Sony A7R Review

December 4, 2013 | Mark Goldstein | Rating star Rating star Rating star Rating star Rating star

Introduction

The Sony A7R is the world's first 35mm full-frame compact system camera (along with the A7 that was launched at the same time) and is also officially the world’s smallest, lightest interchangeable lens camera with a full-frame sensor. The Sony A7R has a 36.4 megapixel full-frame sensor with no optical low-pass filter for greater detail. Other standout highlights of the A7R include a Sony E bayonet mount, a new range of full-frame E-mount lenses, a dust/moisture-resistant magnesium alloy body, ISO range of 50-51200, fast intelligent auto focus, XGA OLED electronic viewfinder, tiltable 3-inch LCD screen, NFC and Wi-Fi connectivity, Full 60p/24p HD movie recording and 4K photo output for viewing on Ultra HD displays and TVs. The Sony A7R is available now priced at around £1699 / $2299 body only.

Ease of Use

Following in the footsteps of last year's Cyber-shot RX1 and RX1R models, which offered a full-frame sensor in a compact camera body, the new A7R and A7 now brings 35mm full-frame to the world of interchangeable lens compact system cameras. Full-frame 35mm image sensors have always been associated with complicated, bulky DSLRs, but that has now completely changed with the arrival of the Sony A7R and A7. These two cameras are the same size as CSCs' like the Olympus OM-D E-M1 and Fujifilm X-E2, yet offer a sensor that's as big as those in DSLRs like the Nikon D800, D600, Canon EOS 5D Mark II, 6D and Sony's own A99. In short, the Sony A7R and A7 are currently the only cameras in the world that offer such a large sensor in such a small body.

On paper at least the Sony A7R offers almost everything that the experienced photographer could want - a 35mm CMOS sensor, interchangeable lenses, an OLED electronic viewfinder, a large and high-resolution LCD screen, full control over exposure via a variety of external controls, and 14-bit Raw file format support, all housed inside a compact and lightweight body that you can just about squeeze into a jacket pocket without a lens attached. Compared to a DSLR, the only notable thing that's really missing is a built-in pop-up flash.

Despite its large image sensor, the aluminium bodied Sony A7R is still quite small and slender, measuring just over 4.5cms in depth, 9.5cms in height and 12.7cms in width, and weighing 407g without a lens, battery and memory card fitted. There's a generously sized textured area for gripping the camera on the front with three fingers, and a large thumb-shaped lozenge on the rear, which makes the A7R easy to literally get to grips with, important as the rest of its aluminum body is very smooth.

Located on the minimalist front of the A7R is the lens mount and a small porthole on the left for the self-timer/AF illuminator, plus the front control dial which is set into the top of the handgrip. The A7R and A7 both use the E bayonet mount, but because the image sensor is so large, putting an E-mount lens on these cameras will cause varying amounts of vignetting (which could be removed in post-processing) or an APS-C crop, which given the amount of megapixels on offer isn't the end of the world. You can also use Sony's range of A-mount lenses by fitting the LA-E4 adapter, but that adds extra bulk and expense to the overall package.

So Sony have also launched a new range of lenses with the "FE" name, denoting "full-frame E-mount ", with five lenses announced at the same time as the A7R/A7 bodies. Somewhat confusingly, though, only two lenses are actually available at launch, the Sony 28-70mm F3.5-5.6 OSS which only ships as a kit lens with the A7, and the Carl Zeiss Sonnar T* 35mm F2.8. We were sent the Carl Zeiss Sonnar T* 55mm F1.8 for review with the A7R, which isn't actually in the shops until January next year. The other two FE lenses that will be available are the Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar T* 24-70mm F4 ZA OSS (January 2014) and the G Lens 70-200mm F4 OSS (availability still unknown at time of writing). In addition, the Sony A7R/A7 can be used with a wide variety of third-party lenses by buying and fitting a suitable adapter.

On top the A7R has an external hotshoe, dubbed the Multi Interface Shoe, for attaching one of a range of accessories, including an external flash. Turn the On/Off switch on the top plate and the Sony A7R readies itself for action in a just over a second. The adequately sized shutter-release button has a definite halfway point, determining focus and exposure with a bleep of affirmation and focus points highlighted as green rectangles on the LCD. Note that wehn you do fire the shutter, it emits a rather loud mechanical sound that isn't particularly well-suited to more candid photography.

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T90 Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T90
Front Rear

The A7R uses a 25-point contrast-based auto-focusing system, dubbed "Fast Intelligent AF", rather than the phase-detection systems that DSLRs typically use. Although noticeably quicker than on the RX1/RX1R, the the A7R's AF system does still suffer from a slight lag when shooting in good light or bad. It's certainly not terrible, but it's enough to limit the A7R's use to slower moving subjects, and it's also not up there with quicker contrast-based auto-focusing systems from the likes of Olympus and Panasonic on their compact system cameras.

When you choose to manually focus, a distance scale is displayed along the bottom of the LCD screen, MF Assist can be turned on to magnify the image and help you get sharp results, and there's also the same convenient Peaking function from Sony's DSLRs that highlights sharply-focused areas of the image on the LCD screen. Go on to take the shot and JPEG or Raw images are quickly committed to memory in a single second, the screen momentarily blanking out and then displaying the captured image before the user can go on to take a second shot.

