For those considering the Sony A7R5

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I rented one a couple months ago and it is indeed a great camera. If I went all Sony I would get one. Currently I use Nikon D850 with a range of focal lengths plus a Sony A7IV for their 200-600 lens. I can't afford to switch completely plus I love my D850's too much, BUT if I did switch the A7RV would be the body for me. I must confess I do like Sony's range of lenses (including some Tamron options) more than any other lineup.
 
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KimM said:
Well...now you have me thinking about selling the R4 and replacing with R5 as a backup for A1/action and for the landscapes that I occasionally want ability to focus stack. So here is my concern and would like your thoughts. I see you use the A1 in continuous low on A1. For what I do, I often use 30fps for action. Would the lack of a stack sensor and the blk out shutter be a challenge when using the R5?
Click to expand...

I would just turn on mechanical shutter on your A1 and see if the blackout and shutter sounds is OK with you. For me I'll never go back to a non-stacked sensor for wildlife/action :)
 
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If any of you has an A7r5 and Sony SD cards - M or G - you could do a test video recording to see if any other cameras have the same issue? You'd just need to leave it recording video for 20-25 minutes and see if the recording stops by itself. I've just dropped my camera off at the Sony service center but it will be a couple of weeks for them to look at it. Thanks.
 
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I said I’d update once I got my a7r5 back from the Sony service centre, which I just have.
They said they cleaned it all (even though I only purchased it at the end of January and the video recording issue happened the first time I used it).
They also updated the firmware to version 2.
I’ve done a number of test recordings since getting it back, and now it records ok beyond an hour in duration with no issues.
So it seems to be good now - fingers crossed!
Julian
 
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I haven't watched the video, but according to the title in this link, Chris Nichols thinks the A7r5 is currently the best still photo camera available:

Chris Niccolls says the A7rV is the best photographers cameras you can buy! | sonyalpharumors

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYm4c3kXGv4 From minute 44 you can hear why Chris loves the A7rV and believes it's the best camera to buy! As much as Sony can frustrate when it comes to lack of firmware update support, I know why I bought the A7rV myself: It is the best camera for my kind of...
www.sonyalpharumors.com www.sonyalpharumors.com
 
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MrFotoFool said:
I haven't watched the video, but according to the title in this link, Chris Nichols thinks the A7r5 is currently the best still photo camera available:

Chris Niccolls says the A7rV is the best photographers cameras you can buy! | sonyalpharumors

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYm4c3kXGv4 From minute 44 you can hear why Chris loves the A7rV and believes it's the best camera to buy! As much as Sony can frustrate when it comes to lack of firmware update support, I know why I bought the A7rV myself: It is the best camera for my kind of...
www.sonyalpharumors.com www.sonyalpharumors.com
Click to expand...
I agree with him and it’s pretty damn amazing with video as well as far as the tracking is considered.
 
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This morning I finally got to shoot a full morning with an A7RV I have on loan for a few weeks. Perfect full sun conditions which always favours the AF. One of the first full sunny days I've had in months. Just mentioning that as my thoughts in relation to the A1 have been based on the A1 shooting in cloudy and rainy weather for the past couple months. AF always takes a hit in those conditions.

That said, I was mightily impressed with the consistency of the AF from the A7RV today. I think it was hitting as good as the A1 would. Certainly as good as the A1 on FW 1.31...maybe the A1 has the edge back on FW 1.2. Still, very impressed with it for BIF. I mostly shot Caspian terns, oystercatchers and buffleheads for my flight subjects.

I'm not sure if the new AI AF and all the convoluted setup options is really needed. I'd say the A7RV seemed on par with the A1 for shooting foraging shorebirds, killdeer chicks and warblers in regards to how and when it activated the BEAF. I didn't have any wow moments because of the AI chip.

However, there is no getting away from the lack of a stacked sensor. The actual shooting experience for BIF and even non-BIF is just sub standard when I'm coming from shooting A9, A9II, A1, Z9, R3 and even R5 (with non stacked sensor). ES is basically unusuable at H+ due to the laggy slideshow it produces, in H it is okay as it is just blackout but still pretty stuttery and laggy. So had to shoot mostly in MS at H+ to get the max 10FPS and prevent rolling shutter distortion anyways. Having to listen to that stupid shutter all day when I usually shoot ES without any fake sounds was annoying. And still the view you get when quickly panning and actively firing the shutter at a BIF is just not great even in MS.

