Product Reviews

Hard to write this in 2020 when the 7SM3 has just been released, but the A7S is still a highly capable camera with some great features. Another update would be great, as it’s still a widely used camera.

Just a shame I can't control it with a computer for astrophotography.

I got this camera due to excellent low light performance and it is superb!! Also you may get great price to pay. In my opinion it’s very good value for money.

Very good product. Thanks sony for this amazing kit

I bought the a7s for astronomy after using my a72 for general photography excellent

Fabulous all round - apart from the weird frictionless shutter release button.

After spending a fair bit of time (age related issue!) getting to understand the nuances of the camera I was really surprised just how good it is, rapid shooting was impressive, numerous features, great for night photography which was the main reason for buying it. A very neat size yet robust. Very very pleased indeed.

I bought the Sony A7s to shoot film stills. it's one of the only full frame cameras that shoots silently and also has top of the range high ISO ability, as a stills photographer these are two absolute requirements. I also use it for shooting video too which is very good.. I like the files from this camera and do not need mega pixels. I use this camera professionally and find it reliable and does what it says.

The Sony A7s is the perfect companion for every situation. Not only does it have the most detailed Full HD sensor of all cameras in this price range, but also the endless possibilities this camera gives are amazing. It starts with mounting pretty much every lens that was ever designed apart from the m43 standard and ends with low noise performance even in high ISO range. It is small, lightweight and unreached in pretty much every aspect in it's price range and way beyond that. There are a few things which should be improved (hopefully in future models) such as: - 4:3 video mode for anamorphic filming (i put this on top together with 4k 60p because it is sooo important) - internal 4k 60p - internal nd filter - Full HD slowmotion up to 240 frames - keep the menu system it's great, just make it a few less options - shutter button record video, I love the side button, which is great but it should be able to record on the shutter too, don't you think. - 2 sd card slots (pretty much every wedding videographer who is serious about his business uses this camera) we trust you sony, but we need that 2nd slot for double recording in case of card failure! - better and more codecs (the images sooc are amazing already, imagine what a 10bit prores or whatever could achieve) - give us some a6500 AF performance, not for video but for stills, 20mpx would be awesome too. I think that's pretty much it. Add my features and we have the perfect camera.

Loving the A7S. With the 1.8 55 lens, I'm suddenly far more talented. The best thing is the iso. Why do they even make the other cameras? I had the A7r for a day and immediately went back and swapped for the 7S. Stunning shots. I can see in the dark with style!! My only complaint and it's a big one, is Playmemorieshome and software upgrades and use of online features does NOT play nice with Windows 10. Come on Sony, the whole creative world is NOT on Mac. Sort this out now please.

I purchased this photographic revelation a while ago and it has proven it's worth. Despite it's 12 megapixel sensor it takes excellent stills and in low light situations it execels capturing vibrant colours even in the dimmest of lighting conditions. This camera is best suited for videography. You really have to own one to experience what would have been considered almost impossible a view years ago. Sony products have always been my first choice and have never let me down.

I'm using it for 3 months and I'm happy to have this camera.

Great camera very disappointed with instructions book very poor

This is the best dslr camera for video i ever used for my production.

Product is excellent for landscape, night, portrait, zoom, and general photography. Not as good for extended use in video due to battery length limitations (2 hour videos) and timing (30 min videos only) and heating limitations (heats fast).

I bought this about 2 or 3 weeks ago and its truly a fantastic camera.

If you're coming from a Canon, you'll know the ergonomics are terrible on this camera, the ease of use is not so good, but there are Youtube vids to help, definitely look for an external battery source and a cage to help with ergonomics. Always good to join a forum to discover the potential of this camera. Picture quality and low light performance is great, a real upgrade from Canon rebel lines.

Bought about 2 weeks ago as main astrophotography and night photo camera. My first impression on build quality is excellent, well made solid feel metal body. The only thing I don't like is the strap which looks very cheap. Company should improve that. Image quality is excellent, I could reach around 10 000ISO without much noise appearance. Still experimenting with the settings but I'm sure the one interested in low light photography will be very happy with this camera.

I love it for its compactness and digital viewfinder.

I bought this just over six months ago. it has been a great camera, but is severely let down by battery performance, and the lack of low cost/low profile native lenses. I generally use 3rd party lenses with an adapter which is a great alternative, but it would be a massive improvement to see a range of small, light and low price lenses which match the potential of the body.

I bought this camera for it's video capability. I had been using a Canon 7D but I needed something more flexible for lighting conditions. The low light ability of this camera along with S-log2 has greatly increased the quality of my work.

