chiron
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 p.1 #1 · The A7C -- What do long-term owners think? | |
The A7C has been out for a while. I am curious about what long-term users think after using it for a sustained period of time. I am especially interested to hear from people who like the camera and to hear what they like about it. Comments about the EVF from people who chose not to buy the camera don't add much, but comments from people who have used the camera for a while are very interesting.
Below is my own review, an edited and updated version of a posting I made when I first used the camera. The review now reflects longer-term usage. I kept my original A7C until I sold it when I bought an A1. I decided to keep an A9 and sell the A7C because I thought the transition back and forth between the A9 and A1 would be easier to do. I have recently re-purchased the A7C for travel and take-along purposes.
1. Size---it is smaller and it feels both smaller and lighter in actual use than any other full frame I have handled. It is handier than my A9 or A7R4. I like picking it up, and the slight simplification of the controls also makes it quicker to use, probably because of the modes that one chooses to use it in and how one sets it up originally. It is not enormously smaller than the A9, but it is smaller in how it feels in use and how it carries.
2. Image quality---Image quality is excellent. At the ISOs at which I mostly shoot, it seems to have slightly better IQ than the A9 and to handle low light images better than the A7R4. Colors seem very lovely to me, which I missed a bit when I sold my A7III. It is nice to have them back. It's image quality is at the A7III level, which is truly excellent.
3. Autofocus---AF is excellent, better than the A7III, better (I think) than the A7R4, not quite as good as the A9. Real Time Tracking and Eye AF have changed the way I shoot, and this is a strong implementation of both. The scan rate is not as fast as the A9, so silent shutter is not friendly to LED lights, which produce banding, and presumably not to the kinds of motion that produce rolling shutter effects. There is still a place for the A9 in this regard.
4. EVF and LCD---The EVF is fine and quite useable for the non-tripod uses for which this camera is designed. On a tripod, I would use the screen anyway. I did not have any difficulties with the EVF in actual use with either its size or magnification, though one will notice that it is smaller than the other EVFs in the 7 and 9 and 1 series cameras. I did have a SMALL problem with the absence of an eye-cup, in exactly the situation that another user describes--strong sunlight coming from the left. In that situation, I needed to position my hand to block the sunlight from interfering with the EVF. Small problem, but an eyecup would fix it. This is not a problem with the EVF per se. The LCD seems fine to me. I didn't notice anything different about using it except that it is a bit smaller, as one would expect. This didn't matter to me in use.
5. Lenses used---I have been using the Sony smaller lenses with it--the 28/2, 35/1.8, 55/1.8, and 85/1.8. These fit the camera and feel good in the hand, and focus very quickly and accurately. The Sigma i series lenses ft the camera extremely well and together they make a great travel kit. Although I haven't used them as much, the 20/1.8 and the 24/1.4 also fit very well. All of the Loxia, many of the Voigtlanders, the Sony 35/2.8, the Samyang 1.8 series and the Samyang 18/2.8, and the Tamron 2.8 series of lenses should all fit this camera especially well. Perhaps surprisingly, the Batis, which I have tried on, also handle very well on the A7C--they have more diameter than the above lenses but are quite light and also short (w/o their hoods on) and the combination is nice in the hand and nicely balanced in terms of handling. But they are of course a bit larger than the preceding lenses.
6. Overall---My impressions are favorable. I have used it for family portraits, still lifes, landscapes, and animals, and it has handled all of those situation very nicely. This camera, to me so far, is distinguished by being very useable and transparent. It is quick to be picked up and easy to shoot while still providing outstanding image quality and good controls over shooting. It's autofocus is really excellent and makes it easy to get sharp focus exactly where you want it; the AF is sticky and will capture moving subjects accurately. The A7C does not include any major technological innovations (except the downsizing of the new IBIS system to fit in the camera), but it is very, very useable and I think that is where Sony has in fact innovated with this camera. Its size, lightness, and excellent autofocus are the keys to this heightened usability. It is a perfect travel camera, great family camera, and an excellent take-anywhere camera that is well integrated and will easily yield very high quality images.
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