Ready to buy the A7R II, coming from Canon, need some help

Hey everyone, so as the title says, I'm sold on the A7R II. After the 5D Mark IV was announced, and I've tested it for the last few days, I'm completely underwhelmed. After reading comments from A7RII owners, I decided to start researching. After hours of youtube scouring, I think I've made up my mind and I'm going to switch to the Sony A7R II.

I just have some quick questions that I'm hoping some of you might be able to help me with

My current setup is a 5D Mark III (I just sold this last week), Sigma 35mm ART, Sigma 85mm, and Canon 70-200mm 2.8L

99% of what I shoot is portraits, and many times it's of kids (ie. uncooperative models, running around, etc.)

Onto the questions

• Can I get away with using my existing lenses with a metabones adapter? I've read some reports saying metabones is buggy and not reliable, but then I've read others that say the latest metabones adapter lets you use canon lenses as if they were native. This is a huge deal for me, as I can't really afford to lose the money/time selling my existing lenses and finding native alternatives.
  
  
• Where is the best place to buy a used Sony A7R II? And what would be a fair price? (obviously this is a bit subjective, but I'd appreciate any feedback)
  
  
• I'm worried that I'll pay a premium to buy the A7RII now (possibly even new if I can't find any good used deals) and then Sony will come out with the A7R III in June next year. For all of you recent Sony converts, are you worried about this as well? I'd just hate to lose a bunch upgrading to the A7RIII if it releases in 9 months. Coming from Canon, I'm definitely not used to having to worry about hardware being replaced so quickly. I see that the A7R came out in October 2013, and the A7R II came out in June 2015. So it appears to be a 2 year cycle currently.
  

Sorry for the late response and you might want to pose your question here:

https://photography-on-the.net …/showthread.php​?t=1430203

You'll be able to adapt your Canon lenses to the a7rII, but the AF performance will not be up to par to your 5DIII. How big of a deal this is depends on what you shoot. For portraiture, provided you're not shooting in low light you should be fine....even with kids running around. Be warned, however, that on the long end of your 70-200, the camera will struggle to find the subject if the camera is extremely de-focused. A relatively easy work-around is to turn the focus ring a bit to pre-focus the lens...once the subject is not severely out of focus, the 70-200 focuses fine.

Since you have the Sigma 35...I'd go with the Sigma MC-11 since it will give you the native AF features (i.e. eye focus) with Sigma ART lenses.

eleazar123 wrote in post #18140954
99% of what I shoot is portraits, and many times it's of kids (ie. uncooperative models, running around, etc.)

Onto the questions

• Can I get away with using my existing lenses with a metabones adapter? I've read some reports saying metabones is buggy and not reliable, but then I've read others that say the latest metabones adapter lets you use canon lenses as if they were native. This is a huge deal for me, as I can't really afford to lose the money/time selling my existing lenses and finding native alternatives.
  
  
• Where is the best place to buy a used Sony A7R II? And what would be a fair price? (obviously this is a bit subjective, but I'd appreciate any feedback)
  
  
• I'm worried that I'll pay a premium to buy the A7RII now (possibly even new if I can't find any good used deals) and then Sony will come out with the A7R III in June next year. For all of you recent Sony converts, are you worried about this as well? I'd just hate to lose a bunch upgrading to the A7RIII if it releases in 9 months. Coming from Canon, I'm definitely not used to having to worry about hardware being replaced so quickly. I see that the A7R came out in October 2013, and the A7R II came out in June 2015. So it appears to be a 2 year cycle currently.
  

Thanks!

"99% of what I shoot is portraits, and many times it's of kids (ie. uncooperative models, running around, etc."

I've made the switch to the a7r2 it is NOT an action camera - Rent this camera for a weekend and test for yourself.
There is no doubt mirrorless is the future, that said most reviews online lie this is not a perfect camera and compared to my old 6d not even close for seamless ergonomic interactions. there is a reason why people are complaining about the menu system it is not logically laid out.

Not sure I would buy this as a used camera one of it's many downsides is the amount of dust the sensor collects. And I am convinced Sony's quality control is all over the board - if someone is selling there's a good chance it's a lemon.

Putting real money into this camera, the r2, when hopefully the r3(a9 - whatever) is months away that's for you and your accountant. I say hopefully because it needs a lot of refinement. I will say jumping to a different brand is a much bigger deal than just the body. I forgot how many little accessories, batteries and knowledge/habits I had with Canon. I am also very much hoping Canon comes out with a quality mirrorless (full frame 4k eos mount, etc.) so I can move back.

