Having used the Sony A7s since January i thought this might be a good time to review its ISO capabilities.
The Sony A7s has an incredible ISO range up to ISO 409,600. Well beyond most cameras and therefore excellent for low light. The Dynamic Range is also superb even at high ISO
For Astrophotography this 12.2 mp camera is ideal, this camera is supported by Lightroom 5.8 my preferred software.
As a result of the low mega pixels and a full frame Exmor sensor the pixels are extremely large and can therefore collect more light. This produces low noise, always a problem with astrophotography as it tests your camera and lenses to the limits.
The images shown are a range of ISO settings, the first in the set exported direct as jpeg's from Lightroom, the second on as a Tiff. Both are converted to web-size.
As you can see the images are clean right up to ISO 51,200 and beyond although Stars tend to get eaten after this although the images are still usable. Let me know what you think. , all these images have been taken on RAW with noise reduction turned off in camera. However noise reduction was undertaken in Lightroom.
I think these are very impressive compared to the Nikon D610 full frame camera which is good up to ISO 3200
I have been very impressed with live view, the milky way looks amazing as you increase the ISO which makes it easier to frame and see what how the final photo will come out. Its tilt screen is another bonus as you point the camera high up.
Where the Sony A7s excels as a tool for astrophotographers is its live view feed, particularly with its S-log2 picture profile PP7 enabled (available via Menu>camera>5 Picture Profile.
I need to carry out more tests but so far i am impressed, just have to wait now until late September when it come dark.
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