Many of you will be struggling if they should get the A7 or the A7r. And than you have to choose a lens too. Here is a list of links that may help you to decide:
A7r
On top you can see a first video sample shot with the A7r. But I guess that if you are a video shooter you better grab the A7 (for phase detection). You san see some full size image samples at Sony.net (Click here). A Hands-on review at ePhotozine (Click here).
A7
Here are the A7 image samples (Sony.net).
RX10
And here some RX10 image and video samples (Sony.net).
FE lenses:
1) Zeiss 24-70mm image samples and MTF graph (Sony.net)
2) Sony G 28-70mm image samples (Sony.net)
3) Zeiss 35mm f/2.8 image samples and MTF graph (Sony.net)
4) Zeiss 55mm f/1.8 image samples and MTF graph (Sony.net)
5) Sony G 70-200mm image samples (Sony.net)
Personal note: I had a hard time choosing between the two but I opted for the…A7r 🙂
Specs and Preorders in US and Canada (Click on store name to see direct preorder page / some links via Dealsrunner):
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.
51 Responses
When the full frame e-mount lens library exceeds 5-10 pieces.
nice video , I would like to see more videos compared to the sony nex 7 and latest canon dslr in moving and low light subjects .
Took me a while too, just preordered the A7.
Took a while to decide too. Just preordered the A7 with the 35mm.
Admin, what’s different between LA-EA3 and LA-EA4 ?
Where are the MTF graphs you refer to for the 24-70FE lens?
Is it true that the A7R has a better built compared to the A7? It is supposed to have a Mag Alloy front plate where as the A7 front is plastic. There is also a difference in the top buttons? Andrea, could you please confirm?
As much as I applaud Sony for taking the leap and trying something new personally Im having trouble with the price points. I was under the impression that these cameras were going to offer affordable full frame however they are quiet the opposite. The cameras are not that much cheaper than Nikon d600 or Canon 6d and the lenses are just as pricey as the higher end lens from Nikon and Canon. I mean to buy the a7 body with the 55mm 1.8 lens would cost $2,800, you can get a 6d with a 50mm 1.4 lens for $2,238
or Nikon d600 kit with 24-85mm vr and 50mm 1.4 lens for $2,535 and im gonna bet that the Canon and the Nikon are better choices. Im just dissapointed and guess i got my hopes up.
Sony tries to emulate Leica rangefinder camera system: give user only limited choice of lenses.
I am not sure how accurate this info is (not sure why they would make up this info if it didn’t come from someone at Sony), but according to this review, the A7 has a polycarbonate front plate and 1/160 flash sync. The A7r has a magnesium alloy front plate (which supports what Sony Australia said in the announcement video) as well as a 1/250 flash sync. Even MORE obscure is that they say the A7r HAS “Electronic front curtain shutter.”
This would mean that the A7r can do silent shooting. I am taking this with a grain of salt however, because I have not seen this ANYwhere else. Here is the link:
http://www.photoreview.com.au/reviews/advanced-compact-cameras/interchangeable-lens/first-look-sony-ilc-a7
Would love if this could be confirmed with engineers from Sony (not product specialists as they proved their lack of knowledge already). Anyone know someone that knows someone?
Let us know!! This would be big news…
E.F.C.S got NOTHING to deal with silent shooting. It’s only role is to minimalize vibrations created by shutter. All high-end A mount cameras got that.
General advice: NEVER buy a camera before reviews come out. Otherwise you’ll be f**** like D600 users.
Chinese Engadget videos for
RX10 – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9VqhcxVpng
7R – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEo9B31JTxg
As a visitor from the micro four thirds site, I have to say these cameras have certainly shook things up. I was wondering about the OMD EM-1, and now I’m wondering if I shouldn’t be looking at FE.
One thing people “on the other side” are saying is that the new Sony FE don’t have the lens options we enjoy with m43. So I was wondering, could someone here suggest what the FE equivalents are for lenses like the below. Remembering the 2x crop – and really, I’m only interested in shutter speed for the f stop, not shallow depth of field.
Olympus 75mm f1.8 for around $900. Super sharp, reasonably fast AF.
Olympus 45mm f1.8 for around $450. Sharp, small, cheap, fast AF.
Panasonic 25mm f1.4 for around $550. Sharp, small for the aperture, reasonably fast AF.
Voigtlander 17.5mm f0.95 for around $1000. Sharp, bright, manual AF.
Panasonic 14mm f2.5 for around $250. Tiny, cheap, and very reasonable IQ considering.
Olympus 12-40mm f2.8 for around $1200. Sharp, small, relatively bright.
