Sony Alpha 7R Review

Reliability is an issue.

The EVF on my lightly used Sony A7R died early during a trip to Rome in December, making it useless for the duration. I just got it back from the Authorized Sony Repair Service and paid $543.

The minimum charge is $376. The added cost was parts.

The camera was not dropped or damaged, ever. It just quit at a bad time. I bought this was a great sensor and light weight. I prefer my Canon FF, more lenses, etc., but on travel weight matters (I’m old and arthritic).

I used my NEX 7 afterward.. I missed not having the full frame 36 mp for some things.

EVF problems with the 7 Series appear to be fairly common. The classic is that it dies in the EVF mode, rather than the back live view. You can’t get back to the rear screen view. There are some reset approaches that work for a few temporarily.

Sony should have replaced this even out of warranty. It’s a known issue. Otherwise, nice camera.

Well, I love the concept of the mini-full-frame. But one of the main reasons I migrated to the OM series is because the lenses are substantially lighter and more compact than those I used to hump around on my Nikon full-frame. (Not to mention less expensive) I have a bag full of cool little primes that all together weigh less than my old 70-200 F2.8. I imagine something like a 70-200 F2.8 hanging off the end of this little guy and I'm thinking nose heavy. But I can also easily see this camera as a great solution for high-res wide to mid angle primes. So like many things, if you can afford to have dedicated cameras for specific tasks then this is certainly enticing (after a firmware update or two). But I'll stick with Olympus for my purposes. I haven't cared about pixels since I shot my first wedding with my old D300. I'm more interested in high ISO performance where pixel density seems to be the primary tradeoff.

I have a NEX 5R and a Nikon D610. Do you think I should sell my D610 and switch to A7R?

Wide-angle and panoramas, the NEX is soooo convenient.

But can I go rapid-fire with a telephoto lens with the A7, like how I do with my D610?

will my regular emount lenses fit the full frame a7R?

Could you tell me what do I need to see the raw images of the alpha r7 in Bridge and Photoshop, I already download the Phaseone and I can see the photos there but not in Photoshop, thank you in advance

P.

Has anyone, reviewer or photographer with A7R, test IQ from various prime lenses from Nikon, Canon, Leica, Voightlander, of course with apprpriate adapter? It would be a fabulously interesting comparison. Especially curious how truly sharp the older preAF lenses.
Thanks, gary

I am a Nikon FX and DX user. I bought a Oly EM-1 as my back can no longer take rigorous hiking carrying 10KG of Nikon gear. So, now my pack is down to 3KG. But here is the killer: 1. the DR is not really + there as is a gritty feel to the images even using ETTR. 2. this is the biggie: the magic of a full frame image isn't there. I would back the Olympus 75 1.8 against ANY lens for sharpness and contrast. Particularly so in the case of my Nikkor 135 F2 DC. But guess what? The Nikkor kills it for Bokeh and I mean KILLS.
I and many others don't NEED 5/6/8/12 FPS -I have other tools that do that. FPS is simply a "my dick is bigger!" argument. Go and get a D4S then - just don't expect the D4S to make an A1 image. I don't take "test shots" at high frame rates to boost my manhood.

The A7 is a real camera for people who take photographs, and yes, my EM-1 is going. The Nikon 135 F2 DC stays on the Nikon and I am going to buy an A7R because it works for the type of photography I do.

you gotta be kidding right? 2.5 fps - on the FAST model. 1.5 fps on the high MP model. I get it - these were not built for speed - but still - this is 2014! I would expect no less than 5 fps w/autofocus on the A7r and at least 8 fps on the A7 w/ autofocus. For me - this camera is a non-started just based on this. I can't justify $2k for a camera that is by far slower than my D7000. I have been looking at going FF - and was considering this camera - but no way - not at those speeds. D610 will have to do.

Sorry for so many questions, but camera shop idiots...

When shuttering with 2 second timer, will bracketing still operate.

Is it true, though a7/a7r has e mount, you have to use adapter to use sony aps-c lenses?

On A7R, with metabones adapter, how would nikon 35mm f1.4 compare in IQ to carl zeiss FE 35mm f1.8?

Ps, nikon is older manual F lens

Thanks!

Eastwestphoto...if one has polarizer constantly on lens to improve focusing, they would constantly polarize each and every image. They would constantly have to turn front glass on polarizer depending on changing value of light. Polarizers only effective at certain angles to sun or light source.you are adding many, many restrictions in your shooting to perhaps improve focus speed.there are a great number of subjects that should not be polarized, and you will lose 2.5 stops of light.

DT 18~70mm lens, Kit lenses are significantly improved on Sony Contrast focusing AF system by the SIMPLE addition of a 49mm Polarizer filter. Focus is faster and more accurate. At least on the NEX system DSLM cameras and the New Alpha A7 series! If you think about it it makes sense, polarized light is MUCH easier for the AF Contrast system to read! 18mm on APS-C chip sized = 27mm. I tested the DT 18~70mm kit lens on my LA-EA4 adapter and at full frame it covered a 24x36mm digital chip on the A7r from 70-21, then vignetted. I didn't expect it to work that well. The image was sharp, contrasty and Highly usable! This is a trade secret,I am revealing. I seriously doubt that Sony would want this info revealed? Remember a A200 series and A300 series Sony cameras are Sony A mount and have mirrors, therefore the back focal length of the lens is Longer by far than Nex APS-C lenses , which are for DSLM cameras. So on the LA-EA4 adapter, the lens works well! Regards, Don@Eastwestphoto

the old Beer Can 70~210mm minolta A works very fast and very sharp on a LA-EA4 adapter to Sony A7r.

