Prof. Price

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Monday, May 12, 2014

Based on a pre-production SLT-A77 II running firmware 1.00

Sony has announced the SLT-A77 II which, as the name implies, is an overhaul of its semi-pro APS-C camera from 2011. The camera itself looks interesting, but so do some of the things it could be taken to signify.
Sony is not a company that could ever be accused of not trying. Eight years on from buying Konica Minolta's camera business, Sony has produced over forty interchangeable lens cameras based on at least three fundamental design approaches: conventional DSLRs, the fixed-mirror SLT system and the mirrorless E-mount models. Those cameras have continued to get better and the company has recently hit a particularly good run of form.
This success in terms of making very good, as well as very innovative, cameras starts to make sense of what has at times looked like a 'try lots of things, see what sticks' approach. The question is: once one of the designs really delivers on its promise, does it make sense to continue the other technologies in parallel?

Clearly Sony believes it does. Despite the leaps and bounds being made with the E-mount Alphas, both in terms of the on-sensor phase detection autofocus of the a6000 and the full frame sensors shoehorned into the A7 triplets, it has continued to develop its SLT cameras. The A77 Mark II features a new autofocus sensor, and it's much more than a refreshed version of an existing design. Instead the A77 II is built around the AF module with the most focus points of any camera on the market (79), covering an extremely wide area of the frame. It's also rated to work in lighting as low as -2EV. That doesn't necessarily make it quite as sophisticated at pro-grade DSLRs, since they have more cross and diagonal sensor elements, but it looks very impressive for a camera in this part of the market.

The autofocus capability combines with the camera's ability to shoot images at 12 frames per second to offer a compelling feature set. The A77 II also benefits from the autofocus tracking advances that have been included on recent Sony cameras, which use information from the main image sensor to identify and follow a given target.
Beyond that autofocus sensor, the A77 II gains an updated 24MP sensor (presumed to be a version of the sensor from the a6000, but without the on-chip sensor phase detection design) and all the benefits that the company introduced with its Bionz X processor. This means it gains three features: context-sensitive noise reduction, diffraction reduction technology and more-sophisticated sharpening.

Sony SLT-A77 II key specifications:

24MP CMOS Sensor with gapless, offset microlenses
12fps continuous shooting with autofocus (up to 60 JPEGs)
79 point AF module with 15 cross-type AF points, covering 40% of frame
Increased control over AF behavior
1080p60 movies with autofocus
Audio level monitoring during movie shooting
2.4M dot OLED viewfinder
Pull-out three-hinge tilt/swivel 1.23m dot White Magic LCD screen
Built-in Wi-Fi with NFC
1/8000th maximum shutter speed, shutter rated for 150,000 actuations
ISO 100 - 25,600 (Extendable down to 50, and up to 51,200 with multi-image combination)
Auto ISO customization
Optional, profile-based correction of vignetting, chromatic aberrations and geometric distortion
Top panel LCD
Stereo microphone and external mic socket
AF Micro Adjust

Focus advances

Although Sony stresses that the A77 II shouldn't be compared to pro-grade cameras (not least because it's much less expensive), it is starting to gain the kinds of paper specifications that suggest it could punch considerably above its weight. For instance, the improvements to the A77 II's autofocus system extend a long way beyond the focus sensor itself.
The Mark II gains a range of subject identifying technologies that Sony has introduced in recent models. As such, it offers Eye-AF, rather than just face detection. It also gains the most advanced version of 'Lock-On AF' that we've yet seen, which will use or allow you to specify an off-center starting AF point (previously most Sonys assumed your subject was the thing at the center of the frame, when you started tracking).
Unlike the A99, which used its on-sensor phase detection elements to track a subject's movement when it was between the focus sensor's focus points, the A77 II uses the focus points adjacent to the currently active point. In addition, the A77 II becomes the first Sony that lets you determine how doggedly the camera should stick with the current focus point - an option you'd usually only expect to find on very high level models. Better still, it lets you specify different values for video and stills shooting.
On top of this, the camera has an A99-style distance limiter that lets you specify the approximate range of focus distance over which you expect your subject to travel, to prevent the camera being distracted by near or distant subjects. Also added is an option to prioritise release or focus in continuous shooting, giving much greater control over the camera's continuous focus and shooting behavior. Overall, the A77 II represents a major step forward for Sony autofocus control.

What's in a name?