A round shooting mode dial with a knurled edge and positive action is also located on top of the camera. This lets you quickly switch between the various shooting modes that are on offer. Sony has included Intelligent Auto scene recognition, which works in virtually identical fashion to the intelligent auto modes of Panasonic's and Canon's compact ranges. Simply point the A7R at a scene or subject and the camera analyses it and automatically chooses one of a number of pre-optimised settings to best suit.

Adding to the A7R's snapshot simplicity, these features accompany face recognition and smile shutter functionality on board, the former mode biasing human faces in the frame and the latter mode firing the shutter when it detects a smiling subject. The Face Detection system automatically adjusts the focus, exposure and white balance for people in the frame, and can even be set to distinguish between children and adults. Smile Detection offers three self-explanatory options, Big, Normal and Slight. Used in conjunction, the Face and Smile Detection systems do result in more hits than misses, especially in contrasty lighting conditions, although all those smiling faces could ultimately freak you out a little! The self-portrait options in the self-timer menu work by automatically taking the shot with a two second delay after either one or two people have entered the frame.

In addition to the regular Program mode, which provides the full range of camera options and additionally allows you to change settings like the ISO speed and metering, is the welcome inclusion of Aperture-priority, Shutter-priority and fully Manual modes which let you independently set the aperture and shutter speed, making the A7R instantly appeal to the more experienced photographer. The ability to choose from 30-1/8000th second shutter speeds opens up a lot of creative potential. There's also very welcome support for the RAW file format, which is really the icing on the cake for serious photographers. Two Custom modes on the shooting mode dial allow you quickly access different combinations of settings.

The proven Sweep Panorama mode lets you capture a panoramic image very easily without the use of a tripod. All you need to decide is whether you would like to start from left or right, top or bottom. Then press and hold down the shutter release while doing a "sweep" with the camera in hand. Exposure compensation is available before you start the sweep, but the exposure is fixed once you depress the shutter button. After you are done with the sweeping, the camera does all the processing required, and presents you with a finished panoramic image. There are two modes, Standard and Wide. Note that if you do the sweeping too slowly, or you let go of the shutter release button too early, the panorama will be truncated.

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T90 Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T90
Front Tilting LCD Screen

In the clever Hand-held Twilight and Anti Motion Blur scene modes, the A7R takes six shots in a rapid sequence, typically at a high sensitivity setting and a (relatively) fast shutter speed, and then combines them into a single image that has somewhat less noise than a single shot taken at the same ISO and exposure settings. In our experience, the difference between the two modes is that in Anti Motion Blur mode, the camera is more willing to pick a really high ISO setting like ISO 6400 to maintain a fast shutter speed, whereas in Hand-held Twilight mode, it will only go as high as absolutely necessary to avoid camera shake at the chosen focal length. If light levels are truly low, however, the A7R will pick a high ISO speed even in this mode.

Present and correct is the increasingly ubiquitous ability to shoot High Definition video clips. The A7R does so at full 1080p HD rather than 1080i or 720p, and also with stereo sound rather than mono. The various options are 1920x1280 pixels at 60p/50p/60i/50i or 25p/24p in the AVCHD format, and 1440x1280 or 640x480 pixels at 30fps in the MPEG4 format. There's the ability to change the EV level, white balance, metering, ISO speed, DRO/HDR, creative style and picture effect, plus various audio recording options. If you set the shooting mode dial to Movie, you can also choose from Program, Aperture or Shutter priority and Manual modes, giving you full control over exposure for both stills and movies.

There's also a clean HDMI output from the camera, whichallows video to be viewed on an external monitor or recorded on another device. High-resolution still images can be displayed directly on a 4K television, offering four times the detail of Full HD. The small dedicated Movie button on the rear of the A7R allows you to start recording a movie with a single push of a button, and then stop recording by pressing the same button - a lot more intuitive than having to select the movie mode then press the shutter button, as on most compacts.

The Sony A7R can shoot full-resolution 36 megapixel pictures at up to 4fps, quite a fast rate for a 35mm full-frame camera. To achieve the full 4fps you need to set the drive mode to the Speed Priority Continuous option, which locks the focus and the exposure at the first frame. The A7R's regular continuous burst shooting can change the focus and exposure between frames but provides a slower rate of 1.5fps.

The Clear Image Zoom function effectively digitally doubles the zoom range of the attached lens, using Sony's new Pixel Super Resolution Technology to increase the magnification. The Auto Object Framing mode uses face detection and the rule of thirds to automatically crop and create more tightly framed shots. The same Pixel Super Resolution Technology ensures that the resulting image is still a full 36 megapixels in size, and the original uncropped image is also saved for easy comparison.

Sony's long-standing D-Range Optimizer and HDR functions are present to help even out tricky exposures, for example where a bright background would normally throw the foreground into deep shadow. You can see from the examples on the Image Quality page that these features produce a photo with noticeably more dynamic range than one taken using one of the standard shooting modes, but at the same time without replicating the often "false" look of many HDR programs, and both offer a wide degree of customisation that's previously only been seen on Sony's DSLR/SLT range.