A couple cool things I noticed with the A7RV....

Formatting the memory card is now super fast like a Canon and Nikon. I raced the A1 formatting a CFe-A (which is always faster than SD) and the A7RV formatting a V90 SD and the A7RV smoked it. Even though formatting on earlier Sony cameras wasn't all that long it always annoyed me how long it was.

BEAF seems to behave more like Canon and Nikon where it is more likely to identify the bird/eye in APS-C mode when the bird is small in FF mode. On A1 it is backwards where it sometimes won't identify the bird in APS-C mode (even though it is bigger on the screen...although not bigger on the sensor) but then you switch into full frame and it identifies the bird/eye.

Oh and I had to update FW to 2.0 and using the memory card was so, so nice!!!

I've got two more full days to shoot this weekend so will see how my thoughts progress. Sunday should be cloudy so will be interesting to see if the AF falls apart in the lower light.
 
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arbitrage said:
This morning I finally got to shoot a full morning with an A7RV I have on loan for a few weeks. Perfect full sun conditions which always favours the AF. One of the first full sunny days I've had in months. Just mentioning that as my thoughts in relation to the A1 have been based on the A1 shooting in cloudy and rainy weather for the past couple months. AF always takes a hit in those conditions.

That said, I was mightily impressed with the consistency of the AF from the A7RV today. I think it was hitting as good as the A1 would. Certainly as good as the A1 on FW 1.31...maybe the A1 has the edge back on FW 1.2. Still, very impressed with it for BIF. I mostly shot Caspian terns, oystercatchers and buffleheads for my flight subjects.

I'm not sure if the new AI AF and all the convoluted setup options is really needed. I'd say the A7RV seemed on par with the A1 for shooting foraging shorebirds, killdeer chicks and warblers in regards to how and when it activated the BEAF. I didn't have any wow moments because of the AI chip.

However, there is no getting away from the lack of a stacked sensor. The actual shooting experience for BIF and even non-BIF is just sub standard when I'm coming from shooting A9, A9II, A1, Z9, R3 and even R5 (with non stacked sensor). ES is basically unusuable at H+ due to the laggy slideshow it produces, in H it is okay as it is just blackout but still pretty stuttery and laggy. So had to shoot mostly in MS at H+ to get the max 10FPS and prevent rolling shutter distortion anyways. Having to listen to that stupid shutter all day when I usually shoot ES without any fake sounds was annoying. And still the view you get when quickly panning and actively firing the shutter at a BIF is just not great even in MS.

A couple cool things I noticed with the A7RV....

Formatting the memory card is now super fast like a Canon and Nikon. I raced the A1 formatting a CFe-A (which is always faster than SD) and the A7RV formatting a V90 SD and the A7RV smoked it. Even though formatting on earlier Sony cameras wasn't all that long it always annoyed me how long it was.

BEAF seems to behave more like Canon and Nikon where it is more likely to identify the bird/eye in APS-C mode when the bird is small in FF mode. On A1 it is backwards where it sometimes won't identify the bird in APS-C mode (even though it is bigger on the screen...although not bigger on the sensor) but then you switch into full frame and it identifies the bird/eye.

Oh and I had to update FW to 2.0 and using the memory card was so, so nice!!!

I've got two more full days to shoot this weekend so will see how my thoughts progress. Sunday should be cloudy so will be interesting to see if the AF falls apart in the lower light.
Click to expand...
I agree with everything you said and agree with how nice the firmware updates are now as well as the speed of formatting the cards. The rear display is super nice, especially for video. All in all it's a fantastic addition to the A1 IMO. The video autofocus is better than any camera I've ever shot with bar none!
 
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sh1209 said:
I agree with everything you said and agree with how nice the firmware updates are now as well as the speed of formatting the cards. The rear display is super nice, especially for video. All in all it's a fantastic addition to the A1 IMO. The video autofocus is better than any camera I've ever shot with bar none!
Click to expand...
That reminds me I need to try some video with the BEAF.
 
