Another VS. Thread... Making the jump. Help me out

I know, i know. Another vs thread. I am looking for some quick insight on which sony body you guys think would be best suited for me. I currently shoot all canon and shoot weddings. However, after one more wedding that is already booked, i am done with them and moving back to what made me happy in the start with photography and that is automotive and nature photography, more-so taking pictures when i am hiking etc. That being said, I don't want to have $15k or more in camera gear anymore and want to down size substantially.

I was looking at the models and am kind of lost on where they differ for the most part. I have a friend that shoots an A7sII and LOVES it. He literally raves about it. Looking at the specs though (maybe i am being an elitist) it seems to only have 12.2MP which is about half of my 5d3 and 6D's. Do you guys find it does the job for you? Is the A7RII that much better? If you were looking for a new camera to do cars, family portraits on the occasion and nature which would you buy?

I am also thinking about running adapters for my canon lenses. BUT i am thinking that i won't need the 2.8L glass and could possibly downgrade to the F4 versions or even try some new stuff all together. I know the Metabones is a great choice, are you finding this is still the best option?

Thank you a ton in advance, i am going to rent one of these bodies shortly, so i want to make sure i rent the right one.

irishguy0224 wrote in post #17865144
I know, i know. Another vs thread. I am looking for some quick insight on which sony body you guys think would be best suited for me. I currently shoot all canon and shoot weddings. However, after one more wedding that is already booked, i am done with them and moving back to what made me happy in the start with photography and that is automotive and nature photography, more-so taking pictures when i am hiking etc. That being said, I don't want to have $15k or more in camera gear anymore and want to down size substantially.

I was looking at the models and am kind of lost on where they differ for the most part. I have a friend that shoots an A7sII and LOVES it. He literally raves about it. Looking at the specs though (maybe i am being an elitist) it seems to only have 12.2MP which is about half of my 5d3 and 6D's. Do you guys find it does the job for you? Is the A7RII that much better? If you were looking for a new camera to do cars, family portraits on the occasion and nature which would you buy?

I am also thinking about running adapters for my canon lenses. BUT i am thinking that i won't need the 2.8L glass and could possibly downgrade to the F4 versions or even try some new stuff all together. I know the Metabones is a great choice, are you finding this is still the best option?

Thank you a ton in advance, i am going to rent one of these bodies shortly, so i want to make sure i rent the right one.

I shoot an a7S (same sensor as a7Sii) and I adore it. I find that 12mp is more than enough for basically everything. That said, for your uses I think the a7Rii would be worth the extra cash.

The reason I say this is that the AF system is far superior, especially with adapted Canon lenses. The extra resolution could also be useful if you need to crop an image in post or do large format prints.

The advantage of the a7S(ii) is in low light/high ISO performance. The a7S has an advantage when the ISO's get above 25,600, but the gap is narrowed significantly with the a7Rii, it's honestly not that far behind the a7S from what I've seen. I do still think there's something special about the files from a7S cameras, but I also haven't personally shot with an a7Rii, only the original a7R.

Really you can't go wrong with any of the a7 cameras though IMO.

Thanks for the reply. I actually spent some time talking with a friend who shoots weddings with Sony bodies last night. He said that he is thinking the A7R would be more than enough camera for my needs at this point and would save me around $800 more. I know you said you shot the a7r, what were your thoughts of it?

I owned the a7r previously. Great camera but it will be a frustrating experience for you using canon AF lenses with it (think canon live view slow when focussing). Native lenses are ok with it. The advantage of the A7rii is that it can focus canon lenses at almost native speed and there are 399 focus points spread well over the frame.

If you dont need 42MP I would recommend the a7ii ahead of the a7r for your needs as you can still focus canon lenses on that body although the pdaf area is smaller.

Summary -

A7 - one of the originals. No ibis. Slow focus with canon lenses. reports of weak mount.
A7ii - better build, ibis, can focus canon lenses well following a firmware update. 24MP.

