44 21 March 2020I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI subscribe 0330 333 1113Testbench SECOND-HAND FULL-FRAMEINMUCHthesamewaythattheoriginal
Canon5Dbroughtfull-frameDSLR
technologyintotherealmof relative
affordability,theSonyA7andA7R
performedmuchthesamefeatfor
full-framemirrorlesscameras.Indeed,at
thetimeof theirreleasein 2013theonly
similarlysmallfull-frameoptiononthe
marketwastheLeicaM9,whichat
£4,850wasalmosttriplethepriceof the
A7R’s£1,700body-onlylaunchprice.
Fast-forwardsevenyearsandtheA7
seriesis nowin itsfourthgeneration,with
thelatestA7RIVmodelsportinga 61MP
back-illuminatedfull-framesensor,albeit
at a costof £3,500body-only.Forthose
lookingtoreapthebenefits of Sony’sA7
serieswithoutbreakingthebank,the
originalA7Rcannowbepickedupvery
cheaplysecond-hand.Justbeawarethat
youmightneedtoshowa bitof patience
in ordertosecurea goodexampleasthe
first-generationA7Rdoesn’ttendtocrop
uponthesecond-handmarketquiteas
muchasmorerecentA7Rmodelsdo.
Atthetimeof writingMPB.comhadfour
A7Rsin stockrangingfrom£639forone
in ‘good’conditionto £739foronein ‘like
new’condition,whilewexphotovideo.com
hadonewithjust9,000shutteractuations
for£625.Aswe’vesaid,expectto doa bit
of shoppingaroundandbereadyto
pounce when you fi nd the right one.Whilethe24.3MPA7waspositioned
asanenthusiast-gradeall-rounder,the
A7Rcomesequippedwitha 36.4MP
sensor,markingit outasanidealchoice
forthoseprioritisingresolution.In keeping
withthis,theA7Rdoeswithouta
low-passfilterin ordertoenhancethe
resolutionof finedetail.TheA7R’s
36.4MPfull-frameCMOSsensoris
pairedwitha SonyBIONZX image
processorthatfacilitatesa sensitivity
rangeof ISO100-25,600(expandable
toISO50)anda maximumcontinuous
shootingspeedof 4fps.
UnlikethestandardA7withitshybrid
(phaseandcontrastdetect)AFmodule,
theA7R’s25-pointAFsystememploys
onlycontrastdetecttechnologyto
ascertainfocus.Asa resultit’sa little
slowerthanitsA7sibling.Thatsaid,the
A7Risn’treallydesignedtobeanaction
orsportscameraandallbutthemost
demandingusersshouldfinditsAF
performanceperfectlyspeedyin allbut
thedimmestof conditions,wheremost
othercamerasthatrelysolelyon
contrast-detecttendto struggletoo.While
theabilityto record4Kmovieswasn’t
introduceduntiltheA7RMarkII, theA7R
doesprovide1080pFullHDvideo
captureat upto60fpsandalsosports
microphoneandheadphonejacksonthe
side. In terms of connectivity the camera£639Under £500ALL
PR
CES
WERE
CORRECT
ATTHE
TME
OF
WR
TNG
Sony Alpha 7R● £639 good condition, shutter count unavailable (MPB.com)ATA GLANCE
Sensor24.3MPfull-frameCMOS
SensitivityISO100-25,600
(ISO 50 expanded)
Continuousshooting5fps
Video1080pFullHDat60fps
Reardisplay3in/1.22m-dotLCD
Viewfinder2.4m-dotEVFSonyhaslongoffered
threedistinctmodels
withinitsAlpha7 range,
eachof whichcaterstoa
slightlydifferenttarget
audience.WhereasA7R
modelsaredesignedfor
maximumresolutionand
A7Smodelsprioritise
videoandlow-light
shootingperformance,the
regularA7hasalways
beenaboutprovidingan
all-roundpackage.
Releasedin 2013
alongsidetheA7Rthat
we’vealsocoveredwithin
thisround-up,theA7was
notableforbeingthefirst
affordablefull-frame
mirrorlesscameratohit
themarket.Thatsaid,with
a body-only launch priceof £1,299theA7wasn’t
exactlycheap.Thegood
newsis thatusedSony
A7’scaneasilybepicked
upforunder£500these
days.Indeed,at thetime
of writing,MPBhadover
30 examplesin stock,
rangingfrom£314for
onein ‘wellused’
conditionto£464forone
in ‘likenew’condition.
Whilesubsequent
modelsin theA7range
haveundoubtedlyadded
usefulnewfeaturesand
comeequippedwithmore
up-to-datehardware,the
A7remainsanextremely
capablecamera.Built
arounda 24.3MP
full-framesensorand
Sony’sBIONZX
processor,theA7further
benefits fromhybridAF
technologythatcombines
117 on-sensorphase-
detectionpixelswitha
further 25 contrast-
detectpointsforframe-
wide coverage.MIRRORLESS CAMERASSonyAlpha 7
●£444excellentcondition, shutter count
unavailable (MPB.com)‘TheAlpha7 wasnotable
forbeingthefirstaffordablefull-framemirrorless camerato hit the market’Also consider