I guess it’s my time to say something about the SonyA7rII. I was reluctant to write anything about it, even though I’ve tried the Sony A7rII for several days.
But today I could not resist for two reasons:
- I have a bit of spare time & and I’m slightly drunk at home after an X-T1 Vs. Canon M3 shootout with Steve of CanonWatch.
- I’ve read a very interesting article at Fujifilm X World.
You’ll read about the Canon M3 at CanonWatch later on, so let’s go directly to point 2, the Fuji X World post, which was the real trigger for this article.
“Image quality” over “Specs”
The article is about one of the most loved lenses amongst us X-shooters: the XF 35mmF1.4. It shows Fuji’s approach when they design a new lens, which can be summed up in this sentence: “Image quality” over “Specs“
And it’s not just a good sounding slogan, it’s Fuji’s philosophy. Go and read it here… I’ll just quickly come to the point of the article:
When Fuji designed the XF 35mmF1.4 they had 2 choices: create the lens in a way that it will perfectly match the test criteria used for MTF charts, or don’t care about specs & charts and design the lens thinking at the real life use… and Fuji went for the latter one.
That’s why, today, looking at the MTF charts, the XF 35mm doesn’t seem much of a lens, but looking at the pictures X-shooters (including me) take with it every day, it’s pretty clear that Fuji has created a hell of a lens! Because, as Fujifilm said:
“There is something more than just the catalog spec.”
And that brings me to the Sony A7rII.
Fuji (X-T1) Vs. Sony (A7rII)
Prologue
These are just my very personal considerations. People with different ways of shooting, priorities & workflow will come to completely different conclusions… and that’s good so.
I don’t want to sound like a Sony hater, so let me say it clearly: the Sony A7rII has terrific specs, it’s a good camera, and overall I absolutely like the innovation Sony brings to the digital camera technology. They make the arguably best & most innovative sensors out there (sorry Canon)!
But today I won’t join the A7rII siren songs of the internet, and since I can’t cover every single spec (that would mean writing a book, not a blog post), I’ll focus on those aspects that I prefer on Fujifilm and try to explain why I’ve quickly lost my interest in the A7rII.
