A7RIV vs A7IV - They cost the same

Started Aug 15, 2022 | Discussions thread
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Pyndle Junior Member • Posts: 48
A7RIV vs A7IV - They cost the same

Hey guys,

I've seen a lot of videos comparing the 2 cameras but every single time one factor that gets into the conclusion is price. Now I live in a country where second hand, those cameras are worth the same (even though the A7R IV will be slightly older).

I have an A6500, that I use mainly for travel: landscape, wildlife, and underwater mainly. Lifestyle/portrait occasionally. Almost never use the video feature (and if I do 1080p is enough).

I have been extremely disappointed by my A6500 for wildlife, especially when photographing stuff that is far away (I use a 70-300). Bad autofocus / shots not sharp/ poor iso performance, and also lack of megapixels (with 300mm of reach I often need to crop). That is the reason why I want to upgrade (I'm sick of seeing great animals and coming home with poor shots). The lack of MP is also felt for underwater photography, where many times I want to zoom/crop something and it ends up being too small (can't change lenses underwater, if you have your wide angle but see something small, you gotta do with what you have :)).

I am considering the following set-up:

  • A7IV or A7R IV 
  • Sony 200-600 (might switch to 100-400 if it is really too annoying to carry)
  • Sigma 105mm macro (will use for portraits occasionally)  
  • Sigma 12-24 f2.8 (that I'll use in crop mode for lifestyle/city stuff / FF mode for landscape/astro)

I really cannot decide what will benefit me more for wildlife, the extra resolution (which I think of as extra reach basically), or the better AF/low light performance.

I'm thinking that coming from the A6500, both will be a tremendous improvement in terms of AF. But getting the A7 IV with 600mm is a minor reach upgrade vs my A6500 (which was at 450mm FF equivalent). Also not sure how much of a pain it is to have large file size - I'm assuming there are software to convert to lower resolution raws when needed right?

What do you guys think?

Sony a6500 Sony a7 Sony a7R
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