Sony Alpha NEX-7 Digital Camera Review

Dynamic Range

We are truly impressed by the dynamic range abilities of the Sony NEX-7, which was able to preserve signal to noise ratio effectively throughout its ISO range. We didn't detect a drastic dynamic range falloff until ISO 800, and even at the camera's maximum ISO of 16000 dynamic range remained quite good compared to the competition. We should mention that our dynamic range test is scored based upon JPEG analysis—bringing the camera's full image processing system and noise reduction to bear—so detail loss also must be accounted for. That being said, the NEX-7 preserved more tonal range than just about any DSLR we've tested recently, putting it right in line with dynamic range all-stars like the Nikon D5100, Pentax K-5, and Sony Alpha A55. More on how we test dynamic range.

We found that the dynamic range performance on the Sony NEX-7 put it amongst the best that we have tested. We should note that our dynamic range testing involves the entire image processing engine, including noise reduction. While we turn this to its lowest levels, there is inevitably some tweaking of the noise floor for every camera. Despite this, we feel confident that the NEX-7 handles both highlights and shadows very well, with salvageable image detail across the board. We found that image quality and range didn't truly begin to degrade until ISO 800, which easily puts the NEX-7 alongside prosumer cameras like the Nikon D7000 and Pentax K-5 in this test.