I’m not trolling. Just considering the whole system…. and my options.
Of course m43 line-up is more complete now. But FE system will definitely deliver better IQ. F2.0 on m43 is like F4.0 on FE at depth of field. So aperture is on par or better with FE. FE lenses will give more resolution just because they are FF regardless how well made the m43 lenses are.
“and really, I’m only interested in shutter speed for the f stop, not shallow depth of field.”
If you are not interested in the end result {as the same aperture and shutter speed will render very different results on FF } might I suggest the R10 24-200mm F2.8 constant aperture zoom { F2.8 is F2.8 regardless of final result,right ?. Or even “better” the Panasonic FZ200 with its mighty 25-600mm F2.8.
I believe that the consequences of equivalence between systems has been explain to the mFT fans on literally thousands of occasions.Yet,it never seems to take.
A simple question do you honestly believe that the Panasonic FZ200 F2.8 will deliver the “same image” at the same aperture and shutter speed as on an E-M5.If you do why would you possibly waste money on the huge mFT kit :-).
When the Panasonic gives you so much in one body how heavy and how expensive is it to get from 25mm-600mm at F2.8 on mFT.I will help you out here is a link to the Olympus FT 300mm F2.8 which costs a whopping $7000 and weighs 7.24 lb { that’s the weight of nearly 7 FZ200 cameras}
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/301933-REG/Olympus_261004_300mm_f_2_8_ED_Lens.html
As for lens choice for this system announced just yesterday well there are currently not surprisingly very few, unless you wish to use the AF adapter to allow the use of Sony Alpha lenses , there will be 15 lenses in the system by next year..If you do not mind a little manual focus then you can use just about any FF lens ever made with the appropriate adapter { that is my plan I will use the excellent Nikon lenses I already have on the A7r}
Honestly, if you do not appreciate or understand the differences between a shot on a small format sensor and one on a 4x larger sensor regardless of having the same nominal aperture and shutter speed FF would be an expensive waste of time.
A brighter lens lets you take a faster photo
So, an f1.4 lets you use a shutter speed of 125 (for a given ISO, exposure)
Whereas a f2.8 would not be able to use 125 for that same scene (using same ISO, exposure)
That is correct. However with a larger sensor you can safely use higher ISO, and I believe A7 should be about to handle the noise at 2x mft iso.
According to DxOmark – 30dB SNR ISO:
Oly OMD EM5 = 800
Sony RX1 = 2500
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/sony-a7s-year-of-the-comet-release-2013/
Nice mtf chart on the 55mm
These new cameras look fantastic but what does this mean for the NEX-7? Will there be an update to it anytime soon or is the model end of life?
This is your NEX-7 successor.
Lol. Of course it’s not. Just go to camerasize – NEX7 is tiny comparing to A7.
It’s really not that much bigger.
Very nice, but I can do,the same video with my a77. The same! And for a grand less easily. Sure the video output might be slightly better, but in the real word its minor. Pass.
Tom, I owned an a77 for about a year before I upgraded to the a99, and I shot many videos with both, and I can tell you that what I am seeing from the a7R here blows away the a77, as well as the a99 in sharpness and aliasing/moire control. There is no comparison.
As a matter of fact, pretty much every video I have edited has been a mixture of the Sonys, and Canon 5d MK II, 5d MK III, 7d and Sony a57, as well as a Sony EX1. The video above is sharper and better overall than any of those cameras.
I’m not in love with every aspect of the a7/a7R for still photography (lack of IBIS is a bummer), but the video sample above is stellar for a stills oriented camera of any type at any price.
Ren
+1
Andrea, care to explain what made you choose the 7r over the regular 7?
I’m having a hard time deciding too.
Has anyone looked at the Sony.net samples for A7 and A7r (in the links above)? Does the A7 look better to you? I already pre-ordered the A7r, but per these samples, the A7 looks better. The A7r samples look like there is something odd in the out of focus areas…. not just out of focus but a technology problem (sorry for the not so technical description, but a sensor issue, or lens issue, sensor lens resolving issue… or I have no idea). I get that I am pixel peeping, but that’s what I do. Anyone else see this?
I think you are seeing Noise Reduction smearing. It’s most noticeable in areas where there is not a lot of detail… ie out of focus areas. My guess is that these are JPEGs straight out of the camera and are subject to high noise reduction. I want to see some RAW files. The same thing is noticeable on both the A7 and A7r samples.
Which 28 – 70 “G”? Think that the kit-lens isnt a G-lens.
I noticed this too. The 28-70mm lens has been called a G lens several times when it is not.
