Sony a7 vs a7S – Which Is Better For You?

Do you love the Sony a7? How about the a7S? Not sure which to get? Then let us help you with this comprehensive review we prepared just for you on the Sony a7 vs a7S. We have spent countless hours of research on each camera and the results of this research are what we have compiled to give this thorough review of the Sony a7 vs a7S.

But here are quick snippets to keep in mind. The Sony a7 and a7S are both pro, mirrorless cameras made by industry giant – Sony. They are pretty identical to each other, each being only a slight variant of the other. However, the a7S is the upgrade to the a7 as you will come to find in our spec comparison table.

Get the Sony a7 here!
Get the Sony a7S here!

So where are the major upgrades? Well, you find that the major differences between these cameras are in their max resolution, and video resolution. Besides that, there’s nothing much else. A further delve into our review should show you just what we’re talking about.

So, without further ado, let’s get our ahead with our side-by-side comparison of the Sony a7 vs a7S.

Sony a7 vs a7S – Comparison Overview

So, here’s the gist for those who can’t find the time to go all in to get all the detail from our lengthy review. Of course this is only going to be an executive summary. So, don’t expect us to go in depth. However, if you need to make a quick decision, then read up.

Sony a7 Vs a7S – Overall Rating Of Features

Alright, both these cameras are mirrorless pro cameras. Mirrorless cameras are different from DSLR cameras because they do not have mirrors. Instead light goes straight to the sensor without bouncing off an optical viewfinder first.

This therefore means that such cameras neither come with mirrors nor optical viewfinders. Instead, these cameras use electronic viewfinders which display processed images unlike optical viewfinders. Some people find that image quality is compromised on with the absence of an optical viewfinder but you find that these do pretty well even without them.

Plus, the absence of mirrors makes the cameras lighter, more compact, and more desirable for daily use.

That aside, these cameras produce real impressive pictures of great quality. You will lose some detail as you upgrade to the a7S though (and that’s funny). Its 12 MP max resolution means that you won’t be able to print large pictures. Plus, it’s not the best camera for those who like to do heavy cropping. The resolution isn’t sharp enough for that.

The real champ when it comes to low light photography is the Sony a7S. Even though a low light ISO of 2248 is great for low light settings, the 3702 low light setting of the Sony a7S is simply marvelous. Pictures taken in low light with the Sony a7S always come out exceptional to say the least.

When it comes to the video resolution of the Sony a7 vs a7S, we aren’t too picky. A full HD video resolution is more than satisfactory and 4K is also beautiful. Nonetheless, we really think it’s really a matter of personal choice. The presence or absence of 4K video isn’t make or break for us.

So, to summarize. The Sony a7 does better in max sensor resolution (24MP), focus points (117), color depth (24.8), and dynamic range (14.2). These are pretty good numbers for a camera that price.

The a7S, on the other hand, does better in ISO (100 – 409600), video resolution (3840 x 2160), low light ISO (3702), sensor pixel area (71.24 µm2), and battery life (360 shots).

For further information, please check out our comparison table.

PS: No Image Stabilization

Yeah, before we forget now might be a good time to tell you that neither of the cameras we’re looking at comes with built-in image stabilization. Weird, right? Especially since these are more than $1000 each.

If you’re not using a tripod for your photos, this might be a small issue as camera shake could destroy the quality of your images. Usually, Sony cameras come with sensor-shift image stabilization which is why we found it somewhat worrisome seeing the Sony a7 and a7S.

Usually, there are ways you can compensate for a lack of image stabilization besides working with a camera on a tripod. One of those ways is to take your photos with a faster shutter speed as well as higher ISO. You could also widen the camera’s aperture a little bit to compensate for a lack of image stabilization as well.

Of course, there’s always the more expensive choice of getting IS lenses. But not everybody might be able to afford that after getting a camera. If you’re one of those, the tips above should help.

Sony a7 Vs a7S – Our Opinion On the Price/Value Ratio

Most Sony cameras are reasonably priced if we are being honest and so are these cameras. However, to give a winner in the comparison of the Sony a7 vs a7S, our nod will go to the Sony a7.