Interestingly, Sony's marketing implies that it is moving away from the 'Single Lens Translucent' name for the A77 II, instead adopting the phrase 'Translucent mirror DSLR.' This is a slightly unfortunate phrase to use, semantically, but only because the mirror is actually semi-transparent (translucence implies a diffuse image): the camera has all the elements implied by the term 'DSLR.'
The technology remains the same as before: a fixed, semi-transparent mirror redirects a portion of the light up to a dedicated autofocus sensor, while the majority passes through to the main imaging sensor. The light lost to the AF sensor has a slight cost in terms of high ISO image quality, but avoids the complexity of multiple moving mirrors, with the benefit that autofocus remains available at all times, including during video shooting.

Body & Design

The a77 II is a mid-size DSLR with a solid, weather-sealed magnesium alloy body, which has some weight to it, but not to the point of being heavy. The right hand grip feels 'just right' and gives easy access to the most important controls on the camera. Speaking of which, the a77 II is loaded with buttons and dials, but they're logically placed and usually serve one function at a time. That said, there are eleven customizable buttons on the body, with up to 51 assignable functions, so you can truly set up the a77 II to your liking.
The a77 II has traditional front and rear dials for adjusting exposure and navigating menus, and uses a 'joystick' rather than the four-way controller found on most cameras. The joystick can be used with both the Func. menu (which offers twelve customizable functions) and QuickNavi menus, though it's a bit too sensitive to inward pressure. One nice thing that Sony hasn't gotten rid of is the backlit LCD display on the top of the camera, which shows current settings, shots remaining, and battery life.
So what's changed since the original SLT-A77? The most obvious change is on the front: the giant red AF assist-lamp from the a77 is completely gone, with the a77 II's built-in flash now handling that function. The GPS receiver has been replaced with one for Wi-Fi, and there's now a spot for 'tapping' NFC devices on the opposite side of the body. The mode dial has been tweaked and the LCD now has extra white pixels (see below for both of those). Finally, the a77 II leaves the old Minolta hotshoe behind, and uses Sony's Multi Interface Shoe, which includes pins for optional microphones, in addition to a standard external flash connections.

In your hand

The a77 II is a decent sized DSLR, but ergonomically speaking its well-designed, with a nice grip and logically place controls (though there are many of them).

Despite being loaded with buttons and other controls, you won't accidentally press anything thanks to the good-sized thumb rest. The joystick is at the lower-left side of the rest and can be a bit fiddly at times.	The a77 II's grip is just the right size, giving it a secure feel in your hand. Most buttons on the top plate are easily reachable with your pointer finger, though the ISO button is a bit of a stretch.

Top of camera

The majority of the cosmetic changes between the a77 II and its predecessor can be found in the top-down view. The mode dial has been reworked, with the '3D' option on the a77 being replaced with three Memory Recall (MR) spots. There's also a locking mechanism which needs to be held down in order to rotate the dial.
At the center of the photo is the aforementioned Multi Interface Shoe, which supports 'regular' external flashes (instead of the old, proprietary Konica Minolta shoe) as well as accessories such as external mics. Oddly, though, it's not comptible with the XLR KM1 high-end microphone adapter unit. Above that is the stereo microphone, which records Dolby Digital (AC3) sound.
The buttons and display to the right are self-explanatory. The finder/monitor button can be used to override the eye sensor on the EVF, while the tiny button with the light bulb on it will illuminate the LCD info display.

Articulating LCD and OLED Electronic Viewfinder

The a77 II has the same, rather complex 3" articulated screen as its predecessor. It uses a swivel-and-tilt joint, that is itself affixed to an arm that folds out from the back of the camera. This allows a huge range of positions to be adopted, including setting the screen facing forwards over the top of the viewfinder housing or, for that matter, under the bottom of the camera.

The screen sits on an articulated joint, on an arm that can tilt up from the back of the camera

The a77 II now uses a WhiteMagic display, meaning that it has an extra pixel for white, in addition to red, green, and blue. WhiteMagic allows for better outdoor visibility and improved battery life. While the RGBW dot pattern boosts the total resolution of the display to 1.23M dots, the resolution (VGA) is no better than on the a77.
The electronic viewfinder, on the other hand, is unchanged. It's one of the best you'll find, thanks to its XGA resolution and OLED technology. The EVF is quite large, thanks to a 1.09X magnification, and frame coverage of 100% is just as you'd expect.
Because of the way viewfinders are measured (using a fixed lens, rather than a lens of equivalent magnification), you also need to take the sensor size into account, so the numbers in the diagram below are the manufacturer's specified magnifications divided by the respective 'crop factors'.

The Sony SLT a77 II's electronic viewfinder is large - on par with the optical finders of full-frame SLRs. This makes it substantially bigger than those in its APS-C SLR peers such as the Nikon D7100 or Canon EOS 70D.

