sometimes be a detriment but I like being able to utilize a shallow DOF at will without as much effort as my Olympus OM-D requires.
I’m pleased with both the camera and lens. :-)
Interesting read on your new toy Earl. As much as they say the tools don’t really matter, if it creates a desire to go out and explore, I say that matters. :-) I really don’t know anything about the Sony system, but I’ve read many people who are pleased with them. It’s kinda strange that I when I think of Sony’s brand, I still think of audio and TV’s. Shows I may be showing my being out of step with the latest (even if it is 6 years old!) LOL.
I must say I like both of these scenes very much. Looking forward to seeing more results from this new TV, err, I mean camera.
Yea, until recently I’ve never thought of Sony as being a leading camera manufacturer but they are dominant in the image sensor business, selling to most all the major camera and smartphone brands. A recent estimate has Sony supplying 50% of camera image sensors and 70+% of smartphone camera sensors. Of course, they keep the best sensors for their own cameras. ;-)
I haven’t checked if the A7II has a TV or cable function but it could be somewhere in those overwhelming menu options. Haha!
Glad you like the photos. Have a good weekend!
I think the last Sony product I owned was a VCR, so maybe there is a camera hookup to export to VHS tape? ;-)
Sony was the inventor and promoter of the Betamax video cassette tape system which eventually lost out to the VHS video cassette. So I doubt Sony would build and support output A7II to VHS. ;-)
Wow, on the first image and wow on the second image. I also know very little about the Sony systems but know there are some who swear by them. Full frame would be nice but I’m happy with what I’ve got and don’t have the money to upgrade everything. Glad you are taking the camera for walks again, good exercise for both. A new older camera was a wise choice. In a way I did the same with the purchase of the X-T3 rather than the newer X-T4. Each of them, as a tool, can help me become a better photog, seeing the world with new perspective.
Thanks, Monte, glad you like these photos. I thought as I wrote this we’d taken similar paths in buying our new old cameras. I believe it was a good choice for us both…certainly it was from the financial perspective. ;-) Mark is right about motivation and new “toys.” There is value in that it creates a desire to explore and try new things.
Have a great weekend, and I’m sending positive wishes for snow in the Rockies.
I have used Sony exclusively since they bought out Minolta’s photographic branch. If I recall that was around 2006 and I bought my first Sony branded camera with a Minolta A mount not long after that, so for me, when someone mentions Sony, I will immediately think of cameras before I think of televisions or audio equipment. The Sony Alpha series cameras are popular in Australia, especially for shooting video. In the end though, as Mark suggests, it’s not the camera but what you do with it that matters. After all, have you ever known anyone who had the ability to look at a set of photographs and determine which camera brand or type they were shot with? Still, I imagine you will enjoy the Sony and it’s full-frame sensor. It’s nice having a camera where you don’t have to use a crop-factor to figure out what focal length/aperture you’re actually shooting with :)
I am looking forward to seeing where the newfound motivation and inspiration takes you.
This is the first Sony camera I’ve owned, Cedric. There is now a large and very loyal group of Sony Alpha users here in the U.S., and it does seem very popular with video bloggers and YouTubers. However, Sony was a well-known brand here in the audio and video electronics fields long before entering the digital camera market. Marks comments about thinking first of audio and TVs when hearing the Sony name in the U.S. has history behind it. I’m sure I’ll enjoy using this Sony Alpha, and for me, at this point in my life, it doesn’t matter in the least if it’s not the latest and the greatest. I’ve always been the limiting factor anyway. Haha! Motivation and inspiration comes and goes so we’ll see. Thanks! :-)
Very nice – I like the ‘texture overload’ in that first image. Happy to read that you’re feeling inspired to get out again with the camera. Good light!
Thanks, Alexander. Inspiration has been hard to come by in this difficult year but I’m hoping the future will be brighter. Take care and be well.
I’m a sucker for shallow DOF so the second photo speaks to me. While a crop-sensor camera can give you that look with large-aperture lenses, the cost of those lenses puts you out of the price range that the Sony is in. That makes the Sony a good choice for you now.
I think I’ve come to realize a full-frame camera fits better with how I see things and how I want to capture them in photos. And a good six-year-old camera certainly has more capability than I will need 99% of the time. :-)