Completing the top of the A7R is a second prominent dial for setting Exposure Compensation and a small button marked with C1, which as the name suggests can be customised to access one of the camera's key controls (it's handily set to Focus Mode by default).

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T90 Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T90
Top Side

On the back, instead of the bulky optical viewfinder of a conventional DSLR, the Sony A7R has an electronic viewfinder. The OLED electronic viewfinder on the A7R is borrowed from the NEX-7 and NEX-6 compact system cameras and the A99 DSLR, and is simply excellent. It has a large 0.71x magnification, 100% field of view, and a staggeringly high 2,359,000 dot equivalent resolution, resulting in a display that's virtually indistinguishable from a more traditional optical viewfinder.

As the EVF is reading the same signal from the image sensor as the rear LCD screen, it can also display similar information, with a choice of five display modes. For example, you can view and operate the A7R's Function Menu, giving a true preview of the scene in front of you and quick access to all the key camera settings while it's held up to your eye. The various icons used to represent the camera settings are clear and legible. The icing on the viewing cake is the clever built-in eye sensor, which automatically switches on the viewfinder when you look into it, then switches it off and turns on the LCD monitor when you look away.

The A7R's EVF system also performs very well indoors in low light, typically the scourge of most EVFs which have to "gain-up" to produce a usable picture, resulting in a noticeably grainier picture. The A7R doesn't suffer from this unwanted effect at all, making its electronic viewfinder the equal of and in many areas better than a DSLR's optical viewfinder. The truest testament to the A7R is that we almost exclusively used it by holding it up to eye-level, something that we wouldn't do unless the EVF was of sufficient quality.

There's also a large 3-inch, 921K-dot resolution LCD screen which can be tilted up to 45° downwards to shoot over crowds or up to 84° upwards and comfortably used outdoors even in harsh sunlight, although it can't be rotated to the side. Located above the screen and to either side of the EVF are the Menu and C2 buttons.

Press the Menu button and a number of shooting and set up folders appear on screen, with white text on a black background aiding visibility. The seven shooting folders allow users to select image size, ratio and quality and - if JPEG (RAW and RAW+JPEG also available) - compression rates too, plus features like long exposure and high ISO noise reduction - all in fact activated as a default, and also contains the video quality and audio options, while the six Customise folders allow you to tweak the A7R to your way of working. Wi-fi, Apps, Playback, and Setup folders complete the long list of configurable options. By default the C2 button allows you to position the magnification point when manual focusing and zoom in by up to 14.4x, but as the name suggests it can be customised to another function.

To the right is the chunky rear control dial and a useful one-touch movie record button embedded within the edge of the rubberised thumb-rest. Underneath is the combined AF/MF and Auto Exposure Lock (AEL) switch/button, and underneath that the Function button which accesses up to 12 customisable options that appear on in two horizontal columns along the bottom of the LCD screen. The Function menu proves to be a very handy way to quickly change the A7R's key settings and one of the main ways of setting the camera to suit your shooting style.

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T90 Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T90
Memory Card Slot Battery Compartment

The traditional round navigation pad can be used to navigate through menus and options, in conjunction with the small button in the middle which activates whatever it is you've chosen. Three of the four directions on the navigation pad can also be customised to provide a quick way of setting various options. The navigation pad doubles up as a control ring that's used to navigate through and set menu options, and usefully also sets the ISO speed by default. The ring is a little small, but it's not too over-sensitive and the ability to take full control of the A7R is very welcome. In total the Sony A7r offers nine customisable buttons and 46 assignable functions, making it very easy to configure to suit your particular requirements.

Underneath the navigation pad is the Playback button, which gives users the ability to dip in and out of created folders of images or the calendar view, view thumbnails, select slideshows and choose transitional effects and accompanying music, or delete shots. Press the shutter button halfway and you're helpfully catapulted back into capture mode. And that's basically it. With a press of the Menu button in playback, users have access to a few in-camera retouching effects, including the ability to crop and sharpen an image and apply red-eye correction. Completing the rear of the A7R is the self-explanatory Delete button, which doubles up as the customisable C3 button (accessing the wi-fi options by default).

As denoted by symbols on the side of the camera, the Sony A7R is wi-fi and NFC capable and the functions can be adjusted in the Wi-fi main menu. You can choose to transmit the images to either a smartphone computer, or a compatible TV set. One cool feature of the wi-fi is being able to link the camera to your smart phone using the PlayMemories Mobile app. You can then use the phone as a remote so those outstretched arm 'selfies' will be a thing of the past. The A7R also features NFC (Near Field Communication) technology (the same technology that's used for mobile payments), which allows you to connect it to a compatible internet enabled device or another NFC-enabled camera by simply tapping them together. You can also use the WPS Push option to locate a hot spot, access settings, edit the device name, display the MAC address or format all settings if you wish.

In addition to the built-in wi-fi/nfc connectivity, the A7R supports PlayMemories Camera Apps. As the name suggests, this is a downloadable service that lets you add new functionality to the camera, either via wi-fi or USB connection. Smart Remote Control, which allows you to control the exposure and shutter release via your smartphone, is preinstalled on the A7R. Other optional apps available include Picture Effect+, Bracket Pro, Multi Frame NR, Photo Retouchand Direct Upload, and Sony plans to provide more new apps in the near future. Note that only some of the apps are free.

