Sony A7C II Review | Photography Blog

October 22, 2023

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Introduction

The A7C II is the second-generation attempt to bridge the gap between Sony’s A6000-series and A7-series cameras by squeezing the larger full-frame sensor of the latter into the smaller, lighter body of the former.

Sony have decided that it’s time for the next concept of 35mm full-frame Alpha cameras, and so the A7C Mark II is born, with the “C” in the product name standing for “Compact”.

The A7C II sits alongside the popular A7 IV in terms of both specification and price and above the previous A7C model, which continues in the range for the time being.

Sony have principally added a new sensor and processor, more advanced video recording and auto-focusing, and a more refined design to the 2023 version of the A7C.

Aimed at a younger generation than usual, there are two colour versions of the Sony A7C II, a black and silver design (which Sony sent us for review), and a more sombre all-black version.

The Sony A7C II will be available from September 2023 priced at around £2100 / €2400 body only or £2400 / €2700 with the FE 28-60mm F4-5.6 kit lens. It is made in China.

Ease of Use

The new Sony A7C II essentially combines the sensor, processor and key specifications of the popular A7 IV model with the smaller, lighter body of the A6700 APS-C camera.

At the heart of the Sony A7C II, we find a Backside Illuminated Exmor R CMOS 35mm full-frame sensor, which is exactly the same higher-resolution 33 megapixel one that first made its debut in 2021’s Sony A7 IV camera.

The original A7C had a 24.2 megapixel Backside Illuminated Exmor R CMOS sensor that delivered great stills image quality and 4K video.

The move to the 33mp sensor gives the Mark II the edge in resolution over the previous A7C by 27%, allowing you to apply more aggressive crops or make bigger prints.

The A7C II offers a native ISO range of 100-51,200 which can be expanded to ISO 102,400 and dropped down to ISO 50 if required (only when shooting stills, though, not video).

Thanks to the very latest BIONZ XR processor, as also found in the A7 IV camera, the A7C II offers
up to an impressive 15-stops of dynamic range when shooting in Raw mode.

The new processor also offers 8x more processing power than the BIONZ X processor found in the original A7C, which was itself no slouch.

Impressively the larger 35mm full-frame sensor is housed inside a camera body that’s roughly halfway in size between the full-frame A7 IV and the APS-C A6700.

It measures 124mm (W) x 71.1mm (H) x 63.4mm (D), compared to 120.0 x 66.9 x 69.3mm for the A6700 and 129 x 97 x 81 mm for the A7 IV, making it slightly larger in volume than the A6700 and much smaller than the A7 IV.

The aluminium bodied Sony A7C II weighs 525g without a lens, battery and memory card fitted, amazingly just 22g more than the A6700 (503g) and a whopping 134g less than the A7 IV (659g).

It utilizes a tough magnesium alloy body shell that incorporates full weather sealing for extra peace of mind in more inclement conditions.

Sony have employed a monocoque construction for the A7C II, which is more commonly used in the car and aircraft industries, predominantly to help achieve the size and weight reduction.

The A7C II has an even larger, more prominent grip than the one on the A7C, which we preferred after using the camera for a couple of weeks. It has an indent for your right middle-finger to naturally sit in.

Combined with the large rear thumb rest it helps to make the camera feel secure enough when shooting either one- or two-handed.

If you still think that the camera is too small, there’s also a new, optional Extension Grip available which further improves the handling.

The Sony A7C II features an in-body 5-axis image stabilization system to help prevent unwanted camera shake in low-light.

It automatically corrects for pitch and yaw movement, plus horizontal shift, vertical shift and rotary motion (rolling) for both still images and movies.

This was rated for up to 5 stops of compensation on the previous A7C model, but thanks to a newly redesigned stabilisation unit, the new A7C II now offers up to 7 stops of in-body stabilisation, making it one of the more capable Alpha camera in this regard.

The A7C II also benefits from having a special Active Mode that increases stabilization for hand-held movie shooting by using the BIONZ XR processors.

Furthermore, the use of an in-body system, rather than a lens-based system, ensures that the Alpha A7C II can stabilize all kinds of lenses, not just those with the FE designation.

This includes E-mount lenses without Optical SteadyShot (OSS), A-mount lenses and even third party lenses mounted via the popular Sigma MC-11 or Metabones adapters.

