The A7Riv or the the new A7 iv? That is the question.

awdbugga

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John Hearn
I'm about to move from Nikon D7000 and buy my first Sony full frame camera. I've seen the impressive results of the A7riii that a couple of friends have. However, I like the improved EVF and improved rear screen of the A7RivA. So I'd pretty much set my mind on the A7RivA and have even bought a book on it. However, I've been watching videos reviewing the new A7iv. It looks very impressive. I'm not a huge fan of touch screen menus, as finger marks drive me nuts (OCD). The new menu system looks to be a major improvement over the traditional Sony menus, but to be honest I don't think the menu system on the Riv is too bad, in particular as you have the ability to personalise the My menu and the three M mode options.

I'm not really that interested in using a camera for video, although my son could use it as a back up in his video business, as he uses all Sony mirrorless.

I like the idea of 61mp on the A7riv, purely because of the flexibility it gives you to crop.

But then I think the option on the A7iv to keep the shutter closed when you take a lens off is an excellent addition; to prevent dust ingress.

I have the budget for either and have already ordered the new Sony 70-200mm 2.8 OSS GM MkII. I will probably also be buying the Sony 24-70mm 2.8 GM. Not sure if I may even wait for the MkII version; which is supposed to be out soon(ish).

I'm wanting to get into creating composite photographs, so rightly or wrongly see the A7Riv, with it's 61mp and greater cropping flexibility, as being the better option.

Decisions decisions. I know whichever I choose, it will be a huge improvement on my old Nikon; but it's a lot of money if I make the wrong choice.
 
It's been pointed out to me that if dust can settle on a sensor, so too can it settle on a closed shutter. It can then transfer to the sensor when it's actuated. Now, I think it's better to blow dust off a closed shutter than the sensor, but if changing lenses in a dusty environment I would still carry a rocket blower or pediatric ear syringe. I use an ear syringe, they move more air and cost a buck.

As for the MP, consider your resources. It will take about twice as long to upload photos from the R IV, use twice the resources when processing, and need twice the storage space. Is your monitor capable of showing the difference or would you need an upgrade? If your computer is capable of that or if you don't mind upgrading, then it comes down to preference. My experience with mid-count megapickle cameras and printing tells me I don't need the higher MPs for what I do but that's based on me, not you. Everyone has their own requirements.
 
I finally took the plunge and bought the A7r ivA; together with the Sony 24-70mm f2.8 GM. I have the new Sony 70-200mm f2.8 GM Mk II on order. Also treated myself to a Godox V860 III flash (Nice bit of kit). The camera shop gave me a really good trade in deal on my Nikon gear and Sony have a winter cash back deal on at the moment, so I'll get £600 back from them (after 30 days). Happy days. Christmas has come early. :D

Now all I have to do is to work out how to use it :unsure:;)
 
Congratulations. We can't wait to see those photos roll in!
 
Hello, I would also like to buy the Sony A7 iv in the course of 2022 and also an all-round lens up to 300 to 400 mm, I am still learning the lumix dc-fz82 with a bridge camera from panasonic, great optical zoom up to 2400 mm , and question, which cfexpress card and reader do you recommend, Thanks in advance and a picture with my lumix from the moon.
 

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Welcome to the Forum. I don't know if I would call these products "Recommendations" but this is what I bought for my new M4:

Card reader from Amazon US and this 80 GB Sony Tough Card

So far both are working well. Be advised, you have to have some special needs to justify the expense of a CFExpress card instead of the Type II SD Card. I only did to "Future Proof" my kit in case I somehow develop the need for it. Because I bought it with my camera from B&H, I got a $25.00 discount on the CFExpress. I realize you are not in the US but some things might apply to your location as well.
 
Hello, I would also like to buy the Sony A7 iv in the course of 2022 and also an all-round lens up to 300 to 400 mm, I am still learning the lumix dc-fz82 with a bridge camera from panasonic, great optical zoom up to 2400 mm , and question, which cfexpress card and reader do you recommend, Thanks in advance and a picture with my lumix from the moon.
If you're not shooting a bunch of high res videos or trying to shoot fast bursts in the hundreds of frames, stick with the UHS-II SD cards. I'm using them and they're more than ample.

