Review - Sony a7r - Loads of Megapixels, Few Lenses

After spending a few weeks with the Sony a7r I can say that there is no other portable camera on the market that provides this levels of detail and dynamic range. Does that mean this is the camera for you?

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[Zakalwe-]

Love this camera. I've been using it in the same sort of situations as my x100s, and I've found it produces very sharp images when hand held on manual lenses with no stabilisation. No crashes yet (in fact it's been very stable so far), but the infamously loud shutter has not been over-exaggerated: It's cataclysmically loud! This does limit its street photography ability. Never the less, the full frame image quality is a real step up from the A7 ( I also owned one for a year), and when paired with a nice Leica lens or Minolta 35-70 macro constant aperture, it yields fabulous old-school results.

[drew-gray]

I shoot professionally full time with the Sony A7r as an Interior/Architectural Photographer, never once had it crash. Has been an extremely reliable workhorse for me (whether tethered or not). qki111, I have shot weddings with the A7r with excellent results especially with Zeiss 1.8/55.  I had really no problems with AF but still had a Nikon D800 just in case. Personally, I preferred files out of the A7r but it definitely has its limitations too when it comes to events.

@Jean-Christophe B. I can tell you from experience, the Sony A7 series is extremely well weather sealed. No worries there. I get easily 400+ pictures on one battery and would literally take something like 8-10 batteries to amount to a similar DSLR weight with 1 battery.  

[emph]

An honest and informative review, I'm considering purchasing a lightly used A7r to be used primarily as a landscape camera. Plan on using A-Mount glass with a simple adapter and Samyang primes, both with manual focus.  

[smartwarden]

The a7r is definitely not a fast camera for sports and action however it is amazing at what it does, personally I think this camera will shine with the Zeiss Loxia lenses, as those were natively built for the Sony E mount system and are fully manual(aperture and focus) The Loxia 35mm f2 would be my choice as that lens is wide enough for Landscape as well as it gives me more freedom to crop because of the sharpness and the resolution of that combo. A truly impressive and a very small package. Let's not forget that our only alternative to this is the Leica cameras which cost twice and 3 times the price of the a7r and the Loxia.

[stampydragon]

Using the apsc lenses is still good plus the metabones adapter may be a little slower but its fine

[fredslow]

Great review, as always. I'm not in a market for such an expensive camera but I still enjoy your videos very much and I learn a lot from them. Keep up the great work, Toby!

[NickMach]

Very good review. I'm quite surprised there is no touch screen. For how advanced that camera is.... I'm definitely watching this technology closely, not ready to jump to mirrorless yet though.

[retepyam]

I like quite a loud shutter and no it doesn't shake the camera, I have one. I use an A77 DSLR for action shots and this for portraits and landscape. Would you use a Leica or Hassleblad at a football match. Nope, Native limited lens La-ea4 adaptor and you can use all of the A series lenses from Sony Minolta Sigma etc, metabones and you can use all sorts. FE lens Zeiss sony 55mm F1.8 fantastic lens,

[LensShark]

Loved the "filters" insert Toby.  I feel your pain on that.  lol   Love what you do brother.

[StreetsOfVancouverChannel]

RESET the camera using the option in the MENU... that should help in regard to the freezing issue, man.

BTW: the Contax G glass and Leica glass renders exceptional images on the A7R. :)

Very fair review... thanks for posting it.

[jeanchristopheb]

0:54 : Lol, nice "Filters" incrustation :D

[BinaryIdioms]

I really enjoyed your review. In the A7s review you mentioned ISO 12, 800 as the usable limit for that camera. What do you consider the ISO limit for the A7r? 
Thanks!

[pointhot]

So I'm a hobby photographer and have been using a canon 70d with a 24-70 L for the last year now. I'm really starting to struggle with the cropped sensor and the cameras limitations, I'd like to get into a Sony full sensor camera, but am unsure as to how it would compare. I've looked at both the a7r and the. a7rii and am having reservations on opting for the older gen for the price, as the a7rii may just be way more camra then I need.

I plan on renting both in the future to get a feel for what I do, but would also appreciate any input. Thanks.

[maungzaw]

Did u felt the shutter shake effect the image blurry.

[deskz]

I use a Canon 6D but I am consider myself to buy a Sony A7R. The reason why I think about that is the weight saving and compactness of the A7R mounted with the Zeiss 55 f1.8.
What do you think, should I replace my Canon 6D? As you mentioned in the review, action shoots are not my goal to photograph.

[myerwerl]

A7 or a7r? I found one with a quite similar price here in my country.

[Jedilost]

Hmm I've never had my A7R crash on me before, interesting.

A firmware update was just released by the way. This may fix that issue for you

[tonytarr]

Is that Chelsea Royal Diner in Brattleboro VT?

If so, that's soo crazy I just stumbled upon this video and it happens to mention my favorite breakfast spot right down the road from where I used to live :)

[umidlife]

i am using the 7r for 1, 5 month and never experiance the crash.its crashes becouse of the metabones adapter i think

[Thalestin]

Good review. I think the A7r creates some great pics but I really feel the whole weight saving argument is pretty much not a great deal different when you place your big canon lenses with an adapter. This becomes especially useless if your doing landscapes with a Tripod anyways. Small size could be great if your doing walk around photography but I actually find the a series with a large lens quite off balance and prefer to hold a larger DSLR due to better balance and grip for my hands.

The whole problem with mirrorless is that it is difficult to make small quality lenses that have the great image quality. You have some leica lens sets but they are manual focus and priced highly. There is no super telophoto lens choices at all at this point. Hopefully more options will come available in time