The green squares in the diagram represent that 15 cross-type AF points, out of 79 total. The red square at the center is for lenses with a maximum apertures of F2.8 or faster, which results in more precise focusing.

Auto ISO

The A77 II has the same two-mode Auto ISO system that's been common on recent Sony cameras: a normal Auto ISO system and a JPEG-only system that takes three shots then combines them to reduce noise. The main Auto ISO system allows you to set the upper and lower limits for the ISO settings the camera can use, but gives no option to change the shutter speed at which it increases the camera's sensitivity.
In manual exposure mode, the camera matches the behavior of recent Sonys in continuing to offer Auto ISO mode. This is implemented in such a way that you can continue to apply exposure compensation, so that you can set aperture, shutter speed and image brightness, with the camera choosing an appropriate ISO to provide the specified result.

Body elements

	This Semi-transparent mirror is at the heart of Sony's SLT cameras. Light hits this mirror and approximately a third of the is sent upward to the AF sensor, while the rest continues on to the CMOS.
	The a77 has a built-in flash, which is released electronically. The flash has a guide number of 12 meters at ISO 100. It's also used as a focusing aid in low light, replacing the dedicated AF-assist lamp on the original a77.
	This dial, at the bottom-left of the camera's front plate, switches between manual, continuous, auto, and single autofocus mode.
	The mode dial has been redesigned and now features three Memory Recall (MR) slots. There's also a locking mechanism that requires you to hold the center button down in order to rotate the dial.
	One feature that has become increasingly rare on DSLRs is an LCD info display on the top plate. This backlit display shows things like aperture, shutter speed, drive mode, shots remaining, and battery life.
	The a77's electronic viewfinder is one of the best you'll find, with 2.36 million dots and a magnification 1.09x. An eye sensor automatically switches between the LCD and EVF. The diopter correction knob can be seen on the far right side.
	The joystick on the rear of the camera is your main tool for menu navigation. It's movement is a bit tight, and pressing inward accidentally can be an issue.
	The a77 II has a wide selection of I/O ports, including flash sync, remote control, DC-in (covered here), microphone, HDMI, and USB.
	As with its predecessor, the a77 II supports both SD/SDHC/SDXC and Memory Stick Pro Duo cards.
	The a77 II uses the familiar NP-FM500H battery, which dates back to the A700. The battery contains 11.8Wh of energy, which translates into 480 shots per charge with the LCD, and 410 with the EVF. That's a 10% drop compared to the original a77.

Shooting with the Sony A77

by Shawn Barnett

Right away, I could tell something was different. We'd heard the presentation, which sounded pretty good, but it wasn't until I held the Sony A77 that I knew something had changed. I felt the same way when I used the Sony A700, the camera the A77 replaces. I won't go too much into detail about my disappointment that the A700 went so long without an upgrade or successor; suffice it to say that I thought that camera was Sony's best chance at making a dent in the Canon/Nikon hegemony, and instead of addressing its few flaws, Sony was spending too much time trying to appeal to the consumer market, a place where Nikon and Canon dominate even more pervasively. I've long thought that to be successful in this market, Sony needed to impress the enthusiast first: Give them a real reason to switch, and some of the masses would begin to follow.
That reason, of course, appeared however stealthily in two other consumer cameras, the Sony A33 and A55: the Translucent Mirror Technology that enabled a high frame rate (7 and 10 fps) and continuous phase-detect autofocus from two sub-$1,000 cameras. But I wasn't sure these would get the attention needed to make a dent, worthy as the technology was. It just didn't seem like the message would get out, and the two cameras looked so much like EVF long zooms, I didn't think anyone would take them seriously. Despite that concern, searches for this line of cameras is reasonably high. But the real difference will come with the Sony A77. Capturing 24.3 megapixels at 12 frames per second changes everything. I haven't been this excited about a camera in some time, but based on my experience with the Sony A77, I'd buy one.
I've already outlined most of the user experience at the top of this review. To recap: The Sony A77 is comfortable to hold and use, button placement is excellent, and its relative similarity to other SLRs on the market makes me feel right at home.

Viewfinder versus LCD. Sony's fundamental translucent mirror technology means there's no optical viewfinder to use when framing your images, so Sony draws a live image off the sensor and displays it on a relatively large OLED screen inside the viewfinder. The effect is more advanced than you're used to seeing from LCD electronic viewfinders. Instead of the distracting grid of pixels that normally greet your eye, the OLED in the Sony A77 is smooth and fairly high resolution.

