Sony Alpha 7S vs Sony Alpha 7S II

In this comparison, we will evaluate the Sony Alpha 7S and the Sony Alpha 7S II, highlighting the advantages of each over the other, discussing their pros and cons, shared strengths and weaknesses, and providing a rating based on their available features and specifications to assist you in choosing the one that best suits your needs.

Sony Alpha 7S was introduced in April 2014 and Sony Alpha 7S II was introduced in October 2015. Let us first list highlights of the models.

Now that we've looked at the most essential specifications and gained a basic understanding of these cameras, we can delve into more details and see the differences between them.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Sony Alpha 7S over Sony Alpha 7S II.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Sony Alpha 7S II over Sony Alpha 7S.

We already listed pros and cons of each model. However, you may also find useful to look at their common strengths and weaknesses shown side-by-side.

Screen

Sony Alpha 7S and Sony Alpha 7S II have 3.0" Tilting screens with 1,230k dot and 1,229k dot resolutions respectively. Tilting screen makes cameras very useful for photography purposes but not so useful for video shooting.

Viewfinder

Sony Alpha 7S has a built-in Electronic viewfinder with 2,359k dot resolution and Sony Alpha 7S II has a built-in 0.5" Electronic viewfinder with 2,359k dot resolution. They both have 100% coverage.

Sony Alpha 7S features a 12.2 megapixel Full Frame CMOS sensor with dimensions of 35.8 x 23.9 mm and a total area of 855.6 mm². Its native ISO range is 100 - 409,600. Sony Alpha 7S II features a 12.2 megapixel Full Frame CMOS sensor with dimensions of 35.6 x 23.8 mm and a total area of 566.4 mm². Its native ISO range is 100 - 102,400 and expands to 50 - 409,600 in boosted mode.

Here is a sensor size comparison chart where you can see how different sensors compare with each other:

Sensor size chart

	Sensor	Dimensions	Area	Aspect Ratio	Crop Factor
	Medium Format	44 x 33 mm	1452 mm2	4:3	0.79x
	Full Frame	36 x 24 mm	864 mm2	3:2	1x
	APS-H	27 x 18 mm	486 mm2	3:2	1.3x
	APS-C	23.6 x 15.6 mm	368.2 mm2	3:2	1.5x
	APS-C (Canon)	22.3 x 14.9 mm	332.3 mm2	3:2	1.6x
	Micro Four Thirds	17.4 x 13 mm	226.2 mm2	4:3	2x
	1-inch	13.2 x 8.8 mm	116.2 mm2	3:2	2.7x
	1/1.7-inch	7.44 x 5.58 mm	41.5 mm2	4:3	4.7x
	1/2.3-inch	6.17 x 4.55 mm	28.1 mm2	4:3	5.6x

Cameras are equipped with BIONZ X processor and can take pictures up to 4240 x 2832 resolution. They can also take pictures with lower resolutions like 4240 x 2384, 2768 x 1848, 2768 x 1560, 2128 x 1416, 2128 x 1200, 1376 x 920, 1376 x 776 with 3:2, 16:9 aspect ratios.

Lens Mount

Cameras have Sony E lens mount. Due to their Full Frame sensor their crop factor (also called lens multiplier) is equal to 1x. This means that a 35mm equivalent focal length of the mounted lens will be equal to its actual focal length.

In-Body Image Stabilization on Sony Alpha 7S II

Sony Alpha 7S II has a built-in 5-Axis Sensor Shift in-body image stabilization (IBIS). This means that you are still getting vibration reduction when camera is paired with non-image stabilizied lenses. It also works with lenses with optical image stabilization and in combination can achieve even better compensation.

Built-in Wi-Fi

Cameras have built-in Wi-Fi (802.11b/g/n 2.4 GHz on Sony Alpha 7S II) which allows to easily transfer photos and videos from the camera to other Wi-Fi-enabled devices, such as smartphones, tablets, printers, or computers. This eliminates the need for cables and allows for quick and convenient media sharing and social media integration. It gives you the ability to control your camera remotely using a smartphone or tablet. This is particularly useful for taking self-portraits, group shots, or capturing images in challenging conditions without having to touch the camera. Firmware updates can also be downloaded and installed wirelessly.
  Check out the cameras in our database that have built-in WiFi.

NFC

Cameras have Near Field Communication (NFC) technology which simplifies the process of pairing it with other NFC-enabled devices like smartphones or tablets. It allows to quickly transfer photos and videos or remotely control the camera from compatible device. NFC can also be used for authentication and security purposes. It can verify your identity before accessing certain features or transferring sensitive data. It can be used with NFC-enabled accessories as well, such as lenses, flashes and GPS devices.

USB Inputs and HDMI Outputs

Both models have USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec) inputs for data transfer. Sony Alpha 7S has a Micro HDMI and Sony Alpha 7S II has a Micro HDMI connector for video signal output.

Battery

Sony Alpha 7S and Sony Alpha 7S II come with NP-FW50 battery pack with battery life of 360 shots on Sony Alpha 7S and with battery life of 370 shots on Sony Alpha 7S II.

External Storage Slots

Cameras have a single SD/SDHC/SDXC/Memory Stick Duo Hybrid (UHS-I) card slot.

Shutter

Sony Alpha 7S has Electronically controlled Vertical-traverse Focal-plane shutter. Shutter speed can go up to 1/8000 sec on Sony Alpha 7S, and up to 1/8000 sec on Sony Alpha 7S II. Cameras can shoot continuously up to 5.0 fps.

Focusing

Sony Alpha 7S has Contrast-detection AF system with 25 focusing points and Sony Alpha 7S II has 169 focusing points. They both have detection range from -4 to +20 EV

Exposure

Exposure meterings of Sony Alpha 7S and Sony Alpha 7S II range from +3 to +20 EV and -3 to +20 EV respectively and you can set the exposure compensation within the ±5 EV range. You can also do exposure lock, exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Sony Alpha 7S and exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Sony Alpha 7S II.

Flash

Cameras have no built-in flash but an external flash may be connected to both of them via Hot Shoe or Proprietary to Sony Alpha 7S and via Hot Shoe to Sony Alpha 7S II. The fastest flash synchronization speed is 1/250 sec on both cameras.

Sony Alpha 7S body has dimensions of 127 x 94 x 48 mm (5 x 3.7 x 1.89") and Sony Alpha 7S II body has dimensions of 127 x 96 x 60 mm (5 x 3.78 x 2.36"). Sony Alpha 7S weighs 489 g (1.08 lb / 17.25 oz) and Sony Alpha 7S II weighs 627 g (1.38 lb / 22.12 oz).

Sony Alpha 7S

Sony Alpha 7S II

127 mm

94 mm

127 mm

96 mm

94 mm

96 mm

48 mm

60 mm