Note that lenses without any electronic contacts only benefit from three axes of compensation, and you also need to manually input which focal length you’re using to ensure that the stabilization works properly.

The electro-magnetic drive shutter unit is officially rated for 200,000 releases before it needs to be replaced, which is very impressive for a supposedly “entry-level” camera.

The Sony A7C II uses exactly the same large capacity NP-FZ100 battery as the previous A7C model, the A7 IV and the A6700.

The older A7C had a CIPA-rated battery life of around 740 shots when using the LCD screen and 680 when using the viewfinder, whereas the newer, more power-hungry A7C II only offers 540 shots when using the LCD screen and 510 when using the viewfinder.

The A7C II can also be powered and charged via a USB connection, which is useful if you’re without your charger but can access a computer, and thankfully it uses the latest USB-C standard.

The new A7C II has a very similar 0.39″, 2.36million-dot XGA OLED electronic viewfinder to the one used by the A7C, which is good, but certainly not class-leading,

It features 100% scene coverage and a 120fps high frame rate setting to help track moving subjects more smoothly with virtually no lag.

Crucially, though, it offers a higher magnification of 0.70x, versus 0.59x magnification on the original A7C. The eyepoint is also different – 23mm on the A7C II but only 20mm on the A7C.

The A7C II has a slightly higher-resolution 3-inch, 3:2 ratio LCD screen than the A7C – 1.03 million versus 922,000 dots – but we’d have expected to see a much higher resolution screen on a new camera released in 2023.

A larger, higher resolution screen, perhaps even in the 16:9 ratio rather than 3:2, would have made the A7C II more competitive with its main rivals.

It does have a fully articulating vari-angle design which means that you can flip out the screen to the side, rotate it forwards for easier operation when pointing the camera at yourself, and fold it flat against the back of the camera to stop it from getting scratched when not in use..

Sony have also implemented touch sensitivity on the A7C II’s LCD screen. This makes functions like focus point selection much easier and more intuitive, especially given the regrettable lack of a dedicated AF joystick on the rear.

It even works while looking through the electronic viewfinder, a feature that we’ve seen on several other high-end mirrorless cameras recently.

There are also a greater number of touch controls, including the ability to operate the menu system and swipe up to open the Function menu, something that was sorely lacking on the previous model.

These are also joined by a new array of handy onscreen touch icons that are specific to the stills and movie modes.

With its fully-articulating screen and super-compact size, the A7C II seems to be ideal for vlogging, but there’s one rather big elephant in the metaphorical room – the FE 28-60mm F4-5.6 standard kit lens.

The 28mm focal length simply isn’t wide enough when holding the camera at arms length and pointing it at yourself, unless you’ve got incredibly long arms or you’re using some sort of selfie stick or extension to position the camera further away from you.

Which is presumably why Nikon released a 24-50mm kit lens with their Z5 camera and why Panasonic went even further and used their 20-60mm optic as the kit lens for the Lumix S5 series.

Both of the Sony A7C II’s main rivals clearly have the edge here in terms of how suitable their kit lenses are for one of their key target markets, namely vloggers.

If you’re buying the A7C II primarily for vlogging, we’d recommend the FE 20mm F1.8 prime lens instead of the 28-60mm kit lens, or if you afford it the recently introduced FE 20-70mm F4 G zoom, both of which
which will provide better framing and greater depth of field.

The Sony A7C II’s primary external controls are very similar to those on the A6700. Sony have made a significant number of ergonomic improvements to the new Mark II version of the A7C when comparing it to the original model.

There is now a second command dial at at the top of the A7C II’s handgrip which makes it even easier to change the key exposure settings in conjunction with the rear command dial and the secondary rear-panel scroll wheel that doubles up as the 4-way navigation buttons.

It also has two Custom function buttons rather than one, which many people like. Also the dedicated exposure compensation dial on the A7C has been changed to a customisable unmarked dial on the A7C II.

We still wish Sony had made the now unmarked EV dial lockable, as its position on the corner of the camera meant that it’s often inadvertently knocked into a different (unwanted) position when stored in a camera bag.

The handy Still/Movie/S&Q switch from the A7 full-frame series has made its way onto the A7C II.