I bought this camera six months ago. It has become my pet and a great tool in my hand. The satisfying results of video captured with this high end in small body media equipment brings you par with many of the industrial professional acquisition devices. There are features like HDR capture for photos which can be used if you need photos of higher quality than the 12MP the camera's limit. For now I have abandoned an idea to get a video camera. This seem enough for all my video acquisition and delivery requirements when the appropriate accessories are used. Adverts, wedding and poster creation, name them. The automatic switching of the viewfinder to monitor can be turned off if not required.

I can't believe how Sony Engineers could fit in this tiny package all this incredible features. Probably Sony is the best sensor maker company in the market right now, and for this tiny price you've got an incredible piece of engineering full of capabilities... This camera will be in a museum in the future, for how it changed the low light understanding and I'm sure will be the start of great new products either from Sony and competitors.

I've been using the A7S for a few weeks after agonising over the right model to choose - with an RX1R for hi-res shots, I opted for the A7S due to the fantastic colour range, shadow detail and night-time capabilities. I haven't been disappointed. I've produced some fantastic pictures on the camera and have only really dipped into its capabilities so far. Build quality is the usual high Sony standard, the camera feels perfect in-hand. The grip is perfect, the dials are suitably smooth and the weight is lighter than you might expect. Overall I'd highly recommend this camera for people who want to produce high quality shots, though anyone wanting super-enlarged prints might be better off with the A7R or even the upcoming A7RII.

Happy purchase, disappointed by the firmware update process, and seemingly lack of firmware updates. First camera had fault on USB and had to swapped, second one has been fine.

I owned this camera for three months and the shutter stopped working. Sending off to be repaired now. The bottom line is this camera has too many menu choices, is too small and not at all robust. The sensor is incredibly exposed when changing lenses which as we know if a nightmare for dust particles entering the camera body.

Potentially a great camera ruined by Moire and aliasing when in full frame video can only be remedied by changing into apc mode The record button is very awkward to use

Well I bought it few months ago and have already shot my short documentary film with this camera. So far so good.

What a camera! Size, power, adaptability, low-light, look, feel; everything about it is a delight!

Having been a photographer now for over 15 Years I have owned a range of cameras. The A700 tempted me away from Canon many years ago - the alpha range kept me faithful and now the innovation of the a7s has totally blown me away. The low light capabilities have opened up so many creative opportunities in photography as well as film making - an area that I have been exploring more and more and was beginning to feel limited with my a55. I love the image quality that comes out of the RAW files from this camera - the colour rendition is good and edges are crisp - even with in camera sharpening turned all the way down. S-LOG is a revelation for those projects where I get the time to colour grade. I am currently using canon glass on this camera and an so pleased to find a lens system that is versatile enough to be used in this way. Keep up the innovation Sony!

Used for a few months now, great camera. Quality of sensor is superb regarding subtle colour rendition. The ISO ability is miraculous. Start up is slow compared to my DSLR but the the benefits ie small size and ability are worth it. Worthwhile having a couple of spare batteries to hand. A thing of beauty.

Not impressed. Image quality is soft and lacks any definition. Poor image quality above iso 400. Buy a Nikon.

After extensive research I decided to buy this camera for filming only and what a great purchase.

I am a student photographer, I do news photography at my university. I use this camera along side with my DSLR when I do news. This camera is fantastic, fast af, crazy iso performance, more importantly it is so small and quiet. However, when I come to use flash, I would love to have an aperture preview function, because when I use small aperture I just can't see a thing on the evf. Also better with the shutter shut while the camera is off to avoid dust.

Built in image stabilisation would be good and higher Pixal for the camera,but I bought the camera for its low light filming and it's unbelievable so I'm so glad I bought it and i would definitely recommend it to my friends

I bought this to film Weddings, it is so versatile especially in dark rooms such as during the speeches and first dance So many great picture profiles to use

I bought this camera to shoot both photos and video and I'm very impressed with the much-lauded low light abilities, and also the wide dynamic range available when shooting photos in RAW. The only slight downside is the short battery life, but they are small enough to be able to carry a number of spares. It's also great to be able to use existing lenses from other manufacturers via inexpensive adapters, which really broadens the scope of the camera.

unbelievable video quality in low light! paired with samyang cine primes this has produced the cleanest 1080p ive ever seen from a DSLR/hybrid , stills are pretty nice too but most ppl buying this are getting it for video :)

I checked out all the reviews online before buying this product and all I can say is wow ...really you need to see it for yourself the iso is just mind blowing took a photo of a friend turned all the lights out at night couldn't see my hands in front of me dark and pumped up the iso took a photo and it was like daylight

I spent a great deal of time looking at the a7 range as it was getting good reviews until I was in North Norway with a photographer who was photographing the Northern Lights we discussed the Sony range and I was convinced that the a7s was the Camera for me as I wanted to film the Northern lights in real time. I now have the a7s and although Ive not yet photographed the Northen lights I have taken some great night photos in Suffolk where I live. I am a relative novice on cameras and would have liked a more user friendly manual....but overall a great camera if a little overpriced.

