Help me Upgrade from A7R

[jeevhi]

Finally thinking of upgrading my A7R after 10 years. I have been using the original A7R with a few Sony GM lenses (24/1.4, 35/1.4, 50/1.4, and 135/1.8) without much trouble. AF is slow but reliable, and the 24mm and 50mm see the most use. I do not shoot that much—shutter count is still under 50k, which is neither low nor high. My current workflow is pretty basic: shoot, check focus, move on. Slow but acceptable.

What I am really looking for now is better Human Eye AF without needing to press two buttons. I am considering the A7RIII, IV, or V. The V is clearly the best, but I am not sure I really need it—since I have been fine with the original A7R, anything newer is already a step up. My usage is moderate.

I also considered the A7C and A7CII, but I prefer higher resolution since I am used to 36MP without an AA filter. At this point, the A7RIV looks like a sweet spot: 61MP, better SNR than my A7R (per DxO), and pricing around $1400–1500—about $1k less than the A7RV. For landscapes and cityscapes, I doubt it makes a big difference except for the A7RV’s focus stacking, which I would not really use.

Do you see any major shortcomings with the A7RIV for streets and portraits? How does the A7RIII compare, since that would reduce the budget even further? Thanks for your thoughts.

 

[Impulses]

Finally thinking of upgrading my A7R after 10 years. I have been using the original A7R with a few Sony GM lenses (24/1.4, 35/1.4, 50/1.4, and 135/1.8) without much trouble. AF is slow but reliable, and the 24mm and 50mm see the most use. I do not shoot that much—shutter count is still under 50k, which is neither low nor high. My current workflow is pretty basic: shoot, check focus, move on. Slow but acceptable.

What I am really looking for now is better Human Eye AF without needing to press two buttons. I am considering the A7RIII, IV, or V. The V is clearly the best, but I am not sure I really need it—since I have been fine with the original A7R, anything newer is already a step up. My usage is moderate.

I think the Mk IV and V are somewhat more seamless in this regard, they have the same "real time" AF implementation that debuted with the A9 line and the current gen crop bodies, and the Mk V adds even better subject recognition via the dedicated AI processing... The Mk IV is still stuck on the old menus and with UHS-II slots, but the former might just be more familiar.

I also considered the A7C and A7CII, but I prefer higher resolution since I am used to 36MP without an AA filter. At this point, the A7RIV looks like a sweet spot: 61MP, better SNR than my A7R (per DxO), and pricing around $1400–1500—about $1k less than the A7RV. For landscapes and cityscapes, I doubt it makes a big difference except for the A7RV’s focus stacking, which I would not really use.

Do you see any major shortcomings with the A7RIV for streets and portraits? How does the A7RIII compare, since that would reduce the budget even further? Thanks for your thoughts.

I've been using my A7R IV for ~5 years now and I'm still happy with it, I do think the Mk V was an even bigger upgrade from it that the IV was over the III... But for me the upgrades on the Mk IV were still worthwhile. The option to change colors on the AF box makes it easier to spot (just grey on the Mk III), both card slots are UHS-II rather than just 1, improved sealing and button haptics, better EVF, and most importantly better AF.

The A7CR could be worth a look since it's cheaper than the Mk V and possibly close to the Mk IV. You give up things that you can probably work around of like the 2nd card slot, the joystick, the smaller EVF, and the fact that the shutter is EFCS-only and maxes out at 1/4000; but you gain the even better AF present on the A7R V, and the new menus with faster writing card slots, focus bracketing, etc.

I would've side graded to an A7CR by now if the buffer wasn't like half as large as my A7R IV's, I don't shoot action often but when I do that might bug me...

 

[Tristan W]

7c2 has better AI AF, lighter weight, i'm super happy with it for street shot (even with e-shutter).

7RV has better handling and EVF.

Or wait for 7m5, maybe will release by end of the year.

 

[ahaslett]

I added an A7Rii to my A7R, then upgraded the Rii to an Riv. Just under 2 years ago, the A7R died and I added an A7CR as my FE backup body. The A7CR is now my most used FE body because it is small (like the A7R), has IBIS that works, and it has human subject detection not just RT tracking and FaceEyeAF.

For landscape, I found that the A7Rii was a real upgrade over the A7R because of the added resolution and no shutter shock. The increase to 61Mpix produces a minor IQ improvement but is handy for cropping if using a small prime.

I think you would find the A7Riv a real upgrade over the A7R with decent non subject detect tracking and really good FaceEyeAF. It is bigger than the A7R, and the A7Rv is bigger again.

I still use the A7Riv for shooting on a tripod or when using a fast lens (f1.2) in light where the EFCS of the A7CR would affect bokeh at high shutter speeds. In low light, the A7CR has an advantage handheld because of the IBIS.

Andrew

 

[Martin_99]

Depends on your budget. I see high Mpx count as overrated for amateur use (assume you are also amateur). I was plenty happy with 24Mpx, now with A7cII I use 33Mpx, which is basically the same as yours 36Mpx.

In your case I would buy A7IV, but if A7RIV make you more happy, go for it.

