Review: Sony A7CR, 61-megapixel Full-frame Small Camera

The Sony A7CR is a full-frame, 61-megapixel mirrorless camera offering high resolution and top features in a compact body. This isn’t the first time Sony has released a small camera that packs a huge punch. Remember the Sony DSC-RX1R Mark II? As indicated by its name—C for compact, R for resolution—the A7CR shares similar specs from its larger sibling, the Sony A7R V, in a much smaller and lighter package. 

Our resident photographer, Ian took the A7CR to Mexico and put it through its paces. In this Sony A7CR review, Ian tests its capabilities as a smaller, lower-priced alternative to the A7R V. Can the A7CR’s high resolution perform in a small form factor? Let’s find out. 

By Ian Howorth, MPB Brighton

Sony A7CR Specs

The Sony A7CR shares broadly similar specs to the Sony A7R V, with a few differences, at a lower price. The smaller size of the A7CR comes at the cost of video resolution, fewer viewfinder screen dots and a slower mechanical shutter—and it only has one media slot. But overall, the A7CR’s specs look pretty impressive. 

Overall, the benefits outweigh its drawbacks. 

Pros

• Same high-resolution 60-megapixel sensor as the A7RV

• Top-notch IBIS performance

• Compact size with optional grip

• Great autofocus and AI functionality

Cons

• Only one card slot

• Low-resolution viewfinder

• Overly complex menu

Handling and Controls

Sony should get some credit for being able to pack this much camera in such a small package. After all, the A7CR is a 60-megapixel full-frame camera—pretty awesome! During my time with the A7CR considering its handling and controls, a few factors stood out: its menu system, button placement, optional grip, overall ergonomics and viewfinder. 

Menu System

Straight off the bat, I’ll say that I’m not a massive fan of the menu system—there’s something a little clunky about it. However, this isn't specific to the A7CR—Sony has implemented this menu system across most of their recent cameras—so I won’t mark the A7CR down for that specifically. But if you’re moving across from an older Sony model, like the Sony A7 III, the A7CR’s menu system might be a rude awakening. 

Button Placement

Moving on, button placement is standard Sony. The A7CR shares much of the architecture of the larger Alpha models, albeit with a few omissions. Due to its smaller form factor, the A7CR is missing some of the customisable ‘C’ buttons. There’s just one, C1, that you can customise for quick changes—but you can reprogramme some of the other buttons and dials. 

Everything else is as you might expect. There’s a large mode dial at the top, with a smaller exposure compensation dial to the right of it. I used the Sony FE 40mm f/2.5 G lens, which has an aperture dial on the barrel. So, I was able to reuse two other dials on the camera to control shutter speed and ISO. This provided me with easy access to the exposure triangle. 

Ergonomics

I found the camera to be comfortable. While the slightly larger Alpha cameras are more comfortable, I found the trade off against size and weight to be reasonable. If the A7CR was any bigger, it might as well just be an A7RV. 

I was in Mexico to review the camera, and I found the A7CR to be fairly unassuming with the 40mm lens attached. I had the silver model, but—if you want to really fly under the radar—the all-black version is even more inconspicuous.

Grip

Sony has also released an optional grip extension—the Sony GP-X2—which you can add to the base of the camera. The grip will extend its size slightly, allowing your pinky not to be left dangling below the camera. I appreciated the grip on the longer shooting days. You might also find the grip useful if you’re using the camera nonstop, like at events. 

Electronic viewfinder

The electronic viewfinder leaves something to be desired, particularly when compared to the A7R V with its 9-million-dot viewfinder. The A7CR, with just 2 million dots, is noticeably lacking resolution in the viewfinder. Saying that, though, the A7RC is much cheaper than the A7R V. You can’t have your cake and eat it too. 

However, the reduced viewfinder resolution didn’t really impact shooting for me. After all, I treat a viewfinder as just an exposure and framing tool. On paper, the A7CR’s viewfinder resolution looks worse than the A7R V. But in practice, they’re both absolutely fine to use. 

Sensor

The A7CR has the same sensor as the A7RV. This is really important. In sharing the sensor, the A7CR provides the same dynamic range, ISO performance, resolution and autofocus wizardry as the pricier A7R V. 

The sensor is simply phenomenal. 

For a long time, I thought 60 megapixels was way too much to fit into a full-frame sensor. I feared overly-synthetic images, and a loss of ISO performance (owing to the smaller pixels, crammed into the same small space, creating noise above 3,200). But even at 3,200 ISO, the A7CR’s sensor doesn't skip a beat.

Sure, past 1,600 ISO, the camera begins to texturise the image a little. But on certain images, it's unnoticeable. I didn’t apply any de-noising to these images. But even if you aren’t a fan of the extra texture, at 3200 and beyond, there’s nothing Lightroom or Photoshop can’t denoise. Dynamic range remains excellent, albeit with a bit more contrast—but there is still plenty of detail in the shadows.

Autofocus

The autofocus on the A7CR is excellent. It’s sure-footed, with tons of options. The A7CR is a multi-purpose camera. It might be an event photographer's second camera, which doubles as their everyday carry for personal work and family shots. 

It's reassuring to know the A7CR’s autofocus has been carried across from the more expensive Sony models. You get the same level of pinpoint accuracy, plus face, animal and motion recognition. Like most smart autofocus systems, it isn't perfect. Shooting in low light, fully open, can create problems. So, it's wise to set a quick customisable button to toggle between autofocus types—depending on what you are doing—to ensure correct focus on your chosen subject or focal point.

