Sony α7C II  Camera Review

The Sony a7C II is a very compact full-frame camera, though it's slightly chunkier than its predecessor. This is a very minor difference in dimensions, and the camera is still remarkably portable for a full-frame model, with a notably more compact body than models like the Sony α7 IV and Sony α7R IIIa. That said, full-frame lenses can still add considerable bulk and weight, and the camera can even feel unbalanced if you're using long telephoto lenses. If you stick to smaller zooms and primes, this can make for a very portable full-frame kit. If you're looking for an even more compact full-frame model, there's also the Panasonic LUMIX S9, though it comes with some compromises, like having no handgrip or viewfinder.

The Sony a7C II feels very well-built. The body feels solid and is made of sturdy materials, including a magnesium alloy chassis and hard plastic exterior. It's also weather-sealed to protect against dust and moisture. The screen mechanism, along with the buttons and dials, all feel sturdy as well. The shoulder strap attachment points also feel slightly more rigid, which is nice, as they won't rattle around during video recording.

The camera's design is very similar to the original Sony α7C. Aside from size, however, there are a few notable differences, the biggest being the amount of command dials available. The top dial, which controls exposure compensation by default, is now blank, rather than being a dedicated exposure compensation dial, and can be customized to adjust other settings. There's also a new command dial on the front of the camera, underneath the shutter button. The 'Photo', 'Movie', and 'S&Q' modes are now toggled by a separate switch underneath the mode dial. Other minor quality-of-life changes include slightly redesigned inputs. Compared to the a7C, which you can see here, the USB-C port is now higher up, which means cables are less likely to interfere with each other if you're using both external power supply and an external monitor/recorder. The bottom input door also swings out to the side rather than swinging down, keeping it out of the way of the camera's fully articulated screen.

• Sony α7C II camera body
• Sensor cap
• Hot shoe cover
• Shoulder strap
• 1x Sony NP-FZ100 battery
• User manual and documentation

The camera's ergonomics are good overall and an improvement over the original Sony α7C. However, its compact design still means it can feel cramped for those with very large hands. The grip is slightly bigger than that of the a7C, with a more textured finish for a more secure hold. If you want to extend the grip, you can also buy a grip extension at an additional cost. Sony has released the GP-X2, compatible with both the a7C II and the a7C R, though it's already included with the a7C R in the box. Grip aside, the camera's controls are fairly intuitive, and the additional command dials make it easy to adjust settings on the fly. Unfortunately, the viewfinder is still quite uncomfortable to shoot with despite having a more substantial eyecup than its predecessor.

Physically, the electronic viewfinder isn't much bigger than the one we saw on the Sony α7C. It's still on the smaller side and not the most comfortable to hold your eye against without a real eyecup. However, it does have a larger magnification, so the view through it is a bit closer in scale to how you would see things with your eye. Resolution is still the standard 2.36 million dots, which isn't bad but is lower than a lot of newer cameras now offer. On the upside, you can now set the viewfinder's frame rate to 'High', which sets the frame rate to 120 fps, twice the normal frame rate, and reducing motion blur when tracking fast subjects through the viewfinder. If you'd like a camera with a larger and higher-resolution EVF, check out the Nikon Z f.

The camera has a fully articulated screen. The resolution has been bumped up a bit from the Sony a7C, which is nice, and it now has full touch capability, so you can use the screen to navigate the menu, set your AF point, and more. You can access additional settings by swiping from the edges of the screen. The screen gets very bright, too, so glare won't be an issue.

The menu system is great. It's easy to find what you're looking for, and there are many customization options, including a custom 'My Menu' page where you can add shortcuts to whatever settings you want and a customizable quick 'Fn' menu for commonly used settings. In addition to the 'Fn' menu, you can swipe on the screen to pull up even more settings options. There's also a new 'Main Menu', which acts as a sort of home page, where you can find the most commonly used settings for both photo mode and video mode. By default, switching the camera from photo to video mode carries over settings like shutter speed, aperture, etc., but you can also customize which settings carry over and which don't, which is handy for quickly switching over from photo to video without having to adjust relevant settings.

The a7C II is compatible with Sony's Creators' App, which includes the usual functionality you'd expect from a companion app, including transferring files directly from your camera to your smartphone as well as live view and remote operation. That said, like most camera companion apps, there's a significant lag when using it for live-view shooting. On the upside, you can get notifications for new camera firmware updates from the app, which is nice.

