Can A7 II shoot in slow motion / high frame rate?

[MikeWill206]

Hello, My teenage son saved up and bought himself an A7 II for Christmas and we've been trying to figure out how to shoot slow motion / HFR videos on it.   Google shows several sets of instructions, all of which include going into the Camera Settings / Movie/HFR settings menu, but his camera does not have a HFR settings menu.

 

We're pulling our hair out - any suggestions?

 

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[MikeWill206]

Another missing menu option - there doesn't seem to be a way to switch between NTSC and PAL on this camera?   Is that related to not having HFR options?

[FunWithCameras]

I looked it up - the camera seems to support only frame rates from 24 to 60. I don't think it supports slow motion - there's no support for 120, for example.

This is the Help Guide for the camera: https://helpguide.sony.net/ilc/1450/v1/en/index.html

You can see all the supported frame rates and bit rates listed on this page https://helpguide.sony.net/ilc/1450/v1/en/contents/TP0000386498.html for example.

As for the missing PAL / NTSC switch - that seems to be a feature of grey market cameras, where they are made for a particular market, and locked to the format for that market. I think Sony does that so they can sell them at a lower price.

Do you think the camera you have may be grey market?

[MikeWill206]

I'm not sure about grey market, that's the first I've heard of it in terms of cameras; this one came from amazon: Amazon Canada: Sony ILCE7M2K/B A7 II Mirrorless Camera with 28-70mm Lens. SLR, Black, Compact.

 

Would a firmware flash perhaps bring that option back ?

[tadwil]

19 hours ago, MikeWill206 said:

 

 

Would a firmware flash perhaps bring that option back ?

Probably not.  If you have not done so already, go to Sony Canada website and download the Sony A7II Help Guide along with the User Manual for the A7II.  On page 191, there is an explanation as to why some Sony cameras is missing the NTSC/PAL selection in the menu.  It seems it is by design rather than some cameras being grey market cameras that determines whether there is absence or presence of the NTSC/PAL selector in the set up menu.  Unfortunately, yours and my Canadian market A7II's do not have the selector in the set up menu.

@FunWithCameras Australia is a PAL region is it not?  That being so, somewhere on the bottom of your camera there should be a "50i" mark, indicating that your camera(s) are capable of switching PAL/NTSC region as needed.  I don't know if the newer A7xxx models are all capable of PAL/NTSC selection or not but, can you check on your older Alpha bodies if they have "50i" mark on the bottom of the camera?  My A6000 also is missing the PAL/NTSC selector in the set up menu as well.

[FunWithCameras]

57 minutes ago, tadwil said:

Probably not.  If you have not done so already, go to Sony Canada website and download the Sony A7II Help Guide along with the User Manual for the A7II.  On page 191, there is an explanation as to why some Sony cameras is missing the NTSC/PAL selection in the menu.  It seems it is by design rather than some cameras being grey market cameras that determines whether there is absence or presence of the NTSC/PAL selector in the set up menu.  Unfortunately, yours and my Canadian market A7II's do not have the selector in the set up menu.

@FunWithCameras Australia is a PAL region is it not?  That being so, somewhere on the bottom of your camera there should be a "50i" mark, indicating that your camera(s) are capable of switching PAL/NTSC region as needed.  I don't know if the newer A7xxx models are all capable of PAL/NTSC selection or not but, can you check on your older Alpha bodies if they have "50i" mark on the bottom of the camera?  My A6000 also is missing the PAL/NTSC selector in the set up menu as well.

I think you misunderstood what I was saying.

Yes, Sony makes some camera without the switch. Those cameras are intended for particular markets. They leave the switch out so they can sell the cameras at a lower price in that market, and to discourage re-selling those cameras in other markets.

A grey market camera is one not intended for the market in which is being sold by an unscrupulous vendor. That unscrupulous vendor has bought the camera at a lower price, and re-sells it at a higher price (somewhat undercutting the price of a camera intended for the region in which they are selling). A grey market camera may or may not have proper warranty support.

A purchaser, particularly a price-sensitive purchaser, may buy a camera from a grey market seller unintentionally, and end up with unexpected restrictions.

I don't have any older models any more - my oldest model is an A1 now. All my cameras do have the ability to switch between PAL and NTSC, but I've never used it. There is no 50i marking on mine.

[tadwil]

Personally speaking, I think Sony missed the boat on PAL/NTSC switch.  How much could Sony save by intentionally not including a software switch that is readily available in the same model bodies in different regions?  Hopefully, Sony has rectified this oversight and now includes the PAL/NTSC switch in all of the camera line-up (if your newer camera bodies are any indication) or it could be some regulations imposed by the 50hz regions on the 60hz regions to restrict market access.

[Pieter]

10 hours ago, tadwil said:

How much could Sony save by intentionally not including a software switch that is readily available in the same model bodies in different regions?

@FunWithCameras already answered that quite nicely. Apparently, they save enough or the switch would have been in all models. Thing is, some regions have a lower MSRP than others. For the same reason, different regional models only include a select set of languages. Iirc, models intended for the Chinese market for example don't include English, to prevent market undercuts in America/Europe by grey market resellers.

[tadwil]

Yes, I could se the point made by FunWithCameras and reiterated by yourself.