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Sony A7R II, Sony Lenses: Reader Comments

Get Sony A7R II at B&H Photo.

Sony A7R II

Comments on recent coverage of my expanding review of the Sony A7R II and related lenses.

Michael writes:

Thank you for being the only one out there for calling it like you see it with the Sony A7RII and the Sony lenses. I am kind of amazed that so many people are not really criticizing this camera for it’s faults and are only lavishing praise upon it. I am sure it is fun to shoot with but there are some very serious issues that you have pointed out.

As a Nikon shooter for many years and a full time pro I have been on the fence about the new Sony offerings and have tested several of the A series cameras. As a sports photographer, I have yet to see one of the A7 series work for my needs, but reading about the decentering issues with Sony lenses you and others have reported on as well as the hampered raw file issues has really curbed a lot of my enthusiasm for these cameras - at least in terms of work.

I want to love them as they have cutting edge features but for my work I need a camera to be reliable all the time every time. Thanks again.

DIGLLOYD: the Sony A7R II body itself has been 100% reliable in operational terms, which is more than I can say for Leica M or Leica S. So some credit is due there.

The only valid metric I can see for lens quality is a sampling on the open market of a statistically valid number of lenses. This I cannot afford in time or money. So I report on what I find, as I figure my odds are the same as those of any other buyer.

There is always some quality variance and I make no claim to the quality statistics. I can only report what I find with what I receive, taking care to rule out the camera body as well as may be. And so far, the 35/1.4 and 90/2.8 have not delivered for me (two samples each). I do have a good 55/1.8 however, as proven on the very demanding mosaic target. I should also note that I do not know if Sony SteadyShot (IBIS) could cause problems on the A7R II: what guarantees plane-parallelism to the sensor, when IBIS is on or off? Could IBIS itself be an issue? I don’t know.

Now in general—

My full camera reviews take time, and I report what I find as I go along. My goal is a balanced view with all the good and bad by the time I finish it. I am disappointed but realistic about the way readers flog one negative or blog post as a single issue that decides all—as if that’s all I had to say about it. Much of what I write is twisted and distorted with dropped context and/or false assumptions (especially by non subscribers who haven’t even read my work). Well, that’s life. Even when I provide balance against a negative, this is misinterpreted. I’m going to keep reporting the way I do—agnostic on brand, merciless to flaws, praising the best, lamenting the mediocre, objective as I can be. Which is to say I am perceived as a hater or fanboy of product X (both wrong), depending on which one is owned by the fan. And to say that I have hit the mark squarely.

Look, here’s how it goes:

Chocolate ice cream is tasty” = “diglloyd hates vanilla and strawberry or chocolate with almonds”.

I have an unbeatable ally: objective reality. A million people claiming the world is flat does not make it so (witness the Sony A7R shutter vibration fiasco). When I make a mistake or an error, I handle that the only way possible: I fix it because there is no other option, not in my world. I can only do my best, which is a much as anyone can do. High States.

I own nearly all these systems and the only thing I wish to see is continual improvement in all of them. That cannot happen by glossing over weak points.

P.S. the above will no doubt be misinterpreted as to motive!

P.P.S: I like the Sony A7R II a lot for its best features, I wish Nikon would make a D820 with the A7R II sensor and EVF, and I wish Ricoh would make a full-frame 42MP Ricoh GR follow-on. And so on.


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