The camera uses the same 33-megapixel sensor and BIONZ XR processor found on the Sony α7 IV but with an additional AI-powered processing unit, as seen on the Sony ZV-E1. Sony advertises that the AI chip helps with subject recognition for autofocus, along with intelligent features like 'Auto Framing'. If you're looking for a similar camera but prefer an APS-C sensor, check out the Sony α6700.

The camera uses the same NP-FZ100 battery as the Sony α7C before it did. While the α7C II has a slightly lower CIPA rating than its predecessor, it still has an excellent battery life overall. If using the display, it's rated for 560 shots on a full charge, or 530 shots if using the EVF, as opposed to the α7C's 680 shots. That being said, this camera does have a more powerful processor that's likely a bit more demanding in terms of battery power. Besides, CIPA ratings don't correspond to real-world usage, so the amount of shots you get will depend heavily on how you use your camera.

In video, the camera's battery life is good. You'll get close to two hours of continuous video recording in 4k, but if you want to extend the battery life further, you can also use an external power supply via USB-C.

Note that, like other recent Sony cameras, Sony doesn't supply a USB-C cable or charger in the box, in an effort to reduce electronic waste.

The Sony α7C II can shoot a respectably fast max burst rate, though it isn't any faster than its predecessor. Like the Sony α7 IV, its burst rate also drops down to 6 fps when shooting uncompressed/lossless RAW files, which is a bit disappointing. Its RAW image buffer is also a bit smaller than the original Sony α7C, but it's worth noting that the higher-resolution sensor here produces larger RAW files. If you shoot in JPEG, you can shoot virtually indefinitely without slowing down or filling up the buffer, which is great. If you do fill the buffer, it's quicker to empty as well.

Like other Sony cameras before it, the Sony α7C II uses a hybrid AF system. However, like the Sony ZV-E1, its AI-powered processing unit gives it unparalleled subject detection capabilities. It not only has face/eye detection for humans but uses what Sony calls "human pose estimation" to recognize other parts of the body and accurately detect where a subject's eyes are, even when they're partially obscured or when the subject turns around. The camera includes subject detection modes for animals/birds, insects, cars/trains, and airplanes. You can fine-tune the settings, too—for example, in bird/animal mode, you can set it to specifically focus on either birds or animals or 'auto' to detect either. You can also choose whether it should prioritize the animal's eye, head, or body.

In practice, the camera does an excellent job of tracking moving human subjects when shooting continuously. It's quick and reliable and can keep up with subjects even when they're moving quickly or in busier settings.

If you prefer not to rely on tracking and use center point autofocus instead, you'll have no trouble keeping subjects behind the AF point in focus. The AF is quick, accurate, and seamless.

The Sony a7CII has in-body image stabilization (IBIS). It works incredibly well to stabilize shots at slow shutter speeds. We got clear handheld images at shutter speeds as slow as 1/4s when using the Sony FE 28-60mm f/4-5.6, which doesn't include optical stabilization. Stabilization performance varies depending on many factors, including your lens, focal length, and even the steadiness of your hands.

The Sony a7C II has excellent RAW usable dynamic range, so it captures a wide array of highlight and shadow detail. That's ideal for high-contrast scenes and gives you more leeway to shoot in trickier lighting without losing detail.

With the Sony a7C II's high-resolution sensor, you can expect highly detailed and sharp photos even when cropping in on your images. It does a fantastic job of resolving fine details.

The camera does a decent job of managing noise in low light. It's roughly on par with the Sony α7 IV. Though it isn't the greatest among its peers, noise is becoming less and less of an issue for modern-day sensors, so the difference between how these cameras perform when it comes to noise is marginal in practice.

The α7C II can now output 10-bit 4:2:2 video via HDMI, whereas the original α7C was limited to 8-bit. That gives you more leeway to process Log footage in post. It supports S-Log3 and HLG to capture a wider dynamic range, plus you get Sony's 11 built-in picture profiles, which include a wide range of different gamma curves and color modes. The camera borrows some of the Sony ZV-E1's advanced video features, including 'Gamma Display Assist', which lets you preview your Log and HLG videos with a contrast equivalent to a regular gamma curve to simulate how it'll look after processing. Like the ZV-E1 and the Sony FX3 before it, you can also import up to 16 custom LUTs, in addition to the camera's built-in s709 and 709 (800%) LUTs, and then apply those LUTs to your footage in-camera to speed up your workflow.