BTW, I used to have a Panny FZ70. Great little camera and has better image quality than it should!
 
Welcome to the Forum. I don't know if I would call these products "Recommendations" but this is what I bought for my new M4:

Card reader from Amazon US and this 80 GB Sony Tough Card

So far both are working well. Be advised, you have to have some special needs to justify the expense of a CFExpress card instead of the Type II SD Card. I only did to "Future Proof" my kit in case I somehow develop the need for it. Because I bought it with my camera from B&H, I got a $25.00 discount on the CFExpress. I realize you are not in the US but some things might apply to your location as well.
Thanks Jeff A
 
Welcome to the Forum. I don't know if I would call these products "Recommendations" but this is what I bought for my new M4:

Card reader from Amazon US and this 80 GB Sony Tough Card

So far both are working well. Be advised, you have to have some special needs to justify the expense of a CFExpress card instead of the Type II SD Card. I only did to "Future Proof" my kit in case I somehow develop the need for it. Because I bought it with my camera from B&H, I got a $25.00 discount on the CFExpress. I realize you are not in the US but some things might apply to your location as well.
No aim not inthe US, i live in belgium, and thanks for the replay.
 
Hello, I would also like to buy the Sony A7 iv in the course of 2022 and also an all-round lens up to 300 to 400 mm, I am still learning the lumix dc-fz82 with a bridge camera from panasonic, great optical zoom up to 2400 mm , and question, which cfexpress card and reader do you recommend, Thanks in advance and a picture with my lumix from the moon.
As others have said, I would recommend buying SD cards to start with, or using your existing ones if you have some. CFexpress cards are quite expensive right now.
 
As others have said, I would recommend buying SD cards to start with, or using your existing ones if you have some. CFexpress cards are quite expensive right now.
No problem , i have the money for that, Grtjs
 
Hello, I would also like to buy the Sony A7 iv in the course of 2022 and also an all-round lens up to 300 to 400 mm, I am still learning the lumix dc-fz82 with a bridge camera from panasonic, great optical zoom up to 2400 mm , and question, which cfexpress card and reader do you recommend, Thanks in advance and a picture with my lumix from the moon.
I'd recommend checking my Sony a7IV Memory Card Guide first to see if you really need a CFexpress Type-A card, the buffer still clears pretty quick with a fast UHS-II card like the Kingston Canvas React Plus. You will need one if you want to shoot in S&Q Mode with the file format XAVC S-I 4k, a record frame rate of 25p / 30p and a frame rate of 50fps / 60fps (2x slow motion). If you do decide on CFexpress then I'd go with a dual reader like this one from Prograde: https://www.amazon.nl/CFexpress-Card-Reader-ProGrade-Digital/dp/B08L9T21PD/
 
Hi Timothy, I have the Sony A7 IV | Full-frame System camera with 28-70 mm F3.5-5.6 kit lens bought and a 2x extra battery, + Sony Cfexpress type A Tough speed G series 80 Gb bought, + Sony MRW-G2 Cfexpress card reader bought, a 2nd lens Tamron 70 -300mm f/4.5-6.3 Di III RXD Sony FE and a bag and an external dual battery charger, another kingston canvas react plus sdcard 64gb uhs-ii, screen protector, and more, bought this now and ordered this as a gift from the wife for my 65th birthday next year, greetings.
 