It's pretty good for framing images when indoors, and it even gains up nicely to help you see detail that you can't see with your eye (though the refresh rate slows a bit). But outdoors it's a different story. While we normally turn to optical viewfinders and even EVFs in bright light, I find my eye taking a little more time to adjust to the OLED EVF in the A77's viewfinder. A sensor over the viewfinder detects my eye and makes the switch between the LCD and EVF, but usually doesn't make the switch fast enough, leaving me first in the dark, then I see a screen that's a little too dark at first, then my eye adjusts. It's not a comfortable set of changes, going from very bright to very dark, then to somewhat bright, so most often I and my colleagues shied away from the EVF when out in daylight, preferring the LCD.

Shadow detail. I got much better shadow detail than the optical viewfinder suggested.

The other problem I had with the electronic viewfinder is a tendency for shadows to appear plugged in high-contrast situations like the one at right. All of the foreground shadow was quite black in the EVF, which is partly why I took this shot: I wanted to see how the sensor would handle the deep shadows. Turns out the sensor did just fine, but I had discovered another limitation of the OLED viewfinder. Because I was thinking about the shadows, I don't remember if the sky in this shot was blown, another common problem among EVFs in high-dynamic-range situations.

Play. The Sony A77's quick nature is great for getting the family at play.

The good news is that the Sony A77's articulating LCD is excellent in both bright and dim light. Its 921,600 dots make another smooth image, one that seems to be transflective, or both transmissive and reflective. Sunlight striking its surface reflects back in relatively bright color that is quite a bit better than trying to read some LCDs through a dark cover-glass. Its unique swiveling mechanism is tough to describe, but I found myself using it a lot as I shot both cars and kids, because both benefit from shooting at a lower angle. At first it seems to be hinged at the bottom like past Sony designs, but then a horizontal hinge not unlike that used on Sony's NEX cameras swings out from the back, allowing the LCD a much greater range of motion. It can even face forward from the top or bottom. The joints are hinged with enough stiffness that the LCD stays where you leave it, so it's versatile. Figuring out which way to turn it for maximum effectiveness isn't obvious at first. When shooting low and vertically, I first swiveled the the LCD down, then to the right, so that the LCD faced upward with my right hand on the grip. However, it was often very difficult to frame images, because when I moved the camera left or right, the image moved in or out. The key is to use the second hinge. Swiveling that out presses the left edge of the LCD up against the EVF's rubber cup, and the image then matches: moving the camera left moves the image left, and moving right moves the image right.

Source
DPReview Sony SLT-A77 II Reviews
Imaging-Resource Sony SLT-A77 II Reviews
Official Website

Where to Buy
Official Website $1.399,99 - $1.699,99 Sony a77 DSLR Camera and Lens
$1,198.00 Amazon Sony A77II Digital SLR Camera - Body Only*free shipping
$1,399.95 Amazon Sony Alpha SLT-A77 Translucent Mirror Technology Digital SLR Camera Body & 16-50mm Lens with 2 Sony 32GB Cards + 2 Batteries + Backpack Case + Filter + Remote + Accessory Kit*+ $19.95 shipping
$1,270.70 Amazon Sony SLT-A77 24.3 MP Digital SLR with Translucent Mirror Technology. Includes Sony 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 DT Standard Zoom & 55-300mm f/4.5-5.6 DT Alpha A-Mount Telephoto Zoom Lenses. 2 UV Filters, 16GB Memory Card, Tripod & More*free shipping
$1,198.00 GearShop Sony a77 Mark II DSLR Camera(Body)

Friday, April 25, 2014

Want it fast or want it fine? Sony makes you choose between its two full-frame interchangeable-lens cameras: the faster, cheaper 24-megapixel model (Alpha ILCE-7, aka A7) and a slower, AA-filter-free 36-megapixel model (Alpha ILCE-7R, aka A7R). Despite disappointing performance, the A7R delivers in all other respects, and I generally like it better than the A7 for its superior image quality.

The A7 incorporates the lower-resolution sensor in order to use Sony's hybrid autofocus system; Sony says that it couldn't put the phase-detection pixels on the 36-megapixel sensor for the A7R. If you need both resolving power and autofocus speed, you're out of luck for now.

Both new sensors have redesigned microlens arrays. While most modern sensors use gapless microlenses, these also required some tweaking on the edges near the lens mount to prevent vignetting, since the sensor's such a tight fit in the mount opening.

Alongside the sensor, Sony has introduced a new processing engine. The Bionz X processor promises speeds that are up to three times faster than its predecessor, and facilitates a host of features including full HD video recording and a quick autofocus algorithm.

