The Sony A7C R features an in-body 5-axis image stabilization system to help prevent unwanted camera shake in low-light.

The aluminium bodied Alpha 7C weighs 509g without a lens, battery and memory card fitted, amazingly just 6g / 1% more than the A6600 and a whopping 141g / 22% less than the A7 III.

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The Alpha 7C uses the XAVC S format, which is based on the professional XAVC codec, and can record Full HD at 120fps at up to 100Mbps, which allows footage to be edited into 4x or 5x slow-motion files. The smoothly-colored Kodak color patches test chart combined with no noise reduction processing (key point) makes noise especially noticeable compared to detailed scenes that better-hide noise levels. There are 12 ISO settings available on the Sony A7C R. Here are some 100% crops which show the noise levels for each ISO setting for both JPEG and RAW file formats. JPEG

Unfortunately, unlike Canon's RAW file compression, Sony's compression algorithm is a lossy one, meaning that some image detail is not retained during compression. The Sony a7C's Focus Area options are Flexible Spot (S, M, or L point size selectable), Expand Flexible Spot (uses focus points around the spot as a secondary priority area for focusing), Center, Zone (9 selectable large AF areas) and Wide (all points active). Sadly, because it uses the older Bionz X processor, the a7C doesn't gain the updated menu design introduced in the a7S III. There is an upside, as this means the a7C will be immediately familiar to anyone who's used an a6000-series or a7-series body before. The downside is that it means memorizing the location of specific settings (they tend to shuffle around from model to model) or time spent creating a 'My Menu' tab collecting together all the options you regularly use.

Specifications

Impressively the larger 35mm full-frame sensor is housed inside a camera body that's roughly halfway in size between the full-frame A7R V and the APS-C A6700. Note that there's no Scene Selection position on the Alpha 7C, unlike the A6600, perhaps reflecting the more serious nature of this particular model. The a7C's main strengths are its size and convenience. This could make it a powerful travel or family camera. But there's a price to be paid, and this isn't necessarily a budget option. There are no differences either in the batteries, as both models use Sony's high-capacity NP-FZ100. What is curious, though, is that you don't get quite as many shots on the A6700 as you do on the A7C – and we noted in our Sony A6700 vs A6600 comparison that Sony's new camera was down on battery life compared to its predecessor too. That seems like the logical preference, with the dramatically smaller file sizes being much-preferred.

The dated LCD screen is still exactly the same as on the A7 III and A6600 whilst the electronic viewfinder is even smaller and has a lower magnification, the hand grip is smaller than the more comfortable one on the A6600, the 4K video recording only goes up to 30p and only in 8-bit, and the new 28-60mm kit lens isn't at all well-suited to the vloggers that Sony are targeting the A7C at. In AF-C continuous focus mode, the a7C gives up the focus hunting practice, and the result is faster focus acquisition. On the flip-side, the smaller, lighter A7C R offers some additional video features and longer battery life, not to mention that significant cost-saving. The Sony A7C's maximum shutter speed is 30 seconds and there's also a Bulb mode for even longer exposures, which is excellent news if you're seriously interested in night photography. The shot below was taken using a shutter speed of 30 seconds at ISO 100. The new A7C R has the same hybrid autofocus system with phase detection points as the A7C, albeit with less frame coverage, but most importantly, greatly expanded subject recognition.Camera shake directly impacts image quality for both still images and movies, and Sony's 5-axis Optical In-Body Image Stabilization (IBIS) is a difference-maker.