JeyB
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RobDMB wrote:
Can I ask what specifically you didn't like about the A7IV? I am seriously considering switching from a Nikon Z to the A7IV so interested in feedback. Thanks.
Hi RobDMB
First of all let me say that this is only my opinion under the light of my needs. Any other user may disagree.
The camera is not bad, of course. But it depends on the expectations. I usually shot with an A7 RIII, so high res is something that I am so accostumed now that it turned 33 mpx to be low for my needs. When I bought the A7 IV I hoped it would be enough, but nah. When shooting birds, every mpx counts, mainly when birds in my zone are very shy and don't allow people close to them. So I was dissapointed by this resolution issue. Also, when birds get small in the frame and I apply Topaz for noise reduction, a lot of fine detail is erased at the same time, making the photo look plasticky. With the A7 IV it's still like the noise dots are similar in size to the pixels that conform detail in plumage and consequently gets lost after Topaz. If the sensor is high res, like the A1 or any other similar camera, these noise dots are easily removed, preserving the finest detail. I think it may be difficult to understand unless someone is used to work with high res ff sensors. The first time I shot raw with my A1 I perceived that the results had more luminance noise than the A7 IV at medium ISO, let's say 800 or 1600. But once denoised, wow, it was like a miracle and the photos resulted with plenty of razor sharpness, detail and natural cleaniness in a way that lesser mpx sensors can't get in my experience. All in all, I have to reckon that this is not a fault in the A7 IV per se. Its sensor simply didn't meet my expectations regarding high resolution advantages. And by the way, 24 mpx resolution was the main impediment for me to ever buy an A9 or A9 II.
Then there is the AF-C precision. Despite being a big step ahead from A7III it is not near close to the A1 (I'm still working on this sophisticated system and far from mastering it). But when I nail the focus with the A1 on a bird in flight, the resulting photos look sharp, extremely sharp, insanely sharp I should say. When the A1 doesn't nail focus, the results have a very slight perceptible blurriness in the point where focus should be obtained. So, with the A7 IV, my personal feeling is that I am conitnuously in this second case with birds that are not big enough in the frame. On the other hand, if the birds are big enough and fill a good part of the frame, then this situation is not a problem no more . But I still feel like wanting more from the A7 IV.
After reading myself this two paragraphs I lean to think that the main disadvantage of the A7 IV (and the origin of my dissapointment) is its lowish resolution sensor. I am completely convinced that it would have resulted in an absolute killer camera if it had 42 to 45 mpx resolution -it could have shocked the market for sure-. Even keeping the same all remaining attributes as it is now, like 10 fps loosy, 6 fps looseless, infamous rolling shutter in ES, blackout, instantaneous Bionz XR resposiveness, and even the crappy articulated screen just to mention some pros and cons. Despite all this comments, Sony did a great pass, getting 10.100 euros from my pockets! (A7 IV + A1).
I hope I could help in some way. Please deeply think about hi resolution and its impact on IQ, this is my only advice.
Have a nice Xmas
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Most of the action shots I took for BIF in Hi+ mode were sharp. Bursts of about 23-25 shots at 10 fps I guess (loosy raw) yielded 18-20 sharp photos. Not bad at all. For my taste, high iso settings from 1600 and up result in fine detail loss and it's perceptibly more noisy than my A7III and A7 RIII.
