to answer a few burning questions I had and wasn’t able to find answers to:
first street snaps in silent mode with the Zeiss 16 35mm f4 OSS
1) is there a raw option for small-raw in full frame mode?
unfortunately there isn’t, the only way to get smaller files is by switching to APSC mode.
2)LA EA3 with 3rd party Alpha lenses: I tried my old Sigma 50mm 1.4 DG HSM and it works flawlessly, af is blazing fast and my copy doens’t need micro adjustment and hits focus every time, at f1.4!
(on the LA EA4 it need +5 micro adjust)
3) The Voigtlander Skopar 25mm f4 snapshot lens does not produce purple edges, this indicates that the A7rii will produce much better results with legacy glass, this is huge, I love the 25mm for paparazzi style portraits and used it frequently with the A7r, which produced a heavy purple cast regardless of aperture setting. Corner sharpness or lack of is of course even more obvious on this sensor 
4) IBIS works like a charm with the Minolta 100-200mm f4.5 and the LA EA4, I love this tiny lens but really missed IS, esp for video clips.
5) The Metal Bayonet/Mount on the body is really tight, a good thing, any 3rd party mf/e-mount adapter I own that will fit the A7s, also fits the A7rII. The older, less precise adapters don’t.
6) Flash/strobe: wireless radio trigger, in full frame mode, the A7rii sync’s properly
up to 1/200 and up to 1/250 in crop mode.
Leave any questions you have about the camera in the comments below and I will get an answer for you!
My first impression? Get one.
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In any situation, af is much better, including backlit portraits
How is the AF for back lit portraits compared to older A7’s?
The inherent drawbacks of silent shutters, rolling shutter and zebras in artificial light at fast shutter speeds. Not a Sony specific problem. Still great to have.
Silent shutter is important for me but I heard there are problems with it in different light conditions.
Well, thats a tough one to answer, the better shutter mechanism is def something to consider and silent mode.
If silent mode is important to you, then yes.
Hello. Forgetting for a second that it has 4K and 42 mega pixel sensor. Would you still choose the a7Rii instead of a7II ?
No noticeable lag, same as on a7s
Interesting read Mike. I’m also hoping to use my Snapshot Skopar on the A7RII, but still a bit on the fence. Hope to be able to play with a camera soon, but still none available where I live. What is the shutter lag like, especially in manual focus mode? Would appreciate your insight on this!
Thanks! I ordered it right away!
Mike, I LOVE that first frame of the hat from behind…the patterns and contrast and tone…LOVELY! I don’t know how you get your gear so fast. I’m still waiting on my Zeiss Batis twins. Then I’ll most likely order the a7rII. But I do have a rental coming tomorrow
The Skopar has inherently soft edges. This sensor produces the best results with rf glass to date. Of course at that resolution it also exposes all the flaws, esp corner softness
Is the corner softness with the Skopar 25mm inherent with the lens? Or is the A7RII still struggling compared to the M cameras?
I will have an answer for you by the end of the day
Hi Mike,
Does this camera deliver clean, noiseless images at 5000iso, specifically in electronic silent shutter mode?
Thanks a lot,
Jonathan Hession
I am using a Meike grip, no wiggle here, enjoy the cam, I love this thing
Looks great! Got mine last week.
As to the grip: Did you notice the different grain pattern on the grip ? It seems to be “shiny”, while the pattern on the camera is rather “matte” (also on your pic). Is it the same with A7 II, or did they change the material on the A7R II ? My new grip is still from a 2014 batch, maybe they will change the pattern in the next batch.
Plus, there seems to be some wiggle even when tightening the screw firmly: The left side (seen from behind camera), can be moved about 1mm when pushing / pulling the camera edge above the grip, especially with a heavier lens attached (FE 90). First generation Alpha 7 grip (VG-C1EM) had a metal bolt on the left edge (seen from behind camera) to avoid this problem, 2nd generation does not have.
I would go with the 100-200mm f4.5, this lens is tiny and extremely lightweight, the only draw back the relatively long min focus distance.
Thanks Mike for answering my question. That’s great. I was worried that I was going to have to manually punch in the focal length every time I change the focal length on the zoom lens. I knew that the camera would compensate for newer A-mount lenses with SSM motors but I wasn’t too sure for older screw driven Sony/Minolta zoom lenses.
I’m not sure how familiar you are with it but between the Minolta 100-200mm f4.5 and the Minolta 70-210mm f4.0 (beercan) which would you pick. I like the size of the Minolta 100-200mm f4.5 but I’m not the biggest fan of the MFD with that lens. I think the Minolta 70-210mm f4.0 is the better lens optically but it’s lot bigger and heavier compared to the Minolta 100-200mm f4.5
Hi Jon! Yes, as long as there is electronic communication btw the lens and the body it will choose and set ibis automatically. You only have to punch in the focal length manually on full manual lenses (not practical for zooms), great stuff, isn’t it?
Hi Mike, I have a question about IBIS on older Minolta/Sony zoom lenses if you don’t mind answering it. Does the camera automatically set IBIS for all focal lengths for the older Minolta/Sony zoom lenses without having to input manually the focal length? I’ve thought of picking of either the Minolta 100-200mm f4.5 or a Minolta 70-210 f4.0 (beercan) for my Sony A7 II since I’m not sure if I want to purchase the Sony FE 70-200 f4.0 OSS. However, I wasn’t too sure if IBIS is automatically set for older screw-motor based Minolta/Sony zoom lenses. Thanks ahead and I look forward to your reply.