Listen up, we know the a7s has more sophisticated features when compared to the a7. But for the price gap? Err… We ain’t buying that.

The Sony a7 currently sells for less than half the price of the Sony a7S. So, the price margin is pretty wide as you can see. The features of the a7 might not overtly knock your socks off, but for the price, you definitely have to agree that you’re getting a good deal.

If you don’t have so much money at the moment and the Sony a7 is all you can afford at this moment, don’t feel terrible. You’re getting an awesome camera for the money.

In comparison, for the additional payment you’d be making to get the a7S, you’re only getting 20 more shots on your battery life (everyone knows that Sony’s battery life sucks), better ISO and low light ISO, and a larger sensor pixel area.

Of course, you also get 4K video. But that’s about it and you won’t necessarily miss these features so much if you got the Sony a7 especially as a beginner. Their corresponding features on the a7 are good enough.

So price/value ratio? The Sony a7 is our winner in this section.

Get the Sony a7 here!
Get the Sony a7S here!

Sony a7 vs a7S – Comparison Table Of Major Specs And Features

 

Sony a7

Sony a7S

Announcement Date 22nd January, 2014 6th April, 2014
Sensor 24 MP max resolution, Full frame 12 MP max resolution, Full frame
ISO 100 – 25600 100 – 409600
Video Resolution 1920 x 1080p (Full HD) 3840 x 2160 (4K, Ultra HD)
Focus Points 117 25
Color Depth 24.8 23.9
Dynamic Range 14.2 13.2
Low Light ISO 2248 3702
Sensor Pixel Area 35.65µm2 71.24 µm2
Battery Life 340 shots 360 shots
  Get the Sony Alpha a7 here! Get the Sony Alpha a7S here!

Sony a7 vs a7S – What Situation Is Each Camera Best For?

Sony a7

Sony a7S

The Sony a7 and a7S pretty much work for the same purposes. However, one or two features make one slightly more preferred over the other even in the same genre.  

Because the Sony a7 has a large, full frame sensor, it also has a pretty great dynamic range. In fact, its dynamic rang is better than that of the a7S at 14.2. For this reason, therefore, the a7 is a great option for taking photos of architectural settings as well as landscape photos. Its larger field of view also makes it more suitable for taking wide angle shots.  

The Sony a7 is also great for taking street photography also because of its large, full frame sensor. Plus, its tilting screen also makes it easier to take photos at certain special angles in the street.  

The a7 is not so great for sports photography because of its continuous shooting feature. However, its max shutter speed is great which would have been good enough if the continuous shooting was anything above average.  

For daily use though, the a7 makes a great choice. Being a mirrorless camera, it is naturally lightweight and compact which makes it a good choice if you need a flexible camera for daily photography.   There’s no image stabilization though which sorta affects how you can use the a7 altogether.
And now to the Sony a7S. The a7S also fits the same genres as the a7.   It also has a full frame sensor just like the a7. So, it works for portrait photography and for architectural photography as well.  

It does not have as many focus points as the a7. So, it might not be the camera you want to pick if you’re into children or pet photography. You know those categories of subjects hardly hold still. Therefore, it’s easy for them to go out of focus. More focus could have helped with that but the a7S does not have that.  

For street photography, this camera works great. However, just like the a7, this camera isn’t great for sport photography. They both share the same limitation in their lack of built-in image stabilization as well as their mediocre continuous shooting feature.  

That said, one thing is sure, the Sony a7 is definitely not as good as the a7 for landscape photography. Its 12 MP resolution is just mediocre and not amazing. And that isn’t the only drawback of the 12MP sensor. If you’re looking to do some aggressive cropping, or you want to print in extra large sizes, get the a7 instead. The higher res means it produces pictures with greater detailing to make such happen.  

The Sony a7S also makes a fantastic daily camera as well.
Get the Sony Alpha a7 here! Get the Sony Alpha a7S here!
Get the Sony a7 here!
Get the Sony a7S here!

Sony a7 vs a7S – Which Features Do They Have In Common?

There are many similarities between the Sony a7 vs a7S as much as there are differences between them. This section of our area explores such similarities.