The bottom of the Sony A7R features a standard metal screw thread for attaching it to a tripod that's inline with the centre of the lens mount. A lockable plastic cover protects the lithium-ion battery, officially good for 270 shots. In practice we only got just 200 shots when using the electronic viewfinder and LCD screen, which obviously draw on the battery for power. Note that the camera battery is also inconveniently charged via the USB port, rather than a separate charger, so it's a very good idea to invest in some extra batteries.

The removable memory card is housed within a compartment located on the right of the A7R (when viewed from the rear), with the A7R supporting the SD / SDHC / SDXC format in addition to Sony's own proprietary Pro Duo Memory Stick format. Positioned on both sides of the A7R are prominent metal eyelets for attaching the supplied shoulder strap. On the left are two unmarked, sturdy plastic covers, underneath which can be found the Multi port, HDMI port, and the external headphone and microphone connections.

Image Quality

All of the sample images in this review were taken using the 36 megapixel Fine JPEG setting, which gives an average image size of around 8Mb.

The Sony A7R produced images of outstanding quality during the review period. The Sony A7R has an extensive and very usable ISO range of 50-25,600. ISO 50-1600 is noise-free, whilst ISO 3200 and 6400 produce more than acceptable results, and even ISO 12,800 and 25,600 are OK for emergency use. The RAW samples illustrate just how much processing the camera does by default, though, as they're much noisier at all ISO values than their JPEG counterparts.

The 36 megapixel images are a little soft straight out of the camera using the default creative style and ideally require some further sharpening in an application like Adobe Photoshop, or you can change the in-camera sharpening level. The night photograph was excellent, with the maximum shutter speed of 30 seconds and the Bulb mode offering lots of scope for creative night photography.

The effective Dynamic Range Optimizer function extracts more detail from the shadow and highlight areas in an image, without introducing any unwanted noise or other artifacts. The High Dynamic Range mode combines two shots taken at different exposures to produce one image with greater dynamic range than a single image would produce. It only works for JPEGs and for still subjects, but does produce some very effective results. Sony's now tried-and-trusted Sweep Panorama is still a joy to use. The various Picture Effects quickly produce special looks that would otherwise require you to spend a lot of time in the digital darkroom, while the Creative Styles provide a quick and easy way to tweak the camera's JPEG images.

Noise

There are 10 ISO settings available on the Sony A7R. Here are some 100% crops which show the noise levels for each ISO setting for both JPEG and RAW formats:

JPEG RAW  

ISO 50 (100% Crop)

ISO 50 (100% Crop)

 
iso50.jpg iso50raw.jpg  
     

ISO 100 (100% Crop)

ISO 100 (100% Crop)

 
iso100.jpg iso100raw.jpg  
     

ISO 200 (100% Crop)

ISO 200 (100% Crop)

 
iso200.jpg iso200raw.jpg  
     

ISO 400 (100% Crop)

ISO 400 (100% Crop)

 
iso400.jpg iso400raw.jpg  
     

ISO 800 (100% Crop)

ISO 800 (100% Crop)

 
iso800.jpg iso800raw.jpg  
     

ISO 1600 (100% Crop)

ISO 1600 (100% Crop)

 
iso1600.jpg iso1600raw.jpg  
     

ISO 3200 (100% Crop)

ISO 3200 (100% Crop)

 
iso3200.jpg iso3200raw.jpg  
     

ISO 6400 (100% Crop)

ISO 6400 (100% Crop)

 
iso6400.jpg iso6400raw.jpg  
     

ISO 12800 (100% Crop)

ISO 12800 (100% Crop)

 
iso12800.jpg iso12800raw.jpg  
     

ISO 25600 (100% Crop)

ISO 25600 (100% Crop)

 
iso25600.jpg iso25600raw.jpg  

Sharpening

Here are two 100% crops which have been Saved as Web - Quality 50 in Photoshop. The right-hand image has had some sharpening applied in Photoshop. The out-of-the camera images are a little soft at the default sharpening setting. You can change the in-camera sharpening level if you don't like the default look.

Original (100% Crop)

Sharpened (100% Crop)

sharpen1.jpg sharpen1a.jpg
   
sharpen2.jpg sharpen2a.jpg

File Quality

The Sony A7R has 3 different image quality settings available, with Extra Fine being the highest quality option. Here are some 100% crops which show the quality of the various options, with the file size shown in brackets.

36M Extra Fine (18.1Mb) (100% Crop) 36M Fine (9.06Mb) (100% Crop)
quality_extra_fine.jpg quality_fine.jpg
   
36M Standard (6.03Mb) (100% Crop) 36M RAW (35.4Mb) (100% Crop)
quality_standard.jpg quality_raw.jpg

Night

The Sony A7R's maximum shutter speed is 30 seconds and there's also a Bulb mode for even longer exposures, which is excellent news if you're seriously interested in night photography. The shot below was taken using a shutter speed of 30 seconds at ISO 100.

Night

Night (100% Crop)

night1.jpg night1a.jpg

Dynamic Range Optimizer

D-Range Optimiser (DRO) is Sony's solution to improve shadow detail in photos taken in contrasty light. There are 5 different levels and an Auto option.

