Photoreview Australia (Click here) is the first website posting a full Sony A7 review (Preorders: Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS). This is what they write about the Image Quality:
Images shot with the sample camera and Zeiss Sonnar T FE 35mm f/2.8 ZA lens, contained an impressive amount of detail and showed accurate colour reproduction with well-managed saturation in the default camera settings. These subjective assessments were confirmed by Imatest testing, which showed the camera to be capable of meeting and even exceeding expectations for the sensor’s resolution across a wide range of sensitivity settings.
The conclusion:
We feel the new Sony cameras present a challenge to other camera manufacturers to take a different approach and bring some excitement (and competition) to the middle and upper ends of the interchangeable-lens camera line-ups. We’d like to see some innovative products emerging from the Canon and Nikon stables…Olympus and Panasonic will likely feel the hot breath of competition on their backs. It will be interesting to see which directions they follow, whether towards full-frame CSCs or further innovations and improvements to their M4/3 products. Whatever happens, this appears to be the beginning of a great time for digital photographers.
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Specs and Preorders in US and Canada (Click on store name to see direct preorder page):
Dedicated Sony announcement page at Amazon US (Click here).
Sony A7r body at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Sony A7 body at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Sony A7 with 28-70mm kit lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Sony RX10 at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Zeiss 24-70mm at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Zeiss 35mm at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Zeiss 55mm at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
70-200mm A-mount at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Sony A-Mount to E-Mount Lens Adapter at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
Sony A to E adapter with mirror at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
A7/A7r leather case at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
A7/A7r vertical grip at Amazon, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Sony W Series Battery Charger at Amazon, BHphoto.
Sony FA-CS1M Off-Camera Shoe at BHphoto.
Semi-Hard LCD Screen Protector for A7-A7r at Amazon, BHphoto.
Specs and Preorders in Europe:
Sony A7r body at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, FI, WexUK, WexDE.
Sony A7 body at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, FI, FR, WexUK, WexDE.
Sony A7 with 28-70mm kit Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, FI, FR, WexUK, WexDE.
Sony RX10 at Sony DE, WexUK, WexDE.
Zeiss 35mm at Sony DE.
Zeiss 55mm at Sony DE.
52 Responses
You call that a review? A review with stock photos?
Yes.
Please wait, Lab Review by Dpreview.com
Don’t be an ingrate! With so many things packed in these little cams, there is not going to be an adequate review for months to come!
Compared to a few other bigger full-frame cameras there isn’t much in there. Shouldn’t take long once the cameras hit shelves in one week in some countries.
Damn. I really want the A7R. But what is all this talk I hear about a better version coming next year already? Isn’t that a wee bit fast?
Not if it’s something like an A9 with IBIS, the rumored “third” 32 MP sensor, and a faster continuous frame rate. It’d be mighty expensive, approaching/exceeding the $3k price bracket.
I’m not very good with Sony names, but wouldn’t the A9 be a DSLR? In that case, I’m far from interested.
but will it be e-mount and rangefinder shaped?
THAT is the question, my friend!
If it has IBIS chances are it will be A-mount.
Whatever the rumours say, if they were going to have IBIS in full frame E-mount, they would have put it in from the beginning.
There is nothing valuable in the review except some movie stuff. And I found a serious fault in the feature table. It is A7 has electronic front curtain shutter, not A7R.
According to my 10 minutes play yesterday, the shutter sound of A7R is a little long than NEX series, and louder. I’m worrying about the shutter delay and shake of the A7R.
DXOmark will be the final judge. Until then, these imatest results with jpg’s are a joke.
It’s just a bunch of numbers. It doesn’t really mean anything.
IMO, the best way to judge is to look at many sample images or download RAWs and process them according to YOUR preferred image processing methods. Whichever camera produces the best results according to YOU is the best camera.
Agreed!!
I think the put the flash sync speed wrong.. The A7R is 1/160 and A7 is 1/250 ..http://www.sony.com.au/product/ilce-7r/specs
Yes there is a lot of mess with the specs so far on almost every other site. Hopefully, some descent site can do review soon. Otherwise it’s just a lot of excitement and disappointments, often not based on facts. Come on guys, somebody should do a real review already.
I just wrote them about this problem. Sync speed and electronic front curtain are swapped between the two cameras.
As well I am not convinced that there is difference in the body between the two cameras A7 and A7r. On photos they look identical, Sony in their interview say the cameras cannot be distinguished if it is not for the name printed on the body
For the body:
Go to the sony uk preorder link from Andrea. You will get to the sepcifications, click on the “discover more”, then features, then supreme operability and reliability. The A7r has much more magnesium alloy in the body.
For the shutter:
Go to the sony uk preorder link from Andrea. You will get to the sepcifications (ignore them), click on the “discover more”, then specifications. There is the info for the electronic front curtain:
A7: yes (on/off)
A7r: no 🙁
other sony sites show less info!
