Sony A7 gets DxOmarked and reviewed: has a + ½ stop advantage over the A99.

Bildschirmfoto 2013-12-05 um 18.42.05

So how does the A7 compare with the A99 and Nikon D610? DxO (Click here) writes:

Unsurprisingly perhaps, compared with the Nikon D610 and the firm’s SLT A99, both using a similar full-frame 24-Mpix CMOS sensor, the results are very close. Color depth between the three is similar and the A7 sits between the two with regard to the dynamic range, just +0.2 Ev separates the Nikon. However, it’s the low light performance that divides the two Sony models. While the A7 has a + ½ stop advantage over the SLT-based A99, the Nikon has a +1/3 stop over the A7, presumably on account of the latter model’s modified sensor.

And Photogrpaphyblog (Click here) posted the full A7 review:

After shooting with both the A7 and the A7R side-by-side, we’d be hard-pushed to choose between them, as both are remarkable cameras in their own right. On paper at least the A7 should offer faster auto-focusing and less noise at high ISOs than the A7R, but in reality there’s not a big enough difference between the two cameras in either regard. Instead we’d choose the A7 instead of the A7R because it’s significantly cheaper, it produces more manageable file sizes, has a higher flash sync speed, slightly faster burst shooting and a quieter shutter release.

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Specs and Preorders in US and Canada:
Dedicated Sony announcement page at Amazon US (Click here).
Sony A7r body at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS. TheCameraStore Canada.
Sony A7 body at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS. TheCameraStore Canada.
Sony A7 with 28-70mm kit lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS. TheCameraStore Canada.
Sony RX10 at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Zeiss 24-70mm at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Zeiss 35mm at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Zeiss 55mm at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
70-200mm A-mount at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Sony A-Mount to E-Mount Lens Adapter at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
Sony A to E adapter with mirror at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
A7/A7r leather case at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
A7/A7r vertical grip at Amazon, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Sony W Series Battery Charger at Amazon, BHphoto.
Sony FA-CS1M Off-Camera Shoe at BHphoto.
Semi-Hard LCD Screen Protector for A7-A7r at Amazon, BHphoto.

Specs and Preorders in Europe:
Sony A7r body at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PTWexUK, WexDE.
Sony A7 body at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT, WexUK, WexDE, Amazon UK, Amazon DE, Amazon FR.
Sony A7 with 28-70mm kit Sony  DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT, WexUK, WexDE, Amazon UK, Amazon DE, Amazon FR.
Sony RX10 at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT, WexUK, WexDE.
Zeiss 35mm at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT,
Zeiss 55mm at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT
Zeiss 24-70mm at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, SE, PT
Sony G 28-70mm lens at Sony DE, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO.

Asia:
A7r at Digitalrev.
A7 at Digitalrev, Amazon Cina.
A7 with 28-70mm lens at Digitalrev.

Sony A7r and A7 reviews roundup

DigitalCameraWorld posted the full A7-A7r review and says:

We had very high hopes for Sony’s innovative mirror less full-frame camera, and, for the most part, we haven’t been disappointed. Images are superb, with excellent colours and great detail reproduction – the A7R particularly of course.

Sony A7r is the camera of the year at Soundimagesplus:

It’s the best image quality I’ve ever used and it gives me the closest representation of how I see the world in my photographs. And I don’t have to put in lots of Photoshop hours to achieve that. The Sony engineers could have bespoke designed this cameras output for me, it’s just what I wanted.

There is also a new review at Tobinators:
Nikon Df vs Sony A7 – Zero Noise Reduction and Low Light (Steve Huff).
A7r, the first hour (Outbackphoto).
Sony A7r prueba de campo at Quesabesde.
Reminder: Full interactive documentation available for download (Sony US).

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Specs and Preorders in US and Canada:
Dedicated Sony announcement page at Amazon US (Click here).
Sony A7r body at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS. TheCameraStore Canada.
Sony A7 body at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS. TheCameraStore Canada.
Sony A7 with 28-70mm kit lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS. TheCameraStore Canada.
Sony RX10 at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Zeiss 24-70mm at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Zeiss 35mm at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Zeiss 55mm at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
70-200mm A-mount at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Sony A-Mount to E-Mount Lens Adapter at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
Sony A to E adapter with mirror at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
A7/A7r leather case at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
A7/A7r vertical grip at Amazon, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Sony W Series Battery Charger at Amazon, BHphoto.
Sony FA-CS1M Off-Camera Shoe at BHphoto.
Semi-Hard LCD Screen Protector for A7-A7r at Amazon, BHphoto.