I’m a bit confused about Zeiss badge on Sony lens.
– Who design or invent the optical formulas? Sony Japan or Zeiss Germany?
– Who mould pieces of optical glasses? Sony Japan?
– Who does the manufacturing and QC process?
I’m still waiting/hoping for more samples of WA rangefinder shots using the A7. If that works I’ll go A7. If not then I’ll wait a little longer and pony up for the A7r. I was planning on spending that much and more on the FF-NEX in a few months anyway.
There already been some samples – search through comments from previous posts. It’s bad, but not as bad as in NEX7. Is it usable? IMHO no, but each on it’s own.
Is it confirmed no microlens for A7?
So if need to use old lens only can choose A7R?
Silly thing: at Sony website there are listed APS-C lenses under tab “lenses for Sony Alpha7”. For videography – maybe this is handy, but for still photography shooting? Why would you use 10Mpix instead 24Mpix for stills (and crop)?
Sony should ask Tamron, Tokina or Sigma to produce lenses. Minolta gave up, there is only (expensive) Zeiss at the moment.
Why is this now not showing the other comments made here? I get a comment count of 29 on the main page but now I get nothing here…
Also. A lot of people doubted the original MTF graph of the RX1 Sonnar lens when it came out, saying that calculated was not the same as measured and that the MTF was pure wishful thinking. Well, if that is anything to go by, I am looking at one “!£t-hot 55mm!!
Was pondering that as well, especially before your comment was posted. Then I saw the recent post by Andrea detailing the problems coming up.
Also, I’m having a very hard time deciding between the 35mm and 55mm. Out of curiosity, do you know what the equivalent focal length of the 55mm in APS-C? Just in case I didn’t word it properly, I’m not talking about using the 55mm lense in an APS-C camera.
Seems to be working ok now.
Wong, 55mm in APS-C is like 82.5mm in FF (or 85mm if you want to normalise)
1.8 translate to a DOF of roughly 2.5.
Great to know that it’s working fine now.
Looks like my question didn’t come out right. Just realized I should reverse the way to ask this question. At what focal length in APS-C will be equivalent to this FE 55mm?
Anyway, what have you decided on, the A7 or A7R? I’m still being extremely torn between the two. Though I did preorder the A7 as a place holder.
> I had a hard time choosing between the two but I opted for the…A7r
Good for you! You certainly deserve it. I remember way back when, maybe when I first started really following this site a few years ago, when the NEX-5 was still a rumor, you were cheering for the full-frame mirrorless concept, and got me really excited. And now it is here! I’m not salivating over it any more, but I think this was the direction the industry should have gone long ago, and I’m happy to see it. Yay, future!
admin: “1) Zeiss 24-70mm image samples and MTF graph (Sony.net)”
There is no MTF there.
Man, both of those ISO 400 images show awful noise reduction smearing. I hope processed RAW files look better. I am going to hold off until I can see some processed RAW files.
Wow! At 1080p playback, this looks EXACTLY like the mushy detail on deep depth of field shots that my A99 delivered. I returned it. Sony needs to fix their downsampling algorithm in firmware or they should just delete the video function from their “DSLR” cameras. The video is inexcusably soft — even in comparison to NEX cameras!
Don’t blame YouTube compression — this is ALL SONY.
Are these videos supposed to be a selling point? The picture is super soft and has no definition at all.
im amazed by the video quality :p for a camera 🙂
Sony A7 is definitly my choice even if as i said to Hendrick the Elder i will spare a bit more … Do you think they will make smaller zoom lens like the 16-50 for Nex?
Per The Camera Store TV:
“Looking at the video in post though, I was less delighted by the image. It is quite soft, and there was noticeable moire in several shots. I shot with the flattest profile, Neutral, with sharpening, contrast and saturation all turned down, yet the moire issues still surfaced. I’m hoping this was due to early firmware, I’ll test the video quality again when the production cameras arrive. As is though, while the Sony A7 image is nice, I’ll stick to the Panasonic GH3 when I need a small camera.”
A99, part deaux
+1 It’s strange that Sony can’t compete on video quality.
Good to see I wasn’t the only one with an A7 that produced less than sharp results. I’m curious what footage from the HDMI will be like, I’ll test it with my Ninja when the production cameras are launched.
Really soft video, lacking in detail. The stills frmo this camera are beautiful, but the video is really disappointing, and I’m betting that’s because the 24 mbit AVCHD just can’t handle it. I’d love to see something done on a proper recorder via the HDMI out.
Absolutely TERRIBLE video quality! Mushy, lacks detail, and even looks out of focus at times… Nothing to see here!