Sony’s new α7R II Mirrorless Digital Still/Video Camera demonstrates innovative technology that I think foreshadows additional 4K Full Frame and Super35 cinema cameras to come.

The camera’s Full Frame 24×36 mm 42.2 megapixel back-illuminated sensor has a gapless OCL (On Chip Lens) design and a copper wiring layer instead of aluminum for a 3.5x faster readout than the previous α7R model. The internal hardware/software is powerful enough to process the full frame video for 4K internal recording without pixel binning or line skipping. Sony says this is a world’s first.

Additionally, the camera can also record APS-C format in 4K. See chart above. The α7R camera’s E-mount with 18mm flange depth offers a world of adapters for almost any photo or cinema lens known to man–including PL and PV.

 

 

 

There are many other interesting things about this camera that will be helpful for cine production. Image stabilization is provided by the sensor itself, not digitally, but physically: the sensor actually moves in 5 axes to compensate for pitch, yaw and shake. This could be great for drones and rigs.

The XGA OLED viewfinder is small, but incredibly sharp.

 

Nevertheless, there never was a DP born who didn’t ask, like Oliver Twist, for more. I calculate the APS-C center crop height at 13.18 mm—but what we really want is 18 mm high x 22 mm wide to accommodate all the anamorphic lenses out there. Anamorphic desqueeze in the viewfinder and monitor would be nice. SDI output? RAW uncompressed output? Maybe the next model: α7R Mark III…

No matter, I can’t wait for the α7R II to arrive in August.

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α7R II (ILCE-7RM2) Specs

• Interchangeable-lens mirrorless Full Frame 24×36 mm digital camera
• E-mount – 18 mm flange focal depth
• Sensor: 35 mm full frame (35.9 x 24.0 mm), Exmor R CMOS sensor
• Approx. 42.4 megapixels  (effective)
• Full frame image aspect ratio: 3:2
• Still image recording format: JPEG (DCF Ver. 2.0, Exif Ver. 2.3, MPF baseline compliant), RAW (Sony ARW 2.3 format)Image Size (3:2 aspect ratio) in Still Photography Mode
• 35 mm full frame  L: 7952 x 5304 (42M), M: 5168 x 3448 (18M), S: 3984 x 2656 (11M)
• APS-C (crop mode) L: 5168 x 3448 (18M), M: 3984 x 2656 (11M), S: 2592 x 1728 (4.5M)Image Size (16:9 aspect ratio) in 4K Video and HD Mode
• 35 mm full frame L: 7952 x 4472 (36M), M: 5168 x 2912 (15M), S: 3984 x 2240 (8.9M)
• APS-C L: 5168 x 2912 (15M), M: 3984 x 2240 (8.9M), S: 2592 x 1456 (3.8M)
• Still Image quality selection
  RAW (14-bit), RAW & JPEG, JPEG Extra fine, JPEG Fine, JPEG Standard
• Color space: sRGB standard (with sYCC gamut) and Adobe RGB

Video

• Recording format: XAVC S / AVCHD format Ver. 2.0 compliant / MP4
• Video compression:
  XAVC S: MPEG-4 AVC/H.264
  AVCHD: MPEG-4 AVC/H.264
  MP4: MPEG-4 AVC/H.264

Video Image Size (pixels) Recorded:

