Since many of us have been on the buy and sell roller coaster, I’m hoping I can get some guesses on what to do about potentially upgrading my A7iv to the soon to be released A7v. The iv has served me well, but I’d appreciate better AF for action and potentially a faster sensor as I’m somewhat frequently getting distortion at high shutter speeds. The new, larger screen would be great too. I’m doing lots of dog portraits/action shots, and some landscape. If money were no object I’d get an A1 or A1ii, but it is very much an object. So, wondering if I should try to minimize my upgrade cost by selling my current camera now, before the new one comes out. I do have a full-spectrum A7iv that I can use with a filter for normal shots until the new camera comes in. Would you sell now or wait, and what is your guess as to how far resale prices of the iv will come down after the v comes out?
The big unknown is when the A75 will actually be shipping. I sold my A1 after pre-ordering the A1 II and really regretted selling my A1 so quickly since it took many months to get my A1 II.
InFocus2014 wrote:
The big unknown is when the A75 will actually be shipping. I sold my A1 after pre-ordering the A1 II and really regretted selling my A1 so quickly since it took many months to get my A1 II.
Yeah, it’s supposed to be announced in a couple weeks, but who knows when it’ll ship. But I just need a $100 clip in filter, and I can use my full spectrum A7iv as a normal camera til the new one comes in. That might make it feasible to sell now if it nets me more money.
A7V and A1 pricing might not be that far off after taxes (new) vs used?
if you need it today (and can afford it).
A used A1 or used A9I/II might be the better bet.
A7IV prices will take a big dip here with the A7V is released cause people want to move them quick and they will be a LOT listed. I would guess the a7IV will drop to 1k on used market.
sonofjesse2010 wrote:
A7V and A1 pricing might not be that far off after taxes (new) vs used?
if you need it today (and can afford it).
A used A1 or used A9I/II might be the better bet.
A7IV prices will take a big dip here with the A7V is released cause people want to move them quick adn they will be a LOT listed. I would guess the a7IV will drop to 1k on used market.
I wholeheartedly agree about buying the A1. The performance is great and you get the outstanding 9.44M dot EVF.
Jimi3 wrote:
Since many of us have been on the buy and sell roller coaster, I’m hoping I can get some guesses on what to do about potentially upgrading my A7iv to the soon to be released A7v. The iv has served me well, but I’d appreciate better AF for action and potentially a faster sensor as I’m somewhat frequently getting distortion at high shutter speeds. The new, larger screen would be great too. I’m doing lots of dog portraits/action shots, and some landscape. If money were no object I’d get an A1 or A1ii, but it is very much an object. So, wondering if I should try to minimize my upgrade cost by selling my current camera now, before the new one comes out. I do have a full-spectrum A7iv that I can use with a filter for normal shots until the new camera comes in. Would you sell now or wait, and what is your guess as to how far resale prices of the iv will come down after the v comes out? ...Show more →
"I’m somewhat frequently getting distortion at high shutter speeds" ... Are you shooting with electronic shutter? If so, use mechanical shutter instead.
Looking back to the release of the A1 and A7Rv, the used pricing for A7rivs fell precipitously. Seems likely to be a similar situation when the A7v arrives.
They have a big event on December 2nd. Very likely, those is for A7v announcement. Me personally, I would wait till after. Used prices are going to fall maybe even for A1, A7r iv and A7r v. Or maybe not for all of them but for A7 iv for sure.
Personally, I am not sure if A1 would be a better buy than A7v. Very likely, A7v has some very handy new features: focus stacking, pre-capture, improved video possibly, high frame rate in the 20-30fps range, .... Even internal raw recording and 6k video capture are on the table. We don't know for sure but they are all possible. If one can make use of the new features, A7v will be a better buy than A1. Otherwise, one can still look for a used A1 whose price in the used market may further drop.
I admit it's a bit exciting to wait and see the new camera considering that Sony has managed to hide almost all features of the new camera from being leaked. SAR is still clueless about the features of the new model.
NJPhotographer wrote:
"I’m somewhat frequently getting distortion at high shutter speeds" ... Are you shooting with electronic shutter? If so, use mechanical shutter instead.
Yeah I use electronic shutter most of the time when shooting dogs and cats to minimize noise/disturbance. I do switch to mechanical for planned action shots, but I get distortion for “posed” shots with electronic shutter more than I would like.
sonofjesse2010 wrote:
A7V and A1 pricing might not be that far off after taxes (new) vs used?
if you need it today (and can afford it).
A used A1 or used A9I/II might be the better bet.
A7IV prices will take a big dip here with the A7V is released cause people want to move them quick adn they will be a LOT listed. I would guess the a7IV will drop to 1k on used market.
I’ll have to consider this- used A1s look like they come in an around $3500 and the 7v is expected at 3k. Question though- can you tilt the lcd for low angle shots in portrait mode on the A1? I have come to very often rely on this with my A7iv for nearly ground level dog shots in vertical orientation. Impossible to do on my old A7rii.
Used prices pretty much always fall when a new version comes out since so many people want to ditch the old for the new when it comes to anything electronics IME. If you're ok being without the A7IV for a few months while stock catches up with demand on the A7V (assuming the worst case scenario where you can't get one asap when released), then that's likely the best route if you're trying to maximize how much money you get for the A7IV. Assuming you're going get the A7V no matter what anyway, which is always tricky not knowing what it'll be.