Off

Auto
drange_01.jpg drange_02.jpg
   
Level 1 Level 2
drange_03.jpg drange_04.jpg
   
Level 3 Level 4
drange_05.jpg drange_06.jpg
   
Level 5  
drange_07.jpg  

High Dynamic Range

High Dynamic Range Optimiser (HDR) is Sony's solution for capturing more contrast than a single exposure can handle by combining two exposures into one image. There are 6 different EV settings and an Auto option.

Off

Auto
hdr_01.jpg hdr_02.jpg
   
1EV 2EV
hdr_03.jpg hdr_04.jpg
   
3EV 4EV
hdr_05.jpg hdr_06.jpg
   
5EV 6EV
hdr_07.jpg hdr_08.jpg

Creative Styles

There are 13 Creative Style preset effects that you can use to change the look of your images.

Standard

Vivid

creative_style_01.jpg creative_style_02.jpg
   

Neutral

Clear

creative_style_03.jpg creative_style_04.jpg
   

Deep

Light

creative_style_05.jpg creative_style_06.jpg
   

Portrait

Landscape

creative_style_07.jpg creative_style_08.jpg
   

Sunset

Night Scene

creative_style_09.jpg creative_style_10.jpg
   

Autumn Leaves

Black & White

creative_style_11.jpg creative_style_12.jpg
   

Sepia

 
creative_style_13.jpg  

Picture Effects

The Sony A7R offers a range of thirteen creative Picture Effects.

Off

Toy Camera

picture_effect_01.jpg picture_effect_02.jpg
   

Pop Color

Posterization

picture_effect_03.jpg picture_effect_04.jpg
   

Retro Photo

Soft High-key

picture_effect_05.jpg picture_effect_06.jpg
   

Partial Color (Red)

High Contrast Mono

picture_effect_07.jpg picture_effect_08.jpg
   

Soft Focus

HDR Painting

picture_effect_09.jpg picture_effect_10.jpg
   

Rich-tone Mono

Miniature

picture_effect_11.jpg picture_effect_12.jpg

Sweep Panorama Mode

The Sony A7R allows you to take panoramic images very easily, by 'sweeping' with the camera while keeping the shutter release depressed. The camera does all the processing and stitching and even successfully compensates for moving subjects. The main catch is that the resulting image is of fairly low resolution.

Standard
panorama1.jpg
 
Wide
panorama2.jpg

Sample Images

This is a selection of sample images from the Sony A7R camera, which were all taken using the 36 megapixel JPEG setting. The thumbnails below link to the full-sized versions, which have not been altered in any way.

Sample RAW Images

The Sony A7R enables users to capture RAW and JPEG format files. We've provided some Sony RAW (ARW) samples for you to download (thumbnail images shown below are not 100% representative).

Sample Movie & Video

This is a sample movie at the highest quality setting of 1920x1080 pixels at 50 frames per second. Please note that this 21 second movie is 65.4Mb in size.

Product Images

Sony A7R

Front of the Sony A7R

 
Sony A7R

Front of the Sony A7R

 
Sony A7R

Side of the Sony A7R

 
Sony A7R

Side of the Sony A7R

 
Sony A7R

Isometric View

 
Sony A7R

Side of the Sony A7R

 
Sony A7R

Rear of the Sony A7R

 
Sony A7R

Rear of the Sony A7R / Image Displayed

 
Sony A7R

Rear of the Sony A7R / Turned On

 

Sony A7R

Rear of the Sony A7R / Main Menu

 
Sony A7R
Rear of the Sony A7R / Function Menu
 
Sony A7R
Rear of the Sony A7R / Wi-Fi Menu
 
Sony A7R
Tilting LCD Screen
 
Sony A7R
Tilting LCD Screen
 
Sony A7R
Tilting LCD Screen
 
Sony A7R
Tilting LCD Screen
 
Sony A7R
Top of the Sony A7R
 
Sony A7R
Bottom of the Sony A7R
 
Sony A7R
Side of the Sony A7R
 
Sony A7R
Side of the Sony A7R
 
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Front of the Sony A7R
 
Sony A7R
Front of the Sony A7R
 
Sony A7R
Memory Card Slot
 
Sony A7R
Battery Compartment

Conclusion

The Sony A7R is the most revolutionary camera of 2013, bringing 35mm full-frame, interchangeable lens shooting to the masses both in terms of cost and size. Importantly the A7R is also well-built, a pleasure to use and delivers outstanding image quality. As with any camera, it does have a few flaws, most notably the slightly sluggish auto-focusing, poor battery life and in-camera charging, the rather loud shutter release and the limited number of FE lenses on launch, but all in all the Sony A7R is a superbly realised, genuinely game-changing camera.

The 36 megapixel sensor provides excellent results from ISO 50-3200, with only the faster settings of 6400 and 12800 suffering from a little too much noise and smearing of fine detail, with ISO 25600 not too bad either. The A7R's sensor and the fast Carl Zeiss 55mm f/1.8 lens that we tested it with feel perfectly balanced together, hitting the sweet spot between portability and image quality, and it's hard to resist the lure of shooting wide-open at f/1.8 in combination with such a big sensor. One slight caveat is that the CZ 55mm lens isn't stabilised, which led to quite a few missed shots in low-light due to camera-shake - not necessarily a criticism of the A7R, as there are stabilised lenses available, but definitely something to bear in mind as the 36 megapixel sensor is very unforgiving of poor technique.

