[mrNewt]

Hello there .

Looking to see if anyone of you have purchased this camera yet and I would like to hear (if you are willing to share) your opinion on it so far.
I've been reading a lot of reviews and seen a lot of pictures of the camera and what it can do, but I would like to hear an honest opinion of those who actually purchased the camera and use it daily. I'm quite interested in how the camera works and feels when used with converter mounts like m39 and m42 mounts especially...

I'm not looking for comparison between aps-c and ff and any other kind of those similar topics (there are already enough topics for that), so please don't talk about it here.

Just looking to see personal experiences on using this specific camera and the results it gives!
Looking forward to read your comments .

Thanks!

[Winder]

It is a great camera. I was surprised by its performance. I think I have pretty low expectations of mirrorless still. I would say the AF is on par with the K-5. The Af tracking is better than I expected. Having all of the custom buttons is great. Manual focus with peaking and magnification is great. Love the 31mm on the A7m2. For me the IBIS is not as good as it is on the K-3, but its still very nice to have.

As for noise, I don't see a big difference between it and the K-3. What does stand out to me is the color and tonality of the images. There is a clarity and smoothness to the RAW files that is really nice. Not smooth as in noise reduction or plastic skin that Canon JPEGs are known for, but smooth as in the color and tone transition. The micro contrast with the Sony 55mm F/1.8 is very good. Good headroom in the highlights for post processing. RAW files are really good work with. I really don't notice the EVF anymore and having the ability to see the effects of WB and exposure in the EVF is nice. Mostly though its the really good color and clarity that I'm getting that stands out.

I use DxO Film pack 5 and VSCO film packs for certain projects. I was never happy with the colors of the VSCO with the K-3. VSCO doesn't support Pentax cameras so you don't get their custom color profiles. DxO works pretty good with the K-3 files, but the Sony works much better with VSCO and a little better with DxO.

Battery life on the A7m2 is just as bad as everyone says, but changing batteries every 200 shots is still better than swapping rolls of film every 36. The rear screen is really nice. I was surprised by how good it is. Ergonomics are much improved over the A7. I can use the camera for hours and not have any complaints. Its not quite as quick and responsive as the K-3. Partly its due to me not being use to the Sony A7m2 controls and having to think about settings, but it is still a little slower sometimes. Not by much though.

[mrNewt]

Thanks Winder - I appreciate the time you took to share your experience .

[Winder]

Thanks Winder - appreciate the time you took to share your experience .

Sony released a large 250mb firmware update today that is supposed to improve IBIS and other functions. Its very good to see Sony quickly addressing issues like this. It was only a year or two ago that Sony was absolutely awful at releasing firmware.

[mrNewt]

Sony released a large 250mb firmware update today that is supposed to improve IBIS and other functions. Its very good to see Sony quickly addressing issues like this. It was only a year or two ago that Sony was absolutely awful at releasing firmware.

Nice.
Btw, when doing long exposures, did they address the issue with the back lcd being still active showing black rather than being turned off?

[Winder]

Nice.
Btw, when doing long exposures, did they address the issue with the back lcd being still active showing black rather than being turned off?

Just shot a 30 second frame. Back LCD is still active during the exposure, but only shows black, so they have not fixed it.

[mrNewt]

Just shot a 30 second frame. Back LCD is still active during the exposure, but only shows black, so they have not fixed it.

Small issue I guess but still a pity they don't fix it. It would help a little with saving the battery life... maybe.
Still on the fence about it, but I have a feeling I might pull the plug soon... the force is strong with this one. There are rumors about an A9 Pro line and I would hate for it come out right after I get this one .
I might wait a month and keep on gathering opinions until then...

[Winder]

Small issue I guess but still a pity they don't fix it. It would help a little with saving the battery life... maybe.
Still on the fence about it, but I have a feeling I might pull the plug soon... the force is strong with this one. There are rumors about an A9 Pro line and I would hate for it come out right after I get this one .
I might wait a month and keep on gathering opinions until then...

DxO released its scores for the A7m2 this morning. No real change over the A7 and still the the 11th best sensor by their scoring system. Look at the Color Sensitivity graph with the A7m2 and the K-3. The colors from the A7m2 at 1600 and under are the biggest area where the A7m2 has an advantage. DxO gives the A7m2 an ISO score of 2449 which is twice that of the K-3 (1216). I can only print A3+ in-house and at that size the K-3 holds it own until ISO 800. The A7m2 is producing excellent prints at 1600 - 3200 (A3+). Neither camera provides usable color prints at ISO 6400 for A3+. I still do a lot of B&W and the K-3 holds it own in B&W prints pretty well. I really like the grain of the K-3 when it comes to B&W up to 3200.

The A7m2 is very well priced for what it does. The A7s is a good bit more expensive at $2,500 so I imagine the A9 will be priced at over $3,000. The A7m2 is my first mirrorless body and I'm still trying to decide if I will go completely mirrorless and invest in a complete system. IF I do, the A9 will be an option, but Sony needs more lenses and the A7m2 is a great camera for me to explore mirrorless with.

