Sony a7r vs nikon d800e

ndwgolf

ndwgolf

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Neil Williams
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Not sure if this has been discussed but I am away to buy a D800e in two weeks’ time to use with my Nikon D4s as a travel/landscape camera........................but I just saw that the Sony a7r is also a 36mp camera and looks very compact............which one is best??
PS I like to print my pictures on large canvas and sell on my website so yes 36mp will be great
 
I was going to point out that the major shortcoming of the A7 at the moment is a lack of lenses to fit it but you have that covered!

Personally, I would go with the D800e.
 
Nod Any reason why? I have a Leica M and a couple of nice Leica lenses but I fancy a compact full frame AF camera as Leica just frustrates the hell out of me
 
I want it for my UK trip in August as I am going to the Scottish highlands to shoot birds and landscape. I have D4s for the birds and was thinking D800e for street and landscape but maybe the Sony will take car if the latter for me
 
Before jumping to the A7R (which has a very good sensor) but poor (imo) build quality make sure your Leica lenses work okay on it, do some research about each lens as not all work very well and some have major issues.
 
Twist the 2 lenses I have are the 21 lux and 50 noctilux my mate in KL has the Sony and he uses his Leica lenses on it and has offered me a play with it when I get home so yes I will try out my Leica lenses on it but I really want it for AF so googling for a good all round Sony lens to go with it
 
ndwgolf said:
Twist the 2 lenses I have are the 21 lux and 50 noctilux my mate in KL has the Sony and he uses his Leica lenses on it and has offered me a play with it when I get home so yes I will try out my Leica lenses on it but I really want it for AF so googling for a good all round Sony lens to go with it
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The 55 Zeiss is superb. I think the only lens you may need to check is the 21, the 50 should be fine.

http://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/52669514
 
The D800E would be best as you have Nikon glass already. The 21 Lux won't be up to snuff on the A7R and is best kept for the Leica. You would be better getting a D800E and renting or buying a Nikon 14-24.
 
I thought it used the same sensor as the D800E? not sure if that's ever been officially stated by Sony though.

What digital camera compared the 2 and had the D800E as the outright winner, though both will produce similar raw files. It's all about ergonomics, build and control really. And they say the EVF in the sony is no match for the D800's optical. The D800 also has faster focusing:

http://www.whatdigitalcamera.com/equipment/advice/542176/nikon-d800e-vs-sony-a7r-verdict.html
 
I was in the same boat a while back, wanted to ditch all my nikon gear (d800) and get an a7r. I finally noticed an unboxed one in my local shop this morning and had a fiddle with it. I was amazed just how light it was, i didnt have any issue with the build quality, the evf seemed fine. I had doubts about its close/open/close shutter system but after firing off a load of shots it seemed perfectly normal. I just think the big unknown is the lenses at the moment. Ive got a leica M3 with a 50 and 21 lens, i think the 50 will be fine but ive heard wide lenses have issues on the Sony. I could get a nikon adaptor as im not worried about manual focussing but then you have to deal with the bulky nikon lenses so id almost be back to square one.

Anyway, for now ive decided to keep the nikon gear and wait for the next iteration of mirrorless FF bodies and it will give the lenses time to mature i think. If i win the lottery tonight i'll bung a few million fuji's way to develop a FF x body :)
 
I dont think the two are comparable and snapsort really is the worst way to make an apples to oranges comparison.

They share the smae excellent sensor but that aside they are chalk and chese, yes the Nikon will beat the sony on everythig else such as build quality, AF system etc but the Sony A7r is the size of the Nikon D800's shutter button and thats where its advantage lies.

Sony A99 is a more direct competitor to the D800. I would look at your requirements. If it were my only camera I would take the SLR no questions asked.
 
For manual focus I'd have thought it was no contest with the A7 a clear winner.

Personally I find that peaking is great and accurate and if you have time to use it the magnified view gives the chance of simply amazing manual focus accuracy that surely no optical system can ever match simply because with the magnified EVF view you can see much more clearly and choose your focus point much more precisely.

I can't see myself ever returning to a conventional DSLR system now.
 
Wide rf lenses generally don't perform well on the Sonys. The evf is hopeless in bright light and high iso isn't as good as the Nikons, despite sharing the same sensor. Auto iso doesn't allow you to select a minimum shutter speed (need to use shutter priority) and the shutter sound is awful. Raw files use lossy compression.

But...the native lenses appear excellent and the camera is tiny :)
 
manualfocus-g said:
Wide rf lenses generally don't perform well on the Sonys. The evf is hopeless in bright light and high iso isn't as good as the Nikons, despite sharing the same sensor. Auto iso doesn't allow you to select a minimum shutter speed (need to use shutter priority) and the shutter sound is awful. Raw files use lossy compression.

But...the native lenses appear excellent and the camera is tiny :)
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In your humble opinion :D Personally I don't have a problem with it :D

As for the other issues, it's been widely reported that the lossy raw isn't in the real world and switching to shutter priority takes but a moment :D

I know from previous posts that you seem to have a massive problem with the A7 but personally I feel that you make too much of some of these issues. Each to his own of course and YMMV. :D
 
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sigma dp's have similer quality, and are way cheaper if you include lenses in the comparison :)

the evf issues are because the eyecup is meh, but it is nice to preview your exposure and dof which you cant do with a ovf as well
 
same sensor, Sony make the sensor in the Nikon D800 and keep the best ones for the A7r
 
Why? Lens availability and with the Nikon, you would only need to take one system with you. TBH, I would probably leave the D4s behind and just take the D800e. I'm guessing that you don't need massive FPS which is the only real Achilles heel of the D800(e). File sizes are pretty big but memory is cheap these days.
 
why don't you get a Leica S2 as money seems to be "no object" - then you will have "the best" and no problem with TC's ………. solves your concerns in one go

Get the S2 and a few Leica lens ……. you know you want one


Nod said:
Why? Lens availability and with the Nikon, you would only need to take one system with you. TBH, I would probably leave the D4s behind and just take the D800e. I'm guessing that you don't need massive FPS which is the only real Achilles heel of the D800(e). File sizes are pretty big but memory is cheap these days.
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Neil and his wife are flying "business class" so according to an earlier posting he has no problems with cabin baggage weight


Is that a Chiffchaff I hear out of my study window?
 