One of the main difference between the A7R and the cheaper A7 is the removal of the low-pass filter in the A7R. Although we haven't had chance to test them side by side yet, this should result in making the latter's photos subtly sharper and more detailed than the 24 megapixel A7's, and unless you shoot a lot of subjects with very fine details like fabrics or man-made patterns, you'll be hard-pushed to spot any moire or colour aliasing (we couldn't find any in our sample shots). Even if you do, there are certain techniques that you can employ both during shooting and in post-production, so if out and out resolution is a key requirement then we'd recommend opting for the A7R.

In terms of operational speed and all-round performance, the A7R delivers on most counts. Shutter lag is only notable by its apparent absence, and image processing times are thankfully non-intrusive, even for the massive Raw files that the A7R produces. This camera really does deliver DSLR-like performance and image quality in a pocketable format, music to the ears of most enthusiasts, with the exception of the auto-focusing speed, which lags behind the very best contrast-based and DSLR phase-detection systems. It's certainly not bad enough to prevent us from recommending the A7R, but it does limit the camera's versatility somewhat, rewarding a more considered approach.

In terms of value-for-money, the Sony A7R is roughly comparable to the cheaper full-frame DSLR models from Canon (the 6D) and Nikon (the D610), while being quite a lot more expensive than top-of-the range compact system cameras like the Olympus OM-D E-M1 and the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH3. You really need to decide if the combination of such a large sensor and such a small body make sense for you - if it does, then there's simply nothing else quite like the Sony A7R (except the Sony A7, of course, which we'll be reviewing very soon).

Sony have seemingly been on a mission in the last few years to really change photography, first with the innovative NEX series, then the full-frame RX1/R compacts, and now the A7R and A7 full-frame mirrorless cameras (not to mention the RX100 premium compact and the recent RX10 super-zoom). The Sony A7R is the most radical of them all, the best realised, and fully deserving of our coveted Essential! award.

5 stars

Ratings (out of 5)
Design 5
Features 4.5
Ease-of-use 4.5
Image quality 5
Value for money 5

Main Rivals

Listed below are some of the rivals of the Sony A7R.

Canon EOS 5D Mark III

The long-awaited Canon EOS 5D Mark III DSLR has finally arrived, boasting improvements to virtually every aspect of its popular predecessor, the breakthrough 5D Mark II. It's cost has also increased significantly, so does the new 5D Mark III offer enough to justify the £2999 / $3499 asking price? Read our detailed Canon EOS 5D Mark III review to find out.

Canon EOS 6D

The Canon EOS 6D is a new full-frame DSLR with a much more affordable price-tag than the 5D Mark III and a few tricks up its sleeve that its bigger brother doesn't offer. At over £1000 / $1000 cheaper than the 5D Mark II, have Canon cut too many corners for the 6D to be a real contender? Read our in-depth Canon EOS 6D review to find out...

Fujifilm X-Pro1

The Fujifilm X-Pro1 is a new premium compact system camera. Building on the popularity of the X100, the retro, rangefinder-styled X-Pro1 offers a brand new sensor that's claimed to rival full-frame DSLRs, an improved hybrid viewfinder, and a new X lens mount with three prime lenses available on launch. Read our Fujifilm X-Pro1 review to find out if it can emulate the runaway success of the X100...

Nikon D610

The Nikon D610 is a new full-frame DSLR camera that updates last year's D600 with a new shutter mechanism, faster 6fps burst shooting and a new Quiet Release Burst mode, and an improved auto white balance system. The D610 retains the same 24.3 megapixel full-frame sensor, 1080p HD video, ISO range of 50-25600, a 39-point AF system, 3.2-inch LCD screen and a viewfinder with 100% coverage as its predecessor. Read our in-depth Nikon D610 review now...

Nikon D800

The Nikon D800 is one of the hottest DSLR cameras for 2012. Featuring a remarkable 36 megapixel full-frame sensor, the D800 also offers 1080p HD video, a 3.2-inch LCD screen and a viewfinder with 100% coverage. Read our in-depth Nikon D800 review to find out if it's worth the £2499.00 / $2,999.95 cost of admission.

Nikon D800E

The Nikon D800E is a 36 megapixel full-frame sensor DSLR with the anti-aliasing filter removed, which should result in higher resolution, sharper images compared to the regular D800. The D800E also offers 1080p HD video, a 3.2-inch LCD screen and a viewfinder with 100% coverage. Read our in-depth Nikon D800E review to find out if you should choose it instead of the D800.

Olympus OM-D E-M1

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Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH3

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Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7 is an exciting new compact system camera aimed firmly at keen photographers. With a built-in tilting electronic viewfinder, 16 megapixel sensor, 3 inch tilting LCD touchscreen, pop-up flash, 60/50p high-definition video, integrated wi-fi and NFC connectivity, both lens and in-body image stabilization, and a stylish design, is the GX7 the ultimate interchangeable lens camera? Read our expert Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7 review to find out....

