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Home → Reviews → Cameras and Lenses → Sony A7R Review

Sony A7R Review

By Nasim Mansurov 28 Comments
Last Updated On November 13, 2022

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Table of Contents

  • Overview and Specifications
  • Camera Construction and Handling
  • Image Sensor
  • Autofocus Performance and Metering
  • ISO Performance
  • Camera Comparisons
  • Summary
  • More Image Samples
  • Reader Comments
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28 Comments
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Andy
Andy
May 20, 2021 7:41 am

Thanks for your reviews. There is one thing, though, that confuses me. I was one of the unfortunate early adopters of the a7R (which I ultimately “traded down” for an a7). I now have the a7Rii and am pretty happy with the improvements (even though I know it is now 2 iterations older). What confuses me is your star-rating system. Even though you pretty unequivocally state that you cannot recommend the a7R, you rate BOTH the a7R and the a7Rii 5-star? I would be interested to see how the star-rating and the actually commentary interrelate. Thanks.

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Alaaddin
Alaaddin
January 16, 2018 1:42 pm

Thanx dear Nasim for this review. There is an offer for the A7 with the shit kit lens for 1100 euros and 1350 euros for the body of the A7R or the body of A7ii. I was inclined to buy the A7R but your review makes me think it is a waste of money, right?
As it happened I was on holiday in Jordan and took the same pics of the Ummayyad palace in Amman (also the wooden ceiling). I suspect some of your pics were at the Dead Sea. I used a Sony A58. My unhappiness with it made me think of the A7R. I am curious whether the firmware updates addressed some of the issues you raised. The Sony site only talks about improvements of 3.20 and 3.10 firmware updates (mostly not interesting to me, I do not use WiFi nor remote stuff). No info of what previous updates improved or corrected.

Thank you again and hope you will have the time to respond or give some advise since lenses are pretty expensive.

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Mechtasy
Mechtasy
May 26, 2017 2:52 pm

Hi, Has anyone tested A7R with 3.20 firmware update. Looking to pick one up used. Shutter shake is making me think twice.. Thx

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Colby
Colby
April 13, 2017 9:56 pm

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this review – it had the necessary balance of jargon & real world clarity.
Only by fully understanding your subject can you ‘translate’ technicalities & subject specific information into different levels of understanding for others to digest – I thought you did very well here & I was able to carry your threads through the review & retain its continuity arrive at an informed ending.

I am in limbo at present – I want a full frame camera – I still shoot film on a pentax ME !!!!
I am looking to buy into a system but will need lenses / filters / tripods etc etc so the a7r was my financial compromise for the a7rii – I shoot landscape / Astro & hardly touch video !!!

I have researched the Nikon 810/ the pentax k1 – I don’t get in with canon !!!!! Love the idea of mirrorless

Any ideas

Thank you for such a really helpful review

Well done

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Scott Edwards
Scott Edwards
June 10, 2015 6:00 pm

New to the forum and really appreciate your work, Nasim. Please see the news from Sony about the brand new (August 2015) a7R II ! They may have nailed? 42 MP mirrorless image-stabilized full frame sensor… 4K video… Up to 102000 ISO etc… Maybe they have nailed it? Maybe this explains why canon hasn’t given a release date for the new 5dsr? Hope you can get the camera soon! Would love to read your opinion.

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kkk
kkk
May 27, 2015 3:55 am

Thank for honest reviews. I have A7R and I confirm about shutter shock problem.
I dont recommend this camera to anyone because of it. Sony never care about this problem.

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Plextor
Plextor
May 26, 2015 11:28 pm

Hello…. Thanks for the nice review and very beautifull photo’s…

I have one issue though… In your review of the new A7II your conclusion was :
“In fact, its noise levels are visibly worse, similar to what one would see with APS-C cameras. How can that be?”

While results of the A7R with the A7 are similar up to 6400 and you like it this time?
Can you explain what is different?

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Nasim Mansurov
Nasim Mansurov
Reply to  Plextor
May 28, 2015 2:10 am

Plextor, as I have pointed out in this and a number of other reviews and articles, ISO performance between Sony and other cameras is quite similar up to ISO 3200-6400. Most differences are visible at ISO 6400 and above (since that’s where most differences in image processing pipeline come into play, i.e. BIONZ vs EXPEED). And if you analyze images critically (at pixel level and at comparable output size), you will see that BIONZ is a bit weaker in performance compared to EXPEED and very similar to Fuji’s EXR. I did not focus so much on noise performance in this review, because the A7R is not about noise – it is designed to be used at the lowest possible ISO levels for such needs as landscape photography. As for my remark about the A7 II being similar to APS-C cameras, I would recommend to use DPR’s studio tool and compare the output of cameras I tested – I think it is best that you draw the conclusions yourself from what you see…

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Stephen Notharper
Stephen Notharper
May 20, 2015 10:23 am

I have been contemplating upgrading to the A7R or the D810 from a D610. I did not know about the shutter-shock problem or the artifacts caused by lack of 14-bit RAW support—that’s a real deal-breaker for me and very shortsighted of Sony. Thanks for the honest review… and the beautiful photos that betray your own review!

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LeGrandOrangeAndBlue
LeGrandOrangeAndBlue
May 13, 2015 7:30 pm

I can understand the arguments against getting the A7R as presented here, but those images are just too stunning to ignore. Dynamic range and rich colours like those do not just come out of any old digital box. If Sony makes up for the shortcomings of the shutter shock and lack of electronic front curtain with a new iteration of this camera I’m going to seriously consider jumping ship from Nikon.

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martin reiser
martin reiser
Reply to  LeGrandOrangeAndBlue
May 14, 2015 6:50 pm

Yes, as soon as shutter and 11b is solved these will be very serious cameras and I will surely have one too. Of course, they are not that bad, that stunning images like those of Nasim cannot be made. His colours, though, do not come out of the jpeg box.

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Nasim Mansurov
Nasim Mansurov
Reply to  LeGrandOrangeAndBlue
May 28, 2015 2:12 am

And you are not the only one waiting for these changes :) I am currently traveling and I could use a lighter and more compact camera like the A7R. I really hope the second iteration of the camera will be released with proper RAW support and no shutter shock issues – I will definitely buy one if that happens. The new Zeiss lenses are superb and I no longer have any concerns on the lens department..

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Mark Fagan
Mark Fagan
May 13, 2015 9:45 am

Nasim, your photos are beautiful. They just keep getting better with every post. We really enjoy them.

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Nasim Mansurov
Nasim Mansurov
Reply to  Mark Fagan
May 28, 2015 2:10 am

Thank you Mark, I appreciate your feedback as always :)

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