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arbitrage said:
That reminds me I need to try some video with the BEAF.
Click to expand...
I’m pretty sure you’ll love the video focus. One thing I’ll mention is focus peaking stays on during video on this camera unless you turn it off in the imenu. Not sure why they did that but honestly I like it to see the the area is in focus. It grabs onto a subject almost immediately. I’ve been playing with the insect eye detection for stills the last couple days and I’m amazed how well it works. The focus stacking feature is great as well and very easy to use. I’d be surprised if you don’t end up really liking the camera.
 
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arbitrage said:
This morning I finally got to shoot a full morning with an A7RV I have on loan for a few weeks. Perfect full sun conditions which always favours the AF. One of the first full sunny days I've had in months. Just mentioning that as my thoughts in relation to the A1 have been based on the A1 shooting in cloudy and rainy weather for the past couple months. AF always takes a hit in those conditions.

That said, I was mightily impressed with the consistency of the AF from the A7RV today. I think it was hitting as good as the A1 would. Certainly as good as the A1 on FW 1.31...maybe the A1 has the edge back on FW 1.2. Still, very impressed with it for BIF. I mostly shot Caspian terns, oystercatchers and buffleheads for my flight subjects.

I'm not sure if the new AI AF and all the convoluted setup options is really needed. I'd say the A7RV seemed on par with the A1 for shooting foraging shorebirds, killdeer chicks and warblers in regards to how and when it activated the BEAF. I didn't have any wow moments because of the AI chip.

However, there is no getting away from the lack of a stacked sensor. The actual shooting experience for BIF and even non-BIF is just sub standard when I'm coming from shooting A9, A9II, A1, Z9, R3 and even R5 (with non stacked sensor). ES is basically unusuable at H+ due to the laggy slideshow it produces, in H it is okay as it is just blackout but still pretty stuttery and laggy. So had to shoot mostly in MS at H+ to get the max 10FPS and prevent rolling shutter distortion anyways. Having to listen to that stupid shutter all day when I usually shoot ES without any fake sounds was annoying. And still the view you get when quickly panning and actively firing the shutter at a BIF is just not great even in MS.

A couple cool things I noticed with the A7RV....

Formatting the memory card is now super fast like a Canon and Nikon. I raced the A1 formatting a CFe-A (which is always faster than SD) and the A7RV formatting a V90 SD and the A7RV smoked it. Even though formatting on earlier Sony cameras wasn't all that long it always annoyed me how long it was.

BEAF seems to behave more like Canon and Nikon where it is more likely to identify the bird/eye in APS-C mode when the bird is small in FF mode. On A1 it is backwards where it sometimes won't identify the bird in APS-C mode (even though it is bigger on the screen...although not bigger on the sensor) but then you switch into full frame and it identifies the bird/eye.

Oh and I had to update FW to 2.0 and using the memory card was so, so nice!!!

I've got two more full days to shoot this weekend so will see how my thoughts progress. Sunday should be cloudy so will be interesting to see if the AF falls apart in the lower light.
Click to expand...
That’s why I am seriously hoping the A9iii brings a 30+MP stacked chip with all the A7R5 features… that would be a winner for me. Just going back to mechanical shutter was too much of a step back for my taste (or putting up with massive rolling shutter which is even worse).
No question, the A7R5 is an amazing camera - but the drawbacks you pointed out won over the benefits for my shooting bias.
‘Looking forward to your comments on video - I found the AF to be head and shoulders better than the A1 for video, but rolling shutter so bad that the footage was often unusable for any scene with panning.
 
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FB101 said:
That’s why I am seriously hoping the A9iii brings a 30+MP stacked chip with all the A7R5 features… that would be a winner for me. Just going back to mechanical shutter was too much of a step back for my taste (or putting up with massive rolling shutter which is even worse).
No question, the A7R5 is an amazing camera - but the drawbacks you pointed out won over the benefits for my shooting bias.
‘Looking forward to your comments on video - I found the AF to be head and shoulders better than the A1 for video, but rolling shutter so bad that the footage was often unusable for any scene with panning.
Click to expand...
Totally agree. I won't be buying an A7RV at this point. I was never planning on buying one. If I start travelling for photo vacations again then I will need to pick up a backup body and at this time I probably would pick an A7RV.

