New camera decision

Latouf12

Active member
Messages
64
Reaction score
15
I’ve been reading heavily on FF camera recently. I will be changing my a6500 and will be going to FF. I have a few questions.

I shoot kids sports, backyard BBQ, interior events (family and informal office stuff), beach, travel and vacations. I do some landscape and a lot of portrait and environmental portraits. I do shoot 100% in natural light. 40% are evening (exterior and interior). Imdo not really shoot video. I shoot some sigma adapted lens.

I do all my editing in LR cc on my Ipad pro.

I have looked at the 7iii 7riv and a9. Here are my thoughts (my pro and con) for each:

7iii:

pro : price, good low light, okay file size

con: evf (vs other ones), no color focus box,

a7riv

pro: good af, superb evf, 2 uhsii slots, better ergonomics, good apsc when needed

con: ff image size are very big, not sure how it perform in dimly light scenario vs other ones.

A9:

pro: good evf, silent shutter is actually useful, extra control wheel is handy, good file size, good low light.

con: pricier than a7iii,

a7iii can be had for 1800, a9 for 3000 and a7riv 3300.

I have a friend who has given me a 24-105 f4. That will be my main lens .

Price is not that much of an issue. EVF is important, capacity to shoot with adapted lenses without too much detrimental is also a plus for the a9 and a7riv.

File size is a worry.

Any thoughts?
 
I’ve been reading heavily on FF camera recently. I will be changing my a6500 and will be going to FF. I have a few questions.

I shoot kids sports, backyard BBQ, interior events (family and informal office stuff), beach, travel and vacations. I do some landscape and a lot of portrait and environmental portraits. I do shoot 100% in natural light. 40% are evening (exterior and interior). Imdo not really shoot video. I shoot some sigma adapted lens.

I do all my editing in LR cc on my Ipad pro.

I have looked at the 7iii 7riv and a9. Here are my thoughts (my pro and con) for each:

7iii:

pro : price, good low light, okay file size

con: evf (vs other ones), no color focus box,

a7riv

pro: good af, superb evf, 2 uhsii slots, better ergonomics, good apsc when needed

con: ff image size are very big, not sure how it perform in dimly light scenario vs other ones.

A9:

pro: good evf, silent shutter is actually useful, extra control wheel is handy, good file size, good low light.

con: pricier than a7iii,

a7iii can be had for 1800, a9 for 3000 and a7riv 3300.

I have a friend who has given me a 24-105 f4. That will be my main lens .

Price is not that much of an issue. EVF is important, capacity to shoot with adapted lenses without too much detrimental is also a plus for the a9 and a7riv.

File size is a worry.

Any thoughts?
Reading your note a couple of times leads me to believe if you fell between speed and portrait/general style it would be more the later..then assuming it’s always good in all the remainder and portrait to have the ability to crop without compromise, I’d recommend the R4... if the emphasis is more on sport and speed and in particular fast flying birds (IMO) then go A9... reality is they all have their stronger points that shine and you won’t regret any of the purchases as long as you DONT 2nd guess the decision once you made it !

I went R4 diem a 6300 and apart from the steep learning curve have been thrilled by the result and stunned by what I have managed to take.
 
i would vote a9, very valuable, especially comparing to a9 mk2:-D
 
Thanks. I also could keep the apsc glass a bit longer if I went the way of the a7r. I so love my sigma 18-35.



I feel that the a9 is a bit more future proof than the 7iii.
Man..... decisions, decisions.
 
If filesize is a worry, don't take the RIV, also the RIV higher Iso seems to give a con by some users, something to consider.
 
If filesize is a worry, don't take the RIV, also the RIV higher Iso seems to give a con by some users, something to consider.
File size is definitely worth consideration especially if you lad up cards with 4K video or uncompressed burst for a day...
 
Its funny that when I upgraded my R3 to the R4 I expected to use the A7RIV as a jack of all trades camera and would be using my A9 less. The FF 61mp is great and the 26mp crop mode option of the R4 is fantastic but I still find myself using the A9 more as my jack of all trades camera. Plus its just fun to use. Reliable fast AF and I still prefer the color science in the A9. The images are just more pleasing to my eyes both RAW and JPEG. Cropping in post has not been a real issue for me with the A9. Most the time the resolution of the A9 is fine. Granted with the higher resolution of the R4 I can crop in more and when shooting landscape the R4 is hard to beat. However If I could only have one camera or take only one camera out the door with me it would still be the A9. I expected that would change when I bought the R4. It didn't though.
 
