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Is upgrading to A77 II really worth it?
- Thread starter Edward Greenberg
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- sony slt-a77 ii
Karl Scharf
Senior Member
K E Hoffman
Veteran Member
Not true!
Yemble
Senior Member
I had great difficulty in justifying the A77 to A77ii upgrade, until I actually did it. Now it seems like a no-brainer so long as you can live without GPS and can live with the new hot shoe. What swung it for me was that my son was a willing recipient of the A77
TheVoid
Senior Member
Pros to upgrading:
- I was not happy with image quality on the a77 - not just high-ISO noise, but the JPG engine and the amount of time I was spending in raw files made me like the camera less (carefully chosen words there... I liked the camera, but these issues detracted from my enthusiasm)
- Nobody has mentioned the Eye-AF, but I find that incredibly handy for portrait and casual shots of people. Combining face detection, micro focus-adjusted lenses, and now firmware that recognizes and puts a precise focus point on the closest eyeball has given me the sharpness in eye detail that I always sought after in previous cameras but rarely achieved.
- The JPG engine is quite nice and I often can't do better with RAW files than the OOC Jpegs now. I still shoot in RAW but I am often choosing RAW+JPG and comparing, and end up keeping the jPGs even after trying to get my Raw's to be where I want them in sharpness, color balance, skin tones, and noise handling.
- Accurate auto white balance seems much more natural and pleasing to me on this body than the a77 and a580 I used previously. I trust it in a lot of various indoor lighting conditions too where I used to try to get a custom WB value instead.
- If your current body doesn't bug you and you're happy with your purchase, why talk yourself into needing more? I loved the build quality, ergonomics, weather resistance, and EVF on the original a77. The version ii addressed things that bugged me but those things may not bug you. It got me where I wanted to be, but I'm glad I didn't have to lose a lot of money on selling a body I had used for less than a year. (I'm not a frequent upgrader.)
- If you are happy with your image quality now, the money lost and money spent probably isn't going to leave you feeling great about the new purchase. You might wonder if the money was better spent on new/better lenses.
- I don't like having to adapt my Minolta flash to the new ISO hotshoe. I'm at risk of losing the little adapter, since the lens doesn't fit in its Minolta case with the adapter on and the camera looks/feels weird with the adapter on but no lens. So it's like having an extra lens cap constantly at risk of getting left somewhere, and goodbye $30 when that day comes. I've heard my old flash (5600HS) works better than the native Sony flash, so I don't want to upgrade that component yet.
tbcass
Forum Pro
While the above might be an exaggeration I find the camera will focus in light so low that you cannot read a newspaper. In other words pretty dark requiring long exposures of a second or more at iso 3200. A lot depends on the lens speed. My experiment was with an f2.8 lens. A slower lens might have failed completely.
tbcass
Forum Pro
Unless you consider the A77ii is better at video, the EVF is better, the JPG engine is better and is a lot more customizable making the camera easier to use. I have both cameras and the older A77 sits on the shelf most of the time.
WildBill in MN
Member
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So much depends on what you want to do with it. If the new features aren't things that you need, then you can save your money. The Mk2 doesn't diminish the good camera that the a77 is.
For me, I shoot wildlife for the most part, often flying birds. The new focus system and in-body front and back focus limits are features that I love. The bigger buffer is welcome, and the new EVF is amazing.
Besides the a77mk2, I also have an a77 and an a57. I really enjoyed both of them. The a57 now sits in a box, and the a77 has very few clicks on since getting the a77mk2. Down the road, I'll probably sell one of those, just not sure which. Maybe the 77, because I enjoy the lighter weight and simplicity of the 57. Usually, when I am out and about, the second body has either the 500mmAF Reflex or the 135STF lens on it. Neither of those lenses will benefit from the new focus system, but the 500 Reflex benefits from the focus limits.
Usually, I shoot RAW, but with the a77mk2, my computer was too old to run the software with the new converters for the Mk2. New computer coming, but I found the JPGs of the Mk2 to be pretty darned good, and a great improvement over the 77 - similar in quality to the a700, which had great JPGs.
Loss of GPS was not a big deal. I usually turned it off, so as to not give away my locations and draw a crowd, plus, it burned batteries. Focus assist light loss no big deal. I always found those annoying.
Bill in MN
For me, I shoot wildlife for the most part, often flying birds. The new focus system and in-body front and back focus limits are features that I love. The bigger buffer is welcome, and the new EVF is amazing.
Besides the a77mk2, I also have an a77 and an a57. I really enjoyed both of them. The a57 now sits in a box, and the a77 has very few clicks on since getting the a77mk2. Down the road, I'll probably sell one of those, just not sure which. Maybe the 77, because I enjoy the lighter weight and simplicity of the 57. Usually, when I am out and about, the second body has either the 500mmAF Reflex or the 135STF lens on it. Neither of those lenses will benefit from the new focus system, but the 500 Reflex benefits from the focus limits.
