Nikon Z7 to A7R ?

Rob Sims

Rob Sims

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Robert
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Afternoon All

Has anyone moved from Nikon Z7/D850/D810 to the Sony A7R 2/3 ?
Specifically interested in
  1. perceived image sharpness when printing larger Images - down to the better glass (like the 16-35 G Master) ? Is there a significant difference at say A1 or A2 sizes ?
  2. The use of the camera when out shooting - lots of comments about difficult menu but how Real are the issue when actually out shooting ? (Landscape only
  3. A7R 2 v 3 if just using for landscapes ? Looks like the 2 would be basically the same ?
Thanks
Rob
 
1. Really depends on the viewing distance.

2. its a non-issue. Once you spend a couple of hours setting up the camera buttons and quick function menu you will never have to go through the menus. When you absolutely need to got to the menus (eg: for cleaning mode or formatting cards) you can add these to a quick access "My menu" tab. So all in all you can safely ignore the menu forever after. The my menu option is not present in M2 but its also not a big deal. With the buttons and quick function menu you will be covered for the most part to not have to use the menus.

3. M3 does have slightly better dynamic range but not a huge lot to worry about. The main difference is the batteries. M3 uses large batteries that last longer which is rather useful for long exposure shooting which will chew through the smaller batteries in M2.
 
Rob Sims said:
The use of the camera when out shooting - lots of comments about difficult menu but how Real are the issue when actually out shooting ? (Landscape only
Thanks
Rob
Click to expand...

The menu angst on forums baffles me but I assume it's mostly from people who'd like fewer options and the menus to look exactly like the ones on the camera they're used to, probably a Nikon or a Canon.

Yes there are a lot of options but I think this is a good thing as it gives you more control and makes the camera more customisable. Another issue could be different naming conventions from Nokon/Canon to Sony but initially baffling naming is easily overcome and once you know you know.

As above, once you've set up the camera including customising the buttons and setting up the quick access menu you'll hardly ever need to visit the main menu. Formatting the card and setting the date twice a year wont seem all that bad :D
 
woof woof said:
The menu angst on forums baffles me but I assume it's mostly from people who'd like fewer options and the menus to look exactly like the ones on the camera they're used to, probably a Nikon or a Canon.

Yes there are a lot of options but I think this is a good thing as it gives you more control and makes the camera more customisable. Another issue could be different naming conventions from Nokon/Canon to Sony but initially baffling naming is easily overcome and once you know you know.

As above, once you've set up the camera including customising the buttons and setting up the quick access menu you'll hardly ever need to visit the main menu. Formatting the card and setting the date twice a year wont seem all that bad :D
Click to expand...
That’s what I’ve found. Once I had set up the camera I’ve hardly gone into the main menu. There is a FN menu that’s customisable, a my menu with 6 pages that you can pick and choose your favourite menu options. That’s not including the 13 buttons that can be customised to what you want them to be.

I think part of the menus issue is down to unfamiliar design and the fact the buttons can be customised so much. I tried a Sony A9 at the NEC, I didn’t have a clue how it worked! I swear some go around altering setting, buttons etc to make them impossible to try out like it’s a game to play at these events!

I moved from the Nikon D810 to the A7R3. A friend has the A7r2. Before I made the move his main points where battery life, menus and weather sealing. I gather the my menu isn’t available on the mk2. Also battery life is better on the mk3 because it uses a different battery. The weather seal is quite poor but easily over come with a rain cover.
 
Menus are all personal. People moan about the Olly ones, but like you're all saying, once you have the Olympus set up you rarely go into the menus. That being said I've never had an issue with Olympus menus and I still find Sony a PITA ;)
 
Rob Sims said:
Afternoon All

Has anyone moved from Nikon Z7/D850/D810 to the Sony A7R 2/3 ?
Specifically interested in
  1. perceived image sharpness when printing larger Images - down to the better glass (like the 16-35 G Master) ? Is there a significant difference at say A1 or A2 sizes ?
  2. The use of the camera when out shooting - lots of comments about difficult menu but how Real are the issue when actually out shooting ? (Landscape only
  3. A7R 2 v 3 if just using for landscapes ? Looks like the 2 would be basically the same ?
Thanks
Rob
Click to expand...
I almost made the change but I couldn’t get my fingers between the grip and lens without scraping them on the Sony, forget using the Sony wearing gloves. The A7RIV is much better in this regard.
 
