Dynamic Range
Another main advantage of the Raw files is of course the dynamic range and in this area, the A7r mark II doesn’t have many rivals.
The amount of information in the highlights and shadows is impressive and the versatility of the 14 bit RAW files is nothing short of spectacular. Instinctively I am still tempted to take bracketing shots to create an HDR image later on, but with the A7r mark II and its sensor, I found that a single shot is enough in most cases. Note however that if you recover the shadows a lot, some noise will appear. If you intend to post-process the image to the extreme, it is better to choose the uncompressed Raw format, as it will produce less noise when recovering shadows. To find out more, you can check out our Uncompressed vs Compressed RAW article where you will find full resolution examples.
Regarding the bit depth, note that the camera records in 12 bit instead of 14bit when you perform long exposures in Bulb mode, use the long exposure Noise Reduction, shoot in continuous mode or use the electronic shutter. In real life I haven’t noticed any substantial differences concerning image quality but it is useful to know.
In the three examples below you can slide between the original shot and the post-processed version.