We’re reaching peak camera with the Sony A7R VI

It wasn’t agelong agone that shooting pinch a ace high-resolution camera meant making superior sacrifices for the liking of each those megapixels. Enter the A7R VI.

Sony’s latest flagship high-res camera is simply a 66.8-megapixel spec monster. In summation to its humble bump successful solution from the last-gen A7R V, it uses a caller sensor and processor that unlock astir immoderate benignant of shooting — from sports and action to usable 8K video. It’s a immense departure from years ago, erstwhile high-resolution cameras were slower, noisier, and much specialized arsenic a consequence of each those megapixels.

The A7R VI’s afloat stacked sensor and caller Bionz XR2 processor let it to sprout full-resolution bursts astatine up to 30 frames per 2nd without immoderate viewfinder blackout. And that faster sensor intends there’s small downside to utilizing the physics shutter afloat time, meaning you get genuinely silent shooting for immoderate infinitesimal you want to beryllium stealthy. The A7R VI besides has 8.5 stops of in-body image stabilization, dual USB-C ports (because why not), and Sony’s caller AI-based autofocus system.

The A7R V was beautiful quick, shooting 60-megapixel images astatine up to 10 frames per 2nd pinch its mechanical shutter, but the A7R VI pumps retired its 9984 x 6656 solution RAW files lightning-fast. And these files are huge. They mean astir 60 megabytes successful lossless compressed RAW format, truthful that one-second burst of 30 shots tin soak up 1.8GB. Wild.

I already usage a beautiful high-res Sony camera that shoots fast: the original A1. I brace it pinch the moreover faster but overmuch lower-res A9 III for my wedding photograph gigs. But moreover though I’m utilized to Sony’s speedy shooters, the A7R VI’s over-the-top solution and elasticity really impressed me. In the past, ace high-res cameras were reserved for workplace work, but the A7R VI blows distant immoderate reservations complete utilizing a camera pinch 60-plus megapixels of solution connected conscionable astir anything: landscapes, sports, action, photojournalism, thoroughfare photography, portraits, etc. It. Does. Everything.

I sewage to walk immoderate clip testing an A7R VI, and successful that clip I utilized it for casual snapshots, family play trips (including a mini safari), Verge product images, and a freelance wedding sprout (as the 2nd photographer). I quickly realized that contempt its caller artillery and ever-so-slightly revised grip astir it, the A7R VI feels conscionable for illustration the A7R V — and truthful a full batch for illustration astir immoderate different A7 camera. The higher-end A1 II and A9 III still have somewhat amended ergonomics, but arsenic I’ve said before, immoderate of Sony’s cameras can still cramp my hands aft agelong use.

The upside of the A7R VI’s sameness is that it should easy slot into a pro’s existing Sony strategy — it feels the same, it shoots the same, and the files process pinch the aforesaid predictable looks. The only existent constituent of clash is dealing pinch the caller NP-SA100 artillery if you already ain a bunch of the aged NP-FZ100 ones (as I do). It’s a shame Sony’s caller SA artillery doesn’t boost the camera’s life beyond the CIPA-rated 600+ shots, but its added capacity allows the caller processor to pat much powerfulness while maintaining parity pinch erstwhile models.

Pretty overmuch each existent Sony Alpha cameras person exceptional autofocusing systems. They’re the champion successful the market, moreover if caller models from Canon and Nikon are mostly caught up. When I started shooting Sony cameras astir 5 years ago, it drastically changed the measurement I usage autofocus. I support my cameras connected continuous search mode astir 100 percent of the clip now, relying connected taxable and oculus discovery to make shooting overmuch easier, particularly successful high-stress situations for illustration a wedding. The A7R VI’s revised autofocus strategy is Sony’s latest and greatest, but to maine it conscionable felt a touch much “sticky” to a subject’s oculus than what I’ve sewage connected my last-gen cameras — thing monumentally better.

The existent tie for maine was getting these immense 66.8-megapixel files and being capable to sprout them arsenic accelerated arsenic I wanted, arsenic softly arsenic I needed. The speedy, stacked sensor minimizes immoderate rolling shutter anomalies to the constituent they’re not really noticeable, truthful I changeable pinch the physics shutter almost the full time. I emotion this freedom, because I tin sprout arsenic overmuch arsenic I want during a wedding ceremonial aliases a reside and not disturb the peace. And moreover erstwhile shooting merchandise images for The Verge, having nary mechanical shutter slapping up and down successful the camera reduces vibrations conscionable that other spot much — truthful I tin usage moreover slower handheld shutter speeds. This is peculiarly adjuvant erstwhile photographing products successful difficult lighting.

And if I want to beryllium other accelerated (or sometimes conscionable lazy) each that solution intends I tin harvest horizontal files to vertical ones without sacrificing people value — decidedly nary interest pinch web quality. Or while nether unit astatine a engaged tech event, I tin return 1 image of a merchandise and make aggregate crops from it to show close-up specifications I didn’t get to seizure further. (Yes, I person done this before. And no, I don’t for illustration it.) I’ve already done these kinds of things pinch my Sony A1, but having much megapixels gives maine moreover much leeway. And this is successful a $4,500 camera, compared to the newer type of my camera, which currently costs $7,000.

This is the first of Sony’s R cameras I’ve looked astatine and thought, “Yeah, this could beryllium my 1 camera for everything.” (If I wanted that and if I only needed 1 camera, of course.) It does overmuch of what I request from my A1 and A9 III astatine a higher solution and a little price. There are of people still reasons to spell pinch the A9 III aliases the A1 II — niche features of a world shutter aliases a higher flash sync velocity — but erstwhile it comes to generalist “do anything” cameras, this is it. This is the grail.

A Sony doesn’t person the impeccable handling of a Canon aliases a Nikon, aliases the romance of a Fujifilm aliases a Leica, but what makes the A7R VI captivating are the stone-cold results it delivers. Camera tech is perpetually improving, but it will astir apt beryllium a while earlier immoderate camera — from Sony aliases anyone other — is superior capable to warrant an upgrade from here.

Photography by Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge