Sony A7RII vs Canon 5DSR with a 24-70II

These are not perfect comparisons - the sun was changing too quickly - but I thought people might like to see the files. There are more on flikr but I made a few exposure mistakes (iso 125 by accident on the A7Rii when it was suppose to be ISO 100 - but please look at the files if you wish)

I tried to take basically the same shot with the same exposure with both cameras - it was not elegant as I had 2 cameras each with a lens on them and I had to keep switching in order to use the 24-70II.

In LR I have done Profile Correction and the default sharpening. I have provided a link to the raw files at the bottom (plus more that are not included because exposure was changing too quickly) - download and go crazy if you wish.

The exposures are close but you are really going to have to download the raws and see if you can find what you want to find as the sun kept shining through.

Not sure what if anything can be learned as the light is changing but for people thinking of either camera these are pretty close.


5DSR

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Thanks for sharing! Did you adjust the shadows at all? There are details under the trees and under the patio that are completely lost in the shadows on the 5DSR image.

thx for raws, will download. That's one hell of a property

mystik610 wrote in post #17665217
Thanks for sharing! Did you adjust the shadows at all? There are details under the trees and under the patio that are completely lost in the shadows on the 5DSR image.

No adjustments.

I wouldn't assume too much until you download the raws and look at the histograms as light was changing a lot.

i played with the 5DSR raw files for a few minutes - you really do a lot with them and make the picture look like whatever you want

Thanks again for the samples Paul

The files coming out of both Cameras look phenomenal, and I really like the colors coming out of the Canon. The files are neck and neck in a lot of the shots, but in the ones where there's a lot of contrast, the a7rII pulls away. I'm not going to play the push the 'push the exposure 5 stops and zoom in to look at noise levels at 100% crop' game, because that's not the way images are intended to be viewed. But even with a natural crop , the a7rII's advantages in terms of DR are apparent. There are details in the shadows that the a7rII are able to render, that are crushed to black on the 5DSR, even when lifting the shadows and pushing the exposure just below the verge of blowing the highlights.

A7rII:

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^Well put Carlo. They're both phenomenal image makers, with the a7R II (or any FF camera with a Sony sensor) being a good deal better in DR.

I struggle with greens with my a7 experience for some reason and the above images give me somewhat of a clue why. I really like the color of the 5DS R image better - especially the greens.

Still I have seen no shortage of great greens from the a7 series from various users. Gene is a green master. I don't even try to do anything with my a7R's greens and they come out looking like radioactive waste or something.

David Arbogast wrote in post #17665652
^Well put Carlo. They're both phenomenal image makers, with the a7R II (or any FF camera with a Sony sensor) being a good deal better in DR.

I struggle with greens with my a7 experience for some reason and the above images give me somewhat of a clue why. I really like the color of the 5DS R image better - especially the greens.

Still I have seen no shortage of great greens from the a7 series from various users. Gene is a green master. I don't even try to do anything with my a7R's greens and they come out looking like radioactive waste or something.

Hah yeah I find that I have to grapple with the greens and yellows with the Sony files.

I've always preferred Canon's color profile over Sony, but the depth/richness of the color coming out of the 5DSR are better than anything I've seen in a Canon body.

wanted to update this thread on Tony N, on his new updated Sony A7Rii video, talks about there being a difference in ISO between the cameras (Canon 5DSR, Nikon 810, Sony A7Rii), he uses the words 'they are all trying to cheat one way or another'

this sort of makes sense as i know when i first looked at the pictures i was surprised that they were as different as they are - i.e. the exposures are more than slightly off given how quickly i tried to take the pictures back to back

so, my guess, using Tony's observations in his video (https://youtu.be/XxxKA​JtBnhA) is that the base ISO of the Sony is lower than iso 100 (the Nikon is ISO 64) and that ISO 100 on the Sony was giving it a slight stop advantage (in the shadows) - and I think this is what we see (slightly)


pretty much everything about Tony's video, as I have been living with the 5DSR and the A7Rii in my bag for the last few days, i agree with:

IBIS - is a huge win for fast primes and low SS
tracking in good light is good with the camera - in bad light it doesn't work
Not quite ready for a wedding shooter because of autofocus (bride would kill you if you missed shots in low light)
tilting bright screen is great in dark rooms for video and manual focus
overall, an amazing camera when you also consider 4K
S35 video mode with a Metabones Speedbooster adapter ($650) with fullframe glass makes the A7Rii equivalent to the Sony A7S for low light video
the batteries are a joke
face detection works but when shooting at wide apertures it focuses on the tip on the noise so you need to use mid or small area over the eye
a joy stick, a la 5D3 or Nikon 810, would really help with this (that said i'm getting better at it)

Tony didn't say it but I will
- my guess is that native FE 24-70 F2.8 & 70-200 F2.8 lenses are really required to make this camera close 'some of' the remaining focus and tracking issues in lower light conditions (even then it might not be 100% wedding ready - but my guess is the A7Riii will definitely be - especially with a bigger battery)