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What can be improved with the Sony A7/R?

pophoto

New member
Ok I'm starting the what can be improved with the Sony A7/R?

Let me preface the thread by saying "Yes! I like the camera a lot but there is room for improvements." Also this is a place I can quickly list out my ideas.

Sure the camera is not for everyone, neither is a Farrari :loco:

Anyways, here goes:

1) Yes I do HDR photography (I won't explain anything as to why ;p)
Anyways they have it set to drive mode and you have to select from a list of brackets apart and some have 3 exposure, some five, none are consistent and there is no personal edit mode for this. Worst thing in my opinion, the timer is also set to the drive mode, so you can only have timer or the continuous exposure bracketing mode as an example. holding your finger on the shutter is never a good idea for HDR shots!

2) Pre-AF (Settings Tab 3) is default to on. Hey it's a taste thing, but keep focusing on nearest object to your focus area drains the already lowsy battery life. Auto anything should be set to OFF!

3)There is auto-ISO, and that's a good thing, and you can set the upper and lower limits, another good thing. However, the camera likes to choose 1/60 shutter speed, I don't know if this is set to the lens you have on, but I'd like user defined settings. I know peeps would offer using Manual mode, and that's exactly where I have live a lot of the time, however, not ALL of the time. Having it on Aperture Priority just gets things done right!

4) The rear AF/MF and AEL switch is great! However, I wish it could be a little larger or more and over protruding, just so my thumb can feel it a little better to AF! (For those who use it)

5) The Sony HVLF20M is Sony's most compact TTL flash. It's actually not bad, I had the AM version which needed an adapter shoe for the RX1 and A7 cameras. However, that's not my gripe!
My problem with the Flash is actually how it is designed to turn on/off and how it is used to bounce. For landscape orientation of the camera, this is mostly okay, but what about it Portrait orientation? I would for the flash to be swivel horizontally about the camera and not just vertically to turn on!

Strobist know what I am talking about here! Sometime you don't need the most powerful flash in the room, just a compact small flash to fit the nice size and weight of the Sony A7/R.

6) This is a question really, can I assign the playback of photos to other buttons or wheels to zoom in and to zoom out? It's a little awkward where the current buttons are placed, hopefully to a wheel would be nice! A touch of the button to get it centered and another touch to go all in, something like that!

7) I just want to say the camera meets or exceeded a lot of my initial expectations, in fact I was put of the idea of just another mirrorless camera, a FF mirrorless makes a huge difference. I'm talking IQ here, and despite knowing it's not everything, I care about the results :)

8) For a possible A9/R I hope they can address some of these user issues, I really hope they can make a silent shutter, currently the 5D Mark III is awesome in that department where they have it. Sure the Fuji's can be completely silent, and so I heard!

9) I know a lot of you, bought the camera to use Leica or other manual focusing lenses, and I think that's great, I've sold them all! So I'll let others add to the MF department as to Zebras and peaking and zoom focusing. :)

Enjoy!
So go ahead and list your thoughts and ideas!
 

Rawfa

Active member
Where can you set the upper and lower ISO limits?

I would like faster AF, higher bitrate for video, when I set the camera to auto I want to use the picture profile I´ve selected, some sort of fix for the NTSC msg (I set the video format to NTSC so I can shoot 24p and EVERYTIME I turn on the camera I get a "Running on NTSC" message, which I've read is normal on the Sony website...and which is just insane!)
 

pophoto

New member
Upper Lower ISO limits are set in the "Memory" settings on the top dial! I didn't go in to yet, but if I remember correctly on the RX1 they were user defined!
 

nostatic

New member
Wishlist (some should be a relatively easy fw fix).

magnification on image review - the C2 button is in a terrible place. There should be an option where once you go into review the front dial scrolls through images and the rear magnifies without needing to push C2 first (or maybe I missed that in the menu)

there is something with the A7 and strong point source lights and reflections/halos. In a perfect world, that wouldn't exist (I saw it with the A7r I tried, though it wasn't as pronounced)

Ability to set minimum shutter speed in P or A mode
 

Ben Rubinstein

Active member
We did this right at the beginning but it's interesting to see what the updates are after a couple of months of use.

Stuff that I believe can be helped with firmware.

1. Shutter lag on the A7r needs to be reduced!
2. Menu item for not allowing shoot without card.
3. A My Menu setting (not likely to happen but I can wish)
4. Ability to switch rear screen off altogether except for review. Like on a DSLR.
5. Ability to have review on rear screen only.
6. Choice of buttons to map magnification to for review.
7. Better peaking.

Things which need a redesign.

1. Shutter lag on par with a DSLR
2. Far better placement of the Shutter Release.
2a. Make shutter release higher, put more feeling into the spring
3. Move C2 to the right.
4. Make C1 & C3 and centre button stick up more so you can find them by touch.
5. Better battery life.
6. PC Sync socket.
7. Electronic shutter

In general Sony could do with getting a pro repair service and getting the stuff in rental. I honestly believe that the A7r is just the tip of an iceberg and if they want pro's to take them seriously they need these two things.
 
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Quentin_Bargate

Well-known member
I appreciate the technology in the A7R, but frankly I hate the thing. It lacks soul; the design is angular and clunky. It can produce great images but as a user experience, I'm not a fan.
 

Ben Rubinstein

Active member
I actually believe it's far more 'soul' than my 5D3 or our studios D800e's. It looks like an SLR used to look and it's quirky beyond belief. I shot my 5Dc's for 7 years but never felt any love for them. The A7r however, it's far closer to the only camera I ever fell in love with, my Canon A1.
 

pophoto

New member
I agree about the A7/R having some soul in this regard. I like the camera, but it does need improvements! Definitely more native lenses, but time will sort that issue out, but I hope certainly sooner than later!
 

gurtch

Well-known member
A single button called "PRO MODE" that would shut everything off except for DEDICATED DIALS for shutter speed, f stop, ISO, exposure compensation, and exposure mode. Just like my old film SLRs. I need nothing else. For those that like bells and whistles, they would not press the PRO MODE button, (it would have a lock to turn on or off). We all get what we want!
Dave in NJ
 
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