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Anyone else think they could be content with current offerings from Sony for years?

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My history with Sony cameras is quite long, with it's high end Cybershots being my first cameras roughly 2 decades ago. I went with the a7rii over the Canon 5dsr years ago, and didn't really regret it based on the image quality. It's handling did not impress me at all though, and left me wanting more. I upgraded to the a7riv when it came out, and it's what I was really looking for years ago.

Now about that menu...

EDIT: I forgot to add that the a7rii was my most used camera. It went with me on many trips, and only started to have issues last year, which prompted me to get the a7riv right away. The issue was the Sony grip, so it wasn't really the camera's fault.
 
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chrisrabe said:
Just, with the v3 models, in which i include the a9 mark 1, if Sony hadn't or didn't release any further models, i think I could be quite happy for a long time.

Sure, an a9 with higher res, or a9 apsc equivalent would be nice, but I'm not even tempted by A9ii or a7r m4.

I briefly had an a9, and kind of regret returning and sticking with the A7iii. I will pick one up again in future.

I'm not convinced the a7iv will be tempting either. I hope I'm wrong. But unless it more resembles a mix of A7riii and a9 (while not expecting it to quite match either in its respective strength), it'll probably be a pass for me.

In that case, probably just stick to ever cheaper v3 cameras in future 😊

Unless there are updates due in future i can't quite imagine just now.

Of course, it would be nice if they fixed the ####### pointer colour!

Anyone else feel the same?
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Yes for sure but who would not welcome a A9III with 36-42mp and faster cards and clearing of the buffers and some other niceties. They can always find ways to improve them and our user experience and IQ better.

So while sufficient I welcome what is coming but the only camera I am really lusting after is a A9III or a a7rV with some improvments.

Most notably noise, sensor dust control, focus stacking, better software programs than playmemories and imaging edge. There are lots of things they can improve on.

Lens wise 300 2.8 and a UWA and I am set until they do series II GM's.
 
I got an ape case for the 200-600 that hooks on to my lowepro utility belt which makes it much easier to carry and put back in to give your arms a rest.
 
I have the A7iii to which I moved from Nikon after 5 years of ownership. It does everything I want of it (including professional portrait / family shoots) and I certainly don’t need a new model.

I have the 24-70 f2.8 gm, the 70-200f2.8 gm and the 85f1.4 gm so am spoilt with the lenses.

Could it be improved? Yes as others have said the focus point could be made coloured (possible f/w update) and RTT would be a bonus, but I manage without them.

i doubt I’ll change it until it breaks beyond economic repair.
 
steveatesh said:
I have the A7iii to which I moved from Nikon after 5 years of ownership. It does everything I want of it (including professional portrait / family shoots) and I certainly don’t need a new model.

I have the 24-70 f2.8 gm, the 70-200f2.8 gm and the 85f1.4 gm so am spoilt with the lenses.

Could it be improved? Yes as others have said the focus point could be made coloured (possible f/w update) and RTT would be a bonus, but I manage without them.

i doubt I’ll change it until it breaks beyond economic repair.
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Well if they make them ligher with the newer glass and faster AF with linear motors and better IQ yet like the 24 GM & 135 GM and 600 GM it will be worth upgrading. That is what a series II lens would be like in my thoughts.
 
I am content with my A7RII and Smooth Reflections app. I would sell my Sony 12-24G if i upgraded my camera because I won’t use a bulky filter system. So, I hope my camera lasts many more years because I love the results I get with the app. And, this camera produces images to my satisfaction.
 
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The 3rd generation of the A7 and the A7R are really fantastic.

In fact the A7R II is fantastic and damn near perfect. The only reason I upgraded to the A7R III was battery life. I really regret missing play memories in that upgrade.

I feel that A7R IV is not a compelling upgrade, with even large file sizes than the A7R III. The sensor readout of the Mark IV is 50% slower than the Mark III, making silent shutter fairly useless for anything other than still life in natural light. More banding and shutter readout artifacts are a real negative. This has even affected video with rolling shutter.

If i had the budget, I would get the A9 first generation.
But for me the A7R III is perfect.
 
Short answer: yes

Long answer:
  • Would like to see more MP in A9III and even faster AFC and less noise
  • Would like to see a 300mm 2.8 priced at less than $5K and compatible with all the TCs
  • Would like to see a 400mm f4 also reasonably priced
If these things won't happen life 's still OK with the current gear

Cheers,
 
My photography is very low demand and low stress. Family photos, some work events and mostly travel photography. The a7iii has a great battery, AF and lowlight performance. There's a decent mix of affordable lenses now too.
 
hungrylau said:
My photography is very low demand and low stress. Family photos, some work events and mostly travel photography. The a7iii has a great battery, AF and lowlight performance.
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Am in the same boat - my original A7 cameras did see some serious use for five good years before beeing replaced with the A7III. Expect the A7III era to last at least as long.
hungrylau said:
There's a decent mix of affordable lenses now too.
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Happily we can choose between native and non native glass too.