Full Frame Sensors

Although different resolutions, the sensor of Sony a7 vs a7S is the same. Full frame sensors are the professional’s choice when it comes to sensor sizes. But what are the benefits of full frame sensors?

Full frame sensors typically have a dynamic range and they are also better for low light settings. Full frame sensors also give a greater of depth of field which makes for really nice photos.

By virtue of these qualities, therefore, full frame sensors are great for architectural photography. Plus, because it can capture more light, a camera with a full frame sensor is much better for night or low light photography.

In short, cameras with full frame sensors give excellent image quality altogether.

High ISO

The ISO of your camera determines how sensitive your camera is to light. So, the higher the value, automatically, the higher your camera’s sensitivity to light and the better the quality of your images.

ISO becomes especially useful in low light situations where it normally would have been next to impossible to get a good picture. Because a camera’s ISO comes as a range, you have the option of adjusting the ISO to your tastes such that it captures just enough light for your image per time.

The only thing to note about high ISO is that the more you increase the ISO of your camera, the more you risk the chance of noise. To combat this, therefore, experts usually advise adjusting your aperture’s settings or shutter speed.

This is because a high ISO setting allows the user to work with faster shutter speeds. This helps to minimize the effects of camera shake (especially with handheld cams) as well as subject motion. Plus, you also get to work with a smaller aperture so you can achieve more bokeh (greater depth of field).

So, in practice, even when in a dark setting, you’ll be able to shoot more easily with the same shutter speed and aperture setting without requiring brighter light. Someone using a camera with a lower ISO would need extra light to achieve the same thing.

Hence, for this reason, action and light photographers love cameras with higher ISO settings. And either of the Sony a7 vs a7S would make a wonderful choice. The lower ISO here is that of the Sony a7 which is between 100 – 25600. The Sony a7S, on the other hand, would be any light and action photographer’s best friend with its ISO of 100 – 409600.

Get the Sony a7 here!
Get the Sony a7S here!

3 Inch Tilting Screen

A tilting screen is always a plus on any camera and the same place applies to the Sony a7 and a7s. Because it is not hinged, it makes things more flexible for the photographer.

You no longer have to kneel at awkward angles just to take pictures. You can now get really nice pictures from nice angles simply by squatting and tilting the screen.

And tilting screens don’t only find their uses in handheld cameras. Even cameras used on a tripod can benefit from a tilting screen. The menu is easier to read. And for the videographer, it’s easier to compose your screen with a tilting screen.

The only other thing we would have been excited to find on this screen would have been a touch feature. If this titling screen was also touch screen, this would have literally been the perfect screen!

Dynamic Range

What is the dynamic range of a camera? It represents the range of brightness your camera is able to record. So, just like the ISO we discussed earlier, the higher the dynamic range of your camera, the more brightness your camera can capture.

How does this apply in real life practice? Well, typically a camera with a good dynamic range allows you capture the details in the shadows and highlights which can make all the difference when you see it in photos.

The issue with dynamic range typically shows itself in conditions of bright light. This is because the dynamic range of the subject tends to exceed that of the camera. It’s not the same in a low light setting where it usually falls within the dynamic range of your camera.

So, what dynamic range is good enough? And Sony a7 vs a7S which wins this round? Well, technically, that would be the Sony a7 because it comes with 14.2 stops of dynamic range whereas the a7S comes with only 13.2 stops.

But anyhow, even though the difference seems pretty wide, these are still pretty good numbers. Generally, anything around 12 to 14 is considered good enough. And the best of cameras come with a dynamic range that’s just under 15 stops.

So, as you can see, both cameras pass this round in flying colors just one more than the other.

RAW Support

Having RAW support on cameras is becoming pretty much commonplace so much so that even cameras no longer have monopoly on this feature. Even some smartphones these days also feature RAW support. And, of course, this format has its benefits.

First off, RAW photos are the only kind of images you can carry out non-destructive editing on. And what does non-destructive editing mean? It means that no matter how many edits you carry out on your photo, the photo still retains that original quality with which you shot it in the first place. This makes it sweeter to undo your edits since the image always return back to normal.

