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Nikon Z6 or Sony a7r II

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Sr. Member
Aug 23, 2005
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Nikon Z6 or Sony a7r II

As the title says, I am a Nikon user switching from Nikon D800 full frame to mirrorless. I have few good Nikon glass
28-70 f2.8 and the famous 70-200 f2.8

Should I look into the Nikon Z6 or Sony a7r II?
I know both will use my glass using a converter but Sony gets all the hype when it comes to mirrorless and I don’t like the fact that Nikon uses XQD and not SD

Appreciate some help
Last edited by Akronica on Dec 14th, 2018 7:52 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Akronica wrote: As the title says, I am a Nikon user switching from Nikon D800 full frame to mirrorless. I have few good Nikon glass
28-70 f2.8 and the famous 70-200 f2.8

Should I look into the Nikon Z6 or Sony a7r II?
I know both will use my glass using a converter but Sony gets all the hype when it comes to mirrorless and I don’t like the fact that Nikon doesn’t use MicroSD

Appreciate some help
I suppose you meant dual SD? Last camera I saw using MicroSD was Samsung's point & shoot.

I'm actually in the same boat as you hesitating between Nikon & Sony (maybe Leica if I find a good deal), but for having my SD card break while on shoot, luckily in my D610 which had 2 doing mirroring, dual cards is a big factor for me. But for me, I'm hesitating between the Nikon Z6, A7 III or the A7R III. I'm 70% toward the A7 III for now since it suits my needs the best.
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Gin Martini wrote: I suppose you meant dual SD? Last camera I saw using MicroSD was Samsung's point & shoot.

I'm actually in the same boat as you hesitating between Nikon & Sony (maybe Leica if I find a good deal), but for having my SD card break while on shoot, luckily in my D610 which had 2 doing mirroring, dual cards is a big factor for me. But for me, I'm hesitating between the Nikon Z6, A7 III or the A7R III. I'm 70% toward the A7 III for now since it suits my needs the best.
Sorry I meant Nikon uses XQD while Sony uses SD. I am not a big fan of getting into the XQD card category
A7 III is a great camera with great reviews, would it be better than that A7r II?
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Akronica wrote: Sorry I meant Nikon uses XQD while Sony uses SD. I am not a big fan of getting into the XQD card category
A7 III is a great camera with great reviews, would it be better than that A7r II?
The A7R II is like your D800, it has a high megapixel and outstanding image quality but lack the better autofocus and video features of the newer versions.

In my opinion and for my usage, the A7 III is better in all aspects than the A7RII except for the 42 megapixel. I don't need a 42 megapixel, but I like the 3.6m dot EVF of the A7R III that's why it's in my consideration list and not the A7R II (also it is missing the Z battery).
I can't speak for you if it's better since I don't know what you'll do with, but except for landscape photography, I can't think of any other type of photography that the A7R II will do better.
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Gin Martini wrote: The A7R II is like your D800, it has a high megapixel and outstanding image quality but lack the better autofocus and video features of the newer versions.

In my opinion and for my usage, the A7 III is better in all aspects than the A7RII except for the 42 megapixel. I don't need a 42 megapixel, but I like the 3.6m dot EVF of the A7R III that's why it's in my consideration list and not the A7R II (also it is missing the Z battery).
I can't speak for you if it's better since I don't know what you'll do with, but except for landscape photography, I can't think of any other type of photography that the A7R II will do better.
I was just reading a wedding photographer's experience going from A7rii to A7iii. HE said the AF is not leaps and bounds ahead as they marketing are saying. Its certainly better but it is perfectly acceptable in a7rii.
Do you have any objective test showing differences?
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Aug 23, 2005
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Agree that Battery life of the A7 iii is much better than the A7r ii. The one concern I have which was mentioned a lot in B&H reviews is that the A7r ii overheats. I found this quite common in the reviews and I heard that Sony fixed that in A6500 and A7 iii.

Those two reasons might drive me towards the A7 iii. I usually take Portraits and few landscape photographs. I think for my travel, events, portrait photography 24MP would be more than fine which was similar to the D800, 42 MP might be overkill for me
Here's a good site for comparision between A7r ii and A7 iii

Interesting enough, most of the comments here are geared towards Sony and not Nikon :)
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PrinceMS wrote: I was just reading a wedding photographer's experience going from A7rii to A7iii. HE said the AF is not leaps and bounds ahead as they marketing are saying. Its certainly better but it is perfectly acceptable in a7rii.
Do you have any objective test showing differences?
I have no doubt that the marketing will exaggerate about the speed and real life experiences will vary. The other improvement is the amount and area of focus point the A7 III covers, but what I said is the A7 III is better in multiple aspects. If only we are talking about AF, at $400 less, the A7R II is very interesting, but since the A7 III has dual card slots, better Z battery, better video capability, better AF (even if in real life it's not leaps and bounds ahead as your photographer said) and a brand new sensor that does really well, I personally prefer the A7 III.

