Amateur Photographer – 09 August 2019

subscribe 0330 333 1113I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI 3 August 2019 9

First impressions

RX100VII inherits

Alpha 9 architecture

AFEWdaysafter

announcingtheAlpha

7RIV,Sonyreleased

theRX100VIIintoits

premiumcompactseries.

SuccessortotheRX

VI,theRX100VIIfeatures

a newlydeveloped1in,

stackedCMOSsensorwith

a DRAMchipandadopts

thelatestBionzimage-

processingenginewith

Front-endLSIasusedin

theAlpha9 andAlpha7R

III/IV.Aswellas20fps

blackout-freecontinuous

shootingwithAF/AE

tracking,usersgeta new

singleburstshootingmode

thatallowsupto90fps

shooting(JPEGorraw)

for up to seven frames.

Sony pursues

high-quality audio

SONYhasreleaseda varietyof newaccessoriesto

complementthenewAlpha7RIV,oneof whichis

theECM-B1Mshotgunmicrophonethatconnectsvia

thecamera’sMultiInterfaceShoe.What’sspecialabout

thismicrophone?Unlikeconventionalshotgun

microphonesit hasa digitalsignalprocessor(DSP)

built-in,whichenablesclearersoundrecording

withminimisedqualitydeterioration by

sendingthedigitalaudiosignal

directlytothecamera. In

addition,it inherits

noise-cancelling

technologyfrom

Sony’saudio

divisiontoruleout

unwantedcontinuous

noiseandbenefits from

a cable-free,battery-

freedesign.Availabilityis

expectedin September.

It’ll cost £340.

Viewfinderandscreen
Thebignewsat therearof thecamera
is theintroductionof a 5.76-million-dot
UXGAOLEDelectronicviewfinder.It’s
noticeablyclearerandthedisplayquality
canbesetto‘Standard’or‘High’mode,
with60fpsand120fpsrefreshrates
bothavailable.BelowtheEVF,littlehas
changed.TheA7RIVinheritsthesame
3in,1.44-million-dottilt-anglescreen
astheA7RIII,whichdoessupporttouch
control,butit remainslessmanoeuvrable
thanothertop-endmirrorlesscameras
themomentyouswitchtoshootingin
theportraitformat.It’sof thetouch-
sensitivetypemeaningyoucanuseit for
settingthefocuspointandexamining
magnifiedimagesin playback,butyou’re
requiredtousethejoystickorfour-way
controllertonavigatethemainmenu.
AftermakingA7RIII usersputup
withthefocusareabeingdrawnin a dull
middlegrey,whichmakesit verydifficult
toseein situationswheresubject
contrastis low,Sonyhasfinallyrelented
andallowedtheusertosetthefocus
framecolourtowhiteorred.We’re
hopeful this improvement might also

bemadeavailabletopreviousA

modelsvianewfirmware updates.

Watchthisspace!

Buildandhandling

TheA7RIVbringsanarrayof control

improvementsacrossitsbody.You’ll

noticetheexposurecompensationdial

gainsa togglelockbuttontopreventit

frombeingknockedaccidentally,while

thefocus-areajoystickandAF-ON

buttonarebothlarger,makingthem

easiertofindwhenyoureyeis pressed

upagainsttheEVF.Thereardialthat

waspreviouslyembeddedintothe

camera’sbackhasshifteduponto

thetopplateandis completelysilent

whenit’srotated.

In anefforttoanswercustomers’

feedbackaboutthehandgripbeingtoo

small,Sonyhasalsomodifiedthegrip.

Makingit largerhasmadea real

differenceandit’smorecomfortableto

holdthanpreviousA7-seriesmodels.

There’sa newverticalgriptoo:theVG-

C4EM(£400),whichmirrorsthecontrol

layoutforportrait-formatshootingand

houses a pair of NP-FZ100 batteries.

WITHTHEA7RIV,Sonyhastakenmanyof thecommentsmadeaboutitsA7RIII on
boardandlookedtoaddressthemtoproduceanevenbetterall-rounder.A quick
inspectionof ourfirstshotstakenwithit revealsthatit’scapableof resolvingmind-
blowinglevelsof detailfromitssensor(seepage5),givingusersgreaterflexibility
whenit comestocroppingandpreservingthefinestdetailsin anygivenscene.
Thoughthelookandstylingdon’tappearmuchdifferent,there’smoreto theA7R
IVthanfirstmeetstheeye.Youimmediatelynoticethelargergripwhenit’spicked
up,whichhelpsgiveit a moresubstantialfeelin thehandwithoutbeingoverlybulky.
It’sbyfarthebest-feelingA7-seriescameraSonyhasmade,andwewouldn’tbe
surprisedif thisimprovedgripfeaturesonotherA7-seriescamerasin thefuture.The
enhancedweathersealingaroundthebatterycoverandterminalsis alsowelcomed.
Thearrivalof theAlpha7RIVhascomeearlierthanwe’dthought,suggesting
Sonywantedtoreleaseitshigh-resolutionpowerhousebeforeanyoneelse.Witha
rumourthatCanonmightpossiblyreleasea high-resolutionmodelintoitsEOSR
system, it’ll be interesting to see how rival manufacturers challenge the Alpha 7R IV.

APgotthechanceto

gethandsonwiththe

Alpha7RIVatthe

official launch in Dublin

Ithasthesame24-

200mmf/2.8-4.5lensas

itspredecessor,butfocuses

faster(0.02sec),making

it theworld’sfastestAF

performanceamong

fixed-lensstillcameras

witha 1insensor.Other

highlightsincludea

357-pointphase-detection

autofocussystem,pop-up

EVFandReal-timeEyeAF

forhumansandanimals.

Imagestabilisationis saidto

be8xmoreeffectivethan

thepreviousmodelanda

3.5mmmicrophoneinput

hasbeenaddedat the

sideforvloggersand

moviemakers.Available

fromAugust,theRX

VII will retail at £1,150.

The RX100 VII inherits Real-time Tracking as well as Eye AF

TheECM-B1M

is compact

andjust

99.3mm long