Sony A7Rv Camera Review
The A7RV, shown with the SmallRig baseplate, Hoodman eyecup, and a paracord wrist cuff from Etsy.
Speed vs. Resolution.
Resolution vs. Sesnsitivity.
Resolution vs. File Size.
There are many tradeoffs that photographers choose from when deciding on a camera. This is a time when photographers are spoiled for choice, which actually makes deciding where to spend their hard earned money harder.
Currently I shoot with two cameras, the Sony A7iv and the A7Rv. I have a separate post about the A7iv, and here I’ll be discussing the A7Rv, and will have another post about the two as a pair.
For those unfamiliar with Sony’s naming convention (which can be confusing even to those who are familiar with it too!) Sony breaks all of their mirrorless camera bodies into the “Alpha” moniker. This is how I understand it, although, I’m not sure anyone really does (and don’t get me started on the fact that these cameras also have a model name used by Sony when you are looking for firmware updates etc. My A7Rv is also called an “ILCE-7RM5” for some ridiculous reason).
A1 is the flagship model, sort of the “best of all worlds” body. The A1 II was just launched on November 19th 2024.
A9 tends to be their high-speed camera bodies, with the A9 III being the latest iteration, shooting up to 120fps at 24 megapixels.
A7 is the sweet spot for almost everyone, representing great stills and video, excellent sensor, and a remarkable value for money. The A7 IV is the latest iteration, and the A7 V is expected to drop in 2025. If you were not sure where to start with the Sony system, this is the place.
A7S is the “Sensitive” one. This one excels at low-light and is a gold-standard mirrorless camera for videography. The only thing better suited for video is Sony’s FX line (FX3, FX6, and so on, which are not that good at photography.) A7S III is the latest iteration, and is overdue for an update.
A7R is the one with “Resolution” and represents Sony’s efforts for uncompromising details with a whopping 60 megapixels but at the expense of some speed. A7R V is the latest iteration of this model.
The A7RV’s nameplate.
The Sony A7RV may be familiar to those who have used the A7 IV, as the bodies are almost identical in size, shape, and layout. The critical difference here is that it was the first camera to have a 4-way tilt monitor. This allows flipping out the monitor to the side and see it from the front, or have it out to the side like videographers like. It ALSO lets you flip it up or down, for example when shooting from the waist. With my A7 IV, I always had to flip the screen out tot the side, then rotate it up when I needed to get low, and here I do not need to do that. This turns out to be a critical feature to me when using this for family and event photography. It’s a must-have, and I am happy to see it now appearing in the A9 III and A1 II. I hope it comes out on other brands soon for my Nikon, Fuji, and Cannon bothers and sisters.
The A7RV’s monitor in the flipped-up direction. Great for waist-level shooting or when you have the camera low to the ground. Must-have for photographing children!
The A7RV’s monitor in the flipped out direction. This is great for video, wait-level or low shots in portrait orientation, and for vlogging.
So why 60 megapixels? I’ll be honest it’s fun for macro photography and zooming in ridiculously close on landscapes, but the main reason for 60 MP is because I don’t need to use 60 megapixels. Stay with me here. 60 Megapizels is overkill for almost any kind of photogrpahy. Its just to much detail for most situations. However, its super power is cropping. You can crop into these huge, mega-detailed images and not lose any perceived sharpness. Croping deeply into my A7 IV’s 33 megapixel images, things start to get mushy pretty quick. With the A7R V I can crop into an images almost 2x and still be at the normal resolution of my A7 IV.
But it gets even better.
The control layout of the A7RV, showing the new third dial the replaced the older exposure compensation dial. It can be programmed for almost anything, such as ISO, white balance, exposure compensation, whatever. It also has a ballpoint pen style lock, shown here in the up and unlocked position, with the white indicator to tell you so.
I primarily (pun intended) use prime lenses. on the A7R V I can effectively have two focal lengths at the push of a button. Here is how. In the Sony systems, you can now select the size of the files it writes to the card. You have Uncompressed, Lossless Compressed (Small, Medium, Large) and Compressed (which is lossy, but fast.) I often use “Lossless Compressed M” which will always write a 26MP file to the card. 26MP is PLENTY for professional photos (remember the Sony A9 III is a 24 megapixel camera, and it costs $6,000.)