Specs and Preorders in Europe:
Sony A7r body at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PTWexUK, WexDE.
Sony A7 body at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT, WexUK, WexDE, Amazon UK, Amazon DE, Amazon FR.
Sony A7 with 28-70mm kit Sony  DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT, WexUK, WexDE, Amazon UK, Amazon DE, Amazon FR.
Sony RX10 at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT, WexUK, WexDE.
Zeiss 35mm at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT,
Zeiss 55mm at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT
Zeiss 24-70mm at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, SE, PT
Sony G 28-70mm lens at Sony DE, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO.

Asia:
A7r at Digitalrev.
A7 at Digitalrev, Amazon Cina.
A7 with 28-70mm lens at Digitalrev.

Sony A7r finally in Stock at Adorama, Samys and eBay! PB says it’s a radical change in photography!

[shoplink 23193 ebay][/shoplink]

The Sony A7r is in Stock at Adorama (Click here) and on [shoplink 23193 ebay]eBay via Samys (Click here)[/shoplink] and at Samys itself (Click here). And SAR readers told me that also their A7r preorder at Amazon US is shipping! And for the first time Amazon itself has the A7 and A7kit in Stock (Click here).

If you are still not sure if you should buy the A7r or not check out Photographyblog’s new review (Click here)

Sony have seemingly been on a mission in the last few years to really change photography, first with the innovative NEX series, then the full-frame RX1/R compacts, and now the A7R and A7 full-frame mirrorless cameras (not to mention the RX100 premium compact and the recent RX10 super-zoom). The Sony A7R is the most radical of them all, the best realised, and fully deserving of our coveted Essential! award.

I say…get it :)

Many new Rokinon deals:
1) Gold Box deal on the Rokinon 14mm T3.1 E-mount lens at Amazon (Click here).
2) Rokinon 14mm F2.8 (A or E-mount) for $319 at [shoplink 23186 ebay]BuyDig (Click here)[/shoplink].
3) Rokinon 8mm f/3.5 Fisheye (A or E-mount) for $349 at [shoplink 223187 ebay]BigValue (Click here)[/shoplink].

(part one) More A7-A7r legacy lens test and reports (Martin Stelbrink, Sean, Hakan, Andrew, Yuri)

Image courtesy: Siammirrorless.

Many SAR readers were so kind to share their legacy lens test. Here is a first part of the mails I got. More articles will follow soon! Feel free to send me your tests at sonyalpharumors@gmail.com. Thanks!

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Martin Stelbrink (M and R mount lens test):

I have made a number of sample shots with the Sony A7R and legacy lenses. I have posted them with full resolution on Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/martinstelbrink/sets/72157638008570035/

What may be interesting to your readers is that Cornerfix (at least for me) has issues with A7R calibration shots, but the Lightroom Flat File Correction Plug-in works beautifully.

Set description:
A test of Sony Alpha 7R (A7R) with the following legacy lenses. I have posted the first ones of the country road both as original camera jpg and RAW processed in Lightroom (flat file corrected for the wide angle ones of 35mm or less). I did NOT get Cornerfix to work on the files. It created green edges, when correcting the magenta ones. The same calibration shots worked on Adobe Lightroom Flat File Correction Plugin, though.

M-Mount lenses:

[shoplink 10507 ebay]Voigtländer Cosina Heliar 12mm f5.6 (here on eBay)[/shoplink]:
Surprisingly usable, if colour is flat file corrected. Not more “smear” than on film. But on the first shot you may be shocked at the amount of color casting.

[shoplink 10331 ebay]Zeiss Biogon 25mm f2.8 (here on eBay)[/shoplink]:
Significant corner / edge smear at open aperture. When stopped down it is usable, if colour is flat file corrected. The center piece is insanely sharp. It also could be used in a cropped mode, e.g. as a 35mm (the resolution of the A7R is more than enough)

[shoplink 22603 ebay]Leica Summicron 35mm f2.0 (here on eBay)[/shoplink]:
A wonderful pairing for the A7R, but also needs some flat file correction for colour (but no real smearing on the edges apart from the “character” of this 50+ year old lens)

[shoplink 22846 ebay]Voigtländer Cosina Nokton 50mm f1.1 (here on eBay)[/shoplink]:
Great lens on this camera, no issues (apart from the tiny shadow of the lens hood on a full frame sensor)

[shoplink 12505 ebay]Voigtländer Cosina Heliar 75mm f1.8 (here on eBay)[/shoplink]:
Wonderful lens for this camera!

[shoplink 17311 ebay]Leica Elmar-C 90mm f4.0 (here on eBay)[/shoplink]:
I found no issues that I put down to the camera, but it shows that this is a 40+ year old lens that was never one of Leica’s “top notch” lenses (significant vignetting). This lens is much nicer on the Nex-7, where I will probably use it as the standard lens, when I take the Nex-7 as my second body next to the A7R.