Usually, I shoot RAW, but with the a77mk2, my computer was too old to run the software with the new converters for the Mk2. New computer coming, but I found the JPGs of the Mk2 to be pretty darned good, and a great improvement over the 77 - similar in quality to the a700, which had great JPGs.
Loss of GPS was not a big deal. I usually turned it off, so as to not give away my locations and draw a crowd, plus, it burned batteries. Focus assist light loss no big deal. I always found those annoying.
Bill in MN
Edward Greenberg
Leading Member
One other thing I don't like is the lack of a mode button lock which I think the new one has changed. I also wish it was lighter. I know here the recommendation would be to go to the FE lens caneras, but I'm afraid this wold be like going to a whole new system and I already have several A lenses and a flash, so I'd rather not change systems.As most of my pictures are travel related or portraits, Idon't think focusing spped is a major issue.
Edward Greenberg
Leading Member
I have to say I find all these complaints about the jpeg quality very interesting. Prior to my purchasing the A77 and the Sony system, I read many reviews by Sony fans denying the assertions of Canon and Nikon users about the weaker quality jpegs. In fact it was these arguments by the A77 users that convinced me to go with the a77. While frankly I have been happy with the bulk of pictures I get from my camera (I just may not be that critical) I find it interesting that the bulk of you are now seeing what the Canon and Nikon users were asserting all along.
Ed,
Are you familiar with the expression "No one likes to admit their baby is ugly!"
K E Hoffman
Veteran Member
Sony users have always had issues with JPG engine at some level. In general though for most uses a lot of the concerns don't show up for normal use.
And as you just said, it was fine for you. I 6MP days 1:1 post processing was like using a magnifying glass on your print. With 24 MP its more like using microscope.. can actually lead you to over sharpen and over noise process files. AS just scaling them for use does much of that work.
I think now you will find many Canon owners busy with intra-forum arguments over why Canon sensors lag and their video is so poor so there is less chance to nit pick Sony.
The Nikon people are just waiting for the D400. 
I'm curious. With all these informed responses, did you get the answer to your original question?
If not, just buy it and put it under the tree as a gift to you from Santa! I just recently had another reminder how short life is and how dead is forever!
Good luck!
If not, just buy it and put it under the tree as a gift to you from Santa! I just recently had another reminder how short life is and how dead is forever!
Good luck!
Last edited:
Yemble
Senior Member
Not me. I was never particularly impressed with the JPEG quality of the A77. Not really the vast improvement that I was expecting over the A700. I quickly switched to using RAW exclusively.
The A77ii, on the other hand, is a completely different kettle of fish. The quality of the in camera JPEGs is vastly superior to that of the A77. Unfortunately, however, I am now pretty much wedded to shooting RAW and post processing with DxO !
alfarunner
Forum Enthusiast
When A7/r/s mark X gets GPS I will probably leave the APS-C and go to FF.
gil
Forum Pro
model comes up after getting your A77II (assuming you will get one). It is normal to be bitten by the upgrade bug especially when visiting a forum where the in-topic is the latest model. It could be partly due to the herding mentality; the hope of improving one's photographic adventure beyond bookshelf, brick and snap shots or the thinking that the tool really dictates the photographic output or just trying to get out from the inertia of the current model or have some money to spend for one self rather than it going into the wife's shopping allowance. Yes, every reason is valid within the confine of one's justification. Yes, upgrade and if your don't like it, return (if you are in U.S. and buying from vendors with return policy). Only when you actually use it that you will know whether you need it or not. If one is just doing noise analysis on bookshelfs, bricks, yards, Christmas trees, or other uninspiring subjects etc.; they could still upgrade as it is their money .
I upgraded with a selfish intent of maybe it may surpass (hoping tremendously) my A77+Bigma combo for BIFs. There were some improvements but not much in terms of actual performance and the additional 100mm. The only big advantage was that I felt good because then I could now do both ends of BIF fun stuff from the old gears (A77+Bigma DG) to the new gears (A77II + Tamron 150-600) - a relevance in maintaining connection to memories/experiences while looking forward into the future.
I've also been monitoring the BIF output from the new Canon 7DMK2 and not really impressed as of now (I tested the 7D five years ago and was quite happy with its BIF output - Canon 7D Test Images link here ). Short of saying that one must not be ashamed or hesitate to take care of their upgrade itch if well within their means. If it works out, that is good and and if not, try another way/direction and move on.
.I upgraded with a selfish intent of maybe it may surpass (hoping tremendously) my A77+Bigma combo for BIFs. There were some improvements but not much in terms of actual performance and the additional 100mm. The only big advantage was that I felt good because then I could now do both ends of BIF fun stuff from the old gears (A77+Bigma DG) to the new gears (A77II + Tamron 150-600) - a relevance in maintaining connection to memories/experiences while looking forward into the future.
I've also been monitoring the BIF output from the new Canon 7DMK2 and not really impressed as of now (I tested the 7D five years ago and was quite happy with its BIF output - Canon 7D Test Images link here ). Short of saying that one must not be ashamed or hesitate to take care of their upgrade itch if well within their means. If it works out, that is good and and if not, try another way/direction and move on.
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