The third upgrade is not so much an upgrade as a change for the better. Sony’s color science has improved dramatically, especially with skin tones, which are much more true to life in the range of skin tones in this world. Auto white balance is also much better, although I’m still a fan of shooting in good old sunlight white balance 95 percent of the time.
Finally, a bonus thing I liked. I’ve always wanted to get better at bird photography, but it usually requires expensive lenses and extensive time in the field. It still needs both of those things, but 33MP for cropping, and pre-burst capture, and 33 images-per-second RAW capture… even someone like me, who has no wildlife photography skills and only has a 200mm lens, could get some pretty nice images, which was fun to experiment with.
Photograph: Scott Gilbertson
The one thing that still sucks about the A7V and has gotten worse about every Sony camera I’ve used, and it’s only getting worse: the menu system. They’re disorganized, confusing, and hard to navigate. The only thing that saves you here is the number of programmable hardware buttons, which allows you to control things as you wish without having to go into menus. Sony, seriously, hire a UX designer and fix this. Even better, steal Leka’s menu designer.
Is the A7V worth the upgrade? Yes, if you are coming from a camera that is below the A7IV. If you already have an A7IV, this is less attractive. The new features are impressive in the specifications table, but whether you need them depends on what you shoot.
If you’re a wildlife or sports photographer, it’s worth upgrading to get pre-capture and a higher burst rate. If what you shoot doesn’t benefit from those features – let’s say you mostly shoot travel images, landscapes, outdoors – then the A7V is a less attractive prospect. It’s incredibly good for all of those scenarios, but if you already have an A7IV, upgrading won’t be worth the money for the many new features you won’t use.
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