A7R ii confirmed, spec discussion

[LeButler]

This may be a little premature since it was only announced 2 minutes ago, but some preliminary spec observations while we wait for it's arrival:

 

 

42MP should be very competitive with Canon's 50MP sensor in terms of detail, since most reviewers consider that only marginally better than the Nikon D810's 36MP Sony sensor.

 

BSI (Back Side Illumination) improves lowlight performance - great - will no doubt more than offset the higher MP count.

 

IBIS No surprise, genuinely useful and good for marketing if/when they enable a multishot >100MP mode.

 

399-point AF is certainly a headline grabber, double the previous record for any camera. But limited coverage and they only claim it's 40% faster than the slow A7R , so we'll see.

 

ISO 102,000 setting option is quadruple the maximum offered on A7R, one quarter of A7S.

 

Internal 4K video - common/almost essential these days. But extra features like 100Mbps suggest it could be superb for videographers, like the 5mk2 happening all over again.

 

Bionz X - I certainly hope it's an updated/multicore version of the original, because Bionz X has been around for a very long time now.

 

5fps - Slowest in it's class, disappointing despite the 42MP.

 

XGA OVF - Looks like they're pushing this hard, might be one of it's best features.

 

Body - Similar to the rest of the A7 series.

 

Pricepoint >20% less than Canon 5DS but $1000 more than A7R and the same as D810. Sounds rather high for an underdog which does exceed the competition in many - but not all ways.

 

August availability - Feels like a long way away. It better arrive before my September holiday!

 

"Missing": USB3, GPS, dual card slots, bigger battery, 4G.  Why did I include 4G? Because even serious cameras need to be able to operate like cellphones, to cloud save or at least share their output in real time.

 

 

Surprising at least some of this info did not slip out in advance if resellers had the specs on hand ready to post online today. Combined with the complete surprise of the A7ii, you should probably consider almost any future rumours as having been intentional by Sony rather than genuinely leaking out.

 

 

 

SonyAlphaUniverse

 

Sony's A7Rii Youtube playlist

 

DPReview/press release

 

A7R ii on Sony website