Aside from the sensor resolution, one of the other key differences between the A7 and the A7R is its focusing type. The A7R uses a contrast detection system, compared with the hybrid phase and contrast detection autofocusing system in the A7. It's worth noting that on both cameras, autofocus sensitivity is only available down to 0EV, which doesn't compare particularly favourably to the likes of the Nikon D610 (-1EV), or the Canon EOS 6D (-3EV). This could make the camera potentially harder to use in darker conditions.

On the back of the camera is a three-inch tilting screen which is joined by a half-inch size EVF. The camera is also equipped with Wi-Fi and NFC for instant social media sharing and remote controlling the camera from a smartphone or tablet.

Even though the A7R uses the E-mount as found on NEX cameras, current lenses aren't designed for full-frame cameras and as such if you use them, images can be cropped to APS-C size automatically (or will feature vignetting if you switch the auto cropping off). Sony has announced five new full-frame lenses to go alongside the A7 and the A7R, but only two are available from launch (the 28-70mm f/3.5-5.6 and 35mm f/1.8 lens).

Unlike the standard A7, the R variant will not be available with the 28-70mm kit lens. As we've discovered in our A7 review, this lens isn't the best performer, so it's not recommended as the ideal partner for a camera with such a high resolution. Although five new lenses have been announced, there is only one proprietary lens that you can buy with our recommendation – a 35mm f/2.8 Zeiss optic. This is, of course, a classic focal length (there's no crop conversion since it's a full frame camera). But some photographers might find it a little limiting.

Luckily, though, the company says that it is working on more lenses, with around 15 expected (in total) by the end of 2015. You've also got the opportunity to use any existing Sony A-mount lenses with an official Sony adapter. Most intriguingly, if you've got any Canon or Nikon optics you might want to use, third-party manufacturers such as Metabones also make converters with full AF that you can use – tempting if you're thinking of jumping ship but don't want the hassle of replacing a complete system.

The A7R has a higher retail price than the standard A7 and there will be some debate as to whether you need the extra resolution. But if your primary concern is detail (i.e. you're a landscape photographer), you're likely to be tempted by this version. Like the A7, the R variant is also dust and moisture resistant.

It's difficult to find a camera which directly competes against either the A7 or the A7R as there's currently nothing quite like it on the market. However, in terms of other full-frame interchangeable lens cameras, the Nikon D610 and the Canon EOS 6D are reasonably closely matched in price.

Design

Enthusiast photographers should appreciate the high number of dials and buttons on the camera which gives direct access to many of the key features. On top of the camera is a mode dial for switching between the various exposure modes the camera has to offer, including aperture priority. There's also an exposure compensation dial, which is placed within natural reach of where your thumb might sit on the back of the camera.

As with other Sony cameras, several of the buttons on the body are customisable, including three which are labelled with a "C". This makes it especially convenient for those who want to work in specific ways, or who shoot specific types of scene quite often, such as low light.

Two scrolling dials can be found in front of and to the rear of the thumb grip, which are used for altering aperture or shutter speed, depending on which mode you're shooting in. If shooting in fully manual mode, you'll use the front dial for aperture and the rear one for shutter speed, which seems like a very natural way to work.

On the back of the camera is a scrolling dial, which doubles up as a four-way navigational pad. Each of these options controls something by default, such as white balance, but you can customise each of these options as you see fit.

Another handy feature is the quick menu, accessed by tapping the function button. This brings up all of the most commonly used features, and again, this menu is fully customisable. So, if you decide that you'll never use Flash Mode (as there is no inbuilt flash), you could replace it with something you will use instead.

Although the A7R's screen only tilts, rather than fully articulates, it's still handy for shooting from awkward angles. Sadly there's no touchscreen, which would have made changing things such as the autofocus point much easier.

If you want to change the autofocus point, you can do so by pressing the C1 button on the top plate of the camera. It's a little fiddly to use, but at least the option is available – it can be even more convoluted on other Sony cameras (such as the RX10).

For the first time on a Sony system camera, the company has introduced the ability to change the size of the AF point, between small, medium and large. The small option is particularly useful if you're trying to focus on something of fine detail.

The electronic viewfinder on the A7R is one of the better ones currently available on the market, with its 2.4 million dot resolution providing a very clear and bright view. In practice, it's very easy to forget that you're even using an electronic device, and there are some merits to using it over a traditional optical version – not least the live preview displayed in the window. It will probably be tricky for Sony to convince the traditional full-frame audience of the merits of using an electronic viewfinder, though, but any doubters should definitely try it before making a judgement.