The rear control layout of the A7C II hasn’t really changed when comparing it to the A7C, other than the addition of the C1 button.

There’s a prominent AF-On button that can be used for back-button focusing, and to magnify an image during composition or playback.

This button makes it a snip to back-button focus using your thumb rather than half-pressing the shutter button, a method that many photographers swear by.

Sadly this means that there’s still no room for an auto-exposure lock (AEL) button, a rather annoying omission.

You also have to delve into the menu system to switch between AF and MF modes, or use the dedicated button on the lens (if there is one).

The Sony A7C II is a very customisable camera. The AF-On button can be reconfigured to AE-Lock if you wish, just one of 27 different options that can be assigned to it.

The rear Fn function button displays a quick-access menu of frequently used shooting settings, and you can choose which items appear on this menu.

The Delete / C2 button on the rear can also be assigned one of the 27 frequently used functions for direct access.

The operation of the left, right, down and centre rear panel navigation buttons can also be customized, as well as the Fn button’s role in playback mode (it’s set to Send to Smartphone by default).

You also have the ability to assign a set of video-specific functions to these same buttons when you’re shooting in the movie mode, which makes perfect sense for a camera that is as much about video as stills.

In terms of the available shooting modes, there are three Memory modes marked 1, 2 and 3 on the shooting mode dial. These allow you to store three frequently used shooting set-ups for quick access, and within each Memory mode is a further four customisable sub-mode pre-sets which can be saved in-camera.

There are also the usual auto, semi auto and manual modes, plus a dedicated Movie mode that works in conjunction with the video record button. This is logically located to the right of the camera’s top-panel.

Note that there’s no Scene Selection position on the A7C II, perhaps reflecting the more serious nature of this particular model.

The Slow and Quick (S&Q) mode is now located on the new Still/Movie/S&Q switch that has made its way from the A7 full-frame series.

As the name suggests this accesses the camera’s slow- and quick- motion video options (various frame rates ranging from 1fps to 100fps), as selected in the Movie1 tab / S&Q Settings option in the main menu system.

There is a Multi Interface Shoe / flash hotshoe on top of the A7C II for connecting an external flashgun or a compatible accessory such as the ECM-B1M digital shotgun microphone, but as with the A6700, this new camera does not feature a built-in pop-up flash.

Thankfully the much clearer, although still lengthy, main menu system from the ZV-E1 camera has now been included on the A7C II, which is a very welcome improvement.

There is a handy My Menu tab that, as the name suggests, allows you to construct your own custom menu for easier access to your favourite camera settings.

Perhaps unsurprisingly given its compact size, the A7C II only has a single memory card slot.

It supports the faster SD UHS-II memory card standard inside a dedicated memory card port that’s hidden behind a lockable door on the left-hand side of the camera.

The memory card slot and the various connectivity ports on the left-hand flank of the A7C II have also been specially placed to not block the LCD screen when it’s twisted out to the side.

The new A7C II has the same hybrid autofocus system with phase detection and and contrast detections points as the A7C, but with more phase-detection points and, most importantly, greatly expanded subject recognition.

On the A7C there are 693 phase-detection points and 425 contrast detection points that cover 93% of the frame, with the system working all the way down to -3EV low-light.

On the A7C II there are 759 phase-detection points and 25 contrast points that cover 94% of the frame, with the system working all the way down to -4EV low-light.

By far the biggest difference between the two models in terms of their auto-focusing performance is subject recognition.

Sony has added an AI deep learning processing unit to the newer camera which enables it to recognise far more subjects than the previous model, and also greatly improves the detection of humans and animals/birds.

The A7C can only recognise the eye and face of a human, and the eye of an animal or bird.

The A7C II can recognise a human via its pose as well as its eye and face. So if the person’s head is turned away from the camera, the A7C II will still accurately detect the subject as human based on its AI deep learning.

Animal and bird detection has been expanded from just being able to recognise the eye on the A7C to the eye, head and body on the A7C II.

As well as humans and animals, the A7C II also has the ability to recognise airplanes, cars, trains and insects. The A7C cannot recognise any of these subjects.

In the real-world the A7C II rarely if ever missed the moment because of an issue with the auto-focusing.

