Photography News 04

Camera review

Image quality

Controlling dynamic range

With full-frame cameras, image quality is the acid test because expectations are so high. In this respect, there’s absolutely nothing to complain about with either the A7 or A7R. Sony is a leader in sensor technology, and it shows – with both cameras, detail is incredibly sharp and clear. Not only that, but metering was excellent, and in over several hundred images taken with the cameras, I never needed to use exposure compensation. With one and a half times the number of pixels as the A7, you’d expect the A7R to resolve more detail, and when looking at identical images taken with the two cameras using the same lens and viewed at the same size, this is the case. The resolution of the A7R is unforgiving, and it’s easy for images to end up slightly unsharp if the AF is a fraction off or your technique isn’t pristine. Even when A7R images are pin sharp though, the difference compared to the A7 isn’t as big as you might expect, and it takes quite close examination to see the advantage. With the A7R, detail is just slightly more refined and realistic, and of course there’s the advantage in print size – a landscape print without software interpolation from the A7R can reach a width of 24.5 inches at 300ppi, while the biggest you can get from the A7 is 20 inches. The extra detail isn’t only the result of more pixels, but also the absence of an anti-aliasing filter. This brings with it the risk of moiré, and indeed I did see one instance of this with the A7R. Then again, I also saw it with the A7 in one image. Ironically, the A7 also seems prone to causing jagged edges in images, a problem I didn’t see so prominently with the A7R, even though it’s an artefact that’s supposed to be suppressed by an anti-aliasing filter.

Sony is a leader in sensor technology, and it shows – detail is incredibly sharp and clear

Both the A7 and A7R include modes to help deal with high-contrast scenes. The first is Auto HDR, which combines three JPEGs into one. There are seven settings for the exposure differential: auto, and each full EV from 1 to 6, so the maximum is +/-3EV. It does an impressive job, but you need to be careful because the most extreme settings start to make things look a little surreal. This mode is only available when you’re shooting JPEGs only, but regardless of the exposure differential setting you use, it records the normally exposed version alongside the merged image. If you don’t want to go to the extreme of using HDR, but want to pull in the shadows and highlights in a single shot, you can turn on Dynamic Range Optimiser. You can leave this on auto for the camera to decide the best level, or you can select from five levels yourself. Even Level 1 has quite a strong effect, and the highest settings can leave images looking washed out – there’s a loss of saturation that you don’t get in the HDR mode.

SONYA7

SONYA7R

HDR 6EV

NOHDR

ABOVE Auto High Dynamic Range mode does an impressive job. BELOWDynamic Range optimisation can have a great effect.

NODRO

DRO LEVEL 5

π A full review of the Sony A7 is in issue 40 of Advanced Photographer ; on sale now, it costs £4.95. Also look out for more on the A7R in issue 41 of Advanced Photographer , on sale from 13 February.

Photography News | Issue 4