Technology advances and Sony in driving the mirrorless game so the current offerings will soon be history - to our discontent... ;-)
 
With the A9, yes.

I bought this camera new, even though it was already 2.5 years old. This is the first time I bought a camera that hadn't just been announced and preordered. I'm super happy with it, and it doesn't feel old for a few reasons:

-It was ahead of it's time when Sony launched it.

-Sony basically transformed it into new camera with fw updates

-It's still ahead of anything else available except for...

-...The A9II which is completely state of the art, and yet it's basically the same camera.

So, yes, with the A9, I'm completely content for the foreseeable future.
 
Trollmannx said:
hungrylau said:
My photography is very low demand and low stress. Family photos, some work events and mostly travel photography. The a7iii has a great battery, AF and lowlight performance.
Click to expand...
Am in the same boat - my original A7 cameras did see some serious use for five good years before beeing replaced with the A7III. Expect the A7III era to last at least as long.
Tristimulus said:
There's a decent mix of affordable lenses now too.
Click to expand...
Happily we can choose between native and non native glass too.

Technology advances and Sony in driving the mirrorless game so the current offerings will soon be history - to our discontent... ;-)
Click to expand...
I'm hoping for 7-10 years out of this body. My only complaint is that I seem to keep going through at least 1 eye cup per vacation.
 
Since little over a year I own an A7R2 and the Tamron 28-75. This is by far the best camera I have ever owned, and I tried MANY systems. I find the sharpness and level of detail of the 42mp sensor without AA-filter incredible and the Tamron goes perfectly with it. Since I am only a hobby photographer, I think I will be content with this for years - but GAS may get in between that, this is always a risk :)
 
If you hadn't excluded the A7R IV, then I might have said yes. I went from the A7R II to the A7R III, and enjoyed the improvements, but the R4 has proven to be a major step up in functionality and results. I have no regrets paying the early-adopter price for it.
 
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I use the A9+200-600G and A7RIII+100-400GM for my wildlife photography and do not feel the need to upgrade to the newer models. I do very little video so they both meet my needs when I decide to do a movie.
 
Dirk W said:
Since little over a year I own an A7R2 and the Tamron 28-75. This is by far the best camera I have ever owned, and I tried MANY systems. I find the sharpness and level of detail of the 42mp sensor without AA-filter incredible and the Tamron goes perfectly with it. Since I am only a hobby photographer, I think I will be content with this for years - but GAS may get in between that, this is always a risk :)
Click to expand...
I've had the A7rII for 5 years now and love it, pretty much. I tried to upgrade recently to the A7rIII, but was horrified by the invisible focus pointer, and for some reason, the A7rIII felt less balanced in my hands/heavier than the A7rII, so i returned it and stuck to the A7rII. Some folks like the A7rIV but we seem to have more complaints on it than other new models. Don't know what's going on there but i don't really feel the need for its 60mp. Also like the Tamron 28-75 but not impressed with the large size of the 1.4 lenses that have come out. Like my Canon 135 f2L a lot but it would be nice to have a lightweight 135 version/that would be native as well. May try the Samyang version.
 
chrisrabe said:
Just, with the v3 models, in which i include the a9 mark 1, if Sony hadn't or didn't release any further models, i think I could be quite happy for a long time.
Click to expand...
Why not? I was using my 5D II for almost 9 years and this camera had some real shortcomings like the subprime resolution and dynamic range. As a photographer you learn how to work around those limits e.g. with bracketing, shifting and stitching - at the end of the day I was taking 15 shots for a single final (45 MP) image with my TS-E 17 and TS-E 90 - post processing and capturing was a very lengthy but successfully job.
chrisrabe said:
Sure, an a9 with higher res, or a9 apsc equivalent would be nice, but I'm not even tempted by A9ii or a7r m4.

I briefly had an a9, and kind of regret returning and sticking with the A7iii. I will pick one up again in future.

I'm not convinced the a7iv will be tempting either. I hope I'm wrong. But unless it more resembles a mix of A7riii and a9 (while not expecting it to quite match either in its respective strength), it'll probably be a pass for me.
Click to expand...
The A7R III will stay for a long time in my arsenal for backup purposes - I could not live with 2X MP to start with - of course a questions of personal taste and enthusiasm :-)
chrisrabe said:
In that case, probably just stick to ever cheaper v3 cameras in future 😊
Click to expand...
As said before - my 5D II made me very happy for almost 9 years - we're only three years into the A7R III - yet we have choices - which is always good!
chrisrabe said:
Unless there are updates due in future i can't quite imagine just now.
Click to expand...
I hope we'll see an A7R V and A7R VI in short succession with lots of improvements and fine tuning - at the end of the day I can skip freely and decide what to buy.

As long as the FE mount stays the same I can live with an older model - in case I see important new aspects I am willing to analyze whether it suits my financial capabilities :-)
chrisrabe said:
Of course, it would be nice if they fixed the ####### pointer colour!

