It takes everything good about the previous A7 cameras and combines it into one efficient package.
The Sony A7r II, released in late 2015, has a 42MP full-frame sensor, a refined grip, weather-resistance, 5-axis in-body stabilisation, 399 phase detect points, a maximum ISO of 104,400, 5 fps burst speed with focus priority, 4K movie recording, and one of the largest and brightest electronic viewfinders on the market. There is no ambiguity about which full-frame mirrorless cameras takes the prize for being the most technologically advanced. The recommendations we’ve made are based on a mix of our own experience with these cameras (we’ve either tried or owned 95% of them) and pertinent topics such as overall performance, budget, video performance, relevancy on today’s market and portability.
To help you decide which full-frame mirrorless is best for you, we’ve compiled a short list of cameras we feel are worthy of your attention. With so many names floating about, many of which look like they could be misspellings of one another, it is easy to feel overwhelmed. The RX1 was also updated twice in the form of the RX1r and later the RX1r II. It was soon followed by an onslaught of full-frame mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras with autofocus, starting with the A7, A7r and A7s and followed by the second generation A7 II, A7r II and A7s II. Sony on the other hand made its first foray into the full-frame mirrorless sector in 2012 with the RX1 premium compact. The Q and SL have autofocus and optical stabilisation.
Based on Leica’s iconic film rangefinder series, it features an optical rangefinder instead of an electronic viewfinder and also lacks autofocus. Being a specific niche product, it is also very expensive (around $7000 body only). In 2015, Leica also produced two modern mirrorless cameras with an EVF: one premium compact (the Q), and the professional SL model. Leica has been producing digital full-frame mirrorless cameras since 2009. The M9 was the first digital full-frame rangefinder mirrorless camera with an interchangeable mount, and since then, they’ve released six more M models. Although the product lacks a mirror, it is different from what we would consider a modern mirrorless camera. So, which companies have actually produced mirrorless full-frame cameras as of 2015? At the time of writing, only two have seriously jumped on the bandwagon – Leica and Sony. This is easy enough to achieve with smaller sensors like APS-C or Four Thirds but becomes much more challenging with full-frame, especially if you want to introduce modern features such as autofocus and optical stabilisation into the lenses.
The problem for manufacturers that want to produce mirrorless full-frame cameras is that the word mirrorless has become synonymous with compactness and portability. This can be attributed not to the physical impossibility of fitting a mirrorless body with a full-frame sensor but the difficulty of achieving an optimum balance between body size and image quality. Full-frame cameras are commonplace on the DSLR market, with models available from Nikon, Canon, Sony and soon Pentax, but they have yet to permeate the mirrorless market to the same degree.