Hello from SF South Bay Area

[kmeinerth]

Hello All!

I am immigrating from the Nikon world. Started in the late 70s with many film cameras (starting with the FE2, F100, and then digital DSLRs ending with the D750. I am an advanced amateur that has played in a few areas including: sports (children's competitive league soccer), landscape, travel, street, portraits,...

I started with Sony DSC-RX100 III -> RX100 VI -> and as of early 2023 A7C all for having a camera I take with me most all of the time.

I am now looking into a more advanced A7 and I am deciding on the A7iv, A7Rv, or waiting until the October time frame for whatever comes next. I currently very much like the A7iv, but I am worried that I will be disappointed by the EVF which is the absolute biggest issue I have with the A7C. I also very much like the A7Rv, but it may be overkill for my needs.

I mostly do photography, but I will start doing some videos mainly of my grandchildren.

I am an engineer working for AMD that has worked in many areas including video and camera subsystems. I am extremely interested in the technology and what makes a great experience and image quality. I have been lucky that my work has allowed me to travel the world and take many interesting travel photos.

I just found this forum a few days ago and I am very happy to learn and contribute. I hope that I never stop learning.

Thank you,
Kim

 

[FowlersFreeTime]

Welcome aboard!
If the A7C's biggest problem is its eyepiece, then you might have to go the route of larger A7 bodies (A7IV or A7RV) and those have great AF for capturing the kiddos.
On a separate note, I used AMD exclusively in my PC builds from approximately 2007 to 2017. I'm a fan. Only stopped because my jobs kept issuing me intel-powered laptops and I stopped spending money on personal desktop builds.
Cheers.

 

[alexpler]

Welcome to the forum! I have the A7C as well, so I can understand your complain about the EVF. However, if you decide to change your camera, just be sure that you will feel it as portable and likeable to carry around all day... Also, for street and travel, a compact camera is more discreet and can get some shoots that bulkier cameras wouldn't.

I can live with a tiny EVF, but I know I wouldn't take out a bigger camera as much as I take my A7C. In the end, the best camera is the one you like carrying with you.

Maybe the imminent A7C II will solve some of its flaws, EVF included?

 

[kmeinerth]

I did buy the A7C mainly because of the size, portability and it is good for candid shots.

I certainly understand that mirrorless is the way to go in the future and wanted to move there. I also know that Sony makes Excellent image sensors and I decided to move to their system. I am currently only using my Nikon D750 for my long range photography with my AFS 80-400mm lens.

I want an excellent Sony reasonably high resolution camera for going to very interesting places and creating memories that I can share with family & friends. I am considered an image quality expert, I used to design DTV systems, video codecs, pre & post processing, as well as display systems in the past, and I want excellent photos and videos.

My current understanding is that the A7iv does everything I want except for the low resolution EVF. The A7Rv has an excellent EVF and excellent everything else, although it seems like the A7iv may have better 4K video because of the line skipping on the A7Rv. I do not care about 8K video at this time.

If I knew that there was an A7v with the A7Rv EVF coming in the near future, I'd certainly wait for that.

Maybe I will not be satisfied with anything less that the A7Rv or A1. Still doing my research.

Thank you for your help.

Kim

 

[Jeff A]

I did buy the A7C mainly because of the size, portability and it is good for candid shots.

I certainly understand that mirrorless is the way to go in the future and wanted to move there. I also know that Sony makes Excellent image sensors and I decided to move to their system. I am currently only using my Nikon D750 for my long range photography with my AFS 80-400mm lens.

I want an excellent Sony reasonably high resolution camera for going to very interesting places and creating memories that I can share with family & friends. I am considered an image quality expert, I used to design DTV systems, video codecs, pre & post processing, as well as display systems in the past, and I want excellent photos and videos.

My current understanding is that the A7iv does everything I want except for the low resolution EVF. The A7Rv has an excellent EVF and excellent everything else, although it seems like the A7iv may have better 4K video because of the line skipping on the A7Rv. I do not care about 8K video at this time.

If I knew that there was an A7v with the A7Rv EVF coming in the near future, I'd certainly wait for that.

Maybe I will not be satisfied with anything less that the A7Rv or A1. Still doing my research.

Thank you for your help.

Kim

Welcome to the Forum, Kim. It's too bad don't live a little closer so you could come by and try out my A7M4. I think the EVF is fine, but I have not experienced anything else to compare it too. I previously thought I would get an A7RIV as a companion to my A7IV but i have calmed down and have not been thinking this way of late. I got hold of some Raw images from the A7RV when the camera was announced and I processed them (I'm a Lightroom subscriber) and I was surprises at the amount of noise the 61 MP sensor could produce. Also, with 33 MP, I can crop quite a bit, and I mostly crop all of my images, but never below the 4K threshold. Perhaps is would be worthwhile to rent each of the cameras and try them out. It might be easier to make your decision that way.

 

[kmeinerth]

Thank you, Jeff,

We are not that far away from each other. I used to live in Granite Bay ~20+ years ago when my oldest was playing competitive soccer during her high school years. I had an excellent time as an assistant coach and the team photographer. I live in Gilroy now. I know the area well. It is a bit far to drop by though.

I have thought about finding an A7iv, trying it out and not trying out the A7Rv or A1. If I do not have an issue with the A7iv's EVF, then I'd just buy it because everything else that I have read about it is absolutely excellent. If possible, I'd rather save the money & someday replace my Nikon AFS 80-400mm lens with an interesting long reach Sony FE lens. I also certainly believe that fat pixels (more room for more photons) are much less noise prone. I'd rather have better low light performance.