I did that with my A7C when it looked likely a newer version was going to be announced shortly, and I'm glad I did as I got hundreds more than I would have had I waited until after the release of the A7CII.
I'm not sure the couple of hundred max extra you'll get out of selling now is worth it. You're getting rid of a camera you know you like for one about which you know nothing, including the retail price. Maybe a better plan would be to wait and see if the update is worth the money before letting go of a useful piece of gear.
Jimi3 wrote:
Question though- can you tilt the lcd for low angle shots in portrait mode on the A1? I have come to very often rely on this with my A7iv for nearly ground level dog shots in vertical orientation.
Unfortunately no on A1. Only in landscape orientation.
Jimi3 wrote:
Yeah I use electronic shutter most of the time when shooting dogs and cats to minimize noise/disturbance. I do switch to mechanical for planned action shots, but I get distortion for “posed” shots with electronic shutter more than I would like.
if your getting distortion for posed dog shots its defiantly not the camera.
SAR has just released some leaked information about the camera and he seems pretty confident about these specs. I think we can rely in his information which confirms A7v is a (relatively) significant upgrade over A7 iv. It seems Sony pretty much wanted to beat Z6 III and they have managed to do it in still mode. They are as good as Canon R6 III or maybe even a bit better for stills. If the rumored leaks are all that is there, A7v is still behind the competition in terms of video specs. Video is where Canon R6 III shines (feature-wise). Sony must have not been aware of what Canon R6 III would be like. That's not quite an excuse because even Panasonic is very advanced in terms of video features.
- 33MP partially stacked sensor
- 30fps in electronic shutter mode
-10fps in mechanical shutter mode
- new AI chip like the Sony A1II
- 8 stops IBIS
- 4k60p with No crop
- Same Sony A7rV body design
- Free-Angle Tilting 3.2″ Touchscreen LCD
- dual USB-C port
- improved EVF
- Announcement on December 2
- Sony A7V Preorders open on Dec 2
Considering that Sony produces two line sof video oriented E-mount cameras (A7s and FX), I am afraid they may remain conservative in offering video features in A7v. It needs to compete with the following in terms of video:
Canon R6 III's video Specs:
- 7K DCI/60 (Raw)
- 7K/30 open-gate
- 4K/120 (full-width)
- 1080p/180 (full-width)
- Uncompressed video C-Raw Over HDMI
- False color overlay
- Waveform
- Log view assist
Panasonic S1II:
- 6K/30 3:2 (Raw / open gate)
- 5.7K/60 DCI (Raw)
- 5.9K/60 (16:9)
- DCI 4K/120 w/ 1.17x crop
- Uncompressed video ProRes Raw Over HDMI
- Waveform
- False color
- Vectorscope
- Anamorphic desqueeze
- Shutter angle
- Log view assists
- Custom LUT recordin
Jimi3 wrote:
Yeah I use electronic shutter most of the time when shooting dogs and cats to minimize noise/disturbance. I do switch to mechanical for planned action shots, but I get distortion for “posed” shots with electronic shutter more than I would like.
The problem is that dogs and cats often move, even in posed non-action shots, and the A7iv's electronic shutter is not reliable for moving subjects. The electronic shutter's effective shutter speed is something like 1/15th or 1/30th second, even though it's set higher. I sometimes use the A7iv's electronic shutter for wedding ceremonies to minimize noise/disturbance, but that only works because the subjects move very little, such as during vows or the ring exchange. I hope that the new A7v will offer a more usable electronic shutter, like that of the A9 and A1 series.
NJPhotographer wrote:
The problem is that dogs and cats often move, even in posed non-action shots, and the A7iv's electronic shutter is not reliable for moving subjects. The electronic shutter's effective shutter speed is something like 1/15th or 1/30th second, even though it's set higher. I sometimes use the A7iv's electronic shutter for wedding ceremonies to minimize noise/disturbance, but that only works because the subjects move very little, such as during vows or the ring exchange. I hope that the new A7v will offer a more usable electronic shutter, like that of the A9 and A1 series.
Yup, that’s precisely my problem. Dogs vary widely in their ability to sit still, so I’m sometimes getting some gnarly distortion.
IIRC, the partially stacked sensors from other brands are getting readouts of ~1/60s, so that may be what to expect from an A7V. Definitely better than the ~1/15 that the A7IV does and probably in most cases is "good enough." Note there are also ways that the camera settings can be tweaked to increase that readout speed to 1/30s in the A7IV--APS-C mode and/or continuous burst mode (whatever setting reduces the files to 12-bit), I believe? The A7V might have similar increases possible.
But the A1 is a different ballgame at 1/250s. I did what others suggest here and traded up into a used A1 a few months back. I use e-shutter exclusively now. No more worrying about rolling shutter distortion, EFCS bokeh/exposure at high shutter speeds, or LED sync weirdness. A used A1 will not be far off in price from the A7V, and I think an always-on silent shutter is more advantageous for my uses than any other enhancements the A7V could have (btw, the A1 does have focus stacking now... but I've never used it). I'm curious to see what the A7V does have up its sleeve though.
