Sony Alpha 7 take two.
Brief review.
This not a proper review.
Far from it.
It is completely bias, and bear in mind I’m an inexperienced DSLR user.
I bought the A7 hoping that it would replace my Leica M-E.
With that note of caution, let’s cut to the chase.
Why you shouldn’t buy the A7 AKA what I dislike about the camera.
Inconsistency.
I bought a Voigtlander adapter for the M mount lenses; Metabones adapter (free from Sony) for the Canon lenses.
Working fine so far: Leica 35mm f1.4, 35mm f2, 50mm f2, 90mm 2.8; Canon 50mm f1.2, 28mm f1.8.
Not in focus: Voigtlander 40mm f1.4.
Working sometimes: Canon 35mm f1.4 and 135mm f2.
These are by no means Sony’s fault, or Voigtlander’s fault, or Metabones’s fault. Just highlighting the fact that different parts carry different risks.
What EXIF data?
No aperture information on photos taken by Leica and I suspect any other manual lenses.
Magnifying fail.
When I try to magnify an image in playback mode, the camera will zoom in almost 100% towards the centre, and my only option is to hit the ‘zoom out’ button twenty times. I really hope it’s just a defect on my camera.
Battery life.
Averaging 300 shots per battery, 4-5 hours per charge if you don’t purchase the additional charger. ☹
Software.
I had to upgrade my Lightroom to version 5 because 4.4 doesn’t support Sony ARW files. If you don’t feel like spending $90 on the upgrade, your only option is to use Sony’s software to convert them into TIFF/ JPEGs.
(Or simply shoot in JPEG.)
Hardware.
One memory card slot.
Shutter.
No, it isn’t loud. But compared to a sturdy M body or NiCan DSLR, my hands could feel the shots being taken.
The wow factor.
None. I was walking through a crowd of 1000 university graduates and no one noticed the camera I was holding. It is not a head turner. Your mum will not be impressed.
And now why you should buy this camera AKA what I like about it:
Focus peaking.
FP is a viewfinder display method that outlines edges that exceed a certain contrast ratio. In theory the camera can detect whether your object is in focus by highlighting the areas in white/ yellow/ red. Assuming it’s accurate most of the time (hit and miss with my Voigtlander lens), it makes manual focusing faster and easier. No mirrors, no parallax.
Sony A7: 1; DSLRs and rangefinders: 0.
Swivelling Screen.
Hello street photographers’ wet dream. I could rotate the screen upwards and take photos like these with my head looking down:
ISO 640 1/200 sec
ISO 400 1/640 sec
ISO 200 1/5000 sec
Megapixels to size ratio.
I wasn’t surprised that the A7 is the smallest full frame camera I’ve ever owned; I was surprised that it has the most megapixels out of all my cameras.
It’s all about the $.
And the most important reason of all, despite the inconsistencies, is that I don’t have to buy new lenses. The A7 to digital cameras is Linux to operating systems: it’s open source. You can use any lenses you already own, Sony is simply providing the box with a full frame sensor that doesn’t cost $7500.
The wow factor.
None. I was walking through a crowd of 1000 university graduates and no one noticed the camera I was holding. It is not a head turner. Your mum will not be impressed.
I remember reading a book by the Harvard Business Review on strategic marketing. One of the chapters mentioned that the game changers of an industry are seldom the industry leaders.
Perhaps no one understood this better than Sony, having destroyed the world with the Walkman, only to miss out on the Mp3 player.
I really hope they don’t repeat the same mistakes with the Alpha cameras.
They’ve spoilt me now.
I’m waiting impatiently like a sheep anticipating the iPhone 6 right after the 5S announcement.
I know the A8 and A9 will really make DSLRs irrelevant.
If Canon and Nikon have no interests in taking this game seriously, they should look into making digital medium formats more accessible; not fitting old sensors into older bodies and attempting to sell it as something new.
