Report Claims the Sony A7s’ Image Quality is Comparable to Medium Format

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Sony’s new A7s camera has been blowing minds when it comes to low-light performance; and, frankly, with a full-frame sensor made up of pixels three times as large as those in the A7r, we expected impressive low-light performance. But it seems low-light performance isn’t the camera’s only forte.

According to a report by Michael Reichmann of The Luminous Landscape, the image files he’s getting from the A7s are capable of going toe-to-toe with medium format cameras in terms of image quality!

Reichmann managed to get his hands on a review unit, and his first impressions are generating some serious photographic hype for this powerful video capture machine.

Of course, the large pixels of the full-frame sensor offer the impressive high-ISO performance we’ve already seen; however, according to Reichmann, the 12-megapixel sensor also renders images to such a high degree that he was inspired to make direct comparison to the performance capabilities of medium format cameras.

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Specifically, he writes the following as a “sidebar” note of his first-impressions review:

With the Sony A7s we see that Megapixel count isn’t the be-all and end-all either. There is something to the look of A7s files that reminds me of medium format, and the only thing that I can think of that could be at work here are the large individual [pixels].

With no direct image comparison to see for ourselves, we can only take his word for it. But, seeing as he’s known for his thorough reviews and insights into cameras though, he’s an extremely reliable source, even for such a bold claim.

As more time goes by and more information about Sony’s latest full-frame mirrorless beast comes to light, we’ll be sure to keep you updated. In the meantime, you can read Reichmann’s original article.

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