Sony A7 Comparison Review

The Sony Alpha A7 is a mirrorless interchangeable lens camera that was announced in October 2013 and is equipped with a full frame sensor. It offers a resolution of 24 megapixel.

Is the Sony A7 a good camera? The A7 has a Camera Elo of 2190. This rating puts the A7 among the top 50 percent of all mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras. In terms of its sensor size category (full frame cameras), the A7 also ranks among the top 50 percent. Based on its within category standings, the camera earns a 3-star performance rating.

Headline Specifications

Sony A7
Mirrorless system camera
Sony E mount lenses
24 MP, Full Frame Sensor
1080/60p Video
ISO 100-25600 (50-51200)
Electronic viewfinder (2400k dots)
3.0" LCD, 1230k dots
Tilting screen (no touchscreen)
5 shutter flaps per second
Weathersealed body
340 shots per battery charge
127 x 94 x 48 mm, 474 g

Read on to find out more about the camera's size, sensor, features, reception by expert reviewers, and how it compares to other digital cameras.

Body comparison with a credit card

The side-by-side display below illustrates the physical size of the Sony A7 vis-à-vis a credit card. Three consecutive perspectives from the front, the top, and the back are presented. All width, height and depth measures are rounded to the nearest millimeter.

The table below summarizes the key physical specs of the Sony A7 alongside a set of comparators. If you want to review a camera pair side-by-side, just select a right-side comparator from among the camera models in the table. Alternatively, you can also move across to the CAM-parator tool and choose from the broad selection of possible comparisons there.

Camera Body Specifications

	Camera Model	Camera Width	Camera Height	Camera Depth	Camera Weight	Battery Life (CIPA)	Weather Sealing (yes/no)	Camera Launch (announced)	Launch Price (USD)	Street Price (USD)	Used Price (USD)	Camera Model
	Sony A7	127 mm	94 mm	48 mm	474 g	340	Y	Oct 2013	1,699	-		Sony A7
	Nikon D610« »	141 mm	113 mm	82 mm	850 g	900	Y	Oct 2013	1,999			Nikon D610
	Panasonic GH4« »	133 mm	93 mm	84 mm	560 g	500	Y	Feb 2014	1,499	-		Panasonic GH4
	Samsung NX1« »	139 mm	102 mm	66 mm	550 g	500	Y	Sep 2014	1,499	-		Samsung NX1
	Sony A7 III« »	127 mm	96 mm	74 mm	650 g	610	Y	Feb 2018	1,999			Sony A7 III
	Sony A6300« »	120 mm	67 mm	49 mm	404 g	400	Y	Feb 2016	999	-		Sony A6300
	Sony A6500« »	120 mm	67 mm	53 mm	453 g	350	Y	Oct 2016	1,399			Sony A6500
	Sony A7 II« »	127 mm	96 mm	60 mm	599 g	350	Y	Nov 2014	1,999	-		Sony A7 II
	Sony A7S« »	127 mm	94 mm	48 mm	489 g	380	Y	Apr 2014	2,499	-		Sony A7S
	Sony A7R« »	127 mm	94 mm	48 mm	465 g	340	Y	Oct 2013	2,299	-		Sony A7R
	Sony RX1R« »	113 mm	65 mm	70 mm	482 g	270	n	Jun 2013	2,799	-		Sony RX1R
Convert to Imperial
Note: Measurements and pricing do not include easily detachable parts, such as interchangeable lenses or optional viewfinders.

The listed prices provide an indication of the market segment that the manufacturer of the cameras have been targeting. The Sony A7 was launched in the US market at a price of $1,699. Usually, retail prices stay at first close to the launch price, but after several months, discounts become available. Later in the product cycle and, in particular, when the replacement model is about to appear, further discounting and stock clearance sales often push the camera price considerably down. Then, after the new model is out, very good deals can frequently be found on the pre-owned market.

Sensor comparison with a 35mm slide

The size of the imaging sensor is a crucial determinant of image quality. A large sensor will tend to have larger individual pixels that provide better low-light sensitivity, wider dynamic range, and richer color-depth than smaller pixel-units in a sensor of the same technological generation. Further, a large sensor camera will give the photographer additional creative options when using shallow depth-of-field to isolate a subject from its background. On the downside, larger sensors tend to be more expensive and lead to bigger and heavier cameras and lenses.