Hi, I did not move to SONY. I have 2 A7R2s, but I bought a D800, too, because I was dissatisfied with SONY AF performance.

I see SONY and Nikon (and Leica) as complementary.
 
I don't understand the menu issue.
If properly set up using the custom buttons, the menu system is fine.
Took me about an hour to set up and get a feel for the menu.
I've used canon, Nikon, Panasonic, olympus and sony.
The only one that I've found to be a pita to navigate initially is the Olympus, but that's my wifes camera so I've hardly used it. I'm sure if I familiarised myself with it, it would be fine too.
 
Back in the day, I never had problems with Oly, Panny, Fuji or Nikon. The key is to understand the different terminology for the same thing.
 
trevorbray said:
Pretty sure @Dave Semmens switched to A7r3 from Nikon.
I think he uses the 16-35 GM
Click to expand...
trevorbray said:
Pretty sure @Dave Semmens switched to A7r3 from Nikon.
I think he uses the 16-35 GM
Click to expand...

Yes - I moved from a Nikon D810 to A7R3 over a year ago.

The 16-35GM is superb - I was disappointed with both the Nikon 17-35 and 16-35. The GM blows them both away quite easily but at the cost I suppose it should.

I find using the Sony simpler than the Nikon for landscapes - manual focus all the way which I never did with the Nikon and the configurations you can save to the memories is a godsend.

Dave.
 
Bobsyeruncle said:
I don't understand the menu issue.
If properly set up using the custom buttons, the menu system is fine.
Took me about an hour to set up and get a feel for the menu.
I've used canon, Nikon, Panasonic, olympus and sony.
The only one that I've found to be a pita to navigate initially is the Olympus, but that's my wifes camera so I've hardly used it. I'm sure if I familiarised myself with it, it would be fine too.
Click to expand...

Its not only the custom keys that are useful along with the custom menus but also something called recall custom hold, which quite a few people dont know about... not sure if youve seen this. The Sonys are highly customisable and going into menus after initial setup is pretty much never required, I like options so an extensive menu and a lot of options in my case is not an issue.

Worth a watch, Mark Galers tutorials are superb.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrwoVApjBfs
 
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Rob Sims said:
Afternoon All

Has anyone moved from Nikon Z7/D850/D810 to the Sony A7R 2/3 ?
Specifically interested in
  1. perceived image sharpness when printing larger Images - down to the better glass (like the 16-35 G Master) ? Is there a significant difference at say A1 or A2 sizes ?
  2. The use of the camera when out shooting - lots of comments about difficult menu but how Real are the issue when actually out shooting ? (Landscape only
  3. A7R 2 v 3 if just using for landscapes ? Looks like the 2 would be basically the same ?
Thanks
Rob
Click to expand...


I had D850's & D810's but it seems like an age ago now.

I now have an A9II, 2 x A9, 3 x A7III and an A7RIV.

I don't think there is much in it in terms of sharpness tbh, where there is a difference in that with the Sony's there is no issue of a.f being out due to lenses needing to be micro adjusted which always seemed to be an issue with any of the Nikon's I had.

As others have already mentioned on first look the Sony menu can look a bit daunting, once the camera is set up how you like its quite rare that you need to delve into them again and while they aren't user friendly in the first instance they soon become second nature and the range of options available in terms of confiq is probably better than any other system. The FN and my menu work great for the most used options.

I haven't used the A7RII or A7RIII extensively but they both use the same sensors so image quality should be on a par with only the different processors cooking files differently. The A7RIII has much better battery life though and better a.f although that may not be a concern if you are mainly just shooting landscapes.

In terms of the wide lenses the new Sigma 14-24 is supposed to better again than the 16-35GM, I haven't used either lens but might be worth doing a bit of research on those.
 
twist said:
Its not only the custom keys that are useful along with the custom menus but also something called recall custom hold, which quite a few people dont know about... not sure if youve seen this. The Sonys are highly customisable and going into menus after initial setup is pretty much never required, I like options so an extensive menu and a lot of options in my case is not an issue.

