The brand-new Sony A7R VI has the brand’s highest-resolution full-frame sensor yet, and the fastest burst speeds ever for the R series. But one of the features that I’m actually most excited about is admittedly much smaller: light-up buttons.
Between astrophotography and dim wedding receptions, I spend a lot of time behind a camera in the dark. Nothing quite tests my memory of my camera’s controls like trying to find the buttons in near-darkness.
Thankfully, the Sony A7R VI has a tiny button tucked at the top that turns on backlighting for a majority of the buttons on the back of the camera. I took the new mirrorless out to photograph the stars and the moon, and the small change was a major help.
I no longer had to pull out my phone and turn on the flashlight – ruining my night vision – in order to remember where the menu button is or to find the playback button so I can see if my stars are in focus.
Not every label on the back of the camera lights up – the shortcut labels around the menu wheel for ISO and burst mode, for example, do not – but the buttons on the back of the camera with physical labels right on the button are all backlit, so they are easy to find in the dark.
The A7R VI isn’t the first camera with light-up buttons – but, to my knowledge, it is the first Sony mirrorless to offer this feature.
I loved it on my Nikon D850, and Nikon did bring the feature to mirrorless on the Z8 and Z9 as well. Canon also has some models with these features, like the EOS R1 and R3, and the first-generation Panasonic Lumix S1, S1H and S1R had light-up buttons as well.
Perhaps it seems silly to be excited about something as simple as light-up buttons on a 67MP behemoth of a camera. But the illuminated buttons aren’t the only part of the A7R VI that’s designed to be used in the dark.
The lens mount has a tactile point to aid in attaching the lens. A telephoto lens was a bit too difficult to mount by feel, but I was able to use the small notch to twist on smaller lenses. The "Auto" on the mode dial is also raised, so photographers can adjust to auto mode by feel.
I also think the A7R VI has one of Sony’s better grips. I’ve griped about Sony grips in the past, but the redesigned grip on the A7R VI feels nice in my hands.
Using a 200-600mm lens, I needed to support the lens with my other hand, but the grip was still fairly comfortable for such a front-heavy setup.
Perhaps the only strange part of the new illuminated buttons is the choice of camera that Sony decided to bring them to first.
Yes the A7R VI is one of the more expensive models, so it should have more features, but photographers who shoot in the dark often tend to gravitate towards lower-resolution models because the larger pixels tend to create less noise.
Regardless, the small change to those buttons actually feels pretty big for photographers who shoot in the dark – and I think more cameras need this feature.
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