AFAIK the only difference between the bodies of the A7 and A7R is that the A7 has a polycarbonate front plate and A7R’s is made from magnesium alloy. The internal construction is the same on both.
That is not quite right. You should look at the photos to see more of the differences. Plus the A7 because of this has body flexing with larger lenses.
What differences are you referring to? All the photos look the same to me.
Plus, can you corroborate this body flexing with some evidence?
follow my discription, scroll down. There you can see what is made of magnesium alloy… do this for a7 and a7r there you actual can see it!
It looks like the bajonett is screwed to the backplate…
At least they concluded my expectation with Sony – it’s fine if they don’t do things perfect the first time – what I expect from Sony is to shake Canikon’s chair so they stop sitting and only shaking their legs. We require innovation as a whole.
If there is an FF equivalent version of GH3 or EM1, with all the lenses, I would immediately buy them at the price of Nikon D800
After contemplating for awhile, I’ve decided to stay with my Nex 6 rather than upgrading to the A7. However, I am considering getting the Zeiss FE 24-70mm f4. I understand that when converting crop factor for aps-c that would make it 36-105 f6.0 full frame equivalent. But because of the image circle on a ff lens is bigger than an aps-c lens, would it effectively bring in more light when using a ff lens on a aps-c sensor, therefore effectively making it an f-stop of roughly 2.8 or 4.0 instead of 6.0? Please someone clarify. Thanks.
It does not make any sense to buy a FF lens for a crop camera, specially a small camera like the NEX-6. You will lose wideangle , the 36-105 focal length range is very unatractive. The lens will be f4, that doe s not change.
You would be better off with the Zeiss 16-70 F4 OSS (24-105 equivalent) which is also F4 and 120gr lighter
Light petfotmance wise your lens will still be f4, giving you the
same ISO or shutter speed as on A7.
On the other hand you will have a one stop less DOF performance making your aps-c behave as FF f5.6 or f6 36-105mm lens as you say.
You will also benefit from only using the central portion on the imagecercile and thus using the sharper portion of it for the entire frame of your photograph.
No, of course it stays a F4 lens.
If you want to make it worth it, you need something like a speed booster. But there’s no speed booster from E-mount to E-mount. If I were you, I’d look into the one for Canon EF to E-mount from Metabones, Canon lenses are much less expensive. I was already looking into the Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 (less than 400$) and the Metabones Smart Canon EF to E-mount, and it could be worth it, especially if I get a few different lenses (like, 14 and/or 20mm, 35 and 85mm). With the Zeiss native one that’s to come, it should be more affordable like that.
I considered that option before, but the autofocus speed is just way too slow from what I’ve seen. I could manual focus but at least half of my pictures are of my kids and I can’t ask them to freeze whle there playing to get those candid shots. Another route I considered is the SAL1650f2.8 with the LA-EA2 but that adapter is just looks ugly and huge and the combo won’t doesn’t has IS.
Thanks for clarifying. I’m still trying to learn. My logic was that physically the f-stop stays the same regardless, but effectively aps-c to ff f4.0 becomes f6.0 and so if you went ff to aps-c it would also effectively work the same in reverse ie. f4.0 converts to f2.8.
Now if Sony would just release an f2.8 zoom e-mount aps-c I would be happy. Not quite ready to spend $2,900 for A7+FE 28-70 f4.0 to get the same equivalent.
It doesn’t really convert. It’s just the total amount of light hitting the sensor that’s different. If you purchases a FF lens with an aperture of f/1.8 and an APS-C lens with the same aperture, on your APS-C sensor, the amount of light hitting the sensor would be the same.
If you could bear the adapter even if it’s big and ugly, then the Sigma f/1.8 constant aperture zoom seems like a pretty good option, too. Or if you can do with prime lenses, I was very happy with the Sigma 19mm f/2.8 and 30mm f/2.8 on my NEX 5N. Both lenses can be bought for pretty cheap (199$) at BH Photo Video, and it’s really worth it I find. The focus works well, the lenses are pretty sharp and the aperture is decent. And the price is very, very affordable.
If you want a fast zoom lens for NEX you have 4 options:
1. use expensive E-Mount Zeiss F4 16-70 zoom (not fast enough, but it’s the fastest native zoom with OIS, besides F3.5-5.6 and AF will also work as usual). F4 is still dark, so it doesn’t seem like a viable option. This is the only option that gets you full support for both, slow contrast AF with OSS in exchange for slow F4.0.
2. use expensive Canon EF-NEX Metabones Speed Booster with Tamron F2.8 28-75 Canon FF zoom lens or similar Sigma lens (F2.8 28-75 with x0.71 multiplier becomes F2.0 19.8-53.25 with roughly FF DOF, AF will be manual/very slow, most FF lens don’t have OSS, the ones that do are bulky/expensive and Metabones needs to explicitly support that particular lens/OSS). Since you won’t get AF anyway, you won’t need an expensive silent SSM lens with OSS. This is the only option that gets you the fastest possible F2.0 zoom in exchange for both, AF and OSS. I, personally took this path.