Also, RAW images are better for quick edits than JPEG. You can better fix issues like underexposure and the likes on a RAW file better than on JPEG.

The only challenge with shooting RAW would be getting enough space to store all your photos. Plus, you can’t just edit your RAW photos with just anything. You need special software like Lightroom and Photoshoot.

These two small inconveniences give JPEG photos their opportunity to shine. JPEG photos are easier to store and they don’t need special software or super-fast computers to process. You’d have to pay a small price though which is the loss of detail you get from RAW photos.

Get the Sony a7 here!
Get the Sony a7S here!

Mirrorless Cameras

Another similarity between the Sony a7 vs a7S is the fact they both do not come with mirrors. Let’s see why that’s important.

Normally, cameras that use mirrors are supposed to reflect light on to the optical viewfinder. However, in the absence of a mirror, the light reflects straight on to the sensor. So, no optical viewfinder. Instead of that, such cameras use an electronic viewfinder.

More people prefer a mirrorless cameras to cameras with a mirror because humans are lazy. Lol, okay maybe that’s extreme but mirrorless cameras are typically compact and lightweight. So, if you’re thinking of a camera to carry around for everyday photography, then you’ll most likely be directed to a mirrorless camera.

And they produce good quality images too even with the absence of an optical viewfinder. But even more importantly, especially for beginners, mirrorless cameras typically have fewer settings. This way, they are less intimidating to beginners.

Shutter Speed

Shutter speed is a measure of the length of time your camera stays open or the length of time it takes your camera to take a picture, more simply. The length of time your camera shutter stays open impacts on the quality of pictures you get at the end of the day.

If your shutter is slower to close, it naturally means that the sensor will be exposed to more light than a camera with a slower shutter speed. This phenomenon has its impact on your images.

For example, with a slower shutter speed, images tend to blur around the moving parts. This sounds bad, right? Well, not so much actually. There are areas where you’d need just that.

Say you want to represent super fast speed in a moving object, a fan, a motorbike, or a car, you’re better off with a slower shutter speed. By intentionally blurring the wheels, you further enhance that sense of speed.

A faster shutter speed, on the other hand, freezes time. So, in this case, when you capture a moving object with a fast shutter speed, the object actually freezes in time. The photo you get, therefore, appears static and motionless when, in fact, the subject was in motion as at the time the photo was taken.

In the case of the Sony a7 vs a7S, both cameras have an outstanding shutter speed at 1/8000s. Even more impressively, this speed also goes down to as slow as 30 seconds. Think of all the things you can do with these cameras with all that available to you.

Alright, one more thing about fast shutter speeds. A faster shutter speed means your sensor is exposed to light for only a fraction of a second. So, they typically produce darker images than photos taken with slower shutter speeds.

Time Lapse Recording

Time lapse recording is something we’re totally crazy about when it comes to cameras and why not? Those things are so cool and if you’ve ever seen such videos (and you probably have) you know that they are absolutely amazing.

In time lapse recording, you capture the film frames of your footage at a rate that’s much slower than the rate at which they are played back. So, as a result, when you playback your footage at normal speed, time appears to be moving faster than normal, like a time lapse.

As a result, therefore, an event that occurs in say days or even months can be viewed in as little as seconds or minutes. Time lapse can actually speed up an event by factors of up to tens of thousands or even millions.

The effect is best described as a sensory delight. Check out this time lapse video to confirm everything we’ve been saying so far about time lapse recording.

Weather-Sealed Bodies

Weather/environmental sealing is important to ensuring that your camera lasts. A weather-sealed camera body features rubber sealing at the buttons and other joints of the camera. This ensures that your camera lasts even with constant exposure to the weather and constant use.

This feature is necessary for cameras especially devices you’re going to have to use every day. Weather sealed bodies are more durable and rugged than non-weather-sealed cameras.

Get the Sony a7 here!
Get the Sony a7S here!

Focus Points

Of course, every camera has its focus points, right? As the feature probably suggests, focus points help your camera to get a precise target on the subject so that they aren’t out of focus when you take the shot.

Cameras can come with any number of focus points from 5 to 77 and even beyond that.

