Re: Official: Sony A7R V announced (pre-orders now available)
I can see the reaction is lukewarm, but I aside from my disappointment that sensor tech in terms of noise and DR seems to have plateaued since the A7R III, there are a number of upgrades here that are really useful to me for landscape photography. I currently have the A7R III and A7 IV and here is why I am considering replacing the R III with R V:
1) The new LCD design is really helpful because my A7R III flip screen is the best for landscape orientation while the swivel LCD of my A7 IV is my favorite for portrait orientation. For some people this might be trivial, but getting straight lines is really helpful for me as a compositional aid and I do my best work when I don't have to fight an off-axis LCD.
2) In-camera focus stacking is something I almost always use on my R5 for static subjects. I'm glad that they have it here and that it appears to work with the mechanical shutter. On the R5 it is electronic shutter only which blunts some of the DR gains you get from stacking the images. Here it should provide really clean shadows when I stack in Helicon Focus.
3) The improved IBIS will help me get more shots at lower shutter speeds before setting up the tripod.
4) The multi-shot mode that accounts for subject movement is potentially useful. I am hoping it will work with LibRaw PixelShift2DNG so I can skip Imaging Edge.
5) The step forward from the A7R III to A7 IV in color science has saved me a considerable amount of time in post as the changes over generations have been more and more to my taste. I expect the R V to at least equal the A7 IV.
6) I like the new button layout of the A7 IV and those benefits are here on the V. I disliked the EC dial on the older generations and never used it. I have reassigned this on the A7 IV to switching AF tracking modes and I envision doing the same here. I like that this dial can be unlocked or locked. It looks like the mode dial is always locked until you press, which I don't like.
7) The new menu system is a big step forward IMO.
8) I will definitely benefit from the new LCD, which is finally in line with peers. The upgraded EVF looks nice since I'm coming from lower resolution displays on my current cameras. The hit to the battery life is a negative.
All in all, while I prefer the A7R III's sensor (slight DR advantage and second base ISO at 640 vs. 320), there seem to be enough upgrades for landscape shooting that I can close the slight gap with image stacking and improved IBIS. I don't think an A7 V will be coming for a while so this might be my best bet for a bit.
Oct 27, 2022 at 09:50 PM
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