All images courtesy Sony
All images courtesy Sony
All images courtesy Sony
All images courtesy Sony
All images courtesy Sony
Over the past few years, the best mirrorless interchangeable-lens cameras have caught up to low- to mid-range DSLRs in terms of performance. They’ve always been more-portable than traditional DSLRs, too. And now, they’re going after the big guns: The professional full-frame cameras that boast bigger sensors than the APS-C imagers found in consumer DSLRs.
The Sony Alpha 7 and Alpha 7R are the first mirrorless interchangeable-lens cameras with full-frame sensors. They’re also the first Sony mirrorless cameras outside of the NEX lineup. The company is positioning the higher-resolution 7R as a professional-level shooter; it has a 36-megapixel full-frame sensor as compared to the Alpha 7′s 24-megapixel sensor.
Most full-frame DSLRs are big, bulky powerhouses that make consumer DSLRs look petite by comparison. The Alpha 7 and 7R are smaller still, with body shapes and sizes that are more in line with the Olympus OM-D EM1. Both cameras have tilting LCD screens — another first for full-frame cameras.
The higher-end 7R lacks a low-pass anti-aliasing filter, which means it should capture super-sharp images. The Alpha 7 is built for peppier focusing and shooting, with a hybrid phase/contrast detection autofocus system and a top continuous shooting speed of 5fps at full resolution.
These aren’t the cameras to just leave in “Auto” mode. As you’d expect, the 7 and 7R have manual exposure controls, with shutter speeds that top out at 1/8000 of a second, ISO equivalency that reaches up to 25,600, and even beginner-friendly imaging effects and Sweep Panorama mode. Like most of Sony’s new cameras, they’ve also got Wi-Fi and NFC capabilities, as well as the ability to run Sony’s own camera-centric apps.
The 7 and 7R should be amazing video-capture devices too — especially when you consider the benefits of shooting with a full-frame sensor in low light. The 7 and 7R both capture 1080p video at 60fps and 24fps with full manual exposure controls. Headphone jacks, audio-level controls, and the ability to output uncompressed video from the camera via HDMI also sweeten the deal for videographers.
Both cameras use Sony’s E-mount lenses natively, and because they have full-frame sensors, there’s no crop factor to keep in mind. You can also use A-mount DSLR lenses with the cameras, but that requires buying an adapter. With mirrorless cameras, you don’t get a through-the-lens optical viewfinder, but the 7 and 7R have eye-level OLED viewfinders with 2.4-million-dot resolution.
The Sony Alpha 7R is priced at $2,300 for the body only, while the Alpha 7 will sell for a slightly more-modest $1,700 or $2,000 with a 28-70mm/F3.5-F5.6 kit lens.
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