I would love an A9III in the 30MP range. I know I'll be tempted by an A9III even if it stays at 24MP. But 30-40 would be ideal.
 
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Agreed. Cannot wait to see if Sony brings A9III. If ! I am not sure they will decide to canibalize A1 sales. But I hope they will make some bold decisions. Z8 looks to be a smart Nikon move and I hope Sony will respond. A7R5 seems like a the best camera for almost everyting except for sports and wildlife.
 
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FB101 said:
That’s why I am seriously hoping the A9iii brings a 30+MP stacked chip with all the A7R5 features… that would be a winner for me. Just going back to mechanical shutter was too much of a step back for my taste (or putting up with massive rolling shutter which is even worse).
No question, the A7R5 is an amazing camera - but the drawbacks you pointed out won over the benefits for my shooting bias.
‘Looking forward to your comments on video - I found the AF to be head and shoulders better than the A1 for video, but rolling shutter so bad that the footage was often unusable for any scene with panning.
Click to expand...
I’m curious what kind of conditions you were in to experience this horrible, rolling shutter you’re discussing. I’ve shot numerous 4K and even a few 8K videos with the camera and I’ve noticed no rolling shutter whatsoever. I mean most of my subjects are either in one spot and I’m on a tripod or slowly panning, such as with water fowl and things like that. I’m shooting in mechanical shutter with electronic first curtain shutter enabled, and again, noticing no problems with stills either. I was just curious what the conditions were that you were experiencing this? I’m sure this would be a problem if I were using electronic shutter but with the limitations of the sensor as far as readout speed I choose to use mechanical. I certainly didn’t buy this for an action camera but it still is no slouch and that department I mainly both bought it because the damn A1 don’t offer focus bracketing that you can get in other brands in cameras that cost $1000 lol. I think it’s pretty pathetic on Sony‘s part and honestly it has pissed a lot of people off with some of these functions not being in their flagship camera.
 
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sh1209 said:
I’m curious what kind of conditions you were in to experience this horrible, rolling shutter you’re discussing. I’ve shot numerous 4K and even a few 8K videos with the camera and I’ve noticed no rolling shutter whatsoever. I mean most of my subjects are either in one spot and I’m on a tripod or slowly panning, such as with water fowl and things like that. I’m shooting in mechanical shutter with electronic first curtain shutter enabled, and again, noticing no problems with stills either. I was just curious what the conditions were that you were experiencing this? I’m sure this would be a problem if I were using electronic shutter but with the limitations of the sensor as far as readout speed I choose to use mechanical. I certainly didn’t buy this for an action camera but it still is no slouch and that department I mainly both bought it because the damn A1 don’t offer focus bracketing that you can get in other brands in cameras that cost $1000 lol. I think it’s pretty pathetic on Sony‘s part and honestly it has pissed a lot of people off with some of these functions not being in their flagship camera.
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Video is always in electronic shutter and once you start panning quicker you will see rolling shutter.

In photo mode (electronic shutter) I have seen pictures of birds taken with a7r5 where at the top was a bird with wing position a) and in the bottom of the pictuire ,in the water there was its reflection with wing position b). I guess thats the best and the most intuitive example of rolling shutter. Mybe except for those horrible distortions (birds, golf clubs or fan wings).
 
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Wrogu said:
Video is always in electronic shutter and once you start panning quicker you will see rolling shutter.

In photo mode (electronic shutter) I have seen pictures of birds taken with a7r5 where at the top was a bird with wing position a) and in the bottom of the pictuire ,in the water there was its reflection with wing position b). I guess thats the best and the most intuitive example of rolling shutter. Mybe except for those horrible distortions (birds, golf clubs or fan wings).
Click to expand...
Yeah, I realize it’s electronic shutter in video but I’m just saying for what I have been shooting I’ve not really noticed any issues. I honestly don’t try to film fast moving objects anyhow, with that camera or the A1 for that matter. Thats most likely why I’m not seeing an issue. I pretty much never use electronic shutter for the A7RV but I keep my A1 bodies an electronic showed her all the time. My biggest reason for purchasing the camera was for macro shooting and the ability to focus bracket and it is an absolute beast for macro shooting at least in my experience.
 