• MP4: 1,920 x 1,080 (50p/28 Mbps, 25p/16 Mbps), 1,280 x 720 (25p/6 Mbps)
• AVCHD: 1920 x 1080 (50p/28Mbps/PS, 50i/24Mbps/FX, 50i/17Mbps/FH, 25p/24Mbps/FX, 25p/17Mbps/FH)
• XAVC S HD: 1,920 x 1,080 (50p/50 Mbps, 25p/50 Mbps), 1,280 x 720 (100p/50 Mbps)
• XAVC S 4K: 3,840 x 2,160 (25p/100 Mbps, 25p/60 Mbps)
• [PAL]
• MP4: 1,920 x 1,080 (60p/28 Mbps, 30p/16 Mbps), 1,280 x 720 (30p/6 Mbps)
• AVCHD: 1920 x 1080 (60p/28Mbps/PS, 60i/24Mbps/FX, 60i/17Mbps/FH, 24p/24Mbps/FX, 24p/17Mbps/FH)
• XAVC S HD: 1,920 x 1,080 (60p/50 Mbps, 30p/50 Mbps, 24p/50 Mbps), 1,280 x 720 (120p/50 Mbps)
• XAVC S 4K: 3,840 x 2,160 (30p/100 Mbps, 30p/60 Mbps, 24p/100 Mbps, 24p/60 Mbps)
• Gamma: Movie, Still, Cine1-4, ITU709, ITU709 [800%], S-Log2),
• Video functions: Audio Level Display, Audio Rec Level, AF Tracking Sensitivity, AF Drive Speed, Auto Slow Shutter, HDMI info. Display (On/Off selectable), Time Code/User Bit, Picture Profile, Creative Style, Picture Effect, Rec Control, Dual Video Rec, Marker Setting, PAL/NTSC Selector
• Video Color space: xvYCC standard (x.v.Color when connected via HDMI cable)
• Clean HDMI output:
  • NTSC: 3,840 x 2,160 (30p/24p) / 1,920 x 1,080 (60p/24p) / 1,920 x 1,080 (60i), YCbCr 4:2:2 8 bit / RGB 8 bit
  • PAL: 3,840 x 2,160 (25p) / 1,920 x 1,080 (50p) / 1,920 x 1,080 (50i), YCbCr 4:2:2 8 bit/ RGB 8 bit
• Media (internal multi slot): Memory Stick PRO Duo, Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo, Memory Stick Micro (M2), SD memory card, SDHC memory card (UHS-I compliant), SDXC memory card (UHS-I compliant), microSD memory card, microSDHC memory card, microSDXC memory card
• White balance: Auto WB / Daylight / Shade / Cloudy / Incandescent / Fluorescent (Warm White / Cool White / Day White / Daylight) / Flash / Color Temperature (2,500 to 9,900K) & Color Filter (G7 to M7: 57steps, A7 to B7: 29steps) / Custom / Underwater, AWB micro adjustment
• Focus: Fast Hybrid AF (phase-detection AF / contrast-detection AF)
  Focus points: 35 mm full frame: 399 points (phase-detection AF)
• APS-C: 357 points (phase-detection AF) / 25 points (contrast-detection AF)
• Focus modes: Automatic AF (AF-A), Single-shot AF (AF-S), Continuous AF (AF-C), Direct Manual Focus (DMF), Manual Focus
• ISO:
  Still images: ISO 100-25600 (expandable to ISO 50-102400), AUTO (ISO 100-6400, selectable lower limit and upper limit)
• Video: ISO 100-25600, AUTO (ISO 100-6400, selectable lower limit and upper limit)
• Viewfinder: XGA OLED, 1.3 cm (0.5 type) electronic viewfinder (color)
• EVF Total number of dots: 2,359,296 dots
• EVF Field coverage: 100%
• EVF Magnification: Approx. 0.78x (with 50 mm lens at infinity, -1 m-1)
• EVF Diopter adjustment: -4.0 to +3.0 m-1
• Eye point: Approx. 23 mm from the eyepiece lens, 18.5 mm from the eyepiece frame at -1 m-1 (CIPA standard)
• LCD screen: 7.5 cm (3.0 type) TFT drive, 1,228,800 dots
• Electronic Lens compensation: Peripheral shading, chromatic aberration, distortion
• Shutter: Electronically controlled, vertical-traverse, focal-plane
• Still images: 1/8000 to 30 sec., Bulb
• Video: 1/8000 to 1/4 (1/3 step)
• NTSC: Up to 1/60 in AUTO mode (up to 1/30 in Auto Slow Shutter mode)
• PAL: Up to 1/50 in AUTO mode (up to 1/25 in Auto Slow Shutter mode)
• Flash sync. speed: 1/250 sec.
• Image stabilization: SteadyShot Image Sensor-Shift mechanism with 5-axis compensation (Compensation depends on lens specifications)
• Rechargeable battery pack NP-FW50.
• Battery Capacity–Still images: Approx. 290 shots (viewfinder) / approx. 340 shots (LCD screen)
• Battery capacity Video: Approx. 50 min. with viewfinder, approx. 55 min. with LCD screen (CIPA standard)