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX1R

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX1R is a new version of last year's RX1 with the optical low-pass filter removed, promising increased resolution but at the risk of increased moire effects. The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX1R is otherwise identical to the RX1, featuring a 35mm Carl Zeiss prime lens with a fast maximum aperture of f/2, full 1080p high-definition video, high-resolution 3-inch screen, manual shooting modes, 5fps continuous shooting, ISO range of 50-25,600, and 14-bit raw support. Read our expert Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX1R review to find out if it can improve on the original RX1...

Review Roundup

Reviews of the Sony A7R from around the web.

stevehuffphoto.com »

Well here we are near the end of 2013 and finally…in my hand is the Sony A7 and A7r cameras (and they have been for a few weeks), the two little powerhouses that are poised and planned to take over the mirrorless camera world with their small tough design and their full frame class leading sensors. No one else had the balls to make such a camera yet Sony plowed right in, listened to the enthusiasts and DID IT. NOPE! Not Nikon, Not Leica, Not Olympus, Not Samsung, Not Pentax and certainly NOT Canon who have been doing nothing exciting or innovated at all lately in my opinion (I am speaking about Canon in that last statement).
Read the full review »

cameralabs.com »

The Sony Alpha A7r is a mirrorless system camera with a full-frame sensor. Announced in October 2013 alongside the more affordable A7, they are the World's smallest and lightest full-frame mirrorless system cameras; note Leica has long offered its M series with full-frame sensors and interchangeable lenses, but they're larger, heavier and manual focus only. Sony also has its own full-frame RX1 and RX1r compacts, but while they're mirrorless, they don't have interchangeable lenses.
Read the full review »

Specifications

Lens Mount

Sony A-mount NO
Sony E-mount YES

Lens Compatibility

All types of Sony A-mount lenses YES (Requires α-Mount adaptor)
All types of Sony E-mount lenses YES
Minolta & Konica Minolta α/MAXXUM/DYNAX lenses YES (Requires α-Mount adaptor)

Image Sensory

Image sensor type Exmor™ APS HD CMOS sensor
Image sensor colour filter R, G, B, Primary color
Size (mm) 35mm full frame (35.9×24 mm)

Camera

Total sensor Pixels (megapixels) Approx. 36.8
Effective Pixels (megapixels) Approx. 36.4
Automatic White Balance YES
White balance: preset selection Auto, Daylight, Shade, Cloudy, Incandescent, Fluorescent, Warm White, Cool White, Day White, Custom, Underwater
White balance: custom setting YES
White balance: types of color temperature 2500 - 9900 k (G7 to M7,15-step) (A7 to B7,15-step)
White balance bracketing 3 frames, H/L selectable
ISO Sensitivity Setting ISO100 - 25600 equivalent

SteadyShot INSIDE

System: Sensor-shift mechanism NO
SteadyShot INSIDE scale (in viewfinder) NO
Camera-Shake warning (in viewfinder) NO
SteadyShot INSIDE capability NO
SteadyShot INSIDE compatibility NO

Wi-Fi

View on Smartphone YES
Send to Computer YES
View on TV YES

NFC

One-touch remote YES
One-touch sharing YES

Anti-Dust

Charge protection coating YES

Auto Focus System

TTL phase-detection system NO
Contrast AF system YES
Sensitivity Range (at ISO 100 equivalent); EV EV0 to EV20 (at ISO100 equivalent with F2.8 lens attached)
Eye Start AF System (on off selectable) Only with LA-EA2 or LA-EA4 attached (Sold separately)
AF Area: Wide focus area NO
AF Area: Spot NO
AF Area: Local focus area selection NO
AF Area: Multi Point YES (25 points)
AF Area: Center Weighted YES
AF Area: Flexible Spot YES
AF Modes Single-shot AF, Continuous AF, Direct Manual Focus, Manual Focus
Predictive Focus Control NO
Focus Lock YES
AF Illuminator YES (with built-in LED type)
AF Illuminator range (meters) Approx. 0.3-3.0m (FE 28-70mm F3.5-5.6 OS)

Auto Exposure System

Light metering type 1200-zone evaluative metering
Light metering cell Full-frame Exmor™ CMOS sensor
Light metering: Multi segment YES
Light metering: Spot YES
Light metering: Center weighted YES
Exposure: Automatic YES
Exposure: Program Auto YES
Exposure: iAUTO YES
Exposure: AUTO+ NO
Superior Auto YES
Exposure: Shutter priority YES
Exposure: Aperture priority YES
Exposure: Manual YES
Exposure: Scene selection YES
Sweep Panorama YES
Anti Motion Blur YES
AE Lock YES
Exposure compensation +/- 5.0EV(1/3 EV, 1/2 EV steps selectable)
AE Bracketing With 1/3 EV, 1/2 EV, 2/3 EV, 1.0 EV, 2.0 EV, 3.0 EV increments, 3/5 frames (2.0 EV, 3.0 EV : only 3 frames) selectable

Shutter

Type Electronically-controlled, vertical-traverse, focal-plane type
Shutter Speed Range (seconds) Still images:1/8000 to 30&bulb Movies: 1/8000 to 1/4
Flash Sync Speed; second 1/160

