I have the opportunity to get a almost new Sony A7RII with a 70-400 lens for around $3k. I have a Nikon D7100 now, so it's quite the step up in technology. Anybody have any experience with that camera?  I know nothing about Sony's.

The answer is yes and no.  It really comes down to what you want to do with it.  Mirrorless is good for a lot of stuff, but sucks at others.  Battery life is a huge negative compared to DSLR cameras as on example.  I know several pro photographers that switched to the A7RII and went back to Canon or Nikon within 6 months.  In some types of photos, I'd swap in a heartbeat.  In others, or for general photography, I wouldn't.  All comes down to your personal use.

Personally I'd pick up a refurb D810 for $2050 and pick up some other glass for the remaining $1000.

Pros:
-the Electronic view finder can do some really neat stuff.
-in body image stabilization
-smaller and lighter...ish.  Some lenses make it as big or bigger than a DSLR with the same size lens.  Only really smaller when shooting pancake lenses really.  So a kinda deal.
-metabones lens adapters.  Yeah, you can use pretty much any manufacturer's lens on your A7RII.  Downside is certain combinations will permanently kill your camera.  They are usually pretty well reported unless you're doing something weird though.
-3 layer sensor can do some awesome low light shooting.*

Cons:
-downside is I really hate that it looks like I'm looking at a TV instead of what the lens sees.  But that is how mirrorless work.
-AF gets weird in low light
-1 SD card slot
-no cheap Sony lenses
-no real Sony aftermarket/used 
-no complete line of Sony/Zeiss lenses yet
-a lot easier to get crud on your sensor swapping lenses
**except astrophotography as the latest firmware kinda fucked that one up hardcore.

Thanks for the response. The D810 has been on my want list for a while.

I'm no professional by any means but I've gotten fairly decent with my current camera, and can get it to do whatever I want it to do. I played with the Sony a bit and their menu structure was terrible. The battery was also a big negative, most of the time I'm out with my camera I'm in the middle of nowhere from several hours to days. I have 2 spares for my Nikon and it will last me a week out camping, but for the day I played around with the Sony I went through three batteries.

DeLuce: you didn't say what you intended to use your cameras for, and how much you want to spend.

I mainly do birds/animals. After thinking about it for a while I don't think I have a real reason for a full frame, so I've been looking into the D500 because of the 10FPS it will do.

Honestly, I'd go with the D500 + a 150-600 or (preferably) the Nikon 200-500mm because it is a touch faster and sharper than the others.  Zack runs a D500 + a bazooka and gets some awesome photos with his.  Hell, I love my D7200, but if I had the money I'd swap up for the frame rate and way lower noise at high ISO.

Downside is getting a new card reader and XQD cards are spendy ish.  Worth it for the read/write speed though.

For wildlife the D500 crop sensor and a long lens will serve you well.

My rig is a D500 and the Tamron 150-600, but that's because I'm too cheap to buy Nikon super-long glass.  With some practice and some judicious post work the 150-600 can create some great images, though.

Alert by FredMan, on Flickr

DSC_0739-Mallard Drake Overflight by FredMan, on Flickr

Wet Coopers Hawk by FredMan, on Flickr

Hell, if you want reach on the cheap, look for one of the old 500mm f/8 and 1000mm f/11 mirror lenses for $250-300 and $600 respectively.  So long as you are good at manual focus and have something stable to run the camera on, they take good shots.  Downside is the depth of field is insanely shallow, despite being a f/8.

Took this yesterday handheld and it has minimal post work.  Mostly I'm just counterpointing Zack and Fred's stuff   This was my 500mm f/8 lens that I got for my birthday last month.

Point is, you don't always have to go super expensive for a decent lens.  But having AF and a way faster f stop is nice.

Yeah, I've looked at them already. Just $100+ I don't have at the moment. The main company doing them closed down so it's just imports now. But if I chip the lens, it'll use contrast detect for the focusing guides, not the General it does now. 

Things for down down the road. Was mostly saying that it's doable to take decent/good photos with older gear that is cheap. 

BIF?

Thats a negative ghost rider. The pattern is full. 

Nice shot but that bokeh looks like worms.

Catadioptric lens

Hey I learnt a new word today!

You gotta love the donut highlights from the mirror lenses.

It's a neat little setup.  Plus you can't beat a 500mm lens for $220 out the door in good shape   They sold for way more back in the day, hell most of them sell for more now.  I got lucky. 

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There are youtube videos that show you how. You can pick up an old film SLR from a thrift store or B and H for like <$20. You need a dremel grinder. Pop your old screen out. Center it on the soon to be new one. Make marks. Grind slowly. Install the new screen just like the old one. Enjoy split screen goodness.

Yeah, I know I could do that, but shaking hands right now + dremel is a bad idea.  Maybe once I'm a bit better, but not in the cards for now.

Btw, they do cut of a slight amount (something like 1/3 stop) of light last I read about them.

Well...this place makes my credit card sad.