Sony A7r II – Buffer Test with compressed and uncompressed RAW

Sony A7rII firmware 2.0 is out (Download here for Windows or Mac). I checked the first tests done by the community and so far that’s what people noticed when shooting uncompressed RAW images:

1) You get 80+ megabyte files
2) Buffer size is much less (You can shoot around 10 frames of RAW until you reach the limit on a fast card).
3) Image quality difference is only visible in extreme conditions (when you push files at +5EV). Artifacts in high contrast situation are gone.

More test links:
Sony A7R II Uncompressed RAW with Adobe DNG Converter (Photographylife).
Sony a7r II uncompressed raw file support in Camera Raw and Lightroom (Adobe).
First impression by Ricky Ban.
Bulletproof Guide to firmware upgrade by Brian Smith.
First comment by Diglloyd.
Comments on SonyAlphaForum.

For German readers -> [shoplink 41753 ebay]Batis 85mm in Stock at Foto Siegl eBay[/shoplink].

A7rII store list:
In USA at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, SonyStore US, FocusCamera, Uniquephoto.
In Europe at Amazon DE, Amazon UK, Wex UK and ParkCameras.
In Asia at Digitalrev, CameraPro.

The new Nissin Di700A & Air 1 wireless TTL flash for Sony

I used the great wireless i-TTL flash for many years with my Nikon DSLRs and after switching to Sony some time ago I was missing this wireless TTL flash most.
Many weeks ago I read about the new Nissin flashes here at SAR and tried to order them. Many dealers offered the flash and some the commander Air1 too, but no one could deliver! I had to wait several weeks, till I got the kit set and one extra flash unit.

I want to mention, that I payed for the gear and do this post for the readers of SAR!
you find the following pictures here in my flickr album

Here is what I got.

The camera is the A7RII with the Zeiss Batis 2/25mm. The Air 1 commander is mounted on the camera, the two flashes are mounted on the included stands and you can see the box with the batteries. Nissin offers extra battery holders for a fast replacement of batteries during shooting. They also offer extra power boosters. If you want more info go to the Nissin homepage.

The A7RII with the Zeiss Otus 1.4/85 and the Nissin Di700A (do some exercises
for you arm befor you start shooting :-) )

I would like to share with you how I used the flashes.

Let’s start with a typical setup for a portrait.

One flash simply bounced against the white wall and ceiling.

Sony A7RII with Zeiss Makro-Planar 2/100@f/5.6

And one flash with a silver umbrella reflector

Sony A7RII with Zeiss Otus 1.4/85@ f/4

Next is a test with the use of HSS (high-speed synchronization)

This HSS also works with the A7R and even with the NEX-6!!

A7RII with Otus 1.4/85@ f/4 and 1/640. One flash and umbrella reflector.

I reduced the exposure of the background by -3 EV. With shorter exposure times you can of course eliminate the ambient light completely.

the same situation with automatic exposure without flash, f/4

Macro

Sony A7RII with Zeiss Makro-Planar 2/100 ZE@ f/11,

one remote flash outdoor

Sony A7RII with Micro Nikkor PC 85mm/2.8
light tent, two flashes left and right

Stills

Sony A7RII with Zeiss Makro-Planar 2/100@ f/11 light tent, two flashes left and right

Same set up, the exposures with white object and black object are both perfect!

Architecture

All with Sony A7RII and Zeiss Batis 2/25mm@ f/2.5, 1/250, ISO 100 first without flash

Two flashes in front of the building, same camera and lens, same time

Again two flashes positioned next to the camera, f/2.0, same time, distance to the building about 40m!

and last but not least

Digitizing with Sony A7RII for slide/film

copy slides and negatives with 5.300 DPI, exposure controlled with TTL

The set up:
this is a normal bellows, in this case for Nikon, with a slide duplicator adapter. The lens is a Leica Focotar 4.5/50mm enlarger lens. You will get enlarger lenses for very good prices now. It is set on f/11. Or look for “Slide Duplicator”, I just saw one for 87$ including the bellows.

There are not many scanners, that can do it and with this set up you need only seconds per “scan”, no scanner is that fast. For 6 negatives you need about 20 seconds, every image ist perfectly exposed.

To protect the lens against the flash, I put some dark paper over the lens and the slide holder. Not used here for better demonstrating the set up.

What I like:
the price
the menu system
wireless radio (tested up to 30m, may be more), not IR
zoom reflector from 24-200mm and 16mm
three groups of multiple flashes
individual remote control of exposure and zoom reflector for every group
remote control of TTL with/without HSS or manual exposure from 1/1 to 1/128

What I don’t like
—

I hope, these infos are helpful for you

regards

dierk

https://www.flickr.com/photos/dierktopp/

Jordan and Chris from TheCameraStoreTV just published their Sony A7S II Hands-On Field Test made in New York. And Newsshooter tested the Sony a7S II vs the original.
Cameralabs posted three new A7sII videos:
Standard style: https://vimeo.com/142411589
S-Log 3: https://vimeo.com/142412840
Cinematic Grade – S-Log 3: https://vimeo.com/142474695
In progress review at CameraLabs.
A7sII test by Brian Smith.

d-pixx.de posted a 1. test of the Sony A7S II with a series of pics taken at all ISO-settings and in a second post we show 19 full-size-shots taken at the event in Munic.
http://www.d-pixx.de/2015/10/sony-a7s-ii-erster-test/
http://www.d-pixx.de/2015/10/sony-a7s-ii-praxisbilder/

Sony A7s Mark II: First Images by Three Blind Men and An Elephant Productions.

