Sony has always been obsessed with making small cameras; indeed, that was one of the main motivations behind its original full-frame mirrorless Alpha A7 and A7R twins a decade ago. But while those cameras were strikingly smaller than their DSLR contemporaries, their current successors have put on plenty of bulk. So now, the firm has revisited its compact-bodied A7C line with two new models: the 61MP A7CR and the 33MP A7C II. If these resolutions sound familiar, that’s because they’re shared with the SLR-shaped A7R V and A7 IV, respectively.
Compared to the A7R V, the high-resolution A7CR comes with two obvious attractions. Firstly, it’s rather smaller, with its boxy body employing a corner-mounted viewfinder and a side-hinged fully articulated touchscreen. It’s also notably less expensive, at £3,200 body-only rather than £4,000. However, for those on a budget the four-year-old A7R IV is more affordable still, offering the same sensor in a £3,000 body, albeit with older autofocus technology and a less-refined user interface.
Compared to the original A7C, the A7CR takes on board many of the same design improvements as we saw in the recent APS-C Alpha 6700, which makes it a much more pleasant camera to use. But on the other hand, the smaller body comes with some real compromises compared to its SLR-style stablemates. With other manufacturers apparently abandoning similar flat-bodied ‘rangefinder-style’ designs, does the Sony Alpha A7CR make sense in an increasingly crowded full-frame mirrorless market?
Features
In essence, the A7CR can be seen as a slightly stripped-back A7R V, housed in a body that’s very similar to the A6700. In design terms, it fixes the original A7C’s biggest flaws, with a front control dial on the handgrip, a larger viewfinder that offers 0.7x magnification, and a comprehensive touch interface.
Sony has again paired its class-leading 61MP full-frame sensor with its Bionz XR processor. The sensitivity range covers ISO 100-32,000, plus extended low settings down to ISO 50, and high options up to ISO 102,400. As on the A7R V, you can also record lossless-compressed raw files