 

[AlephNull]

Finally thinking of upgrading my A7R after 10 years. I have been using the original A7R with a few Sony GM lenses (24/1.4, 35/1.4, 50/1.4, and 135/1.8) without much trouble. AF is slow but reliable, and the 24mm and 50mm see the most use. I do not shoot that much—shutter count is still under 50k, which is neither low nor high. My current workflow is pretty basic: shoot, check focus, move on. Slow but acceptable.

What I am really looking for now is better Human Eye AF without needing to press two buttons. I am considering the A7RIII, IV, or V. The V is clearly the best, but I am not sure I really need it—since I have been fine with the original A7R, anything newer is already a step up. My usage is moderate.

I also considered the A7C and A7CII, but I prefer higher resolution since I am used to 36MP without an AA filter. At this point, the A7RIV looks like a sweet spot: 61MP, better SNR than my A7R (per DxO), and pricing around $1400–1500—about $1k less than the A7RV. For landscapes and cityscapes, I doubt it makes a big difference except for the A7RV’s focus stacking, which I would not really use.

Do you see any major shortcomings with the A7RIV for streets and portraits? How does the A7RIII compare, since that would reduce the budget even further? Thanks for your thoughts.

Although it's the biggest jump, I'd suggest the A7RV is probably the one most likely to last you another 10 years. I'd expect the A7RIII to go out of support fairly soon, and the A7RIV to do so a bit later.

The A7RV has the new generation processor, and was the first to incorporate the AI chip as well. It offers a level of autofocus that I think is underestimated by people who haven't used it. If you are looking for Human Eye AF, then the A7RV is the clear choice.

Do you need all the features of the A7RV? No. But here's the secret: NO ONE needs all the features of the A7RV (or any of Sony's high-end cameras!). The fun part is that when you ask people which features of the A7RV (or the others) they need, you get different lists from different people. Your list of what you need from it will be different from mine, but we'll both be getting a lot from it.

The A7RIII implementation of human eye AF was primitive, and a bit awkward to use - if you want it, go for a more recent camera.

The A&IV implementation of human eye AF was functional, and at the time I was impressed, but it had its limits and failings.

The A7RV implementation is much more sophisticated, and more effective. Much less likely to focus on something vaguely eye shaped, because it looks for a body, then a torso, then a head, and finally an eye.

The viewfinder has improved with each generation: the A7RIII is comparable to Nikon's Z9, but the A7RIV takes it up substantially to over 5Mdot, while the A7RV uses the latest, highest resolution, 9.44Mdot EVF - if you want to consider your composition carefully, the new viewfinder is big help. I also use the viewfinder when reviewing the images after taking - more detail, and the sun on the screen is never an issue.

Last thing I'll mention is that the two earlier models only offered two formats of RAW file: one which is uncompressed, which means BIG (an uncompressed RAW from an A7RIV is over 100MB), or lossy compressed, which means smaller, but with some loss of find detail. The A7RV offers lossless compression, which means smaller files with absolutely no loss of detail - a lossless compressed RAW from the A7RV is smaller than an uncompressed RAW from the A7RIII (despite offing 60Mpixels vs 42).

 

[Matt2134]

Although it's the biggest jump, I'd suggest the A7RV is probably the one most likely to last you another 10 years. I'd expect the A7RIII to go out of support fairly soon, and the A7RIV to do so a bit later.

I completely agree with this - if you are likely to go another decade before upgrading, get the A7RV. They can be had pretty cheaply depending on your country?

 

[Martin Ocando]

Finally thinking of upgrading my A7R after 10 years. I have been using the original A7R with a few Sony GM lenses (24/1.4, 35/1.4, 50/1.4, and 135/1.8) without much trouble. AF is slow but reliable, and the 24mm and 50mm see the most use. I do not shoot that much—shutter count is still under 50k, which is neither low nor high. My current workflow is pretty basic: shoot, check focus, move on. Slow but acceptable.

What I am really looking for now is better Human Eye AF without needing to press two buttons. I am considering the A7RIII, IV, or V. The V is clearly the best, but I am not sure I really need it—since I have been fine with the original A7R, anything newer is already a step up. My usage is moderate.

I also considered the A7C and A7CII, but I prefer higher resolution since I am used to 36MP without an AA filter. At this point, the A7RIV looks like a sweet spot: 61MP, better SNR than my A7R (per DxO), and pricing around $1400–1500—about $1k less than the A7RV. For landscapes and cityscapes, I doubt it makes a big difference except for the A7RV’s focus stacking, which I would not really use.

Do you see any major shortcomings with the A7RIV for streets and portraits? How does the A7RIII compare, since that would reduce the budget even further? Thanks for your thoughts.

I came from m43 to the A7R IV and it was such a huge change. I love the camera. The images are simply beautiful. I ended up upgrading to the Mark V since I could, and also wanted a few features, but basically since I plan for this camera to last me at least 10 years, so is kind future proofing my investment.

But the Mark IV is outstanding, and for the kind of use you give it to your cameras, the upgrade from the original R will be considerable.

What the V offers the IV does not? IBIS and AF are the two main things you'll notice, although there are a bunch of other small details that make up for a great upgrade package that helped me make the decision.

So, my advice is, if you can afford it, go all the way to the V. If don't want to spend that much, the Mark IV will serve you very well and you'll notice immediately the bump in image quality.