Worth a watch, Mark Galers tutorials are superb.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrwoVApjBfs
Click to expand...
Hadn't spotted that
It does look useful.
Thanks for sharing. :-)
 
twist said:
Its not only the custom keys that are useful along with the custom menus but also something called recall custom hold, which quite a few people dont know about... not sure if youve seen this. The Sonys are highly customisable and going into menus after initial setup is pretty much never required, I like options so an extensive menu and a lot of options in my case is not an issue.

Worth a watch, Mark Galers tutorials are superb.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrwoVApjBfs
Click to expand...
I didn’t know that either. It would be worth sharing the A7/A9 thread too.

Do you know can you set the 1/2/3 memory settings on the top mode dial so each memor6 setting can have different custom keys? ie set 1 for landscape with the custom key set for aperture mode (useful for when checking shutter speed when using filters in manual) and set 2 for wildlife with the custom key set for fast or slow action.
 
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My trouble with custom keys etc. is that I can never remember what I’ve set the blighters to!
 
Stephen L said:
My trouble with custom keys etc. is that I can never remember what I’ve set the blighters to!
Click to expand...
For me it's muscle memory for most part.

Surely you don't drive into the menus every time you need change a setting?
 
nandbytes said:
For me it's muscle memory for most part.

Surely you don't drive into the menus every time you need change a setting?
Click to expand...
No, I find that for my photography one set of settings is enough. Sometimes you can have too much choice, like my Jack Russell when confronted by two tennis balls. :LOL:
 
Stephen L said:
My trouble with custom keys etc. is that I can never remember what I’ve set the blighters to!
Click to expand...

I make full use of the custom settings, and have done on every camera I've used for the last few years. Typically have one custom setting for landscapes, one for general family days out and a third for sports / action. All I then have to do is move one dial and I have the camera exactly how I want it for a given set of circumstances :-)

Cheers,

Simon.
 
srhmoto said:
I make full use of the custom settings, and have done on every camera I've used for the last few years. Typically have one custom setting for landscapes, one for general family days out and a third for sports / action. All I then have to do is move one dial and I have the camera exactly how I want it for a given set of circumstances :)

Cheers,

Simon.
Click to expand...
Never shoot the second two. ;)
 
Stephen L said:
No, I find that for my photography one set of settings is enough. Sometimes you can have too much choice, like my Jack Russell when confronted by two tennis balls. :LOL:
Click to expand...

well then pretty much any body would work for you :D
 
It's difficult to know how serious some people are being :D

There seem to be complaints about menu complexity and the number of set up options both of which seem to be advantages to me as they allow a degree of customising we've never had before.

The vast menu is a very mostly a non issue once the buttons and my menu options have been set up and if remembering what button does what is a real issue there are two alternatives, give up and use the kit in green square mode or before you head out to take some pictures press every button to remind yourself how you set it up. There really aren't that many Cx buttons and it'll only take a minute or two.
 
woof woof said:
It's difficult to know how serious some people are being :D

There seem to be complaints about menu complexity and the number of set up options both of which seem to be advantages to me as they allow a degree of customising we've never had before.

The vast menu is a very mostly a non issue once the buttons and my menu options have been set up and if remembering what button does what is a real issue there are two alternatives, give up and use the kit in green square mode or before you head out to take some pictures press every button to remind yourself how you set it up. There really aren't that many Cx buttons and it'll only take a minute or two.
Click to expand...
I'm not arguing against great customability - I welcome it. But for me (and remember I'm only stating my own personal needs if that's OK with you) I really only need to quickly adjust ISO, MF/AF, aperture, shutter speed.
 
Stephen L said:
I'm not arguing against great customability - I welcome it. But for me (and remember I'm only stating my own personal needs if that's OK with you) I really only need to quickly adjust ISO, MF/AF, aperture, shutter speed.
Click to expand...

I think you and others are making way too much of this. Set the buttons with the options you want and if you seriously can't remember what you've done set the buttons to all do the same thing then any button you press will lead you to the ISO and you'll almost certainly have dedicated wheels for the aperture and shutter settings and a real switch for AM/MF.

We've never had it so good :D
 
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