Flash

Built-in-Flash Guide Number (in meters at ISO 100) -
Flash Metering System Pre-flash TTL
Flash Compensation +/- 3.0 EV (switchable between 1/3 and 1/2 EV steps)
Built-in-Flash Recycling Time (approx. time in seconds) 4
Flash Mode Flash Off, Autoflash, Fill-flash, Slow Sync., Rear Sync
Wireless flash mode YES
Red-Eye Reduction YES
Flash Popup NO

Viewfinder

Type 1.3 cm (0.5) Electronic Viewfinder
Field of View (%) 100%
Magnification (with 50mm lens at infinity) approx. 0.71 x (with 50mm lens at infinity, -1m-1) diopter
Eye Relief Approx. 27mm from the eyepiece lens, 22mm from the eyepiece frame at -1m-1diopter (CIPA standard)
Diopter Adjustment -4m to +3m

Live View

Live View YES

LCD screen

Screen Size 7.5cm(3.0type)
Monitor Type TFT
LCD Total Dot Number 921.600
Brightness adjustable YES
Tilting screen YES
Rotating screen NO

Recording

Drive Mode Single, Continuous, Speed-priority Continuous, 10 seconds and 2 seconds Self-timer, Self-timer (Cont.) (with 10 sec delay 3/5 exposures selectable), Bracketing:Single, Bracketing:Cont, WB Bracketing, DRO Bracketing
Continuous-Advance Rate (approx. frames per second at maximum) Approx.1.5 fps
Number of Continuous Advance 4 fps, as speed priority continuous shooting. (Maximum)
Recording Media Memory Stick PRO Duo™, Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo™, Memory Stick XC-HG Duo, SD, SDHC, SDXC memory cards
Recording Format JPEG (DCF Ver. 2.0, Exif Ver.2.3, MPF Baseline compliant), RAW (Sony ARW 2.3 format)
Image Size L - JPEG (pixels) 7360 x 4912 (36M)
Image Size M (pixels) 4800 x 3200 (15M)
Image Size S (pixels) 3680 x 2456 (9M)
Panorama size:Max. degrees of sweep angle(focal length 16mm/18mm) Wide: horizontal 12,416 x 1,856 (23M), vertical 5,536 x 2,160 (12M), Standard: horizontal 8,192 x 1,856 (15M), vertical 3,872 x 2,160 (8.4M)
3D Panorama size:Max. degrees of sweep angle(Focal length:16mm/18mm) NO
Still Image quality RAW, RAW+JPEG, JPEG Extra Fine, JPEG Fine, JPEG Standard
Movie Recording Format AVCHD / MP4
Video Compression AVCHD Ver. 2.0 compliant / MPEG-4 AVC (H.264)
Audio recording Format Dolby Digital (AC-3)/MPEG-4 AAC-LC
Movie recording mode - AVCHD 1920 x 1080(60p/50p 28Mbps), 1920 x 1080(60i/50i 24Mbps, FX), 1920 x 1080(25p/24p 17Mbps, FH), 1920 x 1080(25p/24p 24Mbps, FX), 1920 x 1080(25p/24p 17Mbps, FH)
Movie recording mode - MP4 1440 x 1080(30/25fps) Approx.12Mbps, VGA(640 x 480, 30/25fps), Approx.3Mbps
Noise Reduction (Long exp.NR) On/Off , available at shutter speeds longer than 1 sec.
Noise Reduction (High ISO NR) YES
Noise Reduction (Multi Frame NR) YES / Auto/ISO 100 to 51200
Color Space (sRGB) YES
Color Space (Adobe RGB) YES
Color mode/DEC/Creative styles Standard, Vivid, Neutral, Clear, Deep, Light, Portrait, Landscape, Sunset, Night Scene, Autumn leaves, Black & White, Sepia,Style Box, Contrast, Saturation, Sharpness
Dynamic Range Optimizer Off, Auto, Advanced: Level

Playback/Edit

White/Black Out Alert YES
Index Playback YES
Enlarge (Maximum magnification) L: 23x, M: 15x, S: 11.5x, Panorama (Standard): 25.6x, Panorama (Wide): 38.8x
Image Rotation YES
Auto Image Rotation YES

General

InfoLITHIUM Battery Indicator YES
Histogram Indicator YES
Exif YES
Exif Print YES
PictBridge NO
Menu Language English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Russian, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Finish, Polish, Czech, Hungarian, Greek, Turkish, Russian
Depth-of-Field Preview NO
PRINT Image Matching III YES
Remote Release Terminal YES
IR Remote Control NO
DPOF(Digital Print Order Format) YES
Indicator of remaining memory space (CF) YES
Beep Sound On,Off selectable
File Number Memory On,Off selectable
Folder Name Mode Standard and Date
Operating Temperature (degrees C) 32-104/ 0-40 degree.

Jacks

Video Out NO
HD/HDMI™ Out YES
USB 2.0 Hi-Speed YES
USB Mode Mass-storage, MTP, PC remote

Power/Others

Battery System NP-FW50
Supplied Battery NP-FW50
Stamina (battery life in CIPA condition) Approx. 270 shots
Weight (g) (Body only) Approx. 407 g

Dimensions

Width (mm) 126.9
Height (mm) 94.4
Depth (mm) 48.2

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