[mrNewt]

DxO released its scores for the A7m2 this morning. No real change over the A7 and still the the 11th best sensor by their scoring system. Look at the Color Sensitivity graph with the A7m2 and the K-3. The colors from the A7m2 at 1600 and under are the biggest area where the A7m2 has an advantage. DxO gives the A7m2 an ISO score of 2449 which is twice that of the K-3 (1216). I can only print A3+ in-house and at that size the K-3 holds it own until ISO 800. The A7m2 is producing excellent prints at 1600 - 3200 (A3+). Neither camera provides usable color prints at ISO 6400 for A3+. I still do a lot of B&W and the K-3 holds it own in B&W prints pretty well. I really like the grain of the K-3 when it comes to B&W up to 3200.

The A7m2 is very well priced for what it does. The A7s is a good bit more expensive at $2,500 so I imagine the A9 will be priced at over $3,000. The A7m2 is my first mirrorless body and I'm still trying to decide if I will go completely mirrorless and invest in a complete system. IF I do, the A9 will be an option, but Sony needs more lenses and the A7m2 is a great camera for me to explore mirrorless with.

I'm not really concern about the high ISO since I never go more than 800 ISO. I'm a "the less ISO the better" kind of guy.
But I guess it is good to know that it can hold well above that.

Also, I didn't expect that m2 will be better than m1 in IQ since they use exactly the same sensor. The biggest improvement of the m2 as I see it was ergonomics, stabilization and better AF tracking.

I guess it would make sense to get the A7m2 now, enjoy the camera for what it is for the next 3-4 years and then (with hopefully more options to choose from at better prices) upgrade to something else.
I was never concern for the lenses since I love M lenses and the adapters will take care of my needs.

The funny thing though is that something in the back of my head is saying... just wait... and I don't know what is the reason for that.
I'm afraid not to be disappointed maybe? I guess that's the reason why I started this thread. To see if there are any disappointments from others? Not sure... Trying to clear my head by talking with you guys .

[Winder]

Nothing wrong with waiting. The A7m2 isn't going to go up in price. By this time next year it will be selling for $1,200 probably. You should rent it with an adapter for a week. It cheep and then you can play with the MF (peaking and magnification) and IBIS. If you enjoy old MF glass, the A7m2 is the best option on the market currently, but there will always be something better come along.

[Winder]

The A7m2 firmare 1.10 that was released yesterday is a definite improvement. Start up speed, write speed, wake-up from sleep are all improved. I never considered the shutter to have much lag, but it seems instant now. With firmware 1.00 I was getting 2-2.5 stops improvement with IBIS. With 1.10 I'm getting a pretty sold 3 stops. Not sure how many stops Sony rates the IBIS for.

[mrNewt]

The A7m2 firmare 1.10 that was released yesterday is a definite improvement. Start up speed, write speed, wake-up from sleep are all improved. I never considered the shutter to have much lag, but it seems instant now. With firmware 1.00 I was getting 2-2.5 stops improvement with IBIS. With 1.10 I'm getting a pretty sold 3 stops. Not sure how many stops Sony rates the IBIS for.

That's really good news.
From what I have been reading and listening to (youtube reviews), I think Sony are saying that is up to 4 stops or so.

Have you tried to do some action shots with it?
Curious how fast it will be with AF:C tracking in actual real life.

Here is a review I was looking at - I think he saying about the 4 stops as well:

You Tube

You Tube

[Winder]

Have you tried to do some action shots with it?

It has an AF-C tracking feature that is surprisingly fast. Realize I had low expectations of mirrorless, so what is surprising to me might not be surprising to people who have been using cameras like the Olympus EM-1 or Sony A6000. Just having my dog run towards me I got 80% keepers and it has a very fast burst. What I didn't like and what might just be me not using the AF correctly was sometimes it took too long to identify and lock onto my dog. Sometimes I didn't think it was tracking my dog and just as I hit the shutter button it would lock focus on my dog and track her until she was too close to focus with the 55mm F/1.8. That is the only time I have played with the fast tracking. I don't shoot a lot of fast moving subjects, so what it does do is more than I expected.

You can program facial recognition into the camera and I have used that with a couple of child portrait sessions so that as the kid moved around or I recomposed, the camera kept focus locked on to the face. My wife's face is stored in the system so if I have that feature turned on and she it in the crowd, it will lock on to her face. The feature worked pretty well and I don't know if it has been improved with the new firmware. I tried to use it with a child in her rocking chair with her cat and me shooting at F/2 and window light. She was 3 and kept rocking back and forth (into and out of my plane of focus). The feature was a little too slow for consistent results, but if improved it could be a great. That was a tough test, but I see this eventually being a great feature for mirrorless.

[mrNewt]

That's a lot of good info Winder!
Not that I will use it for a lot of actions shots.
Thanks again!

[mrNewt]

Soooo..... I got one today .
I got the kit with the lens and the extra battery grip. Can't wait for the weekend so I can spend some time with my new toy and have some fun.
So far, I think I am in love... and extremely excited.