You notice these focus points when you take your photos and you press the shutter halfway. When you do that, on the viewfinder or display screen, you notice the AF points light up in green and red on the screen.

Now, if you’re taking a picture where you’re using a great depth of field or an immobile subject, auto focus points should work great. But here’s the challenge with auto focus or many focus points. Other than these scenarios which we have described, many times, with autofocus, when you take a shot, it becomes a tussle which confuses your camera.

So, your camera doesn’t know where exactly to focus because you didn’t tell it where to focus. Hence, it will happen that the first point to latch on to something wins and that might not be what you wanted to focus on. With more focus points, the risk of taking photos that are out of focus increase because there are too many focus points on the camera (hence too many chances to wander off).

So, say you’re supposed to be taking a shot of a bird perched on a tree branch with a contrast-filled background. Your camera can get confused on where to focus and instead of focusing on the butterfly, focus on the background. So, the primary image looks blurry while the background falls in the focus.

Well, this is mostly an argument for manual focus point selection.

But we did that to give you an idea of what out of focus could look like. Anyway, back to the number of focus points. A larger number of focus points is especially great if you are taking photos of subjects that don’t like to sit still. Good examples are kids and pets.

With more focus points, there are fewer chances of the subject moving out of focus. However, if you’re more of a portrait or landscape guy, then you might probably be better off with fewer focus points. This makes it easier to adjust your subjects and get them in focus since you have fewer choices to pick from.

5 FPS Continuous Shooting

A 5 FPS continuous shooting is quite poor as it means that when the shutter is depressed, in one second, your camera only takes about 5 pictures. The areas where this feature is particularly useful, sport and wildlife photography, does not even tolerate an FPS rate that low.

Typically, FPS ranges from 1 to 14 FPS. So, you can see that 5 FPS is pretty low on the ladder. To put things in perspective, this Olympus camera has a continuous shooting rate of 60 Frames Per Second! Dope, right?

Now, we aren’t saying that every camera must have up to 60 FPS. But you do agree with us now when we say that 5 FPS is too low for a pro camera, right?

Get the Sony a7 here!
Get the Sony a7S here!

Sony a7 vs a7S – Features Unique To Each Camera

What are the unique features each of these cameras – the Sony a7 vs a7S – have? We uncover those areas in the next sections.

Sony a7 Vs a7S – Features Unique To The Sony a7

24 Megapixels

24 megapixels might seem like overkill for some people. However, it does have its uses. For one, pictures have more detail and you’ll be able to print your pictures in a decently large size, up to 16 x 20 in size.

Comparing the two cameras, the resolution of the Sony a7 vs a7S is significantly higher, twice higher actually. The Sony a7 has a sensor resolution of 24 MP.

In comparison, this means that images from the a7 will be heavier and need more processing power to edit the image. The improved detailing is nice but of course it comes at a small price.

1920 x 1080 Video Resolution

The Sony a7 comes with a full HD video resolution which might come to some as a letdown to some people. But just before you sigh, you might want to keep reading this. A full HD video resolution is not so bad and there are many ways you can use it for your project.

First off, 4K might be totally amazing and all but in many cases, a full HD video resolution is actually more than sufficient. In broadcasting, for instance, the standard video format is full HD and not 4K.

Also, if you’re just starting out as a photographer, you might want to begin with a full HD video resolution. Getting a pro camera is expensive enough without having to spend additional resources getting powerful computers with a large memory.

Plus, full HD videos are easily upgradeable to 4K if it ever comes to it. A full HD video that’s upgraded to 4K will, of course, not be the same quality as a footage that was taken in 4K from the beginning. Nonetheless, as long as you’re not sending the footage to Netflix, it will generally suffice. You can share your upgraded footage on the internet and be proud of your work.

Get the Sony a7 here!
Get the Sony a7S here!

Sony a7 vs a7S – Features Unique To The Sony a7S

3840 x 2160 Ultra HD (4K) Video Resolution

The a7S comes with 4K ultra HD video resolution which is one of the upgrades made to the a7S. For a camera at this price, we think it’s a nice feature. It will demand more from the beginner as we explained before now.

