Sony flagship leads the way in mirrorless cameras

SINGAPORE — Sony’s new flagship full-frame camera, which hit the market last month, has upstaged all mirrorless cameras launched before it.

After a complete redesign, the second-generation A7R at 625g is tiny, featuring a new 42.4-megapixel back-illuminated CMOS sensor, which Sony touts as the most advanced and versatile image sensor it has ever made.

But does this make the S$4,099 mirrorless camera a formidable foe against its full-frame Canon and Nikon counterparts?

Yes, in the detail it can garner under lower light settings.

No, when it comes to focusing speed, with battery life remaining an annoyance.

Images shot from ISO 50 to 3,200 are brighter, with greater dynamic range and less noise. Sony said tweaks such as the removal of gaps between microlenses and the addition of an anti-reflective coating on the sensor’s glass seal allowed for the improvement.

Shutterbugs were most excited about its jaw-dropping ISO limit of 102,400. But I found that its low-light performance has an inflection point at ISO 3,200. Anything above shows more noise than on the Canon 5D Mark III.

When it comes to focusing speed, the top-tier mirrorless camera is still not on a par with DSLRs. It is less reliable in getting a moving object in focus in a split second. Battery life is also an issue: At least two batteries are needed for a full-day shoot, as a fully charged battery can only take up to about 290 shots before it goes flat.

Users of the first-generation A7R complained that the vibration in shutter movements affected clarity in shots. Sony halved that vibration in the A7R II, and further introduced an all-electronic shooting mode that is practically silent as there is no shutter movement.

The killer feature of the A7R II may be its built-in five-axis image stabilisation, which works with lenses of any brand. This is especially great news for videographers, where lenses without optical stabilisation were previously unusable when shooting on handheld.

A great camera for capturing accents and details, I would highly recommend the A7R II to landscape or studio photographers, as well as serious videographers who are looking for a lighter body. It is available at all Sony Stores, Sony Centres and selected Sony authorised dealers. WONG PEI TING