Sony Alpha 7 II E-mount interchangeable lens mirrorless camera with full frame sensor

This is a fantastic camera and I've been through plenty of cameras. This is the one I'll be keeping. A little history... My first DSLR (9ish years ago) was a Nikon D40. I quickly outgrew that and bought a D90. After I while I wanted more. I got myself a D700 and that was a fantastic camera. At some point I got sick of the weight of heavy cameras and lenses. I sold all of my Nikon gear and bought a Sony Nex7. I loved the light weight...but I was never happy with the image quality. Sooo...back to Nikon. Bought a D7100 and a bunch of lenses. I took a trip to Italy and midway through the trip decided that I needed to look at other options. Once again I was sick of carrying around all that weight. I planned to sell my Nikon stuff (again) and look back at the mirrorless options. I never got the chance because my camera bag was stolen on the way to Milan. Once I got home I started investigating my options. I tried an Olympus E-M1 but that didn't suit me. It's a nice camera but just wasn't up to the standard in image quality that I was used to. Next, I tried the Fuji X-T1. That is a beautiful machine. I would've been happy with it...If I hadn't also tried out the Sony a7. I was happier with the image quality from the Sony, but happier with the feel of the Fuji camera. In the end, image quality won and I kept the Sony. For my type of photography (landscapes, portraits) the Sony fit me very well. The autofocus was acceptable, but not great. But with my kind of work this isn't that big a deal. But I was never happy with the quality of the actual camera body. Just felt a little cheap. Then the a7ii was announced and I decided to trade up. While the camera is a bit heavier, the trade off of AMAZING handling makes it well worth it. The camera oozes quality and feels much nicer to hold than any other mirrorless camera I have tried. The in-body image stabilization is also great. I can handhold with the 55 1.8 at 1/4 second pretty consistently. I can get good images slower that that too, but they are more hit-or-miss. Still, the fact that I CAN get clear images at 1 second is insane. Autofocus is also noticeably better than on the a7. It's not in the same league as a Nikon DSLR like my old D7100, but for me that's not a big deal. If I were shooting sports then the Sony would be out...simple as that.For me, this is pretty much the perfect camera. I'm using it with the FE 55mm f1.8 and FE 16-35mm f4. I also have a Rokinon 85mm f1.4 (replaced my Nikon 85 1.4G that was stolen) and I just ordered a Canon FD 135mm f2.0 for portraits. That pretty much covers all my needs. Very very happy with this camera.Oh, I also got a Nissin i40 flash for Christmas and it is a great match with this camera when you need it. It's remarkably powerful for its size and doesn't look ridiculous on the a7ii.

I love this camera. Sold my a6000 when I got this and it's a massive upgrade. My first full frame digital. The difference is noticeable, but it's not a silver bullet - it doesn't make everything magically better. I am keeping my other crop cameras for both the reach and at least in the case of the a77ii, for its great AF system. The a7ii is primarily for using manual lenses, though the AF works great.Pros:* Image quality is great.* Improved high ISO\low-light performance (over my prior cameras)* I like the size\weight\handling. Many don't, but I've had 0 issues with it.* Customizability. Coming from another system it's probably confusing. No problems here, familiar.* AF system is good. Not the best, but for most it's perfectly fine.* I'm able to use all my old a-mount FF lenses w\AF on LAEA4 adapter* Focus peaking, magnification, zebra all very effective and useful for manual focusing* IBIS for the vintage lenses (as long as you set it properly each time) can be a huge advantage in low-light, especially in conjunction with all the other capabilities.Cons:* APSC mode is only 10MP. This is really the only sore point that has me second guessing whether I should have sprung for an a7RII instead. But realistically the price point was beyond my reach atm.* AF system isn't as good as the newest A7 models or the best DSLR's* AF on LAEA4 adapter is passable for static subjects, but it's too slow for any sort of action.* FE lenses can be expensive.I've had it for about 2 months now, and I really don't have a lot of complaints about this camera at this time. Some of the cons I listed are a bit of a stretch and not specific to the camera. What you get for what you pay is an outstanding value and I don't see that changing. Depending on your needs this may not be the best option for you, the a7 might be sufficient in a more stripped down and compact package, or maybe having the best AF possible is more important than the full frame, etc. There's all sorts of options across many systems. Just think carefully about what you need and avoid an expensive impulse buy.