Sony A7C II Part 3: Improvement By A Thousand Tweaks.

Warning: Like part 1 this is a long one and makes little sense. Run now. You have been warned. Still there? Buckle up.

Note: Thousand is a gross exaggeration. Let us call it artistic license. Like calling it an exaggeration instead of a lie. Just flows better linguistically.

Preface: All brands are great yadda, yadda, yadda. This just so happens to be the lens mount I chose.

In my first post I gave the run down on how I ended up trading my beloved A7C … (Yep. I will own it. A first for a Sony camera for me. I respected and appreciated the A7III. I am staggered by what the A7RV can do. But the gen 1 OG A7C is the first Sony camera that garnered any semblance of an emotional attachment. Moving On.)… for the A7C II.

The second post was an ode to the sensor. Short version:

Sharper.
- Natch with a 9MP bump, but still more of an impact than I expected.
Better colors.
- The biggest surprise. Not Earth shattering, but definitely noticeable to me and appreciated.

At the end of Part 2 I opined:

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.

This here is one of those future posts. I do not know if I will have any more A7C II posts in me after this one. When thinking about this camera I was reminded of a phrase.

Death by a thousand cuts.

We all know what this means. Well, the inverse came to mind here.

Improvement By A Thousand Tweaks.

What I am attempting to convey is this. No one improvement stands out as particularly amazing. The A7C II is more an assemblage of tiny improvements that so make for a greater whole. “Enough of a change to warrant the upgrade?”, is the question I have been asking myself. More on that below.

What are those changes? In no particular order this is what I have noticed up to this point. Many of them cribbed from the A7Rv (Marked with an asterisk “*” below.) and appreciated here. One thing I do like about Sony is that they are not shy about putting features launched in their more premium bodies into all subsequent cameras, even “entry level” ones. I put that in quotes because in my opinion none of the entry level cameras have felt entry level to me feature wise since the A7III.

Sensor.
- See last post.
*Move from a dedicated exposure comp dial to a dial than be programmed to do pretty much whatever you like.

*A dedicated lever for photo, video, and S&O rather than living on the mode dial.

Larger shutter button-on/off switch assembly.
- Adds nothing new but I do prefer it.

Front dial.
- I had made peace with using the back wheel of the OG A7C but this is appreciated.

Additional custom button near the menu button.

Better EVF.
- I am the odd man out on the OG A7C because I had no issues with it. Small? yes. But I was too busy being happy that it had one and that it was not an awful pop up RX1RII-esque dealie. I mainly use it to frame the shot. To make sure what I want in the frame is in the frame. Other brands seem to be ok with omitting any form of EVF from their smaller cameras. That being said… this one is noticeably better.
Video feature.
- I say feature, singular, because even though I appreciate the video stuff Jordan Drake pointed out in Petapixel’s review there is one feature that stands above all others for me. Auto framing. This is where the camera will crop and pan in frame to follow a subject mimicking a video operator. This is an awesome feature and I cannot wait to test it. What is even more amazing is that this is a feature that more expensive offerings do not have, like the A7IV and A7RV. That is impressive.
*Improved AF.
- This is courtesy of the addition of the AI chip from the A7RV. The OG A7C is no slouch… but this is clearly better. Increased speed and accuracy while adding additional focus modes. I leave it to detailed reviews like the one above but it is quite impressive.
*Improved menus.
- Iknow I sound like a broken record here… but I had made my peace with the prior menu structure. Especially once they added My Menu. But I was slightly hobbled by having two cameras with different menu schemes. I found that it limited my full use of the A7RV as I tended to use it with an older menu mindset. I have already seen the benefits of the new menu structure as I have now started utilizing features on both that I did not realize or had forgotten were available.
Larger grip.
- The new body has a nice balance between improved handling without compromising its compact nature.

I also appreciate Sony not breaking that which was not broken. They left all of my favorite parts alone.

Two omissions remain…

One SD card slot.
Mechanical Shutter speed tops out at 1/4000s instead of 1/8000s.

…but (You guessed it.) I made my peace with this on the OG A7C so no complaints from me. I will not make excuses. I will not say silly things like, “Well Leica M bodies only have one card slot and its mechanical shutter also tops out at 1/4000s.“, because that means nothing. That is like comparing apples to oranges. The Leica M is a passion play not a logical one so comparing them accomplishes nothing. Also to Leica’s credit the last M11 adds internal storage and 1/16,000s electronic shutter where the A7C II’s electronic shutter tops out at 1/8000s. But older M bodies cannot claim this distinction. But again, no one is cross shopping these cameras even if the A7CR had the same Sensor (As I have read anyway.) as the M11…. <ahem> Where was I?… Right…

Would it be nice to have those features? Yes. Is it a deal breaker for me? That this post exists answers that question. No. Not at all.

This may be down to technically being my second body/daily use camera but I am good.

So… back to my opening question…

Is it worth the difference in price to purchase the A7C II new today?

It depends.

Can I objectively say that it is worth the price to upgrade considering all of the improvements?

I have to answer no.

Looking at the almost 7,000 images I have created with the original A7C over these last four years how could I answer any other way. You would do just fine either staying with the A7C if you already have it or purchasing one today for so much less.

Am I glad I upgraded?

Yes.

This is a very personal scenario.

I like the added tweaks in total.
I like that my workflow now closely matches the other body I have.

Bonus question.

Do I regret not stretching to get the A7CR?

For me not at all. First off, I need two cameras with file sizes that eat up cloud space and kick my laptop in the teeth like a hole in the head. I like this balance. Secondly, as others have stated I see the A7C II as having tangible improvements over not just the first A7C, but the more expensive A7IV while the A7CR plays more like a slightly de-contented A7RV… largely due to body size restraints I imagine… admittedly for much, much less.

Regardless of the version you get I highly recommend the silver top version. Personal taste. I had the choice of either with the first gen and I chickened out with the monochrome option. I am glad I went with the silver this time. A nice looking rig.

Something I have never said about any Sony camera before. Or many others either. In a sea of faux DSLR hump having humorless monochromatic blocks this camera stands out for me. I also think that, having no film SLR or rangefinder heritage to hearken back to, Sony was free to craft its own rangefinder-ish dealies free of unnecessary comparisons to prior offerings. No modern cameras is going to stand up to such comparisons while maintaining the expectations for modern conveniences. I am guilty o this thinking. Having owned a film PEN FT…

…I was let down by the digital variant…

…and the same goes for Nikon. They struck me as existing camera stock in vintage costume frock. But more expensive. Yes. I am telling on myself here. Your mileage may vary.

Welp. That is it for now.

I am not sure if I have any more of these A7C II series posts in me. I am thinking one more about the auto framing may do it before I transition into regular scenes seen stuff, but we will see…

Happy capturing.

-ELW