Sony A7RV - A Better Photographer Than Me
In this blog post I’ll explain some of my thoughts and opinions, provide some pros and cons, and generally gush about the Sony A7RV. I bought this camera at a great discount during holiday sales, combining them with a student discount. My take on the camera might be different from someone who paid full price, but probably not by much. It really is a great camera. Why did I buy it? Honestly, the deal was just that good. I didn’t need it, and I most likely shouldn’t have spent the money, but I really like cameras.
Sony a7R V Mirrorless Camera
Let me address the tough question right off the bat. Should you buy it? If you have the money to do so without concern, then yes. I won’t spend a bunch of time talking about the ifs. Whether you shoot professionally or just for fun, I don’t think you’ll regret buying this camera, as long as you’re not straining yourself financially to do so. Worst case, you sell it for a slight loss and learn the lesson.
For those of you that are on the fence but know it’s not a good idea for you financially, skip it. Yes, you would probably love the camera, but I promise you that you don’t need it. It’s just a tool like any other camera, and you’re just as well off spending the money on a fun weekend out taking pictures. I know we all hate that answer, but it’s genuine.
Before we start on pros and cons, let me give some context as to my gear before picking up the A7RV. I’d been shooting with the A7IV for a few years, and have a mix of Sony G and GM lenses, with one Sigma sneaking its way into the pack. This is to say, I was healthily invested into the Sony system before picking this camera up, which is part of why I was comfortable doing so.
Pros:
Fully articulating LCD - Everyone’s heard about this a million times, so I’ll just reiterate, yes it’s that good. It’s incredibly versatile and convenient, and I hope Sony puts it on all future bodies. Up until purchasing this camera, I’d only owned cameras with flip out LCD’s. As a result, using the A7RV feels like a whole new ballgame to me.
Megapixels - 60 megapixels is a lot, and it comes in handy more often than I’d expected. Cropping and recomposing without losing detail feels a bit like cheating, but also feels like a weight is taken off my shoulders. Also, you’ve still got 26 megapixels when shooting in APS-C crop mode. This is really convenient and opens up some more doors creatively, which is always a good thing.
Autofocus - The autofocus is magical. I’m never really worried that it’ll miss a shot. This camera keeps up with and in most cases surpasses me in every way conceivable. As a photographer, it’s very freeing to use a camera that never feels restrictive or like I could do better with a different tool. The easiest way to describe it, this camera’s potential far exceeds my own. I’d like to outpace it some day, but as of now, that’s where we stand.
Stabilization - Stabilization isn’t new, but it’s great on this camera, so I have to point it out. I routinely take handheld shots at slow shutter speeds and am pleasantly surprised by the results.
The below shot for example was taken at a shutter of 1/10th of a second.
Sunset on Samish Bay, Washington.
Cons:
Expensive - It’s an expensive camera. The A7RV retails for just under $3,900 USD (I just checked B&H while writing this).
Large files - High megapixels comes with big file sizes. This isn’t the worst thing in the world as storage is getting cheaper by the year, but it’s something to consider. Shooting with this camera will definitely fill up your cards and storage space quicker than the average camera.
Rolling Shutter - If you shoot fast motion or enjoy video, this sensor might be a pass for you. The rolling shutter isn’t great. If you shoot in crop mode, this is mitigated a bit.
Expensive Cards - If you want to get the best performance possible out of the camera, you’ll have to spring for expensive, high speed memory cards. The A7RV has dual card slots, each capable of holding a CFexpress type A or standard SD card. Whichever type you go with, you’ll want large capacity cards with fast read and write speeds.
Shooting With It
I touched on this lightly in the pros and cons, but shooting with this camera is a great time. Between the autofocus, stabilization and high megapixel sensor, it feels difficult to make a mistake. The camera doesn’t hold you up, it’s right there ready to go when you are. In the title I called it a “Better Photographer Than Me” and while that’s kind of a tongue in cheek comment, I do mean it to an extent. What the camera is capable of exceeds my skills as a photographer. Psychologically, that’s actually a huge help to my development as a photographer, as 90% of the time if something goes wrong I can’t blame the equipment.
To summarize, I really like the camera! It’s a good time to use, and it’s extremely capable. I’d recommend it to anyone that’s comfortable with the purchase. I’ll close out with a few images I’ve taken with the A7RV recently.