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sh1209 said:
Yeah, I realize it’s electronic shutter in video but I’m just saying for what I have been shooting I’ve not really noticed any issues. I honestly don’t try to film fast moving objects anyhow, with that camera or the A1 for that matter. Thats most likely why I’m not seeing an issue. I pretty much never use electronic shutter for the A7RV but I keep my A1 bodies an electronic showed her all the time. My biggest reason for purchasing the camera was for macro shooting and the ability to focus bracket and it is an absolute beast for macro shooting at least in my experience.
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On video, panning is where you will see it. When I was testing the A7R5 I went to shoot video for both my son‘s fencing competition and my daughter’s robotics competition - I loved the AF, but the footage was all crooked. Other parents loved it because rolling shutter is pretty common nowadays but it drove me nuts. I also tried a few clips with geese taking off a lake at sunrise - it was much better, they are not super fast birds at take off, but I could see the slanted background.

in photography, I shot maybe 20 pictures in ES for the fencing competition and gave up - sabres aren’t straight when fighting but they don’t bend back and forth 🤣
I tried on ospreys in flight and it looked good but they don’t beat their wings fast and the backgrounds didn’t have much texture, so that wasn’t an issue. we didn’t have hummingbirds or swallows yet when I tried, but I suspect their wings would have looked funky - it will be interesting to see what Arbitrage reports.
i also shot a street drummer in San Francisco, those sticks had some serious bend 😉 so I went back to MS but then I feel disruptive because of the shutter noise (all in my head because he was way noisier than me, but I get uncomfortable).

All in all, owned it a few weeks and sent it back - keeping the cash for a camera that’s closer to what I like.
i do very little landscape and macro - if I did, I’d own an A7R5 without a second of hesitation but for what I do most of, I could make it work, but I am happier with my A1.
 
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FB101 said:
On video, panning is where you will see it. When I was testing the A7R5 I went to shoot video for both my son‘s fencing competition and my daughter’s robotics competition - I loved the AF, but the footage was all crooked. Other parents loved it because rolling shutter is pretty common nowadays but it drove me nuts. I also tried a few clips with geese taking off a lake at sunrise - it was much better, they are not super fast birds at take off, but I could see the slanted background.

in photography, I shot maybe 20 pictures in ES for the fencing competition and gave up - sabres aren’t straight when fighting but they don’t bend back and forth 🤣
I tried on ospreys in flight and it looked good but they don’t beat their wings fast and the backgrounds didn’t have much texture, so that wasn’t an issue. we didn’t have hummingbirds or swallows yet when I tried, but I suspect their wings would have looked funky - it will be interesting to see what Arbitrage reports.
i also shot a street drummer in San Francisco, those sticks had some serious bend 😉 so I went back to MS but then I feel disruptive because of the shutter noise (all in my head because he was way noisier than me, but I get uncomfortable).

All in all, owned it a few weeks and sent it back - keeping the cash for a camera that’s closer to what I like.
i do very little landscape and macro - if I did, I’d own an A7R5 without a second of hesitation but for what I do most of, I could make it work, but I am happier with my A1.
Click to expand...
I definitely like having both and feel they both have their place. I do wish some of the features were available in the A1 but I don’t think at this point it’s gonna happen and that was my reason for getting the RV. That extra 10mp is nice for cropping as well.
 
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arbitrage said:
Some of my A7RV shots so far...
April 29, 2023-2.jpg by Bird/Wildlife Photos, on Flickr
April 28, 2023.jpg by Bird/Wildlife Photos, on Flickr
April 28, 2023.jpg by Bird/Wildlife Photos, on Flickr
April 28, 2023.jpg by Bird/Wildlife Photos, on Flickr
April 29, 2023.jpg by Bird/Wildlife Photos, on FlickrApril 29, 2023-2.jpg by Bird/Wildlife Photos, on Flickr
April 29, 2023.jpg by Bird/Wildlife Photos, on Flickr
April 29, 2023.jpg by Bird/Wildlife Photos, on Flickr
April 28, 2023-2.jpg by Bird/Wildlife Photos, on Flickr
April 28, 2023.jpg by Bird/Wildlife Photos, on Flickr
Click to expand...
So I have to ask, where are you from? It seems like you have a tremendous abundance of wildlife wherever you are. Especially if these were shot on the same day that’s pretty awesome.
 
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