The Sony A7 features a full frame sensor and has a format factor (sometimes also referred to as "crop factor") of 1.0. Within the spectrum of camera sensors, this places the Sony A7 among the large-sensor cameras that aim for top notch image quality.

Consistent information on actual sensor performance is available from DXO Mark for most cameras. This service assesses and scores the color depth ("DXO Portrait"), dynamic range ("DXO Landscape"), and low-light sensitivity ("DXO Sports") of camera sensors, and also publishes an overall camera score. The following table provides an overview of the physical sensor characteristics, as well as the sensor quality measurements for a selection of comparators.

Many modern cameras cannot only take still pictures, but also record videos. The A7 indeed provides movie recording capabilities. The highest resolution format that the A7 can use is 1080/60p.

Feature comparison

Beyond body and sensor, cameras can and do differ across a range of features. For example, the A7 has an electronic viewfinder with a resolution of 2400k dots. The viewfinder offers a field of view of 100% and a magnification of 0.71x. The adjacent tables list some of the other core features of the Sony A7 along with similar information for a selection of comparators.

Connection comparison

For some imaging applications, the extent to which a camera can communicate with its environment can be an important aspect in the camera decision process. The table below provides an overview of the connectivity of the Sony Alpha A7 and, in particular, the interfaces the cameras (and selected comparators) provide for accessory control and data transfer.

It is notable that the A7 has a microphone port. Such an external microphone input can help to substantially improve the quality of audio recordings when a good external microphone is used.

Expert reviews

While the specs-based evaluation of cameras is instructive in revealing their potential as photographic tools, it says nothing about, for example, the handling, responsiveness, and overall imaging quality of the A7 in practical situations. User reviews, such as those found at amazon, can sometimes inform about these issues, but such feedback is often incomplete, inconsistent, and biased. This is why expert reviews are important. The following table reports the overall rankings of the cameras as published by some of the major camera review sites (cameralabs, dpreview, ephotozine, imaging-resource, photographyblog).

Review Scores

	Camera Model						Camera Launch (announced)	Launch Price (USD)	Street Price (USD)	Used Price (USD)	Camera Model
	Sony A7	+ +	80/100	5/5	4.5/5	5/5	Oct 2013	1,699	-		Sony A7
	Nikon D610« »	+ +	87/100	4.5/5	4.5/5	4.5/5	Oct 2013	1,999			Nikon D610
	Panasonic GH4« »	+ +	85/100	5/5	5/5	5/5	Feb 2014	1,499	-		Panasonic GH4
	Samsung NX1« »	-	87/100	5/5	4.5/5	5/5	Sep 2014	1,499	-		Samsung NX1
	Sony A7 III« »	+ +	89/100	5/5	5/5	5/5	Feb 2018	1,999			Sony A7 III
	Sony A6300« »	+	85/100	5/5	5/5	5/5	Feb 2016	999	-		Sony A6300
	Sony A6500« »	+ +	85/100	4.5/5	5/5	4.5/5	Oct 2016	1,399			Sony A6500
	Sony A7 II« »	+	82/100	4.5/5	5/5	5/5	Nov 2014	1,999	-		Sony A7 II
	Sony A7S« »	-	86/100	4.5/5	4.5/5	5/5	Apr 2014	2,499	-		Sony A7S
	Sony A7R« »	+ +	82/100	4.5/5	5/5	5/5	Oct 2013	2,299	-		Sony A7R
	Sony RX1R« »	-	-	4/5	o	4.5/5	Jun 2013	2,799	-		Sony RX1R
Notes: (+ +) highly recommended; (+) recommended; (o) reviewed; (-) not available.

The review scores listed above should be treated with care, though. The ratings are only valid when referring to cameras in the same category and of the same age. A score, therefore, has to be seen in close connection to the price and market introduction time of the camera, and rating-comparisons among cameras that span long time periods or concern very differently equipped models make little sense. Also, kindly note that some of the listed sites have over time developped their review approaches and their reporting style.

Camera to camera comparisons

In case you are interested in seeing how this camera compares to another one, just make a corresponding selection in the search boxes below. Alternatively, you can follow any of the listed hyperlinks for comparisons that others found interesting.

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