Pros Fast and accurate focusing Quiet Feels solid Cons Spent a lot of money with this camera only to get a dead pixel on the LCD Camera maybe not quite as light sensitive at high ISO as I had expected It's easy to knock the selector wheel and accidentally change the ISO (had to change wheel setting) Record button awkward to use

First of all it's worth mentioning why I decided to go with this camera. As a film-maker I always felt that I had a lot of limitations with my previous (entry-level dslr) camera. Under the right lighting I was very happy, but when I wanted that candid shot when nothing is set up, or you just wanted to film/snap some photos of friends when there's not enough natural light, I stopped bothering after a while. I can't express how well the A7s handles low-light. As of 2014 it's the King of low light. Now coming from a Canon background, all my equipment is still useful, including my lenses and my flashgun. The amazing thing with mirrorless cameras is the fact that no matter what lens you've got, with the right adaptor, you can use it with your camera (some adaptors have limited compatibilities with aperture or IS but you'll have to check it for yourself), even APS-C. THAT was my selling point. If Sony ever tries to get in the way of this, it'll lose a lot of people including me. The only thing that saddens me is the 12 megapixel performance and the external 4K recording. I understand the reasons of that limitation, but for the price of this camera, it's a shame. Hopefully some affordable solutions will show up in the near future. This camera is packed with lots of features and customisations. You can remap (nearly) every single button to what it's more comfortable for you. Conclusion: The camera is FANTASTIC and I highly recommend it if you are serious for video. For stills, I am very disappointed

It's been a year since I have left Nikon to go over to Sony and never looked back. I have the a99 and A7 but the A7s has the best sensor for low light photography I have ever come across especially paired with a Leica M Mount lens like the Voigtlander 35mm f1.2 via adapter. Images retain amazing colour and noise control from ISO 25,000, from there the image degrades very and I mean very very slowly up to ISO 409,600. BTW my experience is based on shooting RAW files. One other thing, silent shutter mode is amazing!! Literally don't here a sound and you can do that with burst mode also, okay the only minor downside is that you do faintly see refresh rate line in silent shutter mode some indoor lighting conditions (but I can live with that as it does not interfere with the image).

Having had my A7s for a few weeks now I can say that it really is a fantastic camera. Great build quality , easy to use , small and lightweight . People who think that 12 MP is not enough should try this camera, great depth of colour and detail in the photos it produces.

With a forth-coming wildlife 'project', and needing a camera capable of handling low light situations, I thought that the a7S might fit the bill. Initial tests left me amazed. Video in a known 'difficult' location left me more than satisfied (although I only set the aperture at f4), whilst the 12MP sensor gave still images which had me amazed by the quality. Beer pumps at f2 put the background nicely out of focus. For general photography, I will use it very much as a 'point and shoot', and am more than happy with the autofocus. I did find manual focus a little tricky, under some lighting conditions, even with 'peaking' turned on. This is only a minor grumble, and it was a lot more fun walking around with the a7S + 55mm, rather than a heavy DSLR. This camera will really come into its own on walking trips.

As a Nikon user I decided to try the new Sony ILCE-7 because it was full frame and very light even with a Carl Zeiss lens. After two photo shoots I produced some excellent work equal to anything I have produced using my Nikon full frame camera.

It's a great camera for photography and videography especially in low light situation. I really enjoy it. The camera has IS and TC options in but you can't use it. Those are the main features for videography. Sony hasn't got any solution for that yet.

I am a filmmaker. This camera produces great videos for having such a tiny body. There are still many improvements to do, possibly with a future firmware upgrade. The position of the Start-Stop movie button at the moment is very difficult to reach when operating handheld. The customizable buttons needs improvement (more options, such as a dedicated Histogram button, or a easier toggle display infos) A sharpness peaking in the viewfinder function would be nice. The 120fps mode is quite useless (too soft). 50/60fps is okay. The XLM-K1M is great but it is impossible to mount onto the camera! I really looking forward to a solution from Sony. I am also missing the lack of support in the post production workflow when shooting SLOG (Please Sony give us a proper slog-rec709 LUT). I am overall satisfied.