3. use expensive LA-EA2 adapter with Sony A-Mount F2.8 zoom 16-50 APS-C or 28-75 FF (becomes 42-112.5 on NEX, same F2.8). SSM is a silent lens, SAM – very loud. Both are bulky and expensive and don’t have OSS. AF on LA-EA2 works only for F3.5+, settings are locked during video. LA-EA1 adapter doesn’t have a viable AF/support for SSM. This is the only option that gets you fast but limited phase detect AF in exchange for both OSS, slower F2.8.
4. forget about zoom and use some cheaper fixed fast prime lens F1.4/F1.8 for E-Mount. You won’t get OSS/AF with adapter, LA-EA2 will get you AF for F3.5+.
Personal notes:
– any F2.8 lens with diameter smaller than 67mm are not sharp.
– F2.0 is still only barely sufficient for shooting moving objects indoors – with F2.0 you get 1.5-2 f-stops advantage over NEX F3.5 Kit lens and can shoot at F2.0 1/200s ISO1600 with a bit of post processing. You need F1.4/1.8 to get ISO800 and better quality.
– I believe you’ll never get a good portrait even with F1.4/F1.8 without flash. You need light on a person’s face to make it look exceptional.
Here’s some HQ photos of cats shot with NEX-5N+Metabones Speed Booster+Tamron 28-75 (manual focusing) after post processing/cropping. Originals at F2.0 1/200s ISO1600 are much darker and much less vibrant. Click an image for full size view.
http://vkatmandu.blogspot.com/2013/10/expokot-2013-part-1.html
Another example: some gaming exhibition. For a much darker environment and lots of movement around you still need to use flash for better results.
http://vkatmandu.blogspot.ru/2013/10/igromir-2013-part-5.html
Admin, i wonder is there a true 14 mode available on a7?
or as it was with nexes/a99/etc it’s 11bits for pixel’s block max/min +7bits delta per pixel? from the site’s specification it says ’12 bits for continuous mode shooting and high iso’, but what about single shooting at normal iso? is there a way to get true 14 bits, not 7bits?
It’s a pity, it has no built in stabilization….big missing for using with different lenses….I wait for the next model…..
I think there is a zero per cent chance of ibis coming to nex. If it were it would be in the first fe mount cameras only. There doesn’t seem to be any space for a ibis mechanism in the e mount and Sony feels they can charge a premium for oss lenses.
So if ibis is really needed your only option sadly is from Olympus and not Sony. 🙁
I find it curious that there are so few comments, other than a general aside, about noise levels at higher ISO.
From the samples I’ve seen (which are not really appropriate) performance looks fantastic, in which case IBIS becomes almost irrelevant!
It seems as though noise was always the issue of choice in years gone by, but now it’s barely mentioned. If these cameras prove to be as good as first appear then there will be a couple of A99s for sale…
Why does that review site give everything an 8.8?! They seem to really like everything they review.
Unless it is demonstrated that the 36mp sensor is vastly superior in areas other than pure resolution, the A7 is looking more attractive to me right now. The fact that the A7R lacks EFCS, PDAF and has only 1/160 flash sync speed are turning me off it.
I would miss EFCS especially after using it in the A77 and NEX-6, as it makes the camera noticeably more responsive. What difference PDAF actually makes remains to be seen, but initial reports are encouraging.
It is rather amusing that they rate just about everything at 8.8 🙂
They are positive people 🙂
Frankly, I don’t believe that EFCS thing. Probably some kind of mistake.
I was sceptical about the EFCS thing too, but the Sony UK site seems to back this up.
Not to be a stickler, but where do you see it? I see only “electronically controlled blabla focal plane shutter” in the specs for both cameras.
Yeah, that’s all I see now :/
I definitely saw it yesterday on one of the Sony sites, but maybe I’m looking in a different place to yesterday, or maybe they have changed it.
Anyway, Steve Huff confirms that the A7R doesn’t have EFCS here:
http://www.stevehuffphoto.com/2013/10/17/sony-a7r-shutter-sound-video/
See comment number 37.
Lotus Eater, thanks! That’s a bit disappointing. I wonder what’s the reason to omit it?
Found it!
http://www.sony.net/Products/di/en-gb/products/o4j5/index.html#specifications
maybe they made a mistake (a frequent issue on their websites)? Hope dies last! 🙂
In the Photoreview review, it claims that the A7 has a flash synch speed of 1/160s and the A7R a flash synch speed of 1/250s. Likewise with the A7 it says electronic first curtain shutter “no”, but with the A7R it says “yes”.
Does anyone know if this is correct, because I have not read about these differences elsewhere?
Apparently it is correct, but Photo Review have the models the wrong way round. A7R is 1/160s and no electronic front curtain shutter according to the Sony site.
I’m confused too on B&H website under A7/A7r specs listed HSS is supported on both models, but the official manual didn’t mention anything about HSS.
Aaaw. For a second I thought the A7r had electronic front curtain shutter 🙁