Edited by George Schaub

The Sony A7S II has a 12MP full-frame sensor. This mirrorless camera could be dubbed an “available light specialist” that offers extremely high sensitivity settings of up to ISO 409,600. According to Sony, the BIONZ X processor in the A7S II features an upgraded image processing algorithm that boosts the sensor’s capabilities overall, particularly at the mid-high end of the ISO scale. This is designed to produce more detailed still images and movies with low noise at high ISOs. Let’s take a closer look at this high sensitivity camera, which has also been called a “low-light monster” and a “master of the dark arts.”

The new Sony A99 II is a DSLR-like Single-Lens Translucent (SLT) system with a fixed and translucent mirror system. It’s Sony’s first full-frame sensor SLT with an A-mount since the first A99, which was launched in 2012. The new camera features an electronic viewfinder system with high resolution (2.36 million RGB dots) and uses its mirror system for the AF sensor. It combines a standard AF system with a highly sophisticated image sensor AF system; it can use 79 AF areas on its dedicated AF sensor and 399 AF areas on the image sensor, resulting in very fast and reliable focusing. This combination is called “Hybrid Phase Detection AF.” The mirror system allows the user to work with an SLR-type focus system as well as a continuous live preview on the screen or electronic viewfinder.

The Sony A77 II is the replacement for the A77, which made its debut in 2011. The A77 II uses a new image sensor with 6000x4000 pixels (same resolution as the A77) that, while sharing the same resolution as its forerunner, does have a new micro lens system that captures more light on each single pixel/diode of the sensor. This helps raise the maximum ISO to 25,600 and to 51,200 as a “push.” In contrast to some other new advanced cameras, the APS-C sensor in the Sony A77 II uses a low-pass filter to prevent moiré effects.

The Sony A7 and A7R are the first mirrorless system cameras with a full-frame sensor. The A7 offers a sensor size of 35.8x23.9mm and a resolution of 24MP, while the A7R has a slightly larger sensor at 35.9x24.0mm and 36MP resolution. Both cameras use the E-mount lens system that was introduced with Sony’s NEX cameras. Because NEX cameras use APS-C-sized sensors all previous E-mount lenses have smaller image circles, thus the full-frame models require new E-mount lenses, which cover the larger image circle of a full-frame sensor.