Thankfully the menu system on both the A7 and A7R is not a traditional NEX affair, which could be difficult and confusing to navigate. Instead, it's a reasonably sensible arrangement, with options arranged under six different tabs. It takes a little bit of time to familiarise yourself with it, but the layout makes sense.

LCD and Viewfinder

Sony certainly hasn't skimped on the LCD or electronic viewfinder on the a7 twins. The tilting 3-inch LCD has 1.23 million dots and a 4:3 aspect ratio. As you'd expect, the screen is sharp, and outdoor visibility is decent at default settings. The LCD can tilt upward by 84 degrees, or downward by 45 degrees. One negative is that when the LCD is tilted down, the camera does not sit flat.

The a7R's OLED XGA electronic viewfinder (which Sony calls the TruFinder) will be very familiar to anyone who has used the NEX-6/7 or a99 cameras. The viewfinder is large with a magnification of 0.71x, and extremely sharp, with nearly 2.4 million dots. The OLED technology means that there's no 'rainbow effect' that can plague EVFs that use a field sequential system. The viewfinder eyepiece is large and is far away enough from the camera for glasses-wearers. It also does a good job of keeping incident light from leaking in.

One thing that we didn't care for is the sensitivity of the eye sensor which automatically switches between the LCD and EVF. If you're doing waist-level shooting with the LCD tilted up, the sensor will switch to the EVF while the camera is still 6 inches away.

Sony a7R key features

36.3 megapixel full-frame CMOS sensor with no OLPF
E-mount with support for FE, E, and A-mount lenses (with adapter)
Bionz X image processor
Weather-proof alloy and composite body
Built-in Multi-Interface hot shoe
3-inch tilting LCD with 1.23 million dots (640x480, RGBW)
XGA (1024x768) electronic viewfinder
Diffraction correction technology
Continuous shooting up to 4 fps
Full HD video recording at 1080/60p and 24p; uncompressed HDMI output
Wi-Fi with NFC capability and downloadable apps

While the a7R is really focused on still image quality - due to its high resolution sensor without an AA filter - it's also quite adept at video recording. It records at 1080/60p and 24p, with manual exposure control, headphone and mic ports, an audio meter, zebra pattern, XLR support (via adapter), and live, uncompressed HDMI output.

Bionz X Processor

The company's latest processor, dubbed Bionz X for reasons that presumably made sense to someone, is considerably more powerful than the previous generation, allowing what the company says is more sophisticated processing.

Sony is being a little vague on specifics but is touting the new processor as offering 'Detail Reproduction Technology' which appears to be a more subtle and sophisticated sharpening system. The company promises less apparent emphasis on edges, giving a more convincing representation of fine detail'.

Another function promised by the Bionz X processor is 'Diffraction Reduction', in which the camera's processing attempts to correct for the softness caused by diffraction as you stop a lens' aperture down. This processing is presumably aperture-dependent and sounds similar to an element of Fujifilm's Lens Modulation Optimization system (introduced on the X100S), suggesting it's something we should expect to see become more common across brands in the coming months.

Finally, Sony says the Bionz X chip offers a more advanced version of its context-sensitive, 'area-specific noise reduction', which attempts to identify whether each area of an image represents smooth tone, textured detail or subject edges and apply different amounts of noise reduction accordingly. Later in the review, we'll show you just how well this system works, and also the problems it can create.

Lenses

While the a7R has an E-mount, you'll need to use Sony's new FE-series lenses to take advantage of its full-frame sensor. Existing E-mount lenses will still physically fit, but as they're only designed for use with APS-C sensors, their image circles won't cover the entire frame properly (just like using Sony's DT lenses on full-frame Alpha mount cameras). While five FE lenses were announced at launch, the 70-200mm F4 lens wasn't available to test alongside the camera. The 28-70mm F3.5-5.6 OSS will only be sold as a kit lens for the a7. All of the lenses are weather-sealed, but while the zooms include optical stabilization, the primes do not.

Here are the five FE lenses that have been officially announced:

Model	MSRP	Availability
24-70mm F4 Carl Zeiss OSS	$1199/£1049	Now
28-70mm F3.5-5.6 Sony OSS	Kit only	Now
70-200mm F4 Sony G OSS	$1499	Mid-April
35mm F2.8 Carl Zeiss	$799/£699	Now
55mm F1.8 Carl Zeiss	$999/£849	Now

Sony plans to have a total of fifteen FE lenses by 2015, including macro and ultra-wide models.