I can't show you objective test since I don't own both cameras and the info I learnt are from multiples articles and videos, so take it with a grain of salt. Make your own research.
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Akronica wrote: Agree that Battery life of the A7 iii is much better than the A7r ii. The one concern I have which was mentioned a lot in B&H reviews is that the A7r ii overheats. I found this quite common in the reviews and I heard that Sony fixed that in A6500 and A7 iii.

Those two reasons might drive me towards the A7 iii. I usually take Portraits and few landscape photographs. I think for my travel, events, portrait photography 24MP would be more than fine which was similar to the D800, 42 MP might be overkill for me
Here's a good site for comparision between A7r ii and A7 iii

Interesting enough, most of the comments here are geared towards Sony and not Nikon :)
I have the A7R3.

If mostly portraits, then get the A7III.

If landscapes are a priority, I would get the A7R3. You can get used ones for cheaper than retail with barely any use. A lot of people bought into the R3 because the 7III didn't exist.

You can also shift to crop mode on the R3 which gives you 18 MP files instead of the full 42.x MPs.

Keep in mind the A7III uses the old EVF that is also in the A7R2. Also no battery charger.
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PrinceMS wrote: I was just reading a wedding photographer's experience going from A7rii to A7iii. HE said the AF is not leaps and bounds ahead as they marketing are saying. Its certainly better but it is perfectly acceptable in a7rii.
Do you have any objective test showing differences?
If you're a paid wedding photographer, it would be common sense to move over to the Mark 3 bodies just for the peace of mind of dual card slots.

The a7III is the perfect middle ground camera for most folks that don't need the R3/S3 or shoot events.
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Jul 12, 2010
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I kind of want to recommend forsure the Z6 over the a7rII just cause you got nikon glass... it's going to adapt a hell of alot better since nikon makes the adapter... the biggest gain is mostly video features. But still 1 card slot...
There is like no working Nikon to sony FE adapter unless u just wanna manual everything...

A7III vs a7rII vs A7RIII .... if you can budget it ... I would get A7rIII better video AF over 2nd gen... much more pixels to work with if you go super 35 mode... But thing most I hate about my A7III is the EVF, I feel its so crappy I can't trust it at all...you can get a used A7rIII over a a7III for like 400 difference
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Here are my thoughts on this.

The nikon, i don't know much about, but nor do i want to learn anything about it. I haven't really heard anything amazing from it, so i'll pass.

I currently own the a7rii. I've had it over a year now. I do mainly shoot cityscapes, and long exposures (usually about 2-3 mins). The 42 MP is overkill for most, and imo, its not that big of a difference from the 24 MP sensors. I had the a7ii before the buying the a7rii, and there isn't that much of a difference. As for overheating, never had an issue with overheating once. Overheating was an issue with older firmware, because the warning was set too low on older firmware. I've shot in Egypt where it was 35 celsius in at night (not in the day), 40 celsius with humidity and no issues. Just came back from south east asia, where it was 32/33 celsius on average,37/38 celsius with humidity, no issues. The batteries don't last the longest in the a7rii, but i have 3 batteries, and never have i ever used more than 2 in a day. Really depends on how much you shoot. It would great to have 1 battery instead of three though.

I would upgrade to the a7riii or a7iii, but at this point, i find no need to. The AF on the 3rd gen bodies seem great to me, from what I've seen in reviews. However, most of the time, I'm shooting static objects. If i shoot people, they'll usually standing still and posing. I'm rarely ever shooting anything that requires fast moving objects or people like sports. For me, its not how fast focuses, but rather nailing the focus, which all a7rii, a7iii, and a7riii do well. The dual sd cards seem great for pro's imo. I don't shoot professionally, so if i lose some shots, its not the end of the world for me. It would suck if it happened on one of my vacay's, and but I'm not getting paid to shoot, so at the end of the day, i wouldn't really care that much. The number of AF points is overkill on the 3rd gen bodies. Not sure why you need so many. There's more than enough on an a7rii, imo.

I'm not a video guy, as i mentioned, so i can't comment on the video quality and differences between the camera's. The A7rii is fine for landscape and portrait's imo. The 3rd gen bodies will offer better AF, and other great features. However, its not about what features are offered. Its whether you'll take advantage of these features. I would say a lot of people don't even push their iso very high. 6400 isn't high imo at all. Yeah its great these camera's have good iso, and if you don't need or use it, then its just for bragging rights at that point. Its like owning a ferrari or lambo, but driving it slow all the time. Think about what features you need and will use, and chose the appropriate camera for your needs, unless you're rich and you can afford to splurge on the latest and greatest because you can.
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phuviano wrote: Here are my thoughts on this.

The nikon, i don't know much about, but nor do i want to learn anything about it. I haven't really heard anything amazing from it, so i'll pass.

