Sony Alpha 7S review – Image quality
Colour and white balance
Image: The colours of the early monring were captured beautifully in the Alpha 7S’s default image setting
The A7S’s white balance performance is certainly reliable, while a host of presets are on hand along with full manual colour temperature selection should you wish to adjust the camera settings to suit.
In turn, colour reproduction is pleasing in all of the various JPEG modes.
Exposure
The Sony A7S boasts a 1200-segment metering system and on the whole it performs well. It delivers pleasing exposures, displaying a slight tendency to prioritise mid-tones in evaluative metering mode.
One reason why it may prioritise mid tones is that it features such an impressive dynamic range. Lab testing reveals that at its base ISO setting the A7S features a wider dynamic range that even the professional level Nikon D4S. As a result, the camera manages to maintain detail in both shadow and highlights even in the most challenging of conditions.
Resolution
Image: Obviously the 12.2-million-pixel sensor of the Alpha 7S doesn’t resolve as much detail as its stablemates, but at low sensitivities details are clear and crisp
While the 12.2MP sensor doesn’t resolve a huge amount of detail, managing around 24lpmm at ISO 100, the good news is that thanks to the excellent control of noise this amount of detail resolved remains fairly consistent throughout the ISO range.
Noise
As you might expect, when you reach the high ISO settings towards the very top of the impressive range there are clear signs of luminance and colour noise on show. However, at the ‘mid-range’ of ISO 6,400, 12,800 and 25,600 the A7S is hugely impressive. Noise is fantastically well controlled and images display the same characteristics normally seen on ISO 1,600, 3,200 and 6,400 respectively.