Anyone know why a Tamron AF Aspherical XR IF 28~300mm F:3.5-6.3 macro on a La-EA4 mounted to Sony A7r, will not work? The 1.4 AF telecoverter worked Okay? Same amount of pin? Lens looks newish to me?

Why does my SAL1870 Sony Kit Zoom A350 camera work so well on the LA-EA4 to my Sony A7r? full frame coverage to 24, then the vignetting appears? I didnt expect it to be so sharp! very good image, Why?

After all the waiting and the bustling excitement how is it possible that Sony released the Zeiss 24-70 Vario-Tessar for the a7r/a7 when there are so many issues with it? Didn’t the people at Sony ever take a shot or test the lens? Bad distortions; very sharp at the center but the image degrading into real softness and blur at the corners make this lens unusable. After many tries the softness remains even stopped down. Zoom lenses are useful for their versatility on the field (some of them are outstanding) especially at this zoom range. What to do? It really is disappointing, and a big tarnish on the Sony name and particularly the Zeiss. A marvelous camera, yet few primes that go with it. Certainly not enough. And unfortunately, there are no signs of an apology or a worthy lens replacement.

Some serious blogs regarding shutter shake on A7R. My intent is to find light system, certainly not dependent upon sandbags and added weight to pack. I will be on strong tripod, shooting mostly in multiple to 1/15th second, rarely hand held. I could solve shake issue with A7, but need better IQ of A7R.

Have any of you face this issue, and what was your results?

To add, will be shooting mostly manual lenses 24-150mm. I believe this shake is diminished with this range of lenses, but the word diminish scares me. What can i expect? Would certainly not want to buy entire system only to realize images not ideal for sensor and needing to return...if i am permited.

No FF cam is going to "shake up the market" until you can buy body and lens as a kit for less than $1000. I know this is possible, it just isn't being done yet.

Great camera, but I wish Sony would hold off releasing bodies without comprehensive lenses that perform. The 50mm is good (although any manufacturer who cannot make a good fast 50 should make lenses full stop!) The zoom is OK ish... The Zeiss 35 is a good lens, but is not as good as the rx1 in comparison? How same lens same sensors etc...

If they had held fire for 6 months and had a wide to tell set of Zeiss nex lenses this would have been a major contender to people who need system cameras, not sensor platforms.

I know you can adapt lenses.. But full AF matched glass designed with the correct sensor requirements are what is needed here.

As Fuji proved with the xpro. Waiting and having a full system from the start has cemented success. Sony have done this over and over again now. Yes we can get the Minolta/Sony AF adapter, but it's a bodge.

Camera makers take note... There is a large population of users who would and will switch systems if you make systems.

GPS or lack of is stopping me on this. I've done the software add data thing in post and it's hit and miss for what I do.
Having gps position and height is a good plus for me and much better when added at the taking stage.
Still a possibility for my Canon L lenses when pixel count matters.

Dear Dpreview. You used CZ85/1.4 for picture quality comparison. What adapter did You use, with SLT or without it?

Any thoughts about connecting the A7r with the new series of Sigma lenses?

I have been right on the edge of purchasing this camera, but after reading this review in detail, maybe not. I went back to the review of the Nex 7 which was nearly 3 years ago and the reason I purchased that camera. I also purchased good E-mount glass for it, and I have not been disappointed.
But this review is not like that. That review was full of enthusiasm for the Nex 7, even concluding: "in terms of out-and-out image quality it's probably the best APS-C camera yet, regardless of size." A far cry from this review, full of cautions and quibbles.
The only reason to purchase ff instead of APS-c is better low light performance. But with high quality much less expensive fast glass, and a number of problems in jpegs etc., it seems like the reviewers are telling me the real life results with my old Nex 7 is going to equal or beat the performance of this camera.

With Metabones for nikon f mount to e mount, i had read in blogs, there is no apeture control. I an only assume this incorrect, my older nikkor manual lenses certainly have apeture dial/apeture control. Anything i am not understanding? This would be on a7r.

Sony 7 is NO longer a "Weather sealed camera" due to LIGHT LEAK issue.

Too bad.

Will LCD at horizontal hold up hoodman hood 3x loupe? Just called camera shop, they said LCD mechanism weak, lightweight, not strong enough to hold loupe. Can it be tightened, or will it only get weaker and weaker with continual use?

Are all Voightlander lenses adaptable to sony a7/a7r? I read somewhere some are sharp, some are not. Hoping to be in 35-65mm range.

The Sony a7R has some nice features for my purposes. I was looking for a lighter small camera than my Leica, but I wanted to be able to take decent photographs. I feel the Sony has that ability except sony needs to develope more lenses in the near future. The three lenses they currenty have are not fast enough, and I would like to see some wider angle lenses. I have used some of my Leica lenses on the Sony, and they do work well, but it sort of defeats the purpose, because it adds weight and size, and you can no longer use the auto focusing.

The reason I am writing is that I hope I can get someother owners to put pressure on Sony to develope those lenses.

Are there any reasonably priced, smallish, above average resolution medium zooms for a7? My primes will be old nikkor. And it would be fortunate if zoom had image stablization, no need on primes.

I am solely landscape shooter, 95% on tripod, desiring gallery quality 16x20 and 20x24 prints, mostly b&w...should i get the a7r instead?