Amateur Photographer - UK (2020-01-25)

subscribe 0330 333 1113I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI 25 January 2020 51

TheshortflangebackdistanceoftheE mountallowsa

wide range of DSLR lenses to be attached via adapters

S

ixyearshavepassedsinceSonyenteredthefull-frame

mirrorlessmarket.TheoriginalAlpha7R,whichwasunveiled

at thesametimeastheSonyA7in October2013,wasvery

differentto othercamerasat thetime.NotonlydidSony

demonstratethatit’spossibleto squeezea high-resolution36.4-million-

pixelfull-frameCMOSsensorintoa camerasmallerandlighterthana

LeicaM-seriesdigitalrangefinder,theymanagedto dosoat a fractionof

thecost.Pricedat £1,699(bodyonly)it wasalsocheaperthanoneof its

closestrivals– theNikonD800.KeyfeaturesincludedanISOrangeof

50-25,600anda 25-pointcontrast-detectautofocussystem.Atthe

rearof theAlpha7Ra 2.36-million-dotEVFis foundabovea tilting3in,

921k-dotscreen.Thebodyis also sealedagainstmoistureanddust.

Sony

A lpha 7R

Ataglance

£4 6 4-614

bodyonly(viawww.mpb.com)

●36.4-million-pixelfull-frame

CMOSsensor

●ISO50-25,600

●SonyE mount

●FullHDvideoat60p

●NFC and Wi-Fi connectivity

What wesaid

●‘DSLRuserswillfindtheA7R

a veryintriguingprospect’.

●‘TheAlpha7Rcouldbe

describedasfunctionalrather

thanstylish.’

●‘TheA7Ris withinreachof

many,andis moreaffordable

thantheNikonD800.’

●‘ImagestakenbetweenISO

50 andISO 1600 are

perfectlyusable.’

●‘TheSonyAlpha7Ris good

enoughformostsituations,

except sports or wildlife.’

Whattopay

TypeSonyAlpha7Rintothe

searchbaronwww.mpb.com

andyou’llbeabletocheckthe

availabilityof second-handstock

in aninstant.Whenwechecked

therewasanA7Rbeingsoldin

goodconditionfor£614.

Meanwhile,well-usedexamples

of theA7Rwithsignificant

cosmeticsignsof usecurrently

fetcharound£464.Therewas

onewell-usedexampleof the

A7Ravailablewhen this issue

went to press.

Howit farestoday

Sony’sA7Rserieshascomea

longwayfromtheoriginalA7R.

Thatsaid,a lotof photographers

stillswearbytheA7R,whichas

longasyouknowitspitfalls,can

producegreatimagesbursting

withdetail.Itsfocusingis lethargic

in lowlight,it lacksin-body

imagestabilisation(IBIS)asyou

getonnewerA7-seriesmodels

andyoumustbewaryof shutter

shockasthere’snoelectronic

firstcurtainshutteravailable.

Newalternatives

SincetheA7R,we’veseenthe

A7RII, A7RIII andA7RIVarrive.

TheA7RIVclaimsthetitleof

havingthehighestresolution

sensor(61MP)of anyfull-frame

cameraandinheritspowerful

featuresfromtheSonyAlpha9.

Witha 15-stopdynamicrange,

10fpsburstshooting,cutting-

edgeAFsystem,in-bodyimage

stabilisation(IBIS)and4Kvideo,

it’sasgoodashighresolution

camerasget right now.

GOLD

SECOND-HAND CLASSIC

WerevisitSony’sfirsthigh-resolution

full-frame mirrorless camera

USED CAMERAS Testbench

See over to find out what Sony A7R owners have to say

IN ASSOCIATION WITH MPB | WWW.MPB.COM

Forandagainst

+Resolutionandimagequalityfor

theprice

+Lightweightconstruction

+Abilitytousea varietyofdifferent

adaptersandlenses

+LargeselectionofE-mountlenses

• Contrast-detectionAFonly


• Noelectronicfrontcurtainshutter


• Poorbatterylife(340shots with LCD)


• Single SD card slot

TheA7R’smovierecordbutton

is inconvenientlypositioned

above the memory card door

Thisoverheadviewshowshow

thehandgripwassculptedin

the early days of the A7-series