The first five Sony FE lenses include two standard zooms, two primes, and a tele zoom

We're slightly surprised by Sony's strategy here: it seems a bit odd to be making two different standard zooms to start with, rather than adding a wide-angle zoom. And while it's great to see a couple of primes, both look somewhat slow given their prices. The 55mm F1.8 is a bit long for a 'normal' lens too. We'd have loved to see a fast 'portrait' lens in the 85-135mm range early on, but hopefully Sony will offer one soon.

The two cameras are perfectly capable of using existing E-mount and A-mount lenses, and you have the choice as to whether the image is cropped. If you choose to crop, the resolution will drop to 10 megapixels on the a7, and the equivalent focal length will increase by 1.5X. Sony also gives you the option to not crop and use the entire sensor, though this is likely to lead to strong vignetting.

Image 1 24mm full-frame lens - APS-C Crop Off	Image 2 24mm APS-C lens - APS-C Crop Off	Image 3 24mm APS-C lens - APS-C Crop On

The camera offers three options for its APS-C crop mode - Off, Auto and On. With it switched Off, you'll see Image 1 with a full-frame lens and Image 2 if you're using an APS-C lens. With it switched to Auto mode, you'll get Image 1 or Image 3, depending on whether you're using a full-frame or an APS-C lens. And finally, with it On, you'll see Image 3, regardless of which lens type you put on the camera.

The a7R with LA-E4 A-mount adapter and 50mm F1.4 Zeiss lens

Sony's A-Mount lenses will require the use of an A- to E-mount adapter. Somewhat confusingly Sony now offers no fewer than four such adapters, which differ in their autofocus capabilities and format coverage. The LA-E1 and LA-EA3 offer contrast detect autofocus for lenses that have built-in focus motors (i.e. SAM and SSD), but only manual focus with other lenses, while the LA-EA2 and the new LA-EA4 use Sony's Translucent Mirror Technology to offer autofocus with all lenses. The LA-EA1 and LA-EA2, however, were designed for APS-C NEX cameras and will vignette strongly when used on the a7(R); the LA-EA3 and LA-EA4 are needed to give complete sensor coverage with full-frame lenses.

Adapter	Full autofocus?	Full-frame ready?
LA-EA1	No	No
LA-EA2	Yes	No
LA-EA3	No	Yes
LA-EA4	Yes	Yes

It's well worth noting that the a7 and a7R are able to accept a huge range of other lenses via readily-available third-party adapters, including old manual focus lenses from long-dead systems such as Minolta MD, Olympus OM, and Canon FD, as well as those from current systems such as Nikon F, Pentax K and Leica M. What's more, in principle these lenses should offer the angle of view they were originally designed to give - so a 24mm will be a true wide-angle again, for example. So if you have a cherished collection of old manual focus primes sitting a closet, the a7/a7R may be just the camera to bring them back to life. More on that later in the review.

Kit options and pricing

The a7R is sold in a body only configuration, for a price of $2299/£1699/€2099.

The most notable accessory for both cameras is an optional battery grip (VG-C1EM) - a first for an E-mount camera. This grip adds controls for vertical shooting and holds an additional battery, and will set you back around $300/£259.

The a7R does NOT come with an external battery charger, instead relying on internal charging over USB. USB charging is quite slow (and it makes having a spare button on hand more difficult), so picking up the BC-VW1 or BC-TRW external chargers is probably a smart move.

Other accessories include camera cases, an off-shoe flash adapter, wireless remote, and screen protector. One accessory that's surprisingly absent is a wired remote shutter cable (though the camera can be controlled via infrared remote or Wi-Fi).

Battery Life

The a7R uses the same NP-FW50 InfoLithium battery found on many other Sony cameras. The NP-FW50 has 7.7Wh of energy, which Sony claims will provide 340 shots per charge. That's very low, considering the a7R has no built-in flash, which is normally included in the CIPA battery life numbers. Do note that using Wi-Fi frequently will put extra strain on the battery.

Despite the cost of the a7R, Sony does not provide an external charger. Rather, you use an AC-to-USB cable (or just your PC) to fill up the FW50 battery. Charging via the USB adapter takes a whopping 310 minutes, so it makes a lot of sense to pick up one of the BC-TRW or BC-VW1 external chargers, which are both considerably faster (especially the latter).

Features

For the most part, the a7R's feature-set resembles that of cameras like the NEX-6 and NEX-7. While the majority of a7R users won't be using Auto modes, the camera has a fair number of well-implemented point-and-shoot modes, named Intelligent and Superior Auto. There are also customizable 'Creative Styles' as well as 'Picture Effects', which is where you'll find things like toy camera and selective color.