Placing a lens adapter then larger lenses on this camera actually make this a noticeably unbalanced system both for your hands and even when mounted on a tripod. This is why Canon should make a mirrorless body, maybe empty space, but with an eos mount.

RENT this camera first!!! don't rely on internet reviews or buddies selling themselves on their purchase.

Yes I do use my A7r2 and appreciate the mirrorless features - I mainly do static objects and when dealing with people I'm filming not capturing "the moment in stills" (Henri Cartier Bresson) I did work as a PJ for many years and can't imagine using this camera in that line of work. Do I like this camera - yes. Would I buy it again - no, but that's only because I can look back this past year (captain hindsight) and see the projects where I did use it, that a certain project was cancelled, and other projects required xlr inputs and were rented for me.

Hmmm. Agree with some of what you just said but with regards to sensor dust I just done my first wet clean since purchase (18 months) so I wouldn't say it's any worse than my canon 5D series bodies were

Edit - mine does just fine keeping up with my unpredictable 3 year old. Would I shoot fast action sports or BIF with it? Hell no

Hey. I'm mostly a Canon shooter and I have attempted to go full mirrorless twice. Once with the A7RII. It didn't work out for me for numerous reasons and I decided to stick with DSLR. Nonetheless I think mirrorless systems are fantastic, have their place and I still have one in my kit on the form of a Fuji X system camera. Very handy. It is entirely possible that the Sony will work for you but the best advice in this thread so far has been try before you buy (if at all possible). For some the transition is easy and for others, impossible. Before you sell off your current gear and jump into something new I would advise giving it a test drive first.

To answer your question about used gear the forums are great places and used gear sellers like Keh are good too. Their entry price is often a little higher but this is mitigated by a warranty, good return policy and they often have rebate coupons. I looked just a day or two ago and there was a site-wide 15% rebate going on.

Thank you all for your responses! You've given me a lot to think about. I think I will try to rent the A7R2 with a Batis 85mm 1.8.

I think if I decide to go with the A7R2, I'll pick up Sigma MC-11 so I can keep my 35ART.

Thanks again everyone!

eleazar123 wrote in post #18146026
Thank you all for your responses! You've given me a lot to think about. I think I will try to rent the A7R2 with a Batis 85mm 1.8.

I think if I decide to go with the A7R2, I'll pick up Sigma MC-11 so I can keep my 35ART.

Thanks again everyone!

Yeah there are some downsides, but the upsides far out weigh them.

eleazar123 wrote in post #18146026
Thank you all for your responses! You've given me a lot to think about. I think I will try to rent the A7R2 with a Batis 85mm 1.8.

I think if I decide to go with the A7R2, I'll pick up Sigma MC-11 so I can keep my 35ART.

Thanks again everyone!

Tough to go wrong with any of this.

If you are getting the adapter anyway, are you considering the new Sigma 85A?

archfotos seems to summarize the situation of the A7RII fairly and objectively.

Metabones lists a series of caveats and exceptions, most of which reflect the range and diversity of EF lenses that people might use. There are also warnings of increased battery usage and of poor continuous AF performance from lenses that aren't designed to be driven in the pattern required for fast contrast-detection AF.

dpreview reports, "we tried out the new (Metabones) firmware on a Smart Adapter IV paired with a few lenses (Canon 35mm F1.4L II, 70-200 F2.8L II, all Sigma Art primes) on a Sony a7R II. Phase-detect functionality appears to be limited to a very small central region, which means excessive hunting with off-center points, or Lock-on and Eye AF (both in AF-C) for non-central subjects. While AF in video is possible, it's slow with significant hunting. At this point, a7/R II and a6300 owners may find this update largely useless (or even counter-productive)"

Thanks guys

mickeyb105 wrote in post #18146204
Tough to go wrong with any of this.

If you are getting the adapter anyway, are you considering the new Sigma 85A?