Anyone else feel the same?
Click to expand...
Well - for me the recently acquired A7R IV is a huge step forward - especially the usable crop mode with 26 MP and lots of dynamic range still.

This allows for a completely different approach - almost like two cameras in one.

Grip, cropping capabilities and useful enhancements e.g. like tethered shooting, WiFi speed and many other things make the A7R IV an irresistible offering for me - I needed a 2nd camera anyway - now the A7R III is my backup.

I was never interested in any of the A9 cameras since 10 fps is more than sufficient even for sport and action. Even though I understand the need e.g. for professionals at top sport events.
 
Philnw2 said:
Dirk W said:
Since little over a year I own an A7R2 and the Tamron 28-75. This is by far the best camera I have ever owned, and I tried MANY systems. I find the sharpness and level of detail of the 42mp sensor without AA-filter incredible and the Tamron goes perfectly with it. Since I am only a hobby photographer, I think I will be content with this for years - but GAS may get in between that, this is always a risk :)
Click to expand...
I've had the A7rII for 5 years now and love it, pretty much. I tried to upgrade recently to the A7rIII, but was horrified by the invisible focus pointer, and for some reason, the A7rIII felt less balanced in my hands/heavier than the A7rII, so i returned it and stuck to the A7rII. Some folks like the A7rIV but we seem to have more complaints on it than other new models. Don't know what's going on there but i don't really feel the need for its 60mp. Also like the Tamron 28-75 but not impressed with the large size of the 1.4 lenses that have come out. Like my Canon 135 f2L a lot but it would be nice to have a lightweight 135 version/that would be native as well. May try the Samyang version.
Click to expand...
Good to hear about the R3 :) I just ordered the Tamron 20f2.8 for the few situations when I miss more wide-angle on the 28-75.
 
joger said:
chrisrabe said:
Just, with the v3 models, in which i include the a9 mark 1, if Sony hadn't or didn't release any further models, i think I could be quite happy for a long time.
Click to expand...
Why not? I was using my 5D II for almost 9 years and this camera had some real shortcomings like the subprime resolution and dynamic range. As a photographer you learn how to work around those limits e.g. with bracketing, shifting and stitching - at the end of the day I was taking 15 shots for a single final (45 MP) image with my TS-E 17 and TS-E 90 - post processing and capturing was a very lengthy but successfully job.
joger said:
Sure, an a9 with higher res, or a9 apsc equivalent would be nice, but I'm not even tempted by A9ii or a7r m4.

I briefly had an a9, and kind of regret returning and sticking with the A7iii. I will pick one up again in future.

I'm not convinced the a7iv will be tempting either. I hope I'm wrong. But unless it more resembles a mix of A7riii and a9 (while not expecting it to quite match either in its respective strength), it'll probably be a pass for me.
Click to expand...
The A7R III will stay for a long time in my arsenal for backup purposes - I could not live with 2X MP to start with - of course a questions of personal taste and enthusiasm :-)
joger said:
In that case, probably just stick to ever cheaper v3 cameras in future 😊
Click to expand...
As said before - my 5D II made me very happy for almost 9 years - we're only three years into the A7R III - yet we have choices - which is always good!
joger said:
Unless there are updates due in future i can't quite imagine just now.
Click to expand...
I hope we'll see an A7R V and A7R VI in short succession with lots of improvements and fine tuning - at the end of the day I can skip freely and decide what to buy.

As long as the FE mount stays the same I can live with an older model - in case I see important new aspects I am willing to analyze whether it suits my financial capabilities :-)
joger said:
Of course, it would be nice if they fixed the ####### pointer colour!

Anyone else feel the same?
Click to expand...
Well - for me the recently acquired A7R IV is a huge step forward - especially the usable crop mode with 26 MP and lots of dynamic range still.

This allows for a completely different approach - almost like two cameras in one.

Grip, cropping capabilities and useful enhancements e.g. like tethered shooting, WiFi speed and many other things make the A7R IV an irresistible offering for me - I needed a 2nd camera anyway - now the A7R III is my backup.

I was never interested in any of the A9 cameras since 10 fps is more than sufficient even for sport and action. Even though I understand the need e.g. for professionals at top sport events.
Click to expand...
I agree Joger the IV provides numerous advantages over the is a great upgrade for anyone with a a7rII or III or other camera. It is simply the best camera on the market right now

I have not picked up my A9 since I got it and like you said with the cropability either in post of using the APS-C mode I assigned to C2 it opens up a whole new world.

--
-Terry
https://www.flickr.com/photos/tstahly/albums/72157711520629466
https://you pic.com/photographer/TerryRStahly/?mode=best
https://500px.com/trstahly
 
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As one who shoots sports primarily and likes big apertures Sony needs at least another prime or 2, like a 300mm f2.8 & 200mm f2, and another zoom or 2, like a 120-300mm f2.8 & a 200-400mm f4, before I'd leave Nikon all together.

--
http://www.shippensburgsports.com/
 
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