Sony A7C II Part 2: What Is Up With This Sensor?
Warning: Like part 1 this is a long one and makes little sense. Run now. You have been warned. Still there? Buckle up.
Preface: All brands are great yadda, yadda, yadda. This just so happens to be the lens mount I chose.
The sensor. I have twice made an argument against upgrading to Sony’s 33MP sensor.
Once when the A7II C was released.
Why?
I did not think a jump from 24MP to 33MP was a big deal. If that was all I was getting. Plus the 24MP sensor did fine by me. With the A7III…
…and with the OG A7C.
Some have balked about Sony color science. If the discussion is JPEGs I get it. But I shoot RAW. Combined with Sony making the sensors for some of the brands touted as having better color science I never paid it much mind. I have never had an issue. But even I must admit that things improved with the A7RV, whether JPEG or RAW file.
There was a noticeable improvement. Makes sense. This is their most pixel-dense full frame offering. Have also read that this is the same sensor used in touted cameras like the Leica M11.
Sidebar: Looking at the prices of an A7RV and a Leica M11 the A7CR is quite a good deal. The same sensor from a thousand to many thousands less.
I had not heard of or at least I had not noticed any talk of color improvement with the A7C II. Would have thought that would have been chatted about with the A7IV. But I missed it. Here is the thing. I took this pic as I left the camera shop after picking up the A7C II.
I noticed something when reviewing the image on the back of the camera at that moment, but I dismissed it. Then later on when I viewed it in Lightroom there was that thought again.
Colors:
This reminds me of an image from my Leica M Type 240. For the record that is high praise.
Detail:
The added detail surprised me. It can be seen when zooming in on the foreground sidewalk in the pic above. Then there is another quick pic I took on the go.
Again, I noticed that I liked the colors. Then I cropped in.
Nice. I still stand by the fact that the 24MP A7III/A7C sensor is just fine. But this is better. This is more than what I expected from a 9MP bump in resolution.
But the resolution is not what impressed me most. It is the colors. But how could I have missed this? Did no one else notice this? Am I just imagining this? So I went back and reread A7C II reviews and Dustin Abbott came through.
“Color
Sony has slowly and steadily tweaked its color science over the past five years. The end result is a more nuanced performance that is very close to the level of Canon and Fuji, though I do very slightly prefer those brands for their color. One thing I will say is that Sony’s cameras do a better job with white balance than what either of those other brands do. When doing my chart tests, for example, I always have to correct the white balance when testing on either Canon or Fuji, but my Sony test cameras deliver a consistently good white balance with a variety of lenses.”
So… I am not crazy… well not for this anyway.
Is it worth the difference in price to purchase the A7C II new today?
Sensor alone? No, in my opinion. It might be when considering other A7C II upgrades I will address in future posts.
Is it worth trading the A7C for an A7C II?
With what I paid after trade I could have bought a second OG A7C or a very nice lens or even two.
Same as above. Sensor alone? No, in my opinion. It might be when considering other A7C II upgrades I will address in future posts.
The first gen A7C is still a solid offering. Keep it if you have it or purchase one new instead and you are good.
But, the difference is real.
Happy capturing.
-ELW
Eric L. Woods 