Sony A7Rii Mirrorless Revolution or a Child Of Hype?

All my fellow creatives and especially photographers are excited – something new and very special is on its way. A new toy that flares up the flame of a geek and tech nerd in every photog, myself included, and is poised to once again re-ignite the DSLR vs Mirrorless Debate.

As you may or may not be aware, the release of the SONY A7R ii is imminent, with YouTubers already examining test units and critics sharing their initial thoughts about the new installment in SONY’s mirrorless catalogue.

I shoot with a Nikon D810, upgraded from D800, and have so far been somewhat satisfied with the camera’s performance and features. As a Nikon user, I have grown accustomed to the great image quality and high resolution, so for me a switch to a different camera or brand was not necessary.

However, 6 months ago I acquired the now famous SONY A6000 and can now truthfully confirm that it has become my camera of choice. It is not the camera I use in the studio, or professionally, but the one with the highest enjoyment factor – I simply love using and having it with me.

The SONY’s Full Frame mirrorless family has grown exponentially over the past two years, and has entered its 2nd generation with somewhat acclaimed SONY A7ii. The original SONY A7R was a huge hit in the mirrorless world, however it had its problems. While the resolution was fantastic, and the dynamic range was great, the camera was slow – slow at focusing, slow at processing files.

2 years later, and SONY has listened to users and critics – the new A7rii seems to fix the shortcomings of its predecessor, while adding more features to an already impressive package.

As far as I see it, there are 5 Key Features to be excited about:

1. Huge 42-Megapixel Resolution
2. In-Body Image Stabilisation System
3. Internal 4K Video Recording
4. Much faster internal processor
5. New Fast Hybrid AF System

In the past, one of the main concerns with mirrorless cameras, especially those made by SONY, has been the lack of lenses. This is no longer an issues, as there is a great range of fantastic lenses available for the Alpha Full Frame family, not to mention the ability to use adapters for lenses from other brands, such as Canon or Nikon.

Personally, the 2 main reasons that prevented me from ditching the dinosaur DSLR model and switching to mirrorless have been Resolution and Focusing systems. The new A7Rii promises to fix both of these concerns, while adding a slew of other amazing features, usually lacking on DSLRs.

If these predictions come true, we could be facing potentially the best camera the world has ever seen. And this could have a ripple effect in the DSLR world, a real camera “revolution”.

To me, brand loyalty is NON EXISTANT, and I would make a switch to SONY in a heartbeat if I knew that their  system would make my job easier and my photography better. But I know that for some, especially the Canon people, brand image comes first and the notion of loyalty is blinding.

So, as the release date is set for August, I would love to hear opinions from other photographers – are you a SONY shooter, are you interested in mirrorless systems at all and if so, what are your thoughts on the SONY A7rii?