Review: Sony A7S specs

The full-frame mirrorless Sony A7S, released in 2015, has features with almost equal emphasis on appealing to both photographers and videographers. The Sony A7S includes a 12.2-megapixel sensor, autofocus system with 25 contrast-detection points, five frames-per-second continuous shooting speed, ISO up to 409,600 and a silent electronic shutter. Plus, the Sony A7S features Full-HD 1080p video shooting at 50Mbps at 60p and 4K video output over HDMI.

For stills, the 12.2-megapixel CMOS sensor features gapless technology, which means there is no space between its light-gathering photodiodes. The key benefits of this are the ability to deliver less noise at higher ISO settings and a better dynamic range. The camera’s ISO range is 50-409,600, a factor that allows photographers to shoot hand-held in low-light situations. This low-light capability makes the A7S a serious consideration for astrophotography if you want to shoot the skies at night.

The autofocus system features 25 on-sensor contrast-detection points but, unlike its Sony A7 and Sony A7 II sister models, the A7S doesn't offer the additional use of phase-detection points. This means that the A7S is fine when focusing on still or slow-moving subjects but, in focusing terms, it lacks the benefit that phase-detection offers for more accurate focus tracking of fast-moving subjects. The A7S is still capable of a top shooting speed of five frames-per-second—this drops to 2.5 fps when in continuous autofocus—for shooting sports or wildlife. The potential speed is further aided by a top shutter speed of 1/8000sec, which helps to freeze action.

On the rear of the camera, there’s a three-inch [7.62cm], tiltable XtraFine LCD screen with a 921K-dot resolution, which allows you the flexibility to frame and shoot at creative angles. It also offers Live View so you can carefully frame, compose and check focusing on your stills or planned video scenes. The Sony A7S also features built-in WiFi for fast transfer of images to compatible devices and NFC connectivity that can be activated via touching the camera with a similarly enabled NFC device.

The A7S boasts an impressive array of video shooting features. These include internal 1080p Full HD shooting, 4K shooting that can be output to an external device via HDMI, the low contrast S-Log2 tone curve that allows more of the camera’s dynamic range in its video files—allowing for greater flexibility in the edit suite—and the option to record timecode. The camera also has microphone and headphone sockets for audio, and the full ISO range also operates for video shooting, which means you can shoot creative video in extreme low-light conditions.

The Sony A7S is well worth considering if you're looking for a full-frame model that has equally robust photography and video specs. It scores highly on low-light shooting capabilities, the ability to produce good quality image files and a range of video shooting options, although 4K video has to be output to an external monitor. Take a closer look at the A7S if you’re interested in shooting both stills and video.