14 Reasons Why The Sony a7S II is Worth Upgrading To From The a7S Mark I

Sony has a bunch of options for mirrorless cameras these days. In this video I'm going to share 14 ways the a7S Mark II is different from the a7S Mark I.

Both are great cameras, but I think the increase in price from the Mark I to the Mark II is worth the upgrade for all the reasons mentioned.

I'll focus mainly on the new video features, but let's start with the physical changes to the camera body and some updates to photo features.

  1. The Mark II weighs 25% more, which makes it less front heavy with a big lens.

  2. It also has a bigger hand grip, but it still isn't as big as a DSLR.

  3. Sony improved the autofocus system on the a7S II by upgrading it from 25 focus points to 169.

  4. The rear LCD has 25% more pixels, which helps you better determine whether that shot is really in focus or not.

  5. On the Mark II, you can change the silent shooting toggle to a customized button, which keeps you out of the menus.

  6. Sony added 5-axis image stabilization internally in the new model, which allows you to get stable handheld footage with compatible Sony E-mount lenses.

  7. With the original a7S you need an external recorder to capture 4K. Well, what everyone is calling 4K nowadays. With the Mark II, you can record UHD internally as XAVC S 3840 x 2160.

  8. You can now record 120 FPS in High Frame Rate mode in 1080p.

  9. The Mark II also moves the ports to the top of the side of the camera and now has an HDMI lock.

  10. The HDMI output now enables you to record in 8-bit 4:2:2 externally vs. the 4:2:0 color space recorded internally.

  11. Since the a7S II can record for 4K, it nows uses U3 SD Cards.

  12. You can now create custom zebra settings at different percentages of exposure.

  13. You can also customize the video record button if you don't like the placement of it.

  14. And lastly, you can record 4K both internally and externally at the same time.

Both are great cameras, but I think the increase in price from the Mark I to the Mark II is worth the upgrade. 

If you're interested in the a7S II, be sure to check out our full review of it, as well as our comparison between the a7S Mark II vs. the a7R Mark II video.

Thanks to B&H for sending the a7S II for review and to Paul Gero, a sony artisan photographer, for showing me how he uses his a7R ii and Zeiss lenses.

 
Gear / Equipment, My YouTube VideosCaleb WojcikAdvanced / Professional