Sony NEX-7 Review

5.0

January 4, 2012 | Mark Goldstein |

Buy a alpha NEX-7K Black SLR Digital Camera Kit w/ 18-55mm Lens ( 24.3 Megapixel - 7.6 cm 3" LCD - 3.1x Optical Zoom - 6000 x 4000 Image - 1920 x 1080 Video - HDMI - HD Movie Mode)

Lowest Price: £869.00

Buy a Alpha NEX-7 Black Digital Camera - Body Only (24.3 MP, 3x Opt, Memory Stick PRO Duo/Pro-HG Duo/PRO-HG HX Duo/SD/SDHC/SDXC Card Slot)

Lowest Price: $905.00

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	CMOS sensor
Image sensor colour filter	R, G, B, Primary color
Size (mm)	23.5 x 15.6mm (APS-C size)

Camera

Total sensor Pixels (megapixels)	Approx. 24.7
Effective Pixels (megapixels)	Approx. 24.3
Automatic White Balance	YES
White balance: preset selection	Daylight, Shade, Cloudy, Incandescent, Fluorescent, Flash
White balance: custom setting	YES
White balance: types of color temperature	YES (G7 to M7,15-step) (A7 to B7,15-step)
White balance bracketing	NO
ISO Sensitivity Setting	ISO100 - 16000 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
*SteadyShot INSIDE was previously known as Super SteadyShot

Anti-Dust

Charge protection coating

coating on Optical Filter and ultrasonic vibration mechanism

Auto Focus System

TTL phase-detection system	NO
Contrast AF system	YES
Sensor	25 points
Sensitivity Range (at ISO 100 equivalent); EV	0 to 20 (at ISO100 equivalent with F2.8 lens attached)
Eye Start AF System (on off selectable)	YES?with LA-EA2)
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
Predictive Focus Control	YES
Focus Lock	YES
AF Illuminator	YES (with built-in LED type)
AF Illuminator range (meters)	Approx. 0.5m - Approx. 3.0m (E 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 OSS)

Auto Exposure System

Light metering type	1200-zone evaluative metering
Light metering cell	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
Exposure: Shutter priority	YES
Exposure: Aperture priority	YES
Exposure: Manual	YES
Exposure: Scene selection	YES
Sweep Panorama	YES (2D, 3D)
Anti Motion Blur	YES
AE Lock	AE is locked when focus is locked in multi-segment metering mode. AE lock button
Exposure compensation	YES (+/-5EV with 1/3EVsteps)
AE Bracketing	With 1/3 EV / 2/3 EV increments, 3 frames

Shutter

Type	Electronically-controlled, vertical-traverse, focal-plane type
Shutter Speed Range (seconds)	1/4000 - 30 and bulb
Flash Sync Speed; second	1/160

Flash

Built-in-Flash Guide Number (in meters at ISO 100)	6
Flash Metering System	Pre-flash TTL
Flash Compensation	+/- 3.0 EV in 1/3 EV steps
Built-in-Flash Recycling Time (approx. time in seconds)	4
Flash Mode	Flash Off, Autoflash, Fill-flash, Slow Sync., Rear Sync, Wireless
Wireless flash mode	YES
Red-Eye Reduction	NO
Flash Popup	NO

Viewfinder

Type	Electronic
Focusing Screen	NO
Field of View (%)	100
Magnification (with 50mm lens at infinity)	1.09x
Eye Relief	Approx. 23mm from the Eyepiece lens
Diopter Adjustment	-4.0 to +4.0 diopter

Live View

YES

LCD screen

Screen Size	7.5cm(3.0type)
Monitor Type	Xtra Fine TruBlack LCD
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 continues (with 10 sec delay 3/5 exposures selectable), Bracketing
Continuous-Advance Rate (approx. frames per second at maximum)	Speed priority continuous shooting: 10 fps
Recording Media	Memory Stick PRO Duo™,Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo™, SD memory card, SDHC memory card, SDXC memory card
Recording Format	JPEG (DCF Ver. 2.0, Exif Ver.2.3, MPF Baseline compliant), RAW (Sony ARW 2.3 format), 3D MPO (MPF Extended compliant)
Image Size L - JPEG (pixels)	6000 X 4000 (24M)
Image Size M (pixels)	4240 X 2832 (12M)
Image Size S (pixels)	3008 X 2000 (6M)
Panorama size:Max. degrees of sweep angle(focal length 16mm/18mm)	Wide: horizontal 12416 x 1856 (23M), vertical 5536 x 2160 (12M), Standard: horizontal 8192 x 1856 (15M), vertical 3872 x 2160 (8.4M)
3D Panorama size:Max. degrees of sweep angle(Focal length:16mm/18mm)	Wide: 7152 x 1080 (7.7M), Standard: 4912 x 1080 (5.3M), 16:9: 1920 x 1080 (2.1M)
Still Image quality	RAW, RAW + JPEG, JPEG Fine, JPEG Standard
Movie Recording Format	AVCHD / MP4
Video Compression	MPEG-4 AVC (H.264)
Audio recording Format	Dolby Digital (AC-3) / MPEG-4 AAC-LC
Movie recording mode - AVCHD	1920 x 1080(50p, 28M, PS), 1920 x 1080(50i, 24M, FX), 1920 x 1080(50i, 17M, FH), 1920 x 1080(25p, 24M, FX), 1920 x 1080(25p, 17M, FH)
Movie recording mode - MP4	1440 x 1080(25fps, 12 Mbps), VGA(640 x 480, 30fps. 3Mbps)
Noise Reduction (Long exp.NR)	On/Off, available at shutter speeds longer than 1 second
Noise Reduction (High ISO NR)	YES
Noise Reduction (Multi Frame NR)	NO
Color Space (sRGB)	YES
Color Space (Adobe RGB)	YES
Color mode/DEC/Creative styles	Standard, Vivid, Portrait, Landscape, Sunset, B/W, Sepia, Saturation, Sharpness
Dynamic Range Optimizer	Off, Auto, Advanced: Level

Playback/Edit

White/Black Out Alert	NO
Index Playback	YES
Enlarge (Maximum magnification)	L: 16.7x, M: 11.8x, S: 8.3x, Panorama (Standard): 25.6x, Panorama (Wide): 38.8x
Image Rotation	YES
Auto Image Rotation	YES

General

InfoLITHIUM Battery Indicator	YES
Histogram Indicator	YES
Exif	Exif Ver.2.3
Exif Print	YES
PictBridge	NO
Menu Language	English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Russian, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Finish, Polish, Czech, Hungarian, Greek, Turkish
Zone Matching	NO
Depth-of-Field Preview	NO
PRINT Image Matching III	YES
Remote Release Terminal	NO
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)	0 - 40