Holy crap, I didn't realize they released it. No wonder the used value of my other Sigma 85 is so low now lol. I'll have to look at the comparison to the Batis 85. Assuming the sigma adapter makes the lens literally like native (eye af, no extra hunting, etc), that seems like a pretty good alternative. 1.4 on the ART vs 1.8 with the batis. That gives me more to think about for sure.

eleazar123 wrote in post #18146246
Thanks guys

Holy crap, I didn't realize they released it. No wonder the used value of my other Sigma 85 is so low now lol. I'll have to look at the comparison to the Batis 85. Assuming the sigma adapter makes the lens literally like native (eye af, no extra hunting, etc), that seems like a pretty good alternative. 1.4 on the ART vs 1.8 with the batis. That gives me more to think about for sure.

If you go with the a7rII, definitely get the Batis 85. Adapted lenses are nice and very often good enough....but the AF with native lenses is VERY good.

There is a big upside even when using adaptes lenses though, and that's in regards to AF accuracy. Because the AF sensor is built into the image sensor, you don't have the typical MFA issues that plague DSLR systems.....long story short, Canon lenses will focus more accurately on the a7rII than they would on a native Canon DSLR.

i.e., the 50L is notorious for AF issues....but I found it extremely accurate on the a7rII. 50L wide open...could never nail the eyes like this on my 5DIII:

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/EDJB​eR

Wilt wrote in post #18146221
dpreview reports, "we tried out the new (Metabones) firmware on a Smart Adapter IV paired with a few lenses (Canon 35mm F1.4L II, 70-200 F2.8L II, all Sigma Art primes) on a Sony a7R II. Phase-detect functionality appears to be limited to a very small central region, which means excessive hunting with off-center points, or Lock-on and Eye AF (both in AF-C) for non-central subjects. While AF in video is possible, it's slow with significant hunting. At this point, a7/R II and a6300 owners may find this update largely useless (or even counter-productive)"

This is when you use the new native AF mode with the metabones IV. The general consensus is that native mode involves too many trade-offs and most are sticking with the original PDAF only mode....which works fine for most applications. In the original mode, you get PDAF throughout the entire frame.

eleazar123 wrote in post #18146246
Thanks guys

Holy crap, I didn't realize they released it. No wonder the used value of my other Sigma 85 is so low now lol. I'll have to look at the comparison to the Batis 85. Assuming the sigma adapter makes the lens literally like native (eye af, no extra hunting, etc), that seems like a pretty good alternative. 1.4 on the ART vs 1.8 with the batis. That gives me more to think about for sure.

Like I said, it is really hard to go wrong with the assortment of fast 85mm lenses available either natively or adapter.

Mystik610 has run the gauntlet for us here on this sub-forum, putting the Batis 85, 85 GM and 85Lii through its paces and doing very thorough comparisons on the Batis 85 vs 85 GM. Head-up, the two lenses are very close to one another in quality and it is purely user-preference. The 85L on the A7Rii is stunning in its own right, again with Mystik610 doing the honors. A couple of other guys have worked real magic with the same Sigma 85 you own.

There are other posters that have posted fantastic images with the Samyang 85 1.4 and, of course, the 85 OTUS. These two, of course, focus manually.

There certainly are no lack of excellent choices at 85mm for us.

mickeyb105 wrote in post #18146275
Like I said, it is really hard to go wrong with the assortment of fast 85mm lenses available either natively or adapter.

Mystik610 has run the gauntlet for us here on this sub-forum, putting the Batis 85, 85 GM and 85Lii through its paces and doing very thorough comparisons on the Batis 85 vs 85 GM. Head-up, the two lenses are very close to one another in quality and it is purely user-preference. The 85L on the A7Rii is stunning in its own right, again with Mystik610 doing the honors. A couple of other guys have worked real magic with the same Sigma 85 you own.

There are other posters that have posted fantastic images with the Samyang 85 1.4 and, of course, the 85 OTUS. These two, of course, focus manually.

There certainly are no lack of excellent choices at 85mm for us.

Hehe I haven't actually used the 85L on the a7rII since I sold it before the a7rII came out. I did use the both the EF 85L and the FD 85L on the a7r and a7II, but no useable AF from either lenses. I have a lot of love for the way the 50L and 85L render....but eye focus is too hard to pass on so native lenses are always my preference.

The 85 L FD and EF versions have nothing on the GM a total optical beast in comparison.

Either 85's are a good way to test. Biggest issue is that renting is too short a time to really understand the system imo. If you insist on renting, have one of those how to setup the a7rii videos handy. That will save a lot of trouble. The last thing you want to do is dig into the menu when out shooting, any control needs to be quick to access via custom button or FN menu.