[shoplink 23124 ebay]Leica Tele-Elmar 135mm f4.0 (here on eBay)[/shoplink]:
Brilliant sharpness from corner to corner. Wonderful lens for the A7R

R-Mount lenses:

[shoplink 23125 ebay]Leica Apo-Macro-Elmarit-R 100mm f2.8 (here on eBay)[/shoplink]:
There is no limitation to use this wonderful classic. Sharp as hell, but also the tiniest DoF, which is very hard to focus in Macro mode. Well, but that is the same on the old Leica R… :-)

[shoplink 23126 ebay]Leica Apo-Telyt-R 180mm f3.4 (here on eBay)[/shoplink]:
Also no limitation on this nice old tele lens.

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Sean (M, OM and FD mount lens test):

I did a corners test of the A7R + [shoplink 21602 ebay]Voigtlander 21mm f/1.8 Ultron (here on eBay)[/shoplink] recently and the results(with 100% crops) can be found at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/55528252@N02/10994380866/
I’ve also done corner tests with the [shoplink 23128 ebay]OM24mm f/2.8(here on eBay)[/shoplink], [shoplink 23129 ebay]FD50L (here on eBay)[/shoplink] and [shoplink 23130 ebay]FD85L (here on eBay)[/shoplink] on my flickr page which also contains additional samples:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/55528252@N02/

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Hakan (M-mount):

Here are a few high ISO shots from A7R and [shoplink 21603 ebay]Summilux 21mm (here on eBay)[/shoplink]
http://www.flickr.com/photos/72049239@N05/11011908443/in/set-72157637973525726/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/72049239@N05/11011601186/in/set-72157637973525726/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/72049239@N05/10991649335/in/set-72157637973525726/

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 Andrew (M and Ai mount):

I did some A7r vs M9 tests with some M-mount lens. I want to look at A7r’s vignetting, color shifting, corner smearing and sharpness comparing directly to M9. I turned on M9’s lens corrention because that is what I’ll use in real life. It’s all about the final images I get out of camera.

I hope this is also useful for others.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/andrew_xjy/11025143804/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/andrew_xjy/11025142444/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/andrew_xjy/11025140944/in/photostream/

Lenses tested were
[shoplink 21602 ebay]Voigtlander 21mm f1.8 (here on eBay)[/shoplink]
[shoplink 22603 ebay]Leica Summicron 35mm f2 ASPH (here on eBay)[/shoplink]
[shoplink 20202 ebay]Leica Summilux 50mm ASPH (here on eBay)[/shoplink]
[shoplink 8842 ebay]Nikon 28mm f2.8 ais (here on eBay)[/shoplink]
[shoplink 23131 ebay]Nikon Micro 60mm f2.8D (here on eBay)[/shoplink]

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Yuri (M42-mount):

Sony A7 + [shoplink 23133 ebay]Super-Takumar 50/1.4(here on eBay)[/shoplink]. Samples at Yuri.

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Specs and Preorders in Europe:
Sony A7r body at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PTWexUK, WexDE.
Sony A7 body at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT, WexUK, WexDE, Amazon UK, Amazon DE, Amazon FR.
Sony A7 with 28-70mm kit Sony  DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT, WexUK, WexDE, Amazon UK, Amazon DE, Amazon FR.
Sony RX10 at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT, WexUK, WexDE.
Zeiss 35mm at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT,
Zeiss 55mm at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT
Zeiss 24-70mm at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, SE, PT
Sony G 28-70mm lens at Sony DE, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO.

Specs and Preorders in US and Canada:
Dedicated Sony announcement page at Amazon US (Click here).
Sony A7r body at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS. TheCameraStore Canada.
Sony A7 body at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS. TheCameraStore Canada.
Sony A7 with 28-70mm kit lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS. TheCameraStore Canada.
Sony RX10 at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Zeiss 24-70mm at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Zeiss 35mm at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Zeiss 55mm at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
70-200mm A-mount at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Sony A-Mount to E-Mount Lens Adapter at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
Sony A to E adapter with mirror at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
A7/A7r leather case at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
A7/A7r vertical grip at Amazon, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Sony W Series Battery Charger at Amazon, BHphoto.
Sony FA-CS1M Off-Camera Shoe at BHphoto.
Semi-Hard LCD Screen Protector for A7-A7r at Amazon, BHphoto.

Asia:
A7r at Digitalrev.
A7 at Digitalrev, Amazon Cina.
A7 with 28-70mm lens at Digitalrev.

Zeiss 35mm lens review by Kai and A7r review by Steve.