Image Quality

Well, the Sony A7CR’s image quality is very good. In the past, the biggest issue I've had with Sony cameras is that the viewfinder images are just a little boring. In my previous experience, when reviewing images on a Sony, the images aren’t as punchy and perfect as on Canon. Or imbued with style and character like Fujifilm. They’re just a little bland. 

When you get the images from the A7CR into post, however, they’re such a breeze to edit right away. Editing-wise, I’d even go as far as to say that Sony ARW files are some of the easiest to get to a good spot. Other manufacturers, like Fujifilm, prioritise the shooting experience. Sony, on the other hand, goes for extreme accuracy during capture—so you can play around later, from a solid, colour-accurate starting point. 

It’s not that other cameras produce inaccurate colours. There’s just something about the Sony RAW files, with ‘correct’ white balance, that just makes the images look more real than a photograph. 

The amount of data hidden in these files is astonishing. Both colour and light, there’s always a bit more colour to find and a bit more detail in the shadows to lift. 

I initially thought 60 megapixels would be too much for the full frame sensor. But I actually found the images to be very organic in their look—never oversharpened or synthetic in any way. 

In terms of high ISO, I found the sweet spot to be around 1,600. Even in high-contrast areas with a lot of darkness, the shadows remained clean. 

At 3,200 ISO the A7CR was still excellent—but blocked-up shadows would struggle a little to raise exposure beyond a stop, without exhibiting unwanted textures and artefacts. But don’t let that put you off. After all, it’s a question of luminosity—I’m talking about real deep darks, rather than just shadow. 

To be honest, I rarely needed anything past 3,200 ISO—and that's with cameras without IBIS. With the seven stops of IBIS available on tap, I found it easy to shoot at 3,200 ISO with one-second exposures. Although, I was using a 40mm prime lens. The higher you go in focal length, the quicker shutter speed you might need.

Image Stabilisation

Usually, any time after 19:00, I carry a tripod. But I was utterly humbled by the A7CR. And this pleases me no end. I'm pretty impatient, even with a tripod—so I’ll still shoot at 1600 ISO, just to shorten exposure time. 

While IBIS is becoming more widespread in mirrorless cameras, it still shocks me that I can handhold for 2 seconds and get a sharp image. Don’t get me wrong, I'll still carry a tripod. But for those happenstance shots—between places, when I didn’t have time to set up the tripod—the A7CR’s IBIS was a blessing. 

You’ll still need to take care with stabilising the camera manually. Particularly when you’re moving quickly, or using shutter speeds slower than half a second, you’ll want to help the IBIS as much as you can. Keeping your arms tight against your chest and holding your breath is still the ticket.

Sony A7CR for Travel 

When choosing lenses for this trip, I considered bringing a zoom—specifically the Sony FE 24-70mm f/2.8 GM II. I felt this would give me a good mix of image quality and flexibility. However, with 60 megapixels, I settled on the Sony FE 40mm f/2.5 G lens for two reasons. First, I knew that 40mm distorts an acceptable amount while providing enough width to be a solid everyday carry. Second, I knew I could frame up and then crop in, while still retaining plenty of resolution. It’s a fantastic compromise, particularly when you’re trying to travel light and not bring too much attention to yourself. 

For me, the camera's strength is harnessing its size and weight to my advantage with as little compromise as possible. You no longer have to leave your larger, primary camera at home—the Sony A7CR is your ‘big’ camera and your travel camera, all in one.

Video

The Sony A7CR tops out at 4K resolution. There’s no 8K here. But let’s not forget, the A7CR is a cheaper alternative to the A7RV. 

The lower video resolution could be down to the camera’s smaller size, which is presumably less adept at heat dissipation. However, 4K is still pretty good. You also have 120fps slow motion, albeit at just 1920x1080. 

When it comes to codecs, there’s plenty of choice for each setting. You can record 10-bit footage internally. You also get S-Log3 and S-Cinetone, and the ability to add user-specific LUTs. The 4k resolution is uncropped, full frame, at up to 30p, but anything past 30p has a crop of 1.2x. 

Verdict

I was pleasantly surprised by the A7CR. Before using the camera, I genuinely thought I wouldn't get on with it. I was worried about overly complicated menus and plastic-looking images. While I did get the annoying menus, the images are simply gorgeous. Plus, menus are like anything—you hate them when you first use them, but then you get used to them. Depending on what you’re doing, you might not even have to delve into the menus too often. Set and forget, then everything can be done via the dials, Q or Function menus. 

Back to the images: they really are all about the resolution packed into such a small body. The resolution opens up so many possibilities for the camera—it can handle pretty much anything. If you are unwilling to crop, mount a zoom lens. Or, to keep the entire setup small, mount a smart focal length and crop as needed.

Sony wisely added the option of a grip extension. The grip is especially useful for photographers who want to use the A7CR for professional work but also to use the camera—sans grip—for personal work or travel. It's just a shame that Sony didn’t include a second media card slot. 

Overall, the A7CR’s IBIS, resolution, size and weight all contribute to a phenomenal package. Despite a few drawbacks, the Sony A7CR just lets you get on and shoot. 

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This article is part of the MPB Guide to Travel Photography, our comprehensive look at the travel photography genre with advice, recommended camera equipment and interviews with some of the most exciting travel photographers today.