But anyway, 4K ultra HD has a sharper image quality when compared to full HD. This is the primary reason more people prefer 4K video to full HD.

However, there’s a price to pay for such sharpness. 4K footage typically runs large so, you’ll need a lot of space to save your various videos. Also, you’ll need a computer with speed else editing your footage will be frustrating. In fact, it will be so frustrating, you’d even wish you had your full HD video resolution.

Based on these reasons, therefore, we usually do not recommend 4K video resolution for beginners. Since they are just starting out, they might not have access to all they need to fully maximize the benefits of 4K.

Anyway, moving on from that, 4K captures sequences at a much higher bitrate than full HD. Plus it encounters less color banding which is why it captures subtle color changes better than full HD.

And just like full HD, 4K can also be converted to full HD, although in this case, that would be downsampling. Just like when you upgrade full HD to 4K, downsampling from 4K to full HD doesn’t appear as nice as it would have been had the video been shot full HD from the start.

12 MP Max Resolution

A 12 MP max resolution is just okay and we must say we are somewhat disappointed to see that. We know people say there are more important things than megapixels when discussing image quality but that does not mean that it is not important.

It’s easy to predict that the image quality of the Sony a7 vs a7S will be far more superior. A 24 megapixel will definitely produce better images than a 12 MP camera.

Even those who say that the quality of the images does not rise on fall on the megapixels of your camera peg the benchmark at 16 megapixels. So, yeah tough break with the 12 megapixel resolution.

Get the Sony a7 here!
Get the Sony a7S here!

Sony a7 Vs a7S – Unique Pros

Sony a7 Vs a7S – Pros Unique To The Sony a7

  • It comes with a max sensor resolution of 24 megapixels which gives clearer details and can also print at a fairly large size.
  • Has more focus points which makes the camera great for taking photos of pets or children.
  • At 474 grams, this camera is lighter than the a7S which makes it a great choice for daily photography.
  • It has a greater color depth at 24.8.
  • Dynamic range of the a7 is greater at 14.2 stops.
  • Lastly, it’s more affordable than the Sony a7S by a pretty wide margin.

Sony a7 Vs a7S – Pros Unique To The Sony a7S

  • The Sony a7S has a higher Max ISO of 409600.
  • Its battery life is also stronger at 360 shots per charge.
  • Better low light ISO at 3702.
  • Sensor pixel area is also larger at 71.24µm2.
  • 4K video resolution is also another unique advantage of the Sony a7S.
Get the Sony a7 here!
Get the Sony a7S here!

Sony a7 Vs a7S – Unique Cons

Sony a7 Vs a7S – Cons To The Sony a7

  • Max ISO is 25600 which does not compare to the 409600 of the Sony a7S.
  • About 20 shots short off the battery life of the Sony a7S at 340 shots per charge.
  • Low light ISO is also a bit poorer at 2248 in comparison to Sony a7S’ 3702.
  • Sensor pixel area is a lot smaller at 35.65 µm2.
  • Video resolution is lower than that of the Sony a7S at 1920 x 1080 pixels.

Sony a7 Vs a7S – Cons Unique To The Sony a7S

  • A 12 MP max sensor resolution is not as great as a 24 MP sensor resolution.
  • Only about 25 focus points which might not be so bad if the camera isn’t to be used for certain kinds of photography.
  • It’s the heavier camera at 489 grams.
  • Color depth is lower at 23.9.
  • Dynamic range is at 13.2 stops so it isn’t as high as that of the Sony a7.
  • It’s also the more expensive camera.

Sony a7 Vs a7S – Common Pros

Sony a7

Sony a7S

This camera comes with a wireless connection which is great for transferring pictures to your computer or smartphone snappily and easily. This also applies to the Sony a7S.
Comes with a tilting screen Also comes with a tilting screen.
RAW support for amazing quality pictures with all the sharp details you want. Also applies.
Comes with face detection focus which is pretty fast Also applies
Microphone port available Also available
Headphone port is also available Also available
Weather sealed bodies are great for maintaining the durability of the camera. The camera also comes weather-sealed.
Time lapse recording is always a plus Time lapse recording is also available here
You get remote smartphone control on your camera. Also available
Uses an electronic viewfinder Also uses an electronic viewfinder
Get the Sony Alpha a7 here! Get the Sony Alpha a7S here!
Get the Sony a7 here!
Get the Sony a7S here!

