As World Cup Fever sweeps across the soccer world, I jumped at the chance to head down to Brazil, to put the new Sony A7S through the paces for a week. Sony wisely positioned the 12.2mp Sony A7S to meet the demands of photographers who want low noise at extremely high ISOs joining the 24.3mp Sony A7 and 36.4mp Sony A7R in Sony’s line-up of fullframe mirrorless cameras.
This seems like a great strategy – just like offering different films for different lighting. In theory, the A7S would appear to be the perfect choice when shooting in low light, while the A7R would be the perfect choice for maximum detail and resolution. But would they play together like a great team, each complimenting the others’ strengths?
I packed up the A7S along with my A7R and headed to Brazil to find out.
Game On
Cornell Grads hit the beach in Natal, Brazil before the match against Ghana
Sony A7S | FE 24-70mm F4 ZA OSS at 24mm | 1/500 | F/5 | ISO 200
Turns out that Ghana Fans L-O-V-E Bruce Willis Movies. Who knew?
Sony A7S | SAL 70-400mm F4-5.6 G II OSS at 90mm with LA-EA4 adapter | 1/200 | F/5 | ISO 6400
(CLICK TO SEE 100% CROP)
Sony A7S | SAL 70-400mm F4-5.6 G II OSS at 110mm using LA-EA4 adapter | 1/125 | F/5 | ISO 2500
Team USA celebrates Clint Dempsey’s World Cup goal against Ghana.
Sony A7 | SAL 70-400mm F4-5.6 G II OSS at 210mm using LA-EA4 adapter | 1/320 | F/5 | ISO 3200
Futbol Fever
Kickin’ it in the favela in Natal, Brazil
Sony A7S | FE 24-70mm F4 ZA OSS at 55mm | 1/640 | F/8 | ISO 800
Futbol on the beach in Natal, Brazil
Sony A7S | FE 70-200mm F4 ZA OSS at 200mm | 1/1000 | F/5 | ISO 200
Futbol Mural in Rio de Janeiro’s Horto neighborhood
Sony A7S | FE 24-70mm F4 ZA OSS at 55mm | 1/200 | F/5 | ISO 200
King of Pop and Futbol collide in Favela Santa Marta, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Sony A7S | FE 35mm F2.8 ZA | 1/250 | F/4 | ISO 800
Ipanema Beach in Rio de Janeiro
Sony A7S | FE 35mm F2.8 ZA | 1/800 | F/8 | ISO 400
A7S and A7R Play Well Together
Just as I had hoped, having both the A7S and A7R in my bag proved to be the perfect combination of speed and resolution. The A7S, like the A7, has electronic front curtain shutter so the response time is a beat faster than A7R which is a plus for shooting action. For portraits I love the A7R, so shortly after shooting football on Ipanema Beach with the A7S, I pulled one of the players aside for a quick portrait with with the A7R.
Sony A7S | FE 55mm F1.8 ZA | 1/100 | F/11 | ISO 200
On a rainy morning, I headed out to shoot action of surfers using the Sony A7S and FE 70-400mm F4-5.6
Sony A7S | SAL 70-400mm F4-5.6 G II at 400mm using LA-EA4 adapter | 1/500 | F/6.3 | ISO 800
…and grabbed this shot surfers with the A7R and 35mm hanging around my neck.
Sony A7R | FE 35mm F2.8 ZA | 1/100 | F/9 | ISO 200
When Resolution Counts
It’s fairly likely that 90 percent of the time you’ll be just fine with the resolution of a 12.2mp camera – but for those times you need more detail – no 35mm digital camera beats the resolution of the Sony A7R. This makes it the perfect camera to pair with the A7S when you want more detail in massive 4×6 foot prints
Sony A7R | FE 24-70mm F4 ZA OSS at 24mm | 1/30 | F/4 | ISO 200
Sony A7R | FE 35mm F2.8 ZA | 1/125 | F/8 | ISO 100
Sony A7S | FE 70-200mm F4 ZA OSS at 200mm | 1/800 | F/7.1 | ISO 100
SONY A7S FIELD TEST: PART 1 – WORLD CUP FUTBOL FEVER
SONY A7S FIELD TEST: PART 2 – HIGH ISO. LOW NOISE.
SONY A7S FIELD TEST: PART 3 – HIGH STOP DYNAMIC RANGE
SONY A7S FIELD TEST: PART 4 – FAST FOCUS IN LOW LIGHT / SILENT MODE
CONTINUE TO PART 2 – HIGH ISO. LOW NOISE.
For more tips and tricks about getting the most out of your Sony A7/A7R or A7S, check out my book ‘Sony A7/A7R: From Snapshots to Great Shots‘ from Peachpit Press. These ground-breaking compact full-frame cameras which combine the features and image quality of a top-end DSLR in a smaller camera at half the weight, quickly racked up an impressive list of accolades including Photo District News and Popular Photography’s ‘Camera of the Year’.
This book is your guide to getting the most out of Sony’s A7 and A7R cameras. While the camera manual explains what the camera can do, it doesn’t show how to use the camera to create great images!
That’s where ‘Sony A7/A7R: From Snapshots to Great Shots‘ comes in. Starting with the top ten things users need to know about the camera, it carefully guides you through the operating features and how to use them with practical advice on which settings to use when, great shooting tips, and assignments at the end of chapter.
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