Worst things about A7R

[Dave Sanders]

Hey there, I am seriously considering picking up an A7R body and was wondering what the worst features are about it? What should I know and what kind of deal-breaking issues to people have with it? The A7Rii is not in consideration due to cost.

My major issues:

1. AF system very poor (the worst of any autofocus camera I have ever used by some margin).

No - it is not "very poor". It is actually very good but it is not excellent (as defined by semi-pro and up DSLRs).

I would disagree. I love my A7R but I'm not going to fool myself about what it can and can't do well. It's AF is average in good light. In anything but, it is poor compared to any camera with a modern AF system. I've been shooting digital since my Canon 10D in 2004 and my A7R has the overall slowest AF I've ever used. It is, however, very accurate. But it is what it is. I'm not a particularly demanding AF user so it's fine for my purposes, but one should know what they're getting into. If your subject is decently lit, it will be quick enough and very sure.

The A7RII on the other hand...

2. Shutter shock - on all lenses in the 1/10 - 1/200s range. Worst at around 1/60-1/120. Obviously magnified for longer lenses, but I've seen it pretty clearly even at 35mm. The effect however never really reduces the resolution much below the A7, so in many respects it's not worth worrying about, and it is absolutely less of an issue than mirror slap in a DSLR.

I rarely have problems with OOF images when the proper shutter speed is selected. Are my handful of OOF images due to shutter shock? Don't know but it has not impacted me in any way.

The A7R suffers from shutter shock. It will negate any benefit of the high MP camera within the affected shutter speed range. It is generally better handheld, I find. I'm mostly on a tripod at long shutter speeds, but I get noticeably sharper photos with longer lenses in the affected range with my D810 than I do with my A7R. The key being 'in the affected range'. I have found the shutter shock issues a bit random, I'll have 4 or 5 in a row affected, then get one that isn't.

Again, something that I think doesn't get noted enough, from my experience it isn't nearly as prevalent hand held.

My minor issues:

3. Poor ergonomics. (Personal thing YMMV of course.)

I have no problems.

Agreed. I can generally get used to any camera and the A7 and A7R are no different. They are very, very easy to customize and there are a ton of programmable function buttons. I can access anything I need very quickly. The grip isn't perfect, but it works. Like all good tools that serve one well, you will find you grow quite attached to how it functions.

4. Loud shutter.

Very true and a real problem for me in many cases.

Not such an issue for me in most cases, but yes, it's loud. When people say 'wow, that's loud' I like to say 'no, it's manly' ;-)

The A7II and A7RII don't suffer from 1,2,4 and improves 3, and have IBIS!

I would choose the A7II over the R unless you are planning on shooting almost exclusively on a tripod with MF lenses.

My A7R has never been on a tripod and all my Sony lenses are AF.

While I have my A7R on a tripod a lot of the time, I agree, it works very well as a hand-held camera. The tilting screen allows for a lot of great angles and at shutter speeds above 1/200, I've never had any problems using all sorts of terrible hand held technique and still getting great shots. The 55/1.8 begs to be shot wide open so lots of the time I'm way out of the danger zone for shutter shock.

I have no problems producing razor sharp images when the proper exposure parameters are in place.

The A7II image quality is not the equal of the A7R no matter how you slice it.

Agreed. Though I've not shot with the A7II, I found my A7 worse at every ISO. It's noisier than I expected, especially in the shadows if you don't nail exposure. With the A7R you can make quite rude exposure mistakes and pull shadows to your hearts content in post.

I paid $1500 for my A7R on closeout when Sony killed their Canadian retail operations...and man, it's turned out to be a killer bargain.

 

[Joachim Gerstl]

If you plan to use it with adapted lenses the slow AF is not an issue.

Shutter shock is not an issue as long as you don't use tele lenses. I just returned from a 3 week vacation in the South West of the USA where I mainly shot with the Sony A7R plus the Canon 16-35/4 IS. I'm very pleased with the results. Sharpness of the files is fantastic and the dynamic range is much better than what I get from my Canon 6D which I used on the same trip with the 70-200 II.

 

[Paul20]

It depends what you want to use it for. I use it on a tripod for architectural photograhy with manual focus lenses. I like it for that.

DR is good, the WB is average, the resolution of the sensor is very high.

I don't often use it as a street photo making machine. I am not convinced by its AF capability. It has a very loud shutter and the usual silly Sony controls, gimmicks and pointless menu items. Its not very customisable and battery life is rubbish.

Paul

 

[claratvt]

What should I know and what kind of deal-breaking issues to people have with it?

The user's skills

 

[bwana4swahili]

What should I know and what kind of deal-breaking issues to people have with it?

The user's skills

Most reasonable comment I've seen so far! Applies to ANY camera...

bwa

 

[bwana4swahili]

Hey there, I am seriously considering picking up an A7R body and was wondering what the worst features are about it? What should I know and what kind of deal-breaking issues to people have with it? The A7Rii is not in consideration due to cost.

I suspect you really want to know the best things about the A7R?

- great resolution (no problem with reported shutter shock if you know how to use the camera)

- Sony RAW files are processed to a proprietary lossy compressed format. People keep bringing this up as a show stopper. It isn't! I've done a fair bit of pixel peeping on this and have yet to see any impact. Yes, it would be nice if there was an option to output lossless RAW files but if I can't see the problem, I'm not going to work yourself up into the frenzy!?

- excellent full frame performance

- reasonable low light performance. Not as good as the A7S but better than the A7 II

- good build quality with the exception of the lens mount ring which can be changed out for about $40.

- reasonable autofocus with Sony lenses. Terrible autofocus with adapted lenses.

- reasonable battery life if you don't mind carrying an extra battery or two.

- lots of customizable buttons/wheels on the body; more than most people need or will ever use

- the menu can be confusing at first but use it for a day and you'll be ok.

- you can adapter almost any lens in existence to Sony A7 series cameras but you'll probably end up shooting in manual mode to offset slow autofocus. This may be resolved with the A7R II?

Based on my experience with the A7R (from back in Nov. 2013) I've moved off Canon and purchased both the A7S and A7 II. They're all capable of capturing great pictures. With any modern camera it is not the equipment that makes or breaks a picture, it is the user!

bwa