Sony a7 Vs a7S – Common Cons

Sony a7

Sony a7S

This does not come with image stabilization and this is quite disturbing. However, it’s perhaps not as disturbing as the over $1000 Sony a7S which does not feature image stabilization. That’s just crazy for the price and for the fact that it is a camera in this modern day. Every camera should have built-in image stabilization.
This camera does not come with a built-in flash The Sony a7S does not come with a built-in flash.
Sony! As you might know, they are not popular for their battery lives. So, it didn’t come as a big surprise that the Sony a7 came with a poor battery life. 340 shots is just not good enough. Even at 360 shots, the Sony a76 still isn’t particularly a camera with a strong battery.

Sony a7 Vs a7S – General Feeling Among Users

Sony a7

Sony a7S

Alright, so a lot of people seem to agree that this is a well-made camera. So many comments about that. From the feel of the camera to the looks of the camera, we noticed that users really enjoyed touching, holding, and feeling this camera even before getting to the actual purpose of the camera.  

Furthermore, we also observed that a lot of customers were impressed by the fact that the camera is lightweight and compact as well.  This made it great for those looking to use it as a daily cam. The camera is so small and so portable.  

Photo quality? Well, the report seemed consistent. The Sony a7 produces photos of amazing quality. We could probably attribute a part of this to the fact that the camera comes with a 24MP camera. But whatever be the reason for that, customers love their photos.  

The sensor of this camera is also quite good as users observed. And users were also happy they had some cool apps to play with as well.   As always, there were complaints about Sony’s battery life. It was a huge problem for so many people and you could hear it from literally every commenter.  

The FPS was also not some folks’ best feature. However, it seemed to only have been noticed by customers into action photography. Funny, that not many people brought up the issue with the lack of image stabilization.
The image quality from this camera is awesome. Everybody agrees and those who don’t were in the minority.  

Also, the 4K video resolution of the camera is something users really loved about the camera. People seem to enjoy shooting videos with the camera.  

The tilt screen was also an advantage. However, a couple of people still felt like the tilt screen could have been a touch screen to make life easier for users.  

Another small complaint about the Sony a7S and apparently about Sony cameras in general is their menu. The interface is really small and there are a lot of things packed into that small interface which many people find somewhat annoying.  

Away from that though, this is an excellent camera for low light settings and so many people testify to that. We found so many people loving up on the cameras for the low light capability of the camera, although we did get an isolated complaint. Apparently the customer found that the picture quality suffered a little but agreed that the camera was good for taking pictures in low light settings indoors.  

As to durability, you can say this camera lasts long. Some customers who had used this for a number of years testified to that. From their comments, the Sony a7S still works great. No complaints.  

In all, we think people were really happy with the value for money they go from the a7S.
Get the Sony Alpha a7 here! Get the Sony Alpha a7S here!
Get the Sony a7 here!
Get the Sony a7S here!

Sony a7 Vs a7S – In conclusion

We can understand if picking between these two cameras – the Sony a7 vs a7S – was a bit tricky in the beginning. After all, the Sony a7S is a pretty pricey camera and it’s only wise to want to be careful while making a decision. We are sure though that our comparison of the Sony a7 vs a7S has helped you finally settle on one.

For us, here’s our advice.

We will advise you to go for the a7S only if you’re crazy about 4K video resolution. And it’s not just about being crazy about 4K, it’s about having the necessary tools to work with 4K. If you do, and that’s how you like to shoot, then by all means, get the a7S. It’s more expensive but it should be worth the money.

However, if on the other hand, you’re not much of the 4K guy, then maybe you could just sit the a7S out and go for the a7. It’s less expensive but still a more powerful camera in many respects. The only other area where it doesn’t do as well as the a7S is in low light ISO. Besides that, this camera is more than sufficient especially if you’re a beginner.

Get the Sony a7 here!
Get the Sony a7S here!