This is a fantastic camera and I've been through plenty of cameras. This is the one I'll be keeping. A little history... My first DSLR (9ish years ago) was a Nikon D40. I quickly outgrew that and bought a D90. After I while I wanted more. I got myself a D700 and that was a fantastic camera. At some point I got sick of the weight of heavy cameras and lenses. I sold all of my Nikon gear and bought a Sony Nex7. I loved the light weight...but I was never happy with the image quality. Sooo...back to Nikon. Bought a D7100 and a bunch of lenses. I took a trip to Italy and midway through the trip decided that I needed to look at other options. Once again I was sick of carrying around all that weight. I planned to sell my Nikon stuff (again) and look back at the mirrorless options. I never got the chance because my camera bag was stolen on the way to Milan. Once I got home I started investigating my options. I tried an Olympus E-M1 but that didn't suit me. It's a nice camera but just wasn't up to the standard in image quality that I was used to. Next, I tried the Fuji X-T1. That is a beautiful machine. I would've been happy with it...If I hadn't also tried out the Sony a7. I was happier with the image quality from the Sony, but happier with the feel of the Fuji camera. In the end, image quality won and I kept the Sony. For my type of photography (landscapes, portraits) the Sony fit me very well. The autofocus was acceptable, but not great. But with my kind of work this isn't that big a deal. But I was never happy with the quality of the actual camera body. Just felt a little cheap. Then the a7ii was announced and I decided to trade up. While the camera is a bit heavier, the trade off of AMAZING handling makes it well worth it. The camera oozes quality and feels much nicer to hold than any other mirrorless camera I have tried. The in-body image stabilization is also great. I can handhold with the 55 1.8 at 1/4 second pretty consistently. I can get good images slower that that too, but they are more hit-or-miss. Still, the fact that I CAN get clear images at 1 second is insane. Autofocus is also noticeably better than on the a7. It's not in the same league as a Nikon DSLR like my old D7100, but for me that's not a big deal. If I were shooting sports then the Sony would be out...simple as that.
For me, this is pretty much the perfect camera. I'm using it with the FE 55mm f1.8 and FE 16-35mm f4. I also have a Rokinon 85mm f1.4 (replaced my Nikon 85 1.4G that was stolen) and I just ordered a Canon FD 135mm f2.0 for portraits. That pretty much covers all my needs. Very very happy with this camera.
Oh, I also got a Nissin i40 flash for Christmas and it is a great match with this camera when you need it. It's remarkably powerful for its size and doesn't look ridiculous on the a7ii.
There is a newer model of this item:
Sony a7 III ILCE7M3/B Full-Frame Mirrorless Interchangeable-Lens Camera with 3-Inch LCD, Body Only,Base Configuration,Black
$1,498.00
(1,365)
Only 15 left in stock - order soon.
$1,498.00
(1,365)
Only 15 left in stock - order soon.
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This Item  Sony Alpha 7 II E-mount interchangeable lens mirrorless camera with full frame sensor |  |  |  |  |  | |
| Price | $569.00 | -8% $2,298.00 List: $2,499.99 | -13% $698.00 List: $799.99 | $948.99 | $1,233.10 | -17% $1,498.00 List: $1,799.99 |
| Delivery | Get it Jun 6 - 10 | Get it as soon as Friday, Jun 7 | Get it as soon as Wednesday, Jun 5 | — | Get it Jun 12 - 21 | Get it as soon as Friday, Jun 7 |
| Customer Ratings | ||||||
| Picture quality | ||||||
| Image stabilization | ||||||
| Auto focus | ||||||
| For landscape photography | ||||||
| Battery life | ||||||
| Sold By | District Camera and Imaging | Amazon.com | AVC Photo Store & Studio | Minty Gadgets (we track serial numbers) | BuyDirect & Save!!! | Amazon.com |
| display type | LCD | LCD | LCD | LCD | LCD | LCD |
| display size | 3 inches | 3 inches | 3 inches | 3 inches | 3 inches | 3 inches |
| lens type | interchangeable | Wide Angle | zoom | — | Other | Zoom |
| zoom type | Digital Zoom | — | — | — | Digital Zoom | optical |
| shooting modes | AUTO, programmed AE, aperture priority, shutter-speed priority, manual, movie, sweep panorama, scene selection | Auto, Programmed, Aperture, Shutter speed, Manual, Movie | Auto, scene, and P, S, A, and M | Movie | Landscape; portrait mode; macro; night portrait; night scene; sports mode; sunset; handheld twilight; anti-motion blur | AUTO (iAuto), Programmed AE (P), Aperture priority (A), Shutter-speed priority (S), Manual (M), Movie modes |
| connectivity tech | NFC, HDMI, USB | HDMI, USB | Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, USB | — | NFC, HDMI, USB | NFC, HDMI |
From the manufacturer
 SEL-2470Z |  SEL-1635Z |  SEL-70200G |  SEL-55F18Z |  SEL-85F18 |  SEL-50F18F | |
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Customer Reviews
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292