Below we've selected some features that will be of most interest to the enthusiasts who are considering the a7R.

Non-native lens support

Thanks to its short flange-back distance and Sony's release of the E-mount specifications, a plethora of third-party lens adapters is now available. The Alpha 7R offers the highest resolution way of using 35mm film lenses such that they offer their originally intended field of view - the 'acme' of the trend of using old lenses on mirrorless camera. Sony offers a number of tools to support manual focus of these lenses, including magnified view, focus peaking, or the combination of the two.

When shooting older - especially fast primes - 'wide open', accurate focus can be a challenge, even with the availability of magnified focus view and peaking. To have any chance at all you really do need to be in magnified focus mode, but a typical classic prime made for film is likely to be pretty hazy wide open, much more so than a modern native FE lens. As a consequence, depending on the specific lens that you're trying to use on the a7R, you might find that it doesn't always deliver enough contrast for focus peaking to bite onto until the aperture is stopped down a little.

View our gallery of Sony Alpha 7 / 7R photos taken with third-party lenses

You'll certainly need to set peaking to 'high' for the best chance of getting it to work. With focus magnification activated and peaking set to 'low' or 'medium', you're unlikely to see any highlighted edges at all. Set to 'high' we've found that the system has a decent chance of highlighting some edges, typically non-organic edges like text, but softer subjects, like the features of someone's face, frequently just don't deliver enough contrast for peaking to work reliably at any of its three settings.

Regardless, the fact remains that turning peaking up to high is your best chance for accurate manual focus with this kind of lens in magnified live view mode, and as such it's the setting we'd recommend. Sadly, 'high' peaking isn't very useful in normal (unmagnified) live view mode, and generally plasters peaking highlights all over the scene across a very wide range of focus. It is entirely possible for focus peaking to outline pretty much everything in the viewfinder at its 'high' setting but for your image to be magnificently out of focus when you look closely.

Ideally, when working with older lenses 'wide open' we'd love the option to separately define a peaking level of 'low' for normal unmagnified live view, and 'high' for the magnified view. Hopefully this can be added via a firmware update.

For more on this topic, read our 'Using third-party lenses on Sony a7 / a7R' article.

Classic Sony Features

Despite being a higher-end camera, the a7R still has many features from the NEX line. These include HDR, Sweep Panorama, and multi-shot layering.

HDR

The HDR feature takes three shots in a row, each with a different exposure. The interval between each shot can be ±1EV to ±6EV. As one might expect, you cannot use HDR in Raw or Raw+JPEG mode. Here's an example of the a7R's HDR feature:

	HDR on, auto setting
	HDR off, ISO 100, 1/100 sec, f/8

As you can see, the HDR feature, at the 'auto' setting, nicely balanced out the contrast. On some occasions, HDR photos can look slightly 'fake', in which case you might want to adjust the HDR level manually. In our NEX-6 review you can see how each HDR step affects the final image.

Sweep panorama

Sweep Panorama was the first feature of its kind, and Sony's implementation is one of the best. You can pan the camera in any direction, with your choice of standard or wide angles-of-view. When shooting left or right, the resolution of standard and wide images are 8192 x 1856 and 12,416 x 1856, respectively.

Sweep Panorama, standard size, ISO 100, 1/100 sec, f/9

The example above - which we've brightened a bit (as exposure is locked when you start to 'sweep') - shows very good stitching, with just one area of misalignment. The couple toward the right side were walking away from the camera, and didn't get chopped into pieces, which can happen with less robust panorama features.

One thing we noticed about Sweep Panorama on the a7R is that the camera is fairly noisy while you're shooting (as is the shutter in general), and that you have to pan a bit slower than on, say, a 'regular' NEX camera.

Multi-shot NR modes

There are several multi-shot modes on the Alpha 7, in addition to HDR. Two similar features are Handheld Twilight and Anti Motion Blur, which aim to reduce blur by combining a series of four exposures into one. The difference between these two features is that Anti Motion Blur takes subject motion into account, which may result in a higher sensitivity being used, in order to ensure a sharper photo.

Not bad for a photo taken from a moving ferry. Handheld night scene, ISO 12800, 1/20 sec, F4

Multi Frame NR, which is for JPEG shooting only, combines multiple images into a single photo with reduced noise.

Sample Image

Click here to see the full resolution image

Shooting at high sensitivities, such as ISO 3200, reveals some image smoothing and loss of detail, but overall it's a very impressive performer.