Review on 📷 Sony a7R II Full-Frame Mirrorless Camera (Body Only, Black) - ILCE7RM2/B: Unbeatable Quality & Versatility by Aaron Parish

Let me start by saying that I was concerned that the high price of this camera might not be justified by the performance and value. I started shooting with a Nikon APS-C a little over a year ago and was happy, but was keen to switch to a full frame camera. I considered staying with Nikon, but there were so many people raving about this particular camera that I decided to give it a try. After using this camera for a few months I can say that I have no regrets. The Sony A7RII is a wonderful kit that has exceeded my expectations in so many ways. But like everything else, it's certainly not without its flaws. What I love about it: A lot of the features I find useful are the auto white balance, which is impressive (at least when used outdoors), 42MP high resolution, customizable function keys, a full set of watch faces - I'm used to those Dials to use on my Nikon to adjust aperture, shutter speed - nice to have that option on the A7Rii - and extended dynamic range. Since I am also interested in landscape photography, I have to walk a lot. The A7Rii's size and weight are perfect for this purpose. The continuous autofocus is great for situations where I've had to use it before. I've heard from people that it's not great for sports photography, but it works great for my purposes. The manual focus assist and focus peaking have also proven extremely useful. Perhaps one of the most useful features for me is the electronic viewfinder, as it allows me to shoot in low light or with filters attached. What I would like to improve: As I said, the camera is excellent, but by no means perfect, it would be useful if Sony would improve it a bit. EVF / Live View Sensor: Too sensitive. If I want to shoot from the hip, the camera has to be far enough away from me to enable Live View. Also, the image jumps from LV to EVF when I'm composing shots in Live View and my fingers or bracelet get too close to the eyepiece. Not ideal at all. It would be great if Sony also added the ability to turn off LV except when viewing photos. If you disable live view, photo viewing should be via the EVF or by pressing the View (Playback) button. - Read/Write Speed/Buffer Time: Yes, I know the A7Rii writes HUGE files, and those files take time to read and write to the card. Unfortunately, read/write speeds remain the same regardless of image format and size. I've only tested Fine JPG format shots and it still takes too long to write to the card. With all the new high speed cards becoming available it would be great if Sony had software that would take advantage of the faster cards. It also makes viewing images painfully slow. Again, I understand that it takes some time to write images to the card, but the A7Rii does so much more slowly than other cameras. It also makes checking sharpness while browsing very painful, as there's a two-second delay between pressing the button that allows me to zoom in and actually being able to zoom in. Custom Function Buttons: As much as I love customizable function buttons, I'd love to see Sony expand this feature, allowing users to assign functions to buttons from menus other than the shooting menu. Battery life: I've heard many different explanations as to why this camera is so bad, but in the end I think Sony should spend a little more time improving battery life. Users can currently take an average of 300 photos while other cameras take over 1000. I hope this review has helped someone who may have been nervous like me when I was about to buy. Below are a few photos I took with the A7Rii. The first, a cityscape of Los Angeles, was captured with a Batis 18mm f/2.8 and the second, Huntington Beach Pier, was captured with a Sonnar 24-70 f/4. Update 2/8/17: The lack of Sony lenses on sale caused me to change my review, but I'll leave the review as it is as it is my opinion and has nothing to do with the quality of the product. When I bought this camera I did so knowing that the choice of FE lenses was limited. Since mirrorless FF cameras were relatively new, I figured it would be some time before Sony caught up in the lens space. After months of Sony lens releases and third-party A-mount and E-mount (APS-C) lenses, I'm starting to have my doubts. Sony's first FF E-mount camera, the Sony A7 was released over three years ago and the Sony A7RIII is rumored online. I got fed up with the anticipation of the game and bought a Sigma MC-11 adapter which works great. I think if Sony really wants to take its competitive advantage seriously, it has to do something with its lens range. Yes, they have an almost complete range in the GM range, but these lenses are - in some cases - twice the size of Canon and Nikon, but of equal or lower quality, which doesn't justify their price. They have a budget line like the 50mm f/1.8 and now the 85mm f/2.8, but if the 50mm's terrible reviews are any indication, I think I know what to expect from the 85mm . Did you know that Sony FE lenses are limited,” you are probably wondering. And that's a good question. I was seduced by higher resolutions, size/weight and embarrassingly hype. Buyer's remorse? Maybe just a little. "But you can adapt lenses from other manufacturers to the A7RII," you might say. Yes I can and I have. I recently bought a Sigma MC-11 and a Canon 70-200mm adapter and it works great with my A7RII. But then why not take my $3400 and spend it on a Canon 5D MK 4 or Nikon D810, skip the adapter and have a wide range of quality and affordable lenses to choose from? Maybe I should have. I spent less than half on an MS-11 adapter and a certified remanufactured 70-200 than I would have spent on a Sony 70-200 GM. Why am I writing this? I'm writing this because I'm disappointed by Sony's apparent lack of interest in producing reliable, varied and ACCESSIBLE kit for its customers. The A7RII has been sold out for months, which is a clear sign that people are keen to switch to mirrorless cameras. It's a bit like building a revolutionary car with roll-down windows and a single AM/FM radio, and then coming out with a two-DIN navigation system and power windows that are every bit as good as the competition but twice the price . I'm writing this as a point of contention, something to consider before purchasing this camera. So, don't you buy this camera? No, that's not what I mean. What I'm saying is that if you intend to buy one, you should be aware that your options with Sony's own lenses are LIMITED in terms of quantity, quality and availability. I've added this in the hope that it might save someone else the frustration of waiting and hoping that Sony will wake up and work to meet their customers' demands.