A7r - slow focus with canon lenses. No ibis. 36MP. Amazing landscape body.
A7rii - great focus with canon lenses with metabones. Ibis. 42MP. 399 focus points. Amazing high iso. Eye af on native lenses

A7s - amazing high iso. No ibis. 12MP. Contrast detect only. Slow focus with adapted canon lenses.
A7sii - even better high iso. Ibis. 12MP.contrast detect only. Slow focus with adapted canon lenses

(I've not used a a7s or a7sii so someone please correct me if I'm wrong with what I wrote above).

All the bodies are good with native lenses. Although the a7s and a7sii are king of high iso the a7rii isn't far off.

There will be differences between the bodies with video but I dont use it so can't comment

You can definitely get the a7r for cheap right now--picked mine up for $1099 in 9/10 condition from B&H in November. I saw some in E- condition (pretty much the same as 9/10, to my experience) at Adorama for the same price a few days back.

The a7r with adapted lenses is not something I would want to shoot a wedding with, but YMMV. I tried both the Metabones IV for EF and LA-EA4 for A-mount on the a7r and I couldn't get any tracking with either my old EF200 2.8L ii or the Minolta HS 200 2.8 with their respective adapters. You'll have to go to an A7ii, A7rii or A7sii to get near-native AF performance from what I have seen and heard.

If you are willing to go with native FE glass, then maybe the a7r is for you. I am very pleased with the results I've gotten from my a7r and FE55 1.8 combo, which I see as solidly better than my old 6D/S50A combo. Until ISO 3200, anyways when the playing field starts to even and then tilt in favor of the 6D's low light superiority. This is where the a7s, a7sii and a7rii is a big winner over the field.

If I were doing higher-stakes paid work like weddings, and I were shooting Sony, I would likely fork out the extra money for the a7rii.

Edit: Eddie absolutely nailed it in the post above /\/\/\

irishguy0224 wrote in post #17865771
Thanks for the reply. I actually spent some time talking with a friend who shoots weddings with Sony bodies last night. He said that he is thinking the A7R would be more than enough camera for my needs at this point and would save me around $800 more. I know you said you shot the a7r, what were your thoughts of it?

I wouldn't recommend it based on your needs/wants. Here's a review I wrote for mine; https://photography-on-the.net …/showthread.php​?t=1418148

for what you shoot, automotive, nature, hiking, family, the A7r is enough. The AF will be horrible, however focus peaking/zooming makes it easy compared to a dslr, as you do it in viewfinder. The A7rii is substantially better IF you shoot low light, want AF, handheld, and/or want 4K video.

Sony advertises the cameras simply as:

A7ii - Enhanced Stability
A7sii - Increased Sensitivity
A7rii - Ultimate Performance

If you're ok with 24mp, the A7ii is a HELL of a deal. You're paying double for the A7rii for the megapixels and 4K.
If not ok with 24, then the 36mp A7r is good as well, but not having IBIS is painful once you've shot with an IBIS capable camera. I'de lean on an IBIS body before a high megapixel personally. It's incredibly useful and really valuable when doing a lot of handheld stuff like hiking/nature/automoti​ve/portraits.

xpfloyd wrote in post #17865791
Summary -

A7 - one of the originals. No ibis. Slow focus with canon lenses. reports of weak mount.
A7ii - better build, ibis, can focus canon lenses well following a firmware update. 24MP.

A7r - slow focus with canon lenses. No ibis. 36MP. Amazing landscape body.
A7rii - great focus with canon lenses with metabones. Ibis. 42MP. 399 focus points. Amazing high iso. Eye af on native lenses

A7s - amazing high iso. No ibis. 12MP. Contrast detect only. Slow focus with adapted canon lenses.
A7sii - even better high iso. Ibis. 12MP.contrast detect only. Slow focus with adapted canon lenses

(I've not used a a7s or a7sii so someone please correct me if I'm wrong with what I wrote above).

All the bodies are good with native lenses. Although the a7s and a7sii are king of high iso the a7rii isn't far off.