Note: A couple of A7r cameras are in Stock at [shoplink 23117 ebay]BestBuy on eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]. A7 body and kit are in Stock via third party resellers at Amazon US (Click here).

New A7-A7r reviews:
Kai is really becoming a Sony fan :) He just posted the Zeiss 35mm lens review and quite likes the lens! Just watch the video on top!
Steve Huff posted the full A7-A7r review.
A7 vs A99 vs A900 by Scott Lewis.
ISO + WB sample photos and raw available at ePhotozine.
the full ILCE 7 help guide 450 pages made from the interactive guide (Google Drive).

Sony RX10 reviews roundup and a Video review by TheCameraStoreTV.

On top you can watch again a superb review made by the guys from TheCameraStoreTV.

EosHD (Click here) tested the RX10 too and writes:

If I were to pick the NUMBER ONE reason to buy the RX10 – it is the Zeiss 8.5-74mm F2.8 zoom with built in ND filter. That’s a big feature make no mistake. To get this on a Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera would be very expensive and it would be extremely front-heavy.

Imaging Resource (Click here) writes:

With the RX10, Sony offers something truly different to any of its rivals, and we don’t feel that we have any grounds to quibble about the price until there is a realistic competitor to this camera. The RX10 is a clear Dave’s Pick, and easily one of the most exciting cameras of 2013 — a year that’s already had far more than its fair share of exciting cameras!

Note, for the same price of the body only you can grab the RX10 with free extras at Focuscameras (Click here). And at the moment of posting this the camera sells also more than the A7 or A7r according to Amazon (ranking here).

Sony A7 review at PocketLint and A7r review at SLRlounge. A7 has no overheating issue.

Image courtesy: PocketLint

You can’t have enough of A7-A7r reviews? So here comes the next roundup :)

PocketLint (Click here) posted the full Sony A7 review.

The Sony Alpha A7 is a mini marvel with a big point of interest: that full-frame sensor. It’s not perfect, though, but most of the shortcomings we can forgive because each time we go and look at the images again they make us smile.

SLR Lounge (Click here) posted the extensive A7r review:

Are the a7 and A7R enough to shake up the industry? I believe so. There is no doubt that because Sony was the first to come out with a mainstream full-frame mirrorless camera, Canon and Nikon has been caught sleeping and has to now play catch up. Even the Nikon DF does not have the same impact as the a7/A7R because of its size, inclusion of the mirror box, and most notably, the price.

Johnnie Behiri reports:

I am happy to report that when experimenting with the camera I could not get it to “overheat”. Please understand that experimenting was not done in a very hot outdoor location (snowing out here). What I did was letting the camera to work in a hot room for 2 hours (starting recording again as it got to the 30 min limit) and no problem at all!

More A7-A7r tests:  A7 review at Micmojo. Couple of RX1 v A7r bokeh samples at blog.proimagenz. A7r review at Vignett.in.  Sony A7r + Zeiss 55 f1.8 test pics at Vnphoto. Sony A7r with SLR Magic 50mm f/0.95 on Facebook.

P.S.: Super SAR readers legacy lens test roundups to come soon on SAR!

Specs and Preorders in US and Canada:
Dedicated Sony announcement page at Amazon US (Click here).
Sony A7r body at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS. TheCameraStore Canada.
Sony A7 body at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS. TheCameraStore Canada.
Sony A7 with 28-70mm kit lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS. TheCameraStore Canada.
Sony RX10 at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Zeiss 24-70mm at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Zeiss 35mm at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Zeiss 55mm at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
70-200mm A-mount at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Sony A-Mount to E-Mount Lens Adapter at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
Sony A to E adapter with mirror at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
A7/A7r leather case at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
A7/A7r vertical grip at Amazon, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Sony W Series Battery Charger at Amazon, BHphoto.
Sony FA-CS1M Off-Camera Shoe at BHphoto.
Semi-Hard LCD Screen Protector for A7-A7r at Amazon, BHphoto.

Specs and Preorders in Europe:
Sony A7r body at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PTWexUK, WexDE.
Sony A7 body at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT, WexUK, WexDE, Amazon UK, Amazon DE, Amazon FR.
Sony A7 with 28-70mm kit Sony  DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT, WexUK, WexDE, Amazon UK, Amazon DE, Amazon FR.
Sony RX10 at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT, WexUK, WexDE.
Zeiss 35mm at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT,
Zeiss 55mm at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT
Zeiss 24-70mm at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, SE, PT
Sony G 28-70mm lens at Sony DE, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO.

Asia:
A7r at Digitalrev.
A7 at Digitalrev, Amazon Cina.
A7 with 28-70mm lens at Digitalrev.