Jump to content

Need help picking; A7CR, A7RV or A7CII


Recommended Posts

Hi All,

For the last year+ I have been using the Leica Q3 as my only camera. As much as I love the camera I feel like the one focal length (28mm) is still somewhat limiting as I find myself often cropping to 50mm and losing much of the MP, so I'm looking to buy a Sony camera next to it with more focal length options.

After looking into the possible cameras within my budget I landed on the A7CR, A7RV or A7CII.
In this case the A7RV would be a second hand model as the new price is out of my budget.

My main usage is travel, family, landscape and some portrait. (Hobby, non professional)

I'm planning to pair it with the Sony FE 24-50mm f/2.8 G.

My main struggle deciding is:

  1. While I do favor the size/weight and capabilities of the A7CR the viewfinder and display are a huge downgrade from my Q3, I'm not sure how much this would bother me.
  2. Is the 61mp on the A7CR and A7RV too high for the lens I plan to pair it with. (even though I may pick up the 35 or 50 GM down the line, but that wouldn't be soon).
  3. While the A7RV has everything I'm looking for, I'm not sure if the weight is worth it for travel. Currently I have only used a X100V and Q3 for travel and these are both significantly lighter than the A7RV + 24-50 f2.8 G.
  4. Is 61mp too much to pair with a non GM lens and would the Sony FE 24-50mm f/2.8 G optically be able to reach the same qualities as the lens on my Q3?

My main (pretty much only) use will be for photography and not video.

I may eventually sell the Q3 if the Sony camera replaces this.

Please help me out :) Thanks.

Link to post
Share on other sites

For my big hands the A7Cx series is too small to hold comfortably.  I thought I would really like the original A7C until I found one in a store display and was able to actually hold it.  It took all of 30 seconds to decide it wasn't for me and I bought my A7RIV instead.  For me the EVF resolution wasn't that big of a deal "to me".

My A7RIV really isn't all that much bigger than the A7C but it is bigger enough that it is infinitely more useable for me.

My 2 main lenses are 24-105 G and 12-24/4 G lenses.  The clarity, sharpness and resolution of the G lenses are incredible and the 20" x 30" prints I have made are incredibly sharp right to the edges.  I don't believe there is anything gained in the sharpness of the 12-24/2.8 GM lens.  The main advantage of the 12-24/2.8 GM lens is the extra F stop of light but at the expense of size, weight and $$$$.  I considered buying the 12-24/2.8 GM lens (because it was a GM lens so must be better), I am SO HAPPY I went with the F4 G lens instead.

For portraits I picked up a Samyang 80mm/1.4 AF lens which is incredibly sharp and the shallow depth of field at F1.4 is narrower than I ever use.  I usually shoot portraits around F2 so I don't get blurry noses and blurry ears that F1.4 gives me.

One of the great things about ILC (Interchangeable Lens Cameras) is you can have different lenses for different purposes.  I would suggest that you  consider the Sony 20-70/4 lens and add something like a 28mm/1.8 lens incase you need more light (which I have never needed) or a shallow DOF at your preferred focal length.  I was very hesitant about the F4 minimum aperture of my lenses when I bought them... I no longer have any question they were the right choice "for me".

Edited by MikeInOr
Link to post
Share on other sites

I don't understand why people think the resolution is too high for certain lenses. I shoot an A1 and often use old Minolta A-Mount. I don't own a GM lens. I actually only own 2 Sony lenses, a 24-105 and 200-600. Everything else is a Samyang, Tamron, or A-Mount. I think you'd have to be cropping the holy crap out of an image for it to show up. 

Sony A1, Minolta A-Mount 80-200/2.8 APO HS G. 

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

Link to the shot on Flickr if you'd like to zoom in. 

https://flic.kr/p/2q5uj48

Edited by Cameratose
Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

  • Posts

    • I've had a A7iii for a few years now and up until recently all has been fine. However, when shooting in manual mode my camera changes the shutter speed after every shot, e.g. just taken a shot at 1/60th and immediately the camera set itself to 1/4000th without me touching it! I have the camera set for BBF and the same change of shutter speed can happen when I press the shutter button. Live View is on. Any suggestions? Many thanks!
    • How are you liking your ZV-E10?  Do you use it for still photography, video or both?  I would enjoy hearing your feedback! The A33 was my first digital ILC (interchangeable lens camera) and I still use it a good bit for when I am taking photos specifically for posting online.
    • Hello guys, here I share my impressions of the Brightin Star 11mm 2.8 fisheyelens for night photography, and share some photos taken with it at the end of the post.   Introduction The Brightin Star 11mm 2.8 is a fisheye lens, with manual focus, which is available for different mounts, including Sony's E mount. It is a very interesting lens because of its focal length, large aperture and price - it currently costs just 213 euros (https://brightinstar.com/products/brightin-star-11mm-f2-8-full-frame-wide-angle-starry-sky-fisheye-lens-suitable). After some time using it with the Sony A7IV, here are my impressions of using it. Construction The construction of the lens is excellent; it is a tremendously robust lens, made primarily of metal. It weighs about 600 grams but, even so, it has a contained size compared to its competitors (such as the Samyang or the Astrhori 12mm 2.8). Its diaphragm ring, which is located on the front of the lens, has no clicks. Behind it is the focus ring, and it is followed by a (focusing) scale that is a great help when shooting at large apertures, especially at f2.8. The construction of the lens is generally very good.     Image Quality The image quality of the Brightin Star 11mm 2.8 surprised me. It is a lens that, despite its price, is super sharp, especially in the center of the image. That sharpness drops off, as expected, in the corners. And although its sweet spot is at f5.6 to f8, it performs very well at f2.8, which makes it an ideal lens for night photography. As for vignetting, it is present at full aperture, and fades (without disappearing completely) as the aperture closes. As for chromatic aberrations, they are significantly present, but are easily correctable in processing. Regarding other distortions, it has the fisheye distortion, and some coma in the corners at full aperture. Finally, as for flares, I did not notice any special flare in the presence of lateral light sources. All in all, image quality is a plus for this lens.   Sunstar Another of the lens' strong points, in addition to its sharpness, is the sunstar it creates. This sunstar appears easily from f4. It is 8-bladed and very beautiful. This is a feature to take into account as it can be used as another element to compose with when photographing the sun, the moon or some other point of light in our night photography.   Use Due to its 2.8 aperture and the good performance at it, the Brightin Star 11mm 2.8 is a very interesting lens for night photography. Personally I have used it mostly for floors, combined with a longer focal length (previous pictures) to get the milky way in more detail. But even so, because of its wide angle of view, I have also found it useful for panoramas, since with just 6 vertical shots you can cover 240 degrees.   Conclusion The Brightin 11mm 2.8 is a very economical fisheye lens that performs very well in both landscape and night photography, both for simple shots (correcting its distortion) and for panoramas. It stands out, above all, for its build quality, performance at full aperture and for its beautiful sunstar that comes out easily from f4.   I got it at the official website: https://brightinstar.com/products/brightin-star-11mm-f2-8-full-frame-wide-angle-starry-sky-fisheye-lens-suitable-for-l-sony-e-nikon-z-canon-rf-mount?srsltid=AfmBOor8dl4EwqFJ5z6IUvL5VPiwkVKfjhW0r90r8MDCQR6AscZER9j0   Here I share some photos taken with it (the first two, only the foreground was tanken with it; the thrid one, all the photos of the panorama were taken with it).  
  • Topics

×
×
  • Create New...