It proved adept at both locking onto and tracking a moving subject, and excelled at portraits thanks to the dedicated Eye AF mode, which instantly recognises, locks onto and tracks a human or animal eye in both the AF-S and AF-C focusing modes.

The AF experience on the A7C II is still somewhat diminished by the continued lack of a thumb-operated joystick to set the AF point, something that both the A7 IV and several rival cameras offer.

This is a much more intuitive method than having to use either the Set button and the rear navigation pad or the touchscreen, so it’s a shame not to see it featured on the A7C II.

The Sony A7C II offers 10fps burst shooting with Full AF/AE tracking using either the mechanical or silent electronic shutter, exactly the same as the original model.

The A7C II has a much larger buffer than the A7C, at least when it comes to JPEGs, being able to shoot at 10fps for over 1000 Fine JPEGs. It actually has a smaller buffer for RAW files, though, taking 44 RAW images or 20 RAW and JPEGs in one high-speed burst versus 115 compressed RAW images on the A7C.

The Sony A7C II supports both wi-fi and Bluetooth connectivity, including the fastest 5Ghz wi-fi standard.

It also offers location data acquisition via a low-power Bluetooth connection to a compatible mobile device, effectively allowing you to geo-tag your images.

The A7C II offers more advanced video recording specs and performance than the older A7C.

The first-generation A7C supported 4K/30p video recording in the XAVC-S format at 4:2:0 color depth in 8-bit to the inserted memory card or 4:2:2 in 8-bit over HDMI to compatible third party recorders.

It supported the HLG, S-Log3 and S-Log2 profiles and could record Full 1080 HD at up to 120fps, with the dedicated Slow and Quick motion mode offering frame rates ranging from 1fps to 120fps at 1080p quality.

There was no 4K 60p or 10-bit recording on the original A7C camera.

The A7C II can capture oversampled 4K/30p video from 7K full-frame and also 4K/60p in Super 35mm mode at 10-bit 4:2:2 or 4:2:0 quality and in either H.265 and H.264 AVC file formats.

It additionally supports M-LUT and Log recording with LUTs and can record Full 1080 HD at up to 120fps, with the dedicated Slow and Quick motion mode offering frame rates ranging from 1fps to 120fps at 1080p quality.

The newer A7C II also offers the clever Auto Framing feature which uses the camera’s AI-based subject recognition technology to automatically crop the frame to keep the subject in a prominent position when shooting movies, even when the camera is mounted on a tripod.

Image Quality

All of the sample images in this review were taken using the 33 megapixel Extra Fine JPEG setting, which produces an average image size of around 16.5Mb.

The Sony A7C II produced images of outstanding quality during the review period.

The A7C II has an extensive and very usable ISO range of 50-102400. ISO 50-6400 is essentially noise-free, while ISO 12800 and 25600 produce more than acceptable results, and even ISO 51200 is OK for emergency use, although we’d hesitate to use the fastest setting of ISO 102800.

The RAW samples illustrate just how much processing the camera does by default, though, as they’re noisier at the higher ISO values than their JPEG counterparts, with more unwanted colour artifacts.

The effective Dynamic Range Optimizer function extracts more detail from the shadow and highlight areas in an image, without introducing any unwanted noise or other artifacts.

Sony’s colour profiles are split into ‘creative looks’ and ‘picture profiles’, with the former most suitable for stills and the latter for video, although either can be applied to both stills and video.

The night photograph was excellent, with the maximum shutter speed of 30 seconds and the Bulb mode offering lots of scope for creative night photography.

Noise

There are 12 ISO settings available on the Sony A7C II. Here are some 100% crops which show the noise levels for each ISO setting for both JPEG and RAW file formats.

JPEG	RAW
ISO 50 (100% Crop)	ISO 50 (100% Crop)


ISO 100 (100% Crop)	ISO 100 (100% Crop)


ISO 200 (100% Crop)	ISO 200 (100% Crop)


ISO 400 (100% Crop)	ISO 400 (100% Crop)


ISO 800 (100% Crop)	ISO 800 (100% Crop)


ISO 1600 (100% Crop)	ISO 1600 (100% Crop)


ISO 3200 (100% Crop)	ISO 3200 (100% Crop)


ISO 6400 (100% Crop)	ISO 6400 (100% Crop)


ISO 12800 (100% Crop)	ISO 12800 (100% Crop)


ISO 25600 (100% Crop)	ISO 25600 (100% Crop)


ISO 51200 (100% Crop)	ISO 51200 (100% Crop)


ISO 102400 (100% Crop)	ISO 102400 (100% Crop)

File Quality

The Sony A7C II has 4 different JPEG image quality settings available, with Extra Fine being the highest quality option. The A7C II also supports the HEIF file format with 2 options available. There are 3 different Raw compression settings, with Uncompressed being the highest quality option.