Thanks. I also could keep the apsc glass a bit longer if I went the way of the a7r. I so love my sigma 18-35.

I feel that the a9 is a bit more future proof than the 7iii.
Man..... decisions, decisions.
There’s no obvious answer, same as lenses etc.. you’ll get a strong opinion from everyone based on what they bought (me included)..

‘however, knowing what I know now and how much I love wildlife I might have sprung for an A9 or an A9ii .. but the A7R4 does More than the job I need, the pix count is excessive and good for large prints that I don’t do and ceo-ping a lot which I do.. AND is an epic camera for sure..

I’d certainly toss up between the R4 and the A9 regardless... then it’s speed over pix decision....

suggest perhaps you Scan back at your picture archive (I did this with my flickr account) and see which pictures give you the most enjoyment and let them guide the decision !

Guy
 
How is the a7riv af in cropped given it uses a lot less af points? How does it compare with the a6400?
 
Thanks.
 
I’m not really in a position to advice you properly, since I have never used A7III or A9. I went from A7RII to A7RIV....and that’s a huge upgrade! I suggest you try these models in a camera shop (maybe more than once), or, even better, rent them.
 
Already did a few trials at the store. This is how I noticed there is quite a difference between every EVF.
 
Might need to rent one.
 
Have you considered the A7Riii? Much smaller file sizes than the M4, still pretty good focusing, now much better value.
 
Can anyone share what AF performance looks like in apsc mode with APSC lenses on a7riv?

thanks
 
Get the R4 and the A9. Sony makes them light.
 
that might be an solution but I’m trying to keep my gear down to one body. ;-)
 
I’ve been reading heavily on FF camera recently. I will be changing my a6500 and will be going to FF. I have a few questions.

I shoot kids sports, backyard BBQ, interior events (family and informal office stuff), beach, travel and vacations. I do some landscape and a lot of portrait and environmental portraits. I do shoot 100% in natural light. 40% are evening (exterior and interior). Imdo not really shoot video. I shoot some sigma adapted lens.

I do all my editing in LR cc on my Ipad pro.

I have looked at the 7iii 7riv and a9. Here are my thoughts (my pro and con) for each:

7iii:

pro : price, good low light, okay file size

con: evf (vs other ones), no color focus box,

a7riv

pro: good af, superb evf, 2 uhsii slots, better ergonomics, good apsc when needed

con: ff image size are very big, not sure how it perform in dimly light scenario vs other ones.

A9:

pro: good evf, silent shutter is actually useful, extra control wheel is handy, good file size, good low light.

con: pricier than a7iii,

a7iii can be had for 1800, a9 for 3000 and a7riv 3300.

I have a friend who has given me a 24-105 f4. That will be my main lens .

Price is not that much of an issue. EVF is important, capacity to shoot with adapted lenses without too much detrimental is also a plus for the a9 and a7riv.

File size is a worry.

Any thoughts?
Given your stated usage and the lens you will have available I would suggest the Riv. Using it in crop mode will help extend the 24-105 for the sports aspect and you also have a kick ass FF camera for portraiture, general photography and travel.
 
Some thoughts:

7iii:

pro : price, good low light, okay file size

con: evf (vs other ones), no color focus box,
Have you looked through the A7III's EVF?

Will you be doing lots of manual focusing?
a7riv

pro: good af, superb evf, 2 uhsii slots, better ergonomics, good apsc when needed

con: ff image size are very big, not sure how it perform in dimly light scenario vs other ones.
Do you need 61mp? Do you print large posters or expect to crop your pictures heavily?

Have you held or used the 3 cameras for an extended period of time? "Good" ergonomics are very subjective...

File size is larger than the others, it depends how many pictures you shoot. If you're doing production photography, you will fill up disk space faster.

Low light performance: outside of controlled lab tests, you won't see a difference.
A9:

pro: good evf, silent shutter is actually useful, extra control wheel is handy, good file size, good low light.

con: pricier than a7iii,
Do you need the extra speed over the A7III?

Are you a pro who is shooting events and absolutely needs the highest percentage of keepers?

Remember that all sports shots taken until about 5 years ago were taken with cameras slower than the A9. Have such photos suddenly gotten much better since the A9 came out?

I guess my advice would be, unless your answers to some of the above questions are a definite "yes", to get the A7III and spend the money you save on some good lenses (or a photo workshop or travelling...).
 

Keyboard shortcuts

Back
Top