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Nod said:
Why? Lens availability and with the Nikon, you would only need to take one system with you. TBH, I would probably leave the D4s behind and just take the D800e. I'm guessing that you don't need massive FPS which is the only real Achilles heel of the D800(e). File sizes are pretty big but memory is cheap these days.
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I am shooting Puffins and other birds in Scotland so yes the D4s is going
 
Why would it matter to me what you do with your gear? :/

But the bit where you say Sony keep the best sensors for their own cameras ... lolz :D
 
Cagey75 said:
Why would it matter to me what you do with your gear? :/

But the bit where you say Sony keep the best sensors for their own cameras ... lolz :D
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OK I won't sell my Leica S2 and the S Lens ….. I'll just give them to the kids!
 
I've tried FUJI EVFs, couldn't get along witht them, so like OVF of Nikon D800's. However, I often use live view and enhance the screen to see when manually focussing, but check the OVF. I like the bigger camera, feels better in hands and tripod, thats me though. End results are some great images are coming off A7Rs in the right hands as with D800s
 
ST4 said:
I've tried FUJI EVFs, couldn't get along witht them, so like OVF of Nikon D800's. However, I often use live view and enhance the screen to see when manually focussing, but check the OVF. I like the bigger camera, feels better in hands and tripod, thats me though. End results are some great images are coming off A7Rs in the right hands as with D800s
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Steve you go me thinking now.......I bought a EVF for my Leica M and I hated it, I bought my wife a Fuji X-Pro 1 and I hated that.................I havent seen the Sony aR7 yet but like I said before my buddy is going to let me have a play with his camera befoer I make my mind up but I guess the EVF will haveto be something very special if I am going to get the Sony rather than the Nikon
 
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twist said:
Before jumping to the A7R (which has a very good sensor) but poor (imo) build quality make sure your Leica lenses work okay on it, do some research about each lens as not all work very well and some have major issues.
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I just posted on the Leica forum and asked those guys if they have had any issues mounting Leica glass on the AR7
Here is a picture that my mate sent me shot with the Sony ar7 and Leica R 21 x 35 zoom
 
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woof woof said:
In your humble opinion :D Personally I don't have a problem with it :D

As for the other issues, it's been widely reported that the lossy raw isn't in the real world and switching to shutter priority takes but a moment :D

I know from previous posts that you seem to have a massive problem with the A7 but personally I feel that you make too much of some of these issues. Each to his own of course and YMMV. :D
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I don't have a massive problem with the a7 series :) I'm sure as an AF system it works very well for a lot of people, and the form factor is fantastic. There are plenty of a7r owners out there who love it for landscape due to the fantastic resolution etc. But as a photographer who likes to shoot moving things with manual lenses, it doesn't cut it for me. The EVF isn't good enough yet and the camera itself doesn't feel that polished. It was a massive let down for me as my keeper rate dropped dramatically outdoors. Clearly you focus accurately using the zoom focus with focus peaking, but it doesn't work at all well without the zoom. What would interest me would be a better executed model (in general) with a higher quality EVF which doesn't wash out in bright light (decent eye cup perhaps?) and maybe a nice manual focus mode to rival the Fuji split focus feature. With a nicer high ISO noise profile :D
 
manualfocus-g said:
I don't have a massive problem with the a7 series :) I'm sure as an AF system it works very well for a lot of people, and the form factor is fantastic. There are plenty of a7r owners out there who love it for landscape due to the fantastic resolution etc. But as a photographer who likes to shoot moving things with manual lenses, it doesn't cut it for me. The EVF isn't good enough yet and the camera itself doesn't feel that polished. It was a massive let down for me as my keeper rate dropped dramatically outdoors. Clearly you focus accurately using the zoom focus with focus peaking, but it doesn't work at all well without the zoom. What would interest me would be a better executed model (in general) with a higher quality EVF which doesn't wash out in bright light (decent eye cup perhaps?) and maybe a nice manual focus mode to rival the Fuji split focus feature. With a nicer high ISO noise profile :D
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Where are you getting this better high iso profile from?

Is the D800 really so better?

No
http://www.dxomark.com/Cameras/Comp...s-Nikon-D800-versus-Nikon-D800E___917_792_814

I can't be bothered to do the maths but your looking at about 1/20th of a stop maybe less, well within the realms of testing error.

I have never encountered a problem with any EVF but I know there a personal thing.
 
Re Manualfocusg - We've done this argument to death and our experiences are so far apart it's impossible to believe that we're talking about the same kit which at least shows that trying the kit for yourself is very important.
 
Brazo said:
Where are you getting this better high iso profile from?

Is the D800 really so better?

No
http://www.dxomark.com/Cameras/Comp...s-Nikon-D800-versus-Nikon-D800E___917_792_814

I can't be bothered to do the maths but your looking at about 1/20th of a stop maybe less, well within the realms of testing error.

I have never encountered a problem with any EVF but I know there a personal thing.
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I am not that worried about Hi ISO (I and use my D4s if I need it) Most of the time when I am shooting landscape I will using base ISO as the camera will be on a tripod
 
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