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Hi Timothy, I have the Sony A7 IV | Full-frame System camera with 28-70 mm F3.5-5.6 kit lens bought and a 2x extra battery, + Sony Cfexpress type A Tough speed G series 80 Gb bought, + Sony MRW-G2 Cfexpress card reader bought, a 2nd lens Tamron 70 -300mm f/4.5-6.3 Di III RXD Sony FE and a bag and an external dual battery charger, another kingston canvas react plus sdcard 64gb uhs-ii, screen protector, and more, bought this now and ordered this as a gift from the wife for my 65th birthday next year, greetings.
It sounds like you are nicely kitted out! And what a lovely wife you have! I need to show this to mine! :)
 
It sounds like you are nicely kitted out! And what a lovely wife you have! I need to show this to mine! :)
Thanks, I am waiting for the delivery of the Sony A7 IV and the Sony lens 28-70 next week i hope, I will keep you informed, Grtjs
 
I'm about to move from Nikon D7000 and buy my first Sony full frame camera. I've seen the impressive results of the A7riii that a couple of friends have. However, I like the improved EVF and improved rear screen of the A7RivA. So I'd pretty much set my mind on the A7RivA and have even bought a book on it. However, I've been watching videos reviewing the new A7iv. It looks very impressive. I'm not a huge fan of touch screen menus, as finger marks drive me nuts (OCD). The new menu system looks to be a major improvement over the traditional Sony menus, but to be honest I don't think the menu system on the Riv is too bad, in particular as you have the ability to personalise the My menu and the three M mode options.

I'm not really that interested in using a camera for video, although my son could use it as a back up in his video business, as he uses all Sony mirrorless.

I like the idea of 61mp on the A7riv, purely because of the flexibility it gives you to crop.

But then I think the option on the A7iv to keep the shutter closed when you take a lens off is an excellent addition; to prevent dust ingress.

I have the budget for either and have already ordered the new Sony 70-200mm 2.8 OSS GM MkII. I will probably also be buying the Sony 24-70mm 2.8 GM. Not sure if I may even wait for the MkII version; which is supposed to be out soon(ish).

I'm wanting to get into creating composite photographs, so rightly or wrongly see the A7Riv, with it's 61mp and greater cropping flexibility, as being the better option.

Decisions decisions. I know whichever I choose, it will be a huge improvement on my old Nikon; but it's a lot of money if I make the wrong choice.
How do I keep the shutter closed? I change lens a lot, and worry about the dust.
 
There is a setting in the menus to close the shutter when switching the camera off. Then you turn the camera off (always a good practice when changing lenses), change lenses, and turn it back on.

However, I don't bother with that. I try to keep the lens mount facing down when changing lenses, and I don't change lenses in dusty conditions. Having the shutter closed while changing lenses just means the dust settles on the shutter, and gets dislodged when the shutter opens, and is floating around inside - it will attracted to the sensor by the electrostatic charge.

Blowing dust off the sensor is easy enough, and if you do get dust in an image, it's easily cloned out. You will get dust on your sensor no matter what precautions you take (unless all your shooting is in a class 100 clean room...).
 
Thank you Tony. I would like to do that. I
just don’t know where the setting is. I’ve been searching utube and didn’t find anything.
 
Thank you Tony. I would like to do that. I
just don’t know where the setting is. I’ve been searching utube and didn’t find anything.
This is a feature on the A1 and A7IV, I don't think it's on the RIV or the III. not sure about others. I had to look up how to do it and I can't recall, but there is a major warning that goes along with keeping the shutter closed during power down. The camera cannot be exposed to direct sunlight that can be magnified by the lens, it will literally burn the shutter. After some research and thinking, I turned it back off. Dust isn't that hard to deal with. Get yourself a rocket blower, they have air filters and one-way valves so you don't suck in dust and blow it on the sensor.
 
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Thank you Tony. I would like to do that. I
just don’t know where the setting is. I’ve been searching utube and didn’t find anything.
I don't know about the A7RIV having that setting. I thought it was a new thing with the A7IV but I wouldn't bet on it.
 
Hello, I would also like to buy the Sony A7 iv in the course of 2022 and also an all-round lens up to 300 to 400 mm, I am still learning the lumix dc-fz82 with a bridge camera from panasonic, great optical zoom up to 2400 mm , and question, which cfexpress card and reader do you recommend, Thanks in advance and a picture with my lumix from the moon.
aside from my new a9ii we also have a fz82 for my wife to travel with i will say this it take some surprisingly good pics strait out of camera
 
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