[DeadJohn]

I was in the mall today and stumbled upon a Sony store. My next camera body purchase is months away but they had an A7 display (no A7R) so I decided to try it. As expected, the A7 is incredibly compact and lightweight.

Ergonomically, the body shape and rear control dial were uncomfortable and enough of a disappointment to cut my test drive short. The rear dial felt too small and too close to the viewfinder. It was difficult to manipulate the controls when I held the camera in shooting position. The overall body shape is very angular and doesn't fit my right hand well. The camera needs more curved parts and a finish that provides more friction for a better grip.

Note that this is just a first impression based on 10 minutes with the camera. Different hands might prefer the A7 just the way it is. In my opinion, though, the A7 body felt too much like my $300 Canon S95. I love the S95 for its take-everywhere compactness but Canon skimped on ergonomics. I expected better from the $2000 A7.

[starjedi]

I was in the mall today and stumbled upon a Sony store. My next camera body purchase is months away but they had an A7 display (no A7R) so I decided to try it. As expected, the A7 is incredibly compact and lightweight.

Ergonomically, the body shape and rear control dial were uncomfortable and enough of a disappointment to cut my test drive short. The rear dial felt too small and too close to the viewfinder. It was difficult to manipulate the controls when I held the camera in shooting position. The overall body shape is very angular and doesn't fit my right hand well. The camera needs more curved parts and a finish that provides more friction for a better grip.

Note that this is just a first impression based on 10 minutes with the camera. Different hands might prefer the A7 just the way it is. In my opinion, though, the A7 body felt too much like my $300 Canon S95. I love the S95 for its take-everywhere compactness but Canon skimped on ergonomics. I expected better from the $2000 A7.

I guess pentax full frame will be twice the weight like k3, a similar price around $2000 and much better IQ， will you jump in？^_^

[DeadJohn]

My K-5 already exceeds my skill I'm not on the FF bandwagon.

[Na Horuk]

I think the A7 should be held similarly to the K-01, with thumb on shutter. On paper it seems like a solid camera, but we will have to see the lens situation and how things work out in practice.
Thanks for the review though. Pentax has great ergonomics and handling, and that is an important feature of the camera, too.

[osv]

I had the same doubts about the tiny size, when I first opened the a7r box... I couldn't believe that I had spent $2.3k on a toy camera! the small size makes button locations problematic, even if most of 'em have customizable functions.

there are a number of hassles with this camera, but if you are a pixel peeper who likes to tinker, these are the best cameras on the market today.

[pinholecam]

It depends on the individual, but even with small hands, I felt the whole camera+grip was still too shallow.
Dials felt good and buttons size/placement was kind of typical of MILCs (oly/panny), meaning buttons that are smaller and cramped onto a smaller camera body real estate.
However, all was still 'tolerable' to me, (I have small hands after all)

EVF, no surprises, one of the best out there for now,
Could not determine the lag between refresh and shutter press since I did not have my kid with me (the hardest AF test is to shoot a kid indoors )

Too bad they don't pair it with a cheaper 35 or 50mm which will be the only lens I will buy from the Sony range.

[Emacs]

I dare to add my observations. First, I don't particularly respect eye level shooting, in many cases (most cases for me) it is not the best method since I tend to shoot with wider angles and thus should be care about perspective distortions. So, I must to place camera properly and it is usually chest or stomach level shooting. So, with this approach the old good NEX-5 styles body is superior over that crap we have with A7. Reasons:
1) The A7 body is designed to hold at eye level. It's shape doesn't suit other positions. NEX-5 style body is much better in this regard.
2) I use MF only lenses and that's why I need touchscreen for ease of focus checking
3) Buttons are tiny and sometimes hard to press
4) Wheels are in wrong places (I still can't get used to their positions) and too tight.