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250
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263
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459
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629
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Price
| $698.00 | $998.00 | $1,098.00 | $898.00 | $548.00 | — |
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E mount Lens
| FE 24-70 mm F4 ZA OSS | FE 16–35 mm F4 ZA OSS | FE 70-200 mm F4 G OSS | Sonnar T* FE 55 mm F1.8 ZA | FE 85mm F1.8 | E 50 mm F1.8 OSS |
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Body compatibility
| E-mount series | E-mount series | E-mount series | E-mount series | E-mount series | E-mount series |
|
Minimum focus distance
| 1.32 ft (0.4 m) | 0.92 ft (0.28 m) | 3.15 ft | 1.64 ft (0.5 m) | 2.63 ft (0.8 m) | 1.28 ft (0.39 m) |
|
Maximum magnification ratio(x)
| 0.20 x | 0.19 x | 0.25 x | 0.14 x | 0.13 x | 0.16 x |
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Filter diameter (mm)
| 67 mm | 72 mm | 77 mm | 49 mm | 67 mm | 49 mm |
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Weight
| 15.1 oz (426 g) | 18.3 oz (518 g) | 52.21 oz | 10 oz (281 g) | 13.1 oz (371 g) | 7.2 oz (202 g) |
 NP-FW50 |  BC-TRW |  ECM-XYST1M |  ECM-AW4 |  RM-TDSLR2 |  HVL-F45RM |  HVL-F60RM | |
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Customer Reviews
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1,659
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1,078
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640
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206
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1,838
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116
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78
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Price
| $59.95 | $48.00 | $138.00 | $178.00 | $28.00 | $290.00 | — |
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Accessory Type
| Battery | Battery chargery | Microphone | Microphone | Remote Commander | Flash | Flash |
|
Product name
| Rechargeable Battery Pack | Travel charger | Mic For Multi-Interface Shoe | Wireless Microphone | Wireless Remote Commander | External Flash | High-speed flash |
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Compatibility with ILCE7M2K
| ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
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Dimensions
| - | - | H0.26 x W1.18 x D1.68 | - | - | 2 3/4" x 4 1/2" x 3 1/2" | 3 1/8 × 5 1/2 × 4 1/8 " |
|
Weight
| - | - | 0.88 oz | - | - | 11.2 oz (317 g) | 15.9 oz (449 g) |
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Overview & Demo - Sony Alpha 7 II Mirrorless Camera
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Reviews with images
Goldilocks of cameras?
I was first attracted to the Sony A7 II because of the small form factor. I already have the Nikon D800 but I wanted something much smaller. I also have a very small Olympus OMD EM10 but I wanted something with much shallower depth of field. In some ways, the sony A7 II meets my needs but I will not get rid of the Nikon or the Olympus anytime soon.The Sony A7 II meets my needs for a small camera with a 35mm sensor. I am a bokeh obsessed and when I shoot with my Nikon D800, I attach f/1.4 lenses and shoot wide open! The problem with this is, with the lens and the body combo, they weight too much to carry around everywhere. So I got the Olympus OMD to fix the weight issue. The Olympus OMD is very small and light, with even smaller and lighter lenses. I love the form factor of the OMD. I got some pretty good bokehs out of it too with the 75mm 1.8 lens but that focal length is not very useful everyday. So here I am with the Sony A7 II, with the small form factor and the full sized sensor. I’ve been using the camera for a week and here are the things I like and do not like about the camera:Likes:The sensor: The A7 II, has the same sensor as the Nikon D750/D610 so the photos coming out of the camera are great with very wide dynamic range and good color. And with the Sony 55mm 1.8, the bokeh is delicious.The built-in SteadyShot: I can consistently get sharp photos of static objects at 1/10 sec. (this is useful for shooting fireworks handheld, and shooting with lower shutter speed in a dim light condition), using the Sony 55mm 1.8, wide open. This is great but not as good as the Olympus OMD EM1 which I can get sharp photos at 1 sec consistently. With that said, I do realize that the Olympus sensor is one fourth of the size of the Sony sensor so I am not complaining about it at all. In fact I am very happy with the system.Customizable buttons: which I set them to mimic the functionalities on the Nikon and the Olympus.The size/weight: my initial attraction to the camera. it meets my needs.Dislikes (why I took off stars):The UI/menu system/general user friendliness: I love the Nikon UI and Olympus. I find them very user friendly and some what intuitive. My bigger issue with the Sony is how the focus selector is designed. I am very use to selecting my focus point using the 4-way pad on the back of the camera body. I do not rely on the camera to select my subjects for me because many times this is not reliable at all. On the Nikon, I use the 4-way pad to select my focus point and click the shutter button to shoot. On the Olympus, I either use the 4-way pad, or the touch screen on the back to select my focus point and click the shutter button. On the sony, I have to first configure the 4-way pad’s left, right, and down (You cannot configure the up button) to focus settings. What the focus settings does is it let you change the focus method and lets you move the focus point. So you have to press at least one button to initiate the focus point change. I say at least one because sometimes, I push the up button first, which is not assignable, and fixed to display functionality. Even worse, when you are in the focus settings, if you accidentally touch the scroll dial, it will change the focus mode to something else. This could lead to 3 or more button pushes to just set the focus point. I’ve missed many shots of my fast moving daughter because of this issue. I am taking off one star for this madness. I feel like I want to take off 2 stars for this because this is extremely critical to me.Auto focus: I didn’t have a high expectation for the auto focus but I am somewhat let down by it. The auto focus is slow and inaccurate at times. I only have one lens at the moment, the Sony 55mm 1.8. When taking photos of my very active daughter, the auto focus would focus in and out several times and when it does lock-in, I found many of the photos soft. I confirmed it’s not the lens by taking sharp photos, manually focusing. Coming from Olympus, this is very disappointing. The EM10’s auto focus is as snappy as the D800, very rarely slows down. I think this may be a learning process and hopefully I will get better at it. I am taking 1/2 star off for this though.One other issue with the UI: the ISO functionality. I set the ISO to the C1 button and the scroll wheel. the way the C1 button ISO works differently from the scroll wheel ISO. When you use the C1 button to change the ISO, the exposure meter disappears so you have to guess what ISO to use. When you use the scroll wheel, the meter is there so you can set the ISO manually. I am not taking any star off for this because I actually like using the scroll wheel but the button should be consistant.Sluggishness: After taking photos, I like to verify that I took in-focus photos by zooming into where I focused. A7 does have this functionality but it’s slow. When you click on the zoom button, you have to wait about a second for the camera to zoom in, then the camera zooms to the middle of the photo, not the focus area I used. With Nikon and Olympus, you click one button while viewing photos to zoom into the focused area and it’s instantaneous. I am taking off 1/2 star off.The battery life: I am used to mirrorless cameras and not so good battery life. But it seems like the Sony A7 II has the worst battery life yet. When I got the camera, I charged the battery fully. After that, I opened up the menu to learn the camera and change different settings. I changed around some setting, took some photos to with different settings, took some short videos. 2 hours later, the battery was dead. This seems really low. 1/2 star taken off. Need to get some extra batteries.I will be keeping the A7 II. I like it enough and I will have to get used to some quirkiness and hope that Sony will address these issue via firmware.******************************************************************************************************************************Update #1: There is a functionality called "Standard" that you can only set to the center/OK button. When the standard assigned center button is pushed, it will bring up the focus selector. This is different from the focus setting functionality. If Sony would let me set the standard functionality to the directional buttons (including the up button, which currently is not changeable), it would solve the most serious problem that I have with the camera. When this does happen, i will up the review by one more star!
Top reviews from the United States
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Top reviews from other countries
ChrisPCreme
Great inexpensive full frame body.
Reviewed in Canada on September 29, 2018Style: Body OnlySet: BaseVerified Purchase
ChrisPCreme
Reviewed in Canada on September 29, 2018
Images in this review
Vincent Lachapelle
High quality
Reviewed in Canada on May 18, 2021Style: Body OnlySet: BaseVerified Purchase
Erik
Good for the price.
Reviewed in Canada on March 13, 2019Style: w/ 28-70mmSet: BaseVerified Purchase
Kenny Bee
One Swell Camera
Reviewed in Canada on July 9, 2019Style: w/ 28-70mmSet: BaseVerified Purchase
Jason
Great camera, poor battery life
Reviewed in Canada on July 27, 2019Style: w/ 28-70mmSet: BaseVerified Purchase
