SonyAlpha 7 II E-mount interchangeable lens mirrorless camera with full frame sensor

To preface this review, I think the time for purchasing this particular camera is when it is being sold for under 1000 dollars. This tends to happen frequently throughout the year, especially around the holiday season. In fact, one could also find the body for ~900 new on black friday/cyber monday deals on amazon or other camera stores.If you already have invested in one system, say Canon or Nikon,or even already own a Sony APS-C camera, I would not recommend the a7II. The a7II is a gateway product that provides the most value to those who have not yet experienced the mirrorless movement of cameras, or even cameras in general.I will also not recommend this camera to those who are looking into seeking photography as a career. You would probably be better investing in a camera which is 'competitive' to offer top results to clients.So to begin, who is the Sony a7II perfect for?This camera is perfect for those who are interested in full frame photography and not so much interested in shooting video. This is the camera for the amateur or the casual shooter who want to reap the rewards that mirrorless designs offer.While the camera is fairly old, around 4 years as of 2019, do not mistake it as a bad camera. Even in 2019, the image quality and sensor performance is quite impressive. The IBIS, a feature seldom found on cameras of this price range, allows you to take very sharp images in low light situations. Auto focus on this camera is fairly quick and will get you sharp focus in most, if not all, situations. Just know, that high action or high movement subjects will not be easy to focus on using this body. Dynamic range on this camera is also very impressive.Aside from the built in features, the E-Mount system is the most mature mount system on the market. Since Sony adopted mirrorless designs early, there is a large selection of high quality lenses that can fit almost any budget. The current high value lenses to be looking out for are:- Tamron 28-75mm F/2.8 which runs for just under 900 dollars MSRP. It is the most bang for you buck zoom lens on the market for the E-Mount system and potentially a lens you will never take off.- Sigma Art Primes come in various focal lengths and sizes. Again, these lenses are razor sharp and don't break the bank. One could get the a7II kit for 1000 dollars and the Sigma Art 35mm F1.4 and that would still be cheaper than buying an a7III body.- Samyang/Rokinon lenses. For every Sony lens on the market, there is a Samyang/Rokinon of similar design at a small fraction of the Sony price. This glass is cheap, but quality for what you pay for. Some would even reckon that these lenses surpass some of the available Sony options.Of course many will be purchasing the a7II Kit which comes with the 28-70mm lens. This kit lens is about the epitome of the 'jack of all trades and master of none' title. It gives access to a pretty standard zoom range, the sharpness is pretty solid even at its wide open aperture of 3.5. It is small and light weight as well, meaning you could easily carry this lens around with you in a bag. But that's about it. You can take very good pictures with this lens, but you'll always be wanting for more in terms of sharpness and aperture options.

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.