Also like the ZV-E1, the α7C II includes new features like 'Auto Framing', which is useful for single operators. The feature crops into a portion of the frame and automatically tracks your movement, giving the impression of a camera operator moving the camera around to track you. It's meant for use with a tripod, and you can adjust the crop level and tracking speed. It also lets you record an uncropped version of the footage as a backup, so you can mix and match wider shots with the cropped auto-framed footage. You can see an example of 'Auto Framing' in action, taken from our ZV-E1 review, here.

The Sony α7C II records in XAVC format, including XAVC S (MPEG-4 AVC/H.264) and XAVC HS (MPEG-H HEVC/H.265). XAVC S is available for both FHD and 4k, while XAVC HS is 4k only.

The camera supports 4k video at up to 60 fps, which is great for capturing high-speed footage and fast action, though, like the Sony α7 IV, 4k / 60 fps is only available with an APS-C crop. Still, it's an improvement over the Sony α7C, which was limited to 4k 30 fps recording.

The camera's internal recording capability is fantastic. Unlike the original Sony α7C, the α7C II can now record 10-bit 4:2:2 footage internally, giving you more flexibility in post. There's no recording time limit, so it's great for streaming or long takes. With the camera's 'Auto Power Off Temp' threshold set to 'High', we experienced one overheat interruption towards the very end of the camera's battery life after about 98 minutes of continuous recording. So, while overheating can be an issue in very strenuous shooting conditions, it likely won't be a problem with regular usage.

The camera has fantastic autofocus performance when shooting 4k video. As in photo mode, you get several different subject detection modes, from regular old human/eye detection to animal/bird, insect, and vehicle detection modes. The tracking feature works remarkably well overall, with no trouble seamlessly keeping up with moving human subjects. Even when you manually select a target, it reliably stays with the object or subject without any hunting or delay.

The camera's 4k video quality is excellent overall. It performs well in more controlled lighting, capturing sharp, detailed footage, and performs very well in low light, too, with minimal noise and plenty of detail retention in the shadows. You can compare the camera's video quality in some of its other modes and frame rate options below:

Note: The lighting in the area in which we perform our low light video quality test has changed, so the 'Low Light Capability' sample video is harder to compare directly with most cameras we tested previously.

Unfortunately, there's significant rolling shutter effect when panning the camera to the side. You'll notice heavily skewed vertical lines in the background with even moderately quick camera movements.

The camera has a wide range of frame rate options in 1080p. It can shoot at up to 120 fps, which is great for incorporating slow-motion footage into your videos.

The Sony a7CII has super internal recording specs in 1080p. As with 4k, you can record in 10-bit with 4:2:2 chroma sampling internally, giving you more leeway to color-grade. There's no recording time limit, and the camera is unlikely to overheat in this resolution.

In FHD, the camera's autofocus performs just as seamlessly as in 4k. It's "sticky" and incredibly reliable, with near-flawless subject detection and tracking.

The camera's 1080p video quality is excellent overall. Videos look crisp and detailed, and the camera performs well in low light, with minimal noise and good preservation of detail.

Note: The lighting in the area in which we perform our low light video quality test has changed, so the 'Low Light Capability' sample video is harder to compare directly with most cameras we tested previously.

Thankfully, there's less rolling shutter distortion in 1080p. You'll still see some skewed verticals, but it's much less noticeable, especially with slower camera movements.

The camera's dynamic range in video is excellent. It captures a very wide ratio of highlight and shadow detail above the background noise floor when shooting in S-Log3. However, its usable dynamic range is a bit more limited. Even so, it's very well-suited to recording high-contrast scenes or in trickier lighting scenarios, retaining plenty of detail and giving you more flexibility in post.

Tested Settings:

• Resolution: 4k
• Frame Rate: 30 fps
• Log Format: S-Log3

The camera has more stops of dynamic range in the shadows than in the highlights.

Tested Settings:

• Resolution: 4k
• Frame Rate: 30 fps
• Log Format: S-Log3

Like its predecessor, the Sony a7C II has just a single UHS-II SD card slot, which may disappoint those who prefer to keep a running backup or separate RAW and JPEG files. On the upside, the card slot is well-placed on the side of the camera, so you can easily switch out memory cards when shooting on a tripod.

The camera has a USB-C port for charging, file transfer, and power delivery. While it uses a Micro HDMI port, meaning you'll likely need an adapter to connect an external display, it isn't surprising given the camera's compact size. It also includes both a mic and a headphone jack for better audio capture and monitoring.