I currently own the a7rii. I've had it over a year now. I do mainly shoot cityscapes, and long exposures (usually about 2-3 mins). The 42 MP is overkill for most, and imo, its not that big of a difference from the 24 MP sensors. I had the a7ii before the buying the a7rii, and there isn't that much of a difference. As for overheating, never had an issue with overheating once. Overheating was an issue with older firmware, because the warning was set too low on older firmware. I've shot in Egypt where it was 35 celsius in at night (not in the day), 40 celsius with humidity and no issues. Just came back from south east asia, where it was 32/33 celsius on average,37/38 celsius with humidity, no issues. The batteries don't last the longest in the a7rii, but i have 3 batteries, and never have i ever used more than 2 in a day. Really depends on how much you shoot. It would great to have 1 battery instead of three though.

I would upgrade to the a7riii or a7iii, but at this point, i find no need to. The AF on the 3rd gen bodies seem great to me, from what I've seen in reviews. However, most of the time, I'm shooting static objects. If i shoot people, they'll usually standing still and posing. I'm rarely ever shooting anything that requires fast moving objects or people like sports. For me, its not how fast focuses, but rather nailing the focus, which all a7rii, a7iii, and a7riii do well. The dual sd cards seem great for pro's imo. I don't shoot professionally, so if i lose some shots, its not the end of the world for me. It would suck if it happened on one of my vacay's, and but I'm not getting paid to shoot, so at the end of the day, i wouldn't really care that much. The number of AF points is overkill on the 3rd gen bodies. Not sure why you need so many. There's more than enough on an a7rii, imo.

I'm not a video guy, as i mentioned, so i can't comment on the video quality and differences between the camera's. The A7rii is fine for landscape and portrait's imo. The 3rd gen bodies will offer better AF, and other great features. However, its not about what features are offered. Its whether you'll take advantage of these features. I would say a lot of people don't even push their iso very high. 6400 isn't high imo at all. Yeah its great these camera's have good iso, and if you don't need or use it, then its just for bragging rights at that point. Its like owning a ferrari or lambo, but driving it slow all the time. Think about what features you need and will use, and chose the appropriate camera for your needs, unless you're rich and you can afford to splurge on the latest and greatest because you can.
Thanks for the great feedback. Agree, although I am a big Nikon user and have flashes and glass, I didnt hear good things about the Z6. I dont mind switching over to Sony cause I keep hearing great things about their Mirrorless line. Honestly, I think both Nikon and Canon are playing catchup now
I am thinking about the A7 iii, I understand A7r iii brings added features and might be better at low light, fast moving objects, I think the A7iii would be good for my needs as I mainly use it for travel, kids and family memories. Only thing I am not sure about is Hockey or soccer games but I have a feeling it might work well

I am not a professional photographer and dont get paid for my images as well, so i cant really justify the additional $1500 incl. tax to jump to the A7r.
maybe I am wrong but thats my feeling so far
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Akronica wrote: Vistek is having a deal on the A7 iii, now comes with a bag, kit lens and 125GB Xtreme Card
Think might be one of the best deals out there
https://www.vistek.ca/store/429060/sony ... phite-extr
Basically a free bag and a memory card. If you need tracking abilities, you need a faster card to empty out the buffer during burst.

The 7III is your all around shooter at 24MP.

The R3 is meant for landscapes, large prints and product photography.
It doesn't have an anti-aliasing filter, better weather sealing and 43MP.

The A9 is the one meant for faster tracking sport or wildlife shooting.

If you just need it for travel, kids and family, get the 7III.
It's more than capable in landscapes too, you just are limited in the size of prints and cropping in post.

For example, one benefit of the R3 is using crop mode to extend the reach of the lens on your body.
Crop mode gives you an extension of 1.5. Useful if you have limited lenses or find yourself somewhere without that longer telephoto lens on your camera or in your bag.
So, crop mode is 18 MPs with an extender of 1.5x.
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Akronica wrote: Vistek is having a deal on the A7 iii, now comes with a bag, kit lens and 125GB Xtreme Card
Think might be one of the best deals out there
https://www.vistek.ca/store/429060/sony ... phite-extr
I wish they get rid of the bag and add another 128gb SD card instead. Gotta need 2 for that dual card slots. I'll wait till boxing to see if Henry's will do another buy $X000 and save $X00.
Last edited by Gin Martini on Dec 17th, 2018 10:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Gin Martini wrote: I wish they get rid of the bag and add another 128gb SD card instead. Gotta need 2 for that dual card slots. I'll wait till boxing to see if Henry's will do another by $X000 and save $X00.
Not on Sony.
Sony controls pricing on their cameras at retail.
Even Aden won't adjust pricing on their cameras. The best bet is hoping the next Sony trade event has a deal on the 7III, which is likely, since it wasn't part of the one back in March (came out at the tail end) and not part of the September event.
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rebel_rfd wrote: Not on Sony.
Sony controls pricing on their cameras at retail.
Even Aden won't adjust pricing on their cameras. The best bet is hoping the next Sony trade event has a deal on the 7III, which is likely, since it wasn't part of the one back in March (came out at the tail end) and not part of the September event.
I bought a Sony last year when they had this promo. My A6000 came out to be $430 before tax body only while everywhere else was $480.
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Gin Martini wrote: I bought a Sony last year when they had this promo. My A6000 came out to be $430 before tax body only while everywhere else was $480.
Henrys or Sony Trade Promo?

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