DPReview has posted a much-delayed review of the Sony a7S. The camera, which has received high marks from just about everyone that has reviewed it, although they have a different conclusion than most people.
The Sony a7S is an interesting departure for a camera company: a model where possibly more of the emphasis during the design process has been placed on video capture, rather than stills. This is made easier to see by the existence of its sibling models. The a7 II is the ‘affordable’ all-rounder, the a7R is intended as the high-end stills-focused device and the a7S is skewed more towards video.
With this in mind, it probably shouldn’t be surprising that the a7S is better-suited to people who are videographers to at least the same degree that they are photographers. Most of the a7-series’ advantages, such as the compact form-factor and ability to adapt a wide range of lenses, also spill across to video, but so do some of its disadvantages: the relatively small batteries and stills-orientated ergonomics.
While it’s certainly true that that a7S has 4K video in mind, the increased sensitivity of the sensor was one of the key reasons Sony released it. The a7S came before the a7II, and was Sony’s high-ISO solution at the time. We’re not sure why DPReview didn’t note that they are including a camera released after the a7S in their review of the a7S, but obviously newer models affect the viability of older ones.