Brad: “Wanted to share with you an unboxing video I just did of the new Sony A7s ii. I run LStopMedia.com and we received our copy a bit after noon central time today in Chicago. I captured the unboxing using the Sony a7r ii, at 4K, 30p using the Zeiss 24-70, with audio captured using the rodelink wireless system connected into the xlr-k2m. It just uploaded and is still processing, so the 4K may not be available yet. Please feel free to share and spread this video around if interested. Let me know if you have any comments or questions. http://youtu.be/-0UaeU-QWW4“

The new Sony A7sII is now shipping in USA at Amazon, BHphoto, FocusCamera, Adorama. And in Europe/Asia at ParkCameras, WexUK, Jessops and Digitalrev.

And Samy’s Camera Los Angeles is having a free event for the Sony A7SII launch! Just sign up using the link below! Learn how to take your 4K footage to the next level! Also, take advantage of the Trade Up Program!

Christian Dandyk posted that great image of all five Zeiss designed FE lenses.

You can now preorder the new Loxia 21mm FE lens at BHphoto (Click here) and Adorama (Click here). In Europe at WexUK (Click here).

And we also have two new Loxia 21mm lens reviews:

Colin Peddle at Petapixel reviewed the Loxia 21mm lens

When I first mounted the Zeiss Loxia 21mm f/2.8 and began taking pictures, my initial thought was “uh oh, bend over and prepare the credit card” — and this feeling latest for about two hours. After which my fingers began to strain — just a little — from focusing manually on the smooth knurling of the lens’ barrel. Furthermore, the aforementioned difficulty I’d been experiencing when changing aperture hadn’t gone away.
As I write this I’m talking myself into dealing with the slippery focus ring and only shooting at f/2.8 because well, its tack sharp wide open anyway. Slippery grip aside, I think I’ve just convinced myself. Now if I could only convince the bank account.

Diglloyd writes:

The ZEISS Loxia 2.8/21 is marvelous for Sony mirrorless, indeed it should be considered essential for any serious shooter. It trounces the Sony 16-35mm f/4 in sharpness, and is a full stop faster, more compact, just a gem on the camera. At least for me, mastering one focal length is far better than jack of all trades zooms; I always make better images with fixed focal length lenses, which do not allow foot-dragging laziness by zooming instead. I felt frustrated having to return the test lens to ZEISS, knowing I would be deprived of it until my own sample arrives from the first production run.

Loxia 21mm FE lens at BHphoto (Click here) and Adorama (Click here). In Europe at WexUK (Click here).

The A7sII construction (ePhotozine).

The A7sII has been officially presented to the press yesterday. And the camera will ship worldwide tomorrow: In USA at Amazon, BHphoto, FocusCamera, Adorama, in Europe at WexUK, Jessops and in Asia soon at Digitalrev.

New tests:
Hands-on and image samples at ePhotozine.
The Spanish DSLRmagazine posted full size A7sII image samples you can download to pixel peep on your computer.
Brian Smith hands-on review

Something strange: In many European countries like Germany there is no(!) A7sII preorder option in any store. Not a good job from Sony :(

Today Sony had various press meetings to present the new Sony A7sII to journalists and reviewers. The camera will official after tomorrow (Source Amazon). And now the first reviews and image samples are being posted:

Marc Galer (Click here) posted the very first Sony A7sII review! The conclusion is:

For an average enthusiast and Pro Photographer who shoots predominantly stills, the lack of Phase Detection AF on the A7SII makes the A7RII a better option for stills shooters and single operators shooting video in reasonable levels of ambient illumination.
Another factor photographers (attracted by the prospect of being able to shoot 4K straight to the memory card) should take into account before making the jump to the A7SII (or the 4K recording of the A7RII) is to be aware of the computer processing power required to edit 4K footage, e.g. a Macbook Air is not really up to the task as you cannot easily review footage in real time in software such as Adobe Premiere Pro when using an i7 dual core processor and 8 GB or RAM). A photographer must also take into account the storage requirements of large amounts of 4K footage. If, however, you aim to make the A7S your primary camera for shooting pro-grade movie clips then you will never begrudge shelling out the dollars for this camera – you could in fact buy six of these cameras for the price of a Canon C300 MKII.

Tony Northup posted a video review.
Brian Smith also posted his A7sII review.
Image Gallery by Imaging Resource.
ThePhoBlographer posted a set of image samples.
Image samples at ePhotozine.

Sony A7sII preorders at Amazon, BHphoto, FocusCamera, Adorama and in Europe at WexUK. In Asia soon at Digitalrev.