I love the lossless compressed RAW format feature. If the A7Riv had that feature, I'd consider that camera, especially for the higher EVF resolution.

I am currently using Capture 1 and I do crop most of my photos too. The extra resolution would certainly help.

Thank you for your help!

Kim

 

[Jeff A]

You're welcome. I'm sure you would be happy with either one of those models but there is a huge price difference. I don't believe you are worried about image quality, but an interesting exercise is to go Flickr and and look at Mark Galer's Albums. He will have a boat load of images for each camera and lens that he has evaluated, all shot by him. It's an extra tool when trying to decide between 2 or more pieces of hardware. Here is a link to his Albums Page. Do you have a presence on Flickr?

 

[kmeinerth]

I've started seriously reading and watching the A7iv reviews, especially the reviews that include reviewing the EVF. I am surprised and very happy to see some experienced photographers that are very happy with the A7iv's EVF.

Others comparing with the A7Rv or A1 certainly praise the ~9MP EVF vs the ~3MP A7iv EVF, but I do not need the very best. I want good enough so that I can see the whole image and the settings clear enough to understand what to expect for my photo, video IQ.

I just do not want to be absolutely disappointed as I have been with the A7C EVF even with the EVF hood extension that attaches to the hot shoe. I have basically almost stopped using the A7C EVF and now relying on the back LCD like my compact Sony RX100 cameras.

I am very happy to understand that the A7iv's EVF can show pretty much exactly what the final image will look like with DoF, the ISO setting,... I tried to find a setting on my A7C that enabled or disabled this feature, but I could not find it. Any clue if it is enabled or not available on the A7C?

I also understand that a significant number of bugs have been fixed, new enhancements have been made through firmware updates from the initial reviews that makes this camera a solid high quality work horse.

I had a quick look at Mark Galer's Flicker page that you referenced and I will review it in much more detail later today after work. I do not have one myself, but I will join and create one in the future.

I think that I am sold on getting the A7iv for IQ, low light IQ, 33MP resolution, lossless compressed RAW, and of course cost vs the A7v or A1 (although I love that stacked sensor, especially to avoid the rolling shutter issues). I'll try one out and then very likely get one in the near future. I may decide to get an A1 follow-on someday when I decide I want to spend the $$$.

I really do appreciate your help! You helped me do some more research and stop looking at the A7iv vs A7Rv EVF comparisons. Thank you again for your help, Jeff!

Sincerely,
Kim

 

[Jesterking]

Hello All!

I am immigrating from the Nikon world. Started in the late 70s with many film cameras (starting with the FE2, F100, and then digital DSLRs ending with the D750. I am an advanced amateur that has played in a few areas including: sports (children's competitive league soccer), landscape, travel, street, portraits,...

I started with Sony DSC-RX100 III -> RX100 VI -> and as of early 2023 A7C all for having a camera I take with me most all of the time.

I am now looking into a more advanced A7 and I am deciding on the A7iv, A7Rv, or waiting until the October time frame for whatever comes next. I currently very much like the A7iv, but I am worried that I will be disappointed by the EVF which is the absolute biggest issue I have with the A7C. I also very much like the A7Rv, but it may be overkill for my needs.

I mostly do photography, but I will start doing some videos mainly of my grandchildren.

I am an engineer working for AMD that has worked in many areas including video and camera subsystems. I am extremely interested in the technology and what makes a great experience and image quality. I have been lucky that my work has allowed me to travel the world and take many interesting travel photos.

I just found this forum a few days ago and I am very happy to learn and contribute. I hope that I never stop learning.

Thank you,
Kim

Welcome!!

 

[kmeinerth]

I decided on upgrading to the A7Rv mainly for the significantly bigger and higher resolution EVF that is absolutely what I disliked about my A7C.

I continue to use my A7C for snap shots, but the A7Rv is for serious photography and I absolutely love it!

I am shooting with the lossless compressed 61MP for normal lighting and down to lossless compressed 26MP in low lighting situations.

I love knowing what I am going to get with the mirrorless A7Rv being able to see what I am going to get for an image vs. my Nikon D750 DSLR.

 

[kmeinerth]

I also added 2 amazon.com/dp/B0C4H7SLJ1?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1
PERGEAR Professional 260GB CFexpress Type A Memory Card, Up to 880MB/s Read Speed & 900MB/s Write Speed
cards for my A7Rv.

Very happy the price of these cards and have not had any issues so far.

 

[Jeff A]

I decided on upgrading to the A7Rv mainly for the significantly bigger and higher resolution EVF that is absolutely what I disliked about my A7C.

I continue to use my A7C for snap shots, but the A7Rv is for serious photography and I absolutely love it!

I am shooting with the lossless compressed 61MP for normal lighting and down to lossless compressed 26MP in low lighting situations.

I love knowing what I am going to get with the mirrorless A7Rv being able to see what I am going to get for an image vs. my Nikon D750 DSLR.

Congratulations on your new camera. I'm envious. Looking forward to seeing some examples.

 

[GT12]

Have gone same path. Keeping my A7C but also recently upgraded to A7RV. As a blindingly low-tech improvement for the A7C, I do wonder if a larger silicone eye piece would overcome some of the irritation with the tiny eye piece. No change to resolution etc but easier to see the image I’m thinking, and at $20 prob worth the punt.

 

[kmeinerth]

I bought this amazon.com/gp/product/B08TBMB4GQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Soft Silicon Camera Viewfinder Eyecup Eyeshade for Sony A7C and it was not enough for me to make the A7C EVF useful.​

I hoped that the newer versions of the A7C II would improve the EVF, but it is not currently looking like it will be addressed.