I picked up an old Sony a7 II on Marketplace for $600 and took it out for a street shoot to answer the real question: is this “oldie but a goldie” still worth buying in 2026? I shot with three very different lenses—a cheap $100 pancake, a more premium ~$800 prime, and even a vintage lens from my grandfather—so you can see how flexible this camera still is. I also left the RAW files and my free preset in the links so you can pixel-peep and try my look for yourself. I know it sounds wild, but I actually think the a7 II can be really good for video if you treat it like a creative challenge and follow a few rules: go wide, turn on SteadyShot, use stabilized glass or a tripod, shoot S-Log (and use my S-Log2 conversion LUT), and carry a ton of batteries. For photography, the 24MP sensor still holds up—cropping is easy, RAW detail is great, and the E-mount lens ecosystem (plus adapting vintage lenses) is a huge win. The big downsides are no 4K, brutal battery life, single card slot, lame menus, and a not-great EVF—but as a budget full-frame to learn manual settings and log exposure, it’s still a solid pick.