Thanks to a higher compression efficiency, HEIF files are smaller than JPEGs even though they contain significantly more data. How much more? Well, HEIF files are 10-bit whereas JPEG files are 8-bit. It’s a heck of a lot more tonal detail and wider colour gamut.

In the A7C II both HEIF and JPEG formats are available, although you can’t select both at the same time. Whichever format option you select can then be captured independently or simultaneously with RAW.

Here are some 100% crops which show the quality of the various options, with the actual file size shown in brackets.

Night

The Sony A7C II’s maximum shutter speed is 30 seconds and there’s also a Bulb mode for even longer exposures, which is excellent news if you’re seriously interested in night photography. The shot below was taken using a shutter speed of 30 seconds at ISO 100.

Dynamic Range Optimizer

D-Range Optimiser (DRO) is Sony’s solution to improve shadow detail in photos taken in contrasty light. There are 5 different levels and an Auto option.

Creative Looks

There are 10 Creative Look preset effects that you can use to change the look of your images which are available when shooting JPEG and/or Raw files.

There are ten creative look presets for JPEG pictures and an additional six ‘custom’ presets can be manually stored for quick access. The presets are Standard (‘ST’), Portrait (‘PT’), Neutral (‘NT’), Vivid (‘VV’), ‘VV2’, ‘FL’, ‘IN’, ‘SH’, Black & White (‘BW’) and Sepia (‘SE’).

VV2

Picture Profiles

The Sony A7C II offers a range of 11 Picture Profiles which are available when shooting JPEG and/or Raw files.

In addition to the creative looks, there are picture profile primarily designed for video use. By default, the ten parameters (PP1-PP11) are set to cover the following in-camera gamma profiles; Movie, still, Cine1-4, ITU709, ITU 709 (800%), S-Log-2, S-Log3 and HLG1-3), with manual control over numerous parameters including black level, colour mode and saturation.

PP1

PP2

PP3

PP4

PP5

PP6

PP7

PP8

PP9

PP10

PP11

Sample Images

This is a selection of sample images from the Sony A7C II camera, which were all taken using the 33 megapixel Extra Fine JPEG setting. The thumbnails below link to the full-sized versions, which have not been altered in any way.

Sample RAW Images

The Sony A7C II enables users to capture RAW and JPEG format files. We’ve provided some Sony RAW (ARW) samples for you to download (thumbnail images shown below are not 100% representative).”

Sample Movies & Video

This is a sample movie at the highest quality setting of 3840×2160 pixels at 50 frames per second. Please note that this 10 second movie is 336Mb in size.

This is a sample movie at the highest quality setting of 3840×2160 pixels at 25 frames per second. Please note that this 10 second movie is 202Mb in size.

This is a sample 4x slow-motion movie at the quality setting of 1920×1080 pixels at 25 frames per second. Please note that this 40 second movie is 336Mb in size.

Product Images

Conclusion

The new A7C II greatly refines the blueprint of the original A7C from 2020, namely a super-compact full-frame camera that is smaller and lighter than all of its main rivals.

The “C” in the product name stands for “Compact”, and the A7C II is certainly that, somehow squeezing a 35mm full-frame sensor, an IBIS unit and a flip-out screen into a body that is only slightly larger than the APS-C sensor A6700 camera and weighing a mere 22g heavier.

Sony have thankfully addressed almost all of our criticisms of the original A7C model, turning what was a surprisingly out-dated camera in some ways into one that is much more up-to-speed for a 2023 camera.

This includes the welcome addition of a front control dial, another Custom button, much greater touchscreen functionality, and the most recent main menu system.

Even better is the 33 megapixel sensor and BIONZ XR processor that have been inherited from the A7 IV, not to mention the cutting-edge AI-driven AF system and more advanced IBIS unit that provides up to 7 stops of compensation.

