Sony is undoubtedly the most ground-breaking of the photographic giants at present, all its ideas may not hit the spot, but it's certainly not afraid to try something new. Today, we have its latest attempt, the world's first mirrorless, interchangeable lens camera with a full-frame sensor. Although the camera is only half the story as Sony are introducing a whole new format and lens range as well.
FULL OF IT
In fact there are two cameras, the A7 and the A7R, which look essentially identical from the exterior but use different sensors with different autofocus systems. The A7 is the more conventional of the pair with a 24-megapixel sensor using phase detect autofocus (as in a typical DSLR) with a whopping 117 tightly-clustered points. While the A7R variant (the R stands for resolution) has a huge 36-megapixel resolution, with no OLPF (optical low pass filter) to provide the sharpest possible images, unusually this uses a contrast detect autofocus system, as on Sony's NEX system CSCs.
Speaking of CSCs, the new cameras use the same E-mount as Sony's NEX-branded CSCs, which have APS-C sized sensors like most DSLRs. It's not unusual to the same mount for both APS-C and Full frame sensors, Nikon and Canon both do it. However, it's a first for Sony and the first time a more consumer-orientated CSC lens range has been split in this way.
Sony will now launch a new range of FE-mount lenses (five in the next 6 months and 10 by the end of 2015) that are capable of providing light across the new, larger sensor. You will be able to fit the older E-mount lenses to the new cameras, but you'll get a cropped image on the sensor. The new lenses won't be cheap, no modern full-frame lenses are, plus they have to be specially engineered to fit the compact mount and body.
There are two adaptors available so you can use older 35mm lenses and current A-mount lenses with autofocus. These are fine for occasional use but both make the A7/A7R bulky to the point where it loses its main selling point.
Further to this, Sony is dropping its NEX branding on all future cameras and instead bringing its CSCs under the long-running Alpha brand. This seems like a mistake to us, as it's been the NEX brand that has garnered excellent reviews of late - though we suppose that Sony has its reasons and has done its customer research.
HANDS FULL
Coming back to the cameras themselves these are very classy devices. They feel really well made and look stunning, nicely squared off but with a sizeable, ergonomic handgrip. There's an XGA OLED viewfinder with a 100% view, though it's a little on the small side at only x0.71 magnification, plus a crisp 3in tilting display. Twin control dials, mode and rear dials and plenty of other buttons mean you should be able to control everything just fine.
Inside is a new BIONZ X image processor that Sony claims is three times quicker than its predecessor, with area-specific noise reduction. However, there are no shooting speed figures yet to put this in real-world terms.
There's also built-in Wi-Fi and NFC for connecting to your smartphone or other devices. The HDMI output has two next tricks, full uncompressed video output (at up to 1080p 60fps) and 4K output to show off your photos on a suitable TV.
It measures a compact 127x94x48mm and weight 474g, though you'll need to add at least 120g onto that for the 35mm F2.8 lens that we tested it with, and 295g for the upcoming stablised 28-70mm zoom. That makes it 769g, much heavier than an equivalent APS-C CSC such as 481g for a NEX-6, but around half what a comparative full-frame DSLR might weigh. In short, it's compact for what it is, but we're not sure we'd want to carry one with us daily.
The other issue is the price. The A7 is £1,300 and the A7R is £1,700 - body only prices. Add the 'basic' 35mm lens, at prices estimated to start around £750 and you've got a price of around £2,000. That doesn't look too bad compared to a Canon EOS 6D kit with a 24-105mm lens for similar money, but then that's arguably a far better-rounded camera, and camera system, with a far more flexible lens to boot.
It's too early to make any serious comparisons though, and Sony should be applauded for trying something groundbreaking. Our brief time with the camera certainly provided results that were up there with other full-frame devices, but whether it can persuade those who value image quality above all to move from a full-sized DSLR to a mirrorless system is a tough sell.
Andoid Games
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