There will be differences between the bodies with video but I dont use it so can't comment

This (or something similar) should be stickied.

OP, why are you wanting to switch to a Sony body instead of just slimming down your current gear?

Wow, thanks for all the replies thus far guys! You all kick ass! The more i think about it the lens situation of it, the more i think i am going to sell my L lenses and go native lenses for the sony. It only seems to make sense. I am thinking the 16-35 and an 85mm.

As for the bodies, i will look into the A7ii and continue to read into the A7r. As stated, i am no longer going to be shooting weddings, so there isn't anymore "high stakes" shooting for me at this point.

As for your Q Nightdiver, i am wanting to go Sony for a few reasons, i have always wanted to try them, i like the smaller body size for day to day use (hiking, car shows etc) and i just have that desire to try something new while i have the chance too. I have loved my canon gear over the years.

Just watched a bunch of video on the A7ii, seems like a great body for sure

irishguy0224 wrote in post #17866060
the more i think i am going to sell my L lenses and go native lenses for the sony. It only seems to make sense. I am thinking the 16-35 and an 85mm.

If you're drawn the "small" factor, you might also look at the FE 55mm or the 28mm. I came over from Canon also, and although my A7Rii spends most of its time nowadays beefed up with the vertical grip and either the Batis 85 or the 135L/Metabones, there's nothing like being able to strip it down, remove the grip, and slap the tiny yet brilliant 55mm on there when going out with the family (and their 28mm is also very compact)

Right on! I think i am leaning pretty heavy on the A7ii at this point after reading about it! I was looking at the grip for them as well, honestly more-so for the battery life which i do hear is lacking on these bodies. Which canon bodies did you come from? I was looking at the 55mm today as well, but christ for almost $1000 it's an expensive little bugger isn't it?

irishguy0224 wrote in post #17866243
Right on! I think i am leaning pretty heavy on the A7ii at this point after reading about it! I was looking at the grip for them as well, honestly more-so for the battery life which i do hear is lacking on these bodies. Which canon bodies did you come from? I was looking at the 55mm today as well, but christ for almost $1000 it's an expensive little bugger isn't it?

There is one forum member selling their copy for $675, and another frequent poster (don't want to mention names because I think he may have decided to either keep it or sell it in a private sale) in the A7 Lounge/A7RII thread who recently had his up for sale at $700 (was a very clean copy!).

I bought mine like-new/open-box for $700. Lots of clean copies of this lens for right at $700 if you shop around! It is a great lens at $1000, but really great at $700.

I came from: 60D/T4i/6D with 17-40L/S50A/135L/200 2.8L lineup.

As far as the battery life goes, you definitely have to be careful compared to the LP-E6-powered Canon bodies. However, if you conserve power you can get 6-700 shots on a battery. Batteries are cheap and small, so no biggie IMO.

I moved from a 6D to an A7ii and can but highly recommend it. I originally purchased it primarily for manual glass - mainly Contax and a Leica 50 R. I bought a Metabones IV adapter on eBay so I could use my canon glass as well, especially my 100L, and I adapted all my Zeiss Contax lenses to Canon EF mount, so all my lenses share a common EF mount. Since the firmware update back in November for the A7ii and the Metabones firmware update that supported it, AF using my canon glass is pretty darn good. I have the 200 Lii, 50 STM, and the 24 IS as well as the 100L and they all work very nicely on this body. The in body IS is a bonus for any glass you can mount on it, and it's smart enough to to work out which system of image stabilisation it uses. I bought 2 extra batteries, so 3 in total, and have never been wanting. So my bag carries a mix of manual and auto glass and the Metabones adapter is always on the body. I haven't bought any native Sony lenses. All my lenses are primes, so I can't comment on zooms. I'm sure the A7Rii or A7Sii are brilliant, but they cost a bomb relatively speaking, and I've never felt wanting with the 24 Mp A7ii, anyway hope that helps, sing out if you have any further queries and enjoy.