Comparing the weight of the sony a7rII with Canon 5dmkII. Not so light after all!

[Adrien Le Falher]

So I'm about to buy a a7rII, for multiple reasons. Being a landscape photographer, picture quality is my number 1 priority, however, since I travel a lot, I'm always happy when my pack gets lighter. So I ran the numbers to see how much I would gain, and I was astonished to see I didn't gain much! About 250g for my set up with 3 lenses. 

I wrote an article here if you're interested: https://adrien-lefalher.squarespace.com/blog/2015/10/9/is-the-sony-a7rii-lighter-than-the-5dmkii-not-really

Anybody having the a7rII really feeling the difference? 250g doesn't feel much to me, especially once it's on your back.

[Guest all8]

You probably need to consider the additional batteries for the A7  

[Adrien Le Falher]

True, and that would make the a7rII even heavier! But in fairness I always have 4 5d batteries with me.

[Gilgenberg]

for me it is not only the weight that counts

 

it is also the smaller body in my hand that feels much more "organic" to me

 

but picture quality is not a problem with the 5d ....isn´t it? i love the color´s from the 5d

 

i would not change your setup..... the 5d is a awesome camera ...isn´t it?

 

and canon lenses are also top of the notch

 

IBIS and 4k and formfactor could be a reason

 

if you looking for less weight and consider to change to A7RII maybe you should go for smaller lenses

 

Leica or voigtländer glass are fantastic and very light and small...also the FE 35mm 2.8  is a fantastic light weight lens or the FE28mm F2 is a great light weight lens

[Adrien Le Falher]

I actually prefer the body of the 5dmkII compared to the sony... I have big hands. I tried the sony grip recently, the handle is ridiculously small!

The 5D is fine, however the resolution is pretty poor... Coming from 4x5, I hate that I can't make very good, big quality prints out of my files, unless I do panoramics. The colors are good though, better than the a7rII from what I saw so far. But it can be corrected. 

 

I also shoot video, and 4k is a big plus for me as well. And I do plan on buying the 28mm f2 indeed. 

 

Still, I hoped I would carry less weight

[Berek]

Unfortunately nothing can be done about physics. Light bends the same no matter what the camera is. Sony have done a good job with the 28 and 35 being small and light but zooms are always going to be a struggle to keep the weight off.

[Fontsman]

Anybody having the a7rII really feeling the difference? 250g doesn't feel much to me, especially once it's on your back.

 

 

Unless your back is bad like mine.

I had 5D2 and 24-70L  plus other L glass and the thing hurt my back.

Dumped it for A7r + FE 35mm.

Craps on the Canon in everything but auto focus and FPS.

Image quality in a different league with no more sh*tty shadow detail.

[alastc]

I went from 5Dm3 to A7S to A7R2, and yes there is a big difference, but it is partly to do with the difference in lens choice.

 

With the Canon, you tend to go for big F2.8 zooms like 24-70F2.8 and 70-200mm. Add a super wide prime like the 14mm and you have a really heavy bag!

 

I keep a 7Dm2 and 70-200mm (and 2x extender) for sports, but for walkabout and landscapes, my pack is much lighter now.

 

I generally have the FE 16-35 and batis 85; or 16-35, FE 55mm and samyang 135.

 

Either of those setups feels about the same as the 5Dm3 with a 24-70F2.8 alone!

 

If Zeiss bring out a 21mm loxia soon, my pack will get even lighter.

 

You could put smaller primes on the Canon, but it honestly didn't feel right there. The smaller prime lenses seem right in the A7s, especially with the manual focus advantages.

 

So if you stick with the same lens setup, you probably won't notice much difference. But if you take advantage of the change, you might come away with a much more back-friendly setup!

[cengell]

Hello all, I have owned all of the A7 series and yes your can feel the weight BUT it's a non factor to me, the A7II & A7rII feel better made and with the IBIS and and other features and if you add a RRS L plate for the body it feels great and better with the battery grip, as I have had the Canon Pro body's and lover the better grip than the 6D & 5D's that I am at home with the A7rII & battery grip when using the Tamron 150-600 handheld or with a mono pod!

 

So to give you feedback, yes it's a bit heaver but with some small lenses options it's a non factor! Also you can just use the 1 Sony battery in the grip to save a few ounces but I would rather use both so changing batteries are much less and saves time.

 

My 2 cents worth.

Christopher

[Golem]

Anybody having the a7rII really feeling the difference? 250g doesn't feel much to me, especially once it's on your back.

 

 

Unless your back is bad like mine.

I had 5D2 and 24-70L  plus other L glass and the thing hurt my back.

Dumped it for A7r + FE 35mm.

Craps on the Canon in everything but auto focus and FPS.

Image quality in a different league with no more sh*tty shadow detail.

Most significantly, you went from the 24-70 to a prime 35.

Nearly all your saving is right there. I usually use a 35/2

on my A7M2, but I tend to use a 40/2.8 on my 5DII. If I

put a midrange zoom on the Sony, then the Canon-with-

pancake becomes the handier friendlier traveler.

 

The A7M2 body is no mini. It's just a reasonable compact

camera body, like the old Nikon FM/FE series. You want

mini you gotta reduce the format to APS or 4/3 and then

you can have much smaller lenses as well.

 

`

[Adrien Le Falher]

To the people that say "change your lenses": I'm a photographer, like most of you, not a gear head, and I don't want gear to influence my photography, except making it more enjoyable. 

 

Trading a 24-70 for a 35mm is all fine, except you loose a lot of what you can do. I do super wides, medium and long pictures, therefore I need the lenses I put on the description, no other way around it. I'm considering the voigtlander 15mm but then I'd have to buy a 35mm and the weight and hassle would be even more. Since it was a comparison, it had to remain fair, and this was the fairest comparison with the lenses available now. 

 

And of course, I'm interested by the a7rII for something else than the weight. Actually, if Canon released a 5d body with all the features the sony has, I wouldn't make the switch!

Speaking of body, has anyone tried a grip that is bigger than the sony one? It felt ridiculously small in my hands...

[Muizen]

I would not compare the Canon 5D versus A7RII with a number of lenses in a camera bag, but compare with lenses often used.
E.g.

Canon 5D with EF 35mm 2.8 total weight 1.167 g (907 + 260)

Sony A7RII with Zeiss 35mm 2.8 total weight 795 g (675 + 120g)

 

Harry

[Adrien Le Falher]

These three lenses are my often used lens, I don't leave for a shooting without it. Once it's in my hands, to be honest I don't mind the weight. It's carrying the whole thing on my back for hours that get me.