TOKYO, JAPAN- Sony Corporation (NASDAQ: SNE) Sony has once more managed to surprise us with the Sony Alpha 7s II, a mirrorless full frame shooter, which just like the original Alpha A7s, maintains the same 409,600 ISO setting.
What’s best with the Alpha 7s II – comparing with the previous model that needed an external recorder for Ultra HD videos – is that it has internal 4K recording at 24 of 30 fps.
Thanks to the full frame sensor, no pixel binning happens at either 4K or 1080p resolutions.
Furthermore, the new Alpha 7s II shooter preserves the same high ISO light sensitivity, which makes it possible to capture images in almost total darkness and at the same time it uses the same 12-megapixel sensor as its predecessor.
Not sold yet? Shooting 1080p video at 120fps with a full readout is a feature that Sony added for the first time in the Alpha A7 series.
It also introduced a new shooting mode called S-Log3, which uses up to 14-stop of dynamic range, meaning better images can be captured in a wider variety of lighting conditions making it comparable to other shooters like the Arri Amira.
In addition to all the features mentioned above, the autofocus system uses 169 AF points, hence making the camera’s autofocus ability pretty quick and extremely accurate.
Now on the downside, a UHS Speed Class 3 SD memory card is necessary, as video is recorded in Sony’s XAVC format at up to 100Mbps and it’s limited to 8 bits
Another feature that Sony has added to the Alpha 7s II – even though it’s not a new one, since we’ve also seen it on the Alpha 7 II and Alpha R II – is the 5-axis stabilization which lets you take photos with less jitter at night or with long, telephoto lenses.
There’s also a new OLED electronic viewfinder with 0.78x magnification that should make it easier focusing at night as well.
And ending with the price, we have to say, this is not a common shooter suited for everyone. Financially wise only, it would be far wiser for amateurs to follow their hobby with a much more affordable camera. This one costs €3,400 only for the body, which is approximately €1,000 more than the Alpha 7s.
Nevertheless, if you prefer taking still photos than recording 4K videos, then you might want to consider the Alpha 7r II.
“Another feature that Sony has added to the Alpha 7s II – even though it’s not a new one, since we’ve also seen it on the Alpha 7s – is the 5-axis stabilization which lets you take photos with less jitter at night or with long, telephoto lenses.”
“since we’ve also seen it on the Alpha 7s” probably should read “since we’ve also seen it on the Alpha 7 II and Alpha R II” Definitely not on the Alpha 7S!!
Hello,
Thanks for pointing out the mistake, I take full responsibility. We corrected it.
– Orestes Papanastassiou, editor-in-chief of Technology News Extra