Amateur Photographer - UK (2019-10-18)

subscribe 0330 333 1113I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI 12 October 2019 63

CAMERA TEST Testbench

FEATURES 10/10

BUILD& HANDLING 9/10

METERING 9/10

AUTOFOCUS 9/10

AWB& COLOUR 9/10

DYNAMICRANGE 9/10

IMAGEQUALITY 10/10

VIEWFINDER/LCD 8/10

ThehighISOperformanceofSonysensorsthesepastfewyearshasbeen

astonishingandtheA7RIV continuesthistrend.Openingrawfilesin ACR

revealednoise-freeimagesbetweenISO 100 andISO1600.Noisestartsto

enteratISO 3200 andISO6400,butit’snothugelyoffensive.I foundthat

acceptableresultscanbeachievedatISO12,800andISO25,600too,but

youwillwanttoapplya littlenoisereductionin post.Colourremainswell

saturatedandpunchybetweenISO 50 andISO12,800,witha hintofa

greentingetoimagescreepingin atISO25,600andabove.TheupperISO

51,200andISO 104,200 settings shouldbegivena wide berth and avoided.

Noise

RAWISO 100 RAW ISO 400 RAW ISO 800

RAW ISO 25,600 RAW ISO 51,200 RAW ISO 102,400

Resolution

AtISO 100 thesensor,whichforgoesanoptical
low-passfilter,achievesapproximately5,400l/ph,
whichexceedsallfigureswe’vepreviouslyrecordedby
otherhigh-resolutionfull-framemirrorlesscameras.
Resolution gradually drops off as the ISOis increased,

with5,000l/phbeingmeasuredatISO 800 and4,600l/

phatISO6400.Thelevelofdetailbeyondthispoint

startstoreduceastheinfluenceofnoisebecomes

moreprominent.Thatbeingsaid,it stillresolvesa high

4,400l/phatISO 12,800and4,000l/ph atISO51,200.

TheA7RIV’snewsensorhasgota lotof photographersexcitedaboutwhatwecanexpectfrom
thenextwaveof high-resolutionfull-framecameras.ThelabresultsfromtheSonyA7RIVare
thebestwe’veeverrecordedfroma full-framechip.Its9504x6336pixelcountequatestoa
31x21inor80x53cmprintat a criticallysharp300ppioutputresolution.Evenwhenyoucrop
downtoAPS-Cmode,you’restillcapturing6240x4160pixelfilesthatmeasure20.8x13.8in
(52.8x35.2cm). Canon’s EOS 90D currently offers the highest resolution of any APS-C camera.

Lab results

AndrewSydenham’slabtestsrevealjusthowthe camera performs

Ourcamerasandlensesaretestedusingtheindustry-

standardImageEngineeringIQ-Analysersoftware.

Visit http://www.image-engineering.de for more details

TheA7RIVis thenewmasterof resolution

in thefull-framemarket.Bydevelopingthe

world’sfirst61MPfull-framesensor,Sony

hastakenimagequalitytonewheights–

somethingthathasbeenachievedwithout

compromisingonspeed.Thewidedynamic

rangeoffersgreatlatitudefromitsrawfiles,

andtheoptiontoswitchtoshootin APS-C

modefromthetouchof a buttonturnsit into

anaccomplishedcameraforshootingsport,

actionorwildlife,whichhasn’talwaysbeena

forteof high-resolutioncamerasin thepast.

It’sgreattoseeSonyaddressingsomeof

thecommentsmadeabouttheA7RIII,with

itslargerhandgrip,improvedweatherseals

andsubtlechangestobuttonsanddials

furtherimprovingitsbuildandhandling.

Allof theaboveis verycomplimentary,

buta fewquibblesremain.Thehugerawfiles

havea bigeffectonstoragesobeprepared

formemorycardsandexternalharddrives

tofill upfast.There’stheprocessingspeedof

yourcomputertothinkabouttoo,whichhas

tobequicktoavoidfrustratingeditingdelays.

Movingforward,I’dliketoseeSonydevelop

sensiblecompressionforrawfilestosave

valuablememorycardanddiskspace

withouta noticeableimpactonimagequality.

TheexcellentEVFandeffectivein-body

stabilisationaregreat,butit’sa shame

they’renotsupportedbya betterscreen.

Thelimitedtouchscreencontrolandcomplex

menusystemthatis madeupof 197options

acrosssixpagesareareasforimprovement.

Tosummarise,theA7RIVis anincredibly

powerfulmirrorlesscamerathatcramsa

hugeamountintoitsbody.Theresolution

willbeoverkillformany,butprofessionals,

commercialphotographersandthosewho

shoothigh-resolutionimagesforstockwill

besorelytempted.Thegreatnewsforthose

whocan’tjustifyspending£3,500onthe

A7RIVis thatthecostof a newA7RIII has

plummetedto£2,300– anamazingprice

considering it launched at £3,200 in 2017.

Verdict

Hereweshowdetailsfromour
resolutioncharttestpattern
(above).Multiplythenumber
beneaththelinesby 400 to
givetheresolutionin lines
per picture height.

RAW

ISO 102,400

RAW

ISO 25,600

RAW

ISO 6400

RAW

ISO 100

Thecropsshownbelowaretaken
from the area outlined above in red

GOLD