Choosing between the new Sony A7C II and the previous A7C (which continues in the range) is something of a no-brainer – if you can afford the newer model, then go for it, as the Mark II version out-performs its older sibling in a lot of significant ways.

Choosing between the new Sony A7C II and the A7 IV really comes down to which camera format you prefer – compact rangefinder or larger DSLR – and whether you can afford the extra cash for the A7 IV.

The larger A7 IV offers a better viewfinder, dual memory card slots and longer battery life. On the flip-side, the smaller, lighter A7C II offers some additional video features, more effective IBIS, bigger burst shooting buffer and longer battery life, not to mention a considerable cost-saving.

The new Sony A7C II and the APS-C sensor A6700 are outwardly very similar, so choosing between them mostly comes down to the sensor size and price, with the A7C II being larger in both regards.

You should also carefully consider the lens range that is available for both cameras. While they share the same E-mount, the number of “FE” full-frame lenses from Sony and third-party manufacturers is much bigger than the range of “E” APS-C lenses, so there’s more choice for the A7C II than the A6700.

A price-tag of around £2100 / €2400 body only or £2400 / €2700 with the FE 28-60mm F4-5.6 kit lens makes the new Sony A7C II slightly more expensive at launch than the A7C.

In summary, the new Sony A7C II builds considerably on the promise of the rather flawed original to create a camera that is much more an equal of the popular A7 IV.

Ratings (out of 5)
Design	4.5
Features	4.5
Ease-of-use	4
Image quality	5
Value for money	3.5

Main Rivals

Listed below are some of the rivals of the Sony A7C II.

The new Canon EOS R8 full-frame mirrorless camera integrates the image quality and autofocusing from the more expensive EOS R6 Mark II with the smaller, lighter and simpler body of the cheaper EOS RP. Is the resulting camera a resounding success or a terrible mish-mash? Find out now by reading our in-depth Canon EOS R8 review…

The Fujifilm X-T5 is the successor to the very popular X-T4 which was released in 2020, principally adding a new 40 megapixel sensor, 160 megapixel Pixel Shift Multi-Shot mode, 6.2K video recording and better auto-focusing. Can the new XT5 improve on what was already an outstanding camera? Find out now by reading our in-depth Fujifilm X-T5 review…

The Nikon Z6 II mirrorless camera is an evolutionary upgrade of the original Z6, principally improving the autofocusing, buffer and video and adding a second memory card slot. Is this enough to compete with its main rivals? Find out now by reading our in-depth Nikon Z6 II review, complete with full size sample photos and videos…

The new OM-1 flagship is both the last ever Olympus camera and the first ever OM System camera. Confused? Well no need to worry, as we take an in-depth look at what this new Micro Four Thirds flagship has to offer in our OM System OM-1 review, complete with full-size sample photos and videos…

The much anticipated Panasonic GH6 is finally here! But what does this new flagship camera offer, and can it really improve on the best-selling GH5? We find out in our review of the Panasonic Lumix GH6 mirrorless camera, complete with sample photos, test shots, videos and more…

Finally! The new Lumix S5 II is the first ever Panasonic camera to have a phase hybrid detection AF system, answering the critics of its contrast-based DFD system. But does this powerful hybrid photo and video camera have what it takes to beat its main rivals? Find out now by reading our in-depth Panasonic Lumix S5 II review, complete with full-size sample photos and videos.

The A6700 is the new premium model in Sony’s extensive range of APS-C mirrorless cameras, but can it beat both its main rivals and its cheaper siblings? Find out now by reading our in-depth Sony A6700 review, complete with full-size sample images and videos.

The new Sony Alpha A7 IV is a new 33 megapixel, 4K/60p video, 10fps burst shooting, cutting-edge auto-focusing hybrid full-frame mirrorless model that pulls no punches in its bid to be the only camera that you need. Find out why we think this is one of the best all-round cameras of 2021 by reading our in-depth Sony A7 IV review…

Sony are attempting to turn the camera world on its head by creating a new 35mm full-frame camera that’s the same size and weight as one with a smaller APS-C sensor. Have they succeeded with the new Sony A7C, and is it a great camera in its own right? Find out now by reading our Sony A7C review complete with full-size sample photos and videos.