The secret is that almost all of the buttons on Sony cameras are programmable, and I make one put the camera into “APS-C Crop” mode. What ends up happening is that in normal mode, the camera will use the entire 60 megapixel sensor, but write a 26 MP file. Which still looks amazing, and is more than enough even for large prints. When I push the APS-C crop button, the camera will only use a smaller portion of the sensor, but still write a 26MP file, which also looks amazing. By using this APS-C crop, a 1.5x multiplier is applied to your lens. so a 50mm lens will become (effectively) a 75mm lens. It is a digital teleconverter, and due to the high resolution of the A7RV, there is very little compromise. To coin an over-used phrase, this truly is a gamechanger to my photography. When I use my 24mm GMII, it can also be a 36mm. My 35mm GMII can also be a 52mm. My 85mm can be a 127mm, and even my 70-200mm GMII can also be effectively a 105-300mm zoom! This gives me the ability to changes looks without always changing lenses, with a minimal loss of quality. This singular ability has changed how I photograph, and when I use my A7 IV, I miss it. I could use a 24-70mm zoom and accomplish the same thing of course, but I prefer the look of a fast prime, and I am one of those photographers that zooms make me lazy, and I move around less. I like to move, and find new angles. Prime lenses keep me engaged with my client, and not zooming around to find the frame.
For normal shooting, I will keep the camera in Lossless Compressed (L) which writes a full resolution 60 megapixel raw file, and when I use the APS-C crop button, I will get a 26MP file. It is truly remarkable, and gives me so much more flexibility into how I use this camera system.
Lets talk about the autofocus.
The A7IV has great autofocus. Class leading as a matter of fact. The A7RV is on another level entirely. It is superb. Subject detection, eye-lock on, and tracking are supernatural compared to the systems out there right now. You may find a better AF system for a few specific sports on the new Canon R5 II and the R1, but only if you shoot volleyball, basketball, or soccer. The AF on the A7RV is also added to Sony’s new A9III and A1II. It is truly amazing in its ability to find and lock on to humans and animals, and track them despite how they move and turn around. Even when it can’t see their eyes, its “AI assisted” machine learning system sees the person and keeps tracking them almost unerringly. It’s magnificent. If I have a shot where the focus is missed, it’s almost certainly my fault.
What else is good? It’s small and light. Surprisingly so. It’s actually almost too small for me. I put a SmallRig bottom plate on mine so my pinky finger has a home. The battery grip, which allows me to use two batteries and hold the camera in portrait orientation easier makes the camera body a relatively small and perfectly square shape. Smaller than the Canon or Nikon bodies. The internal stabilization (IBIS) is amazing. It’s rock solid, and eliminates even my worst coffee-fueled hand shakes. Low-light is surprisingly not-terrible, a common issue with high-res sensors. I can shoot up to ISO 8000 without things getting really scratchy, and modern AI de-noise app like Topaz are phenomenal at cleaning it up.
The A7RV’s ports are thoughtfully laid out and everything is well weather-sealed. USB C provides many functions including charging, tethering, and image transfer. You can even use it as the world's most over-qualified webcam.
What’s not to like? Well it’s not the prettiest camera. Actually all of the Japanese cameras kind of look the same now, with the exception of the more retro bodies like the Fujifilm XT-5 and Nikon Zf. But they are all similar in their utilitarian “more is more” approach, with the blocky bodies festooned with buttons everywhere. It certainly won’t win a beauty contest over a Hasselblad or Leica, but it’s also ½ the price and makes photos that are every bit as good. I don’t like that Sony uses CF Express type-A cards. Type B cards are cheaper and faster. Type-A cards are much more expensive, but they are smaller. (Didn’t Sony learn anything from their MemoryStick debacle?) But for most people, CF Express Type A cards are unnecessary, with V90 SD cards being fast enough for anything you’ll be doing with this system (and did I say cheaper?) The Electronic viewfinder (EVF) is beautiful. However when in autofocus, it loses resolution and gets grainy while its tracking focus. It doesn’t affect anything, but you notice it, and it’s weird. I also feel that the back panel monitor should be higher resolution and with better color representation in this day and age, and certainly brighter. But it works, and it won’t bother you except in bright sunlight where you’ll likely find yourself looking in the viewfinder to review images. Lastly, it’s not the fastest frames-per-second shooter out there. I wouldn’t expect it to be. It’s not for sports. The A1 II or A9 III is for that. The electronic shutter has bad rolling shutter which also shows up in video if you do a whip-pan or something moves fast in frame. A drummer will look like they have rubber drum sticks, and a golfer will look like they are swinging a rubber hose at the ball.
This camera is for still images, and that’s where is truly shines. Video is perfectly great for most things, but rolling shutter is an issue. Use an A1, A7SIII, A7IV, or FX3 for that.
None of the downsides here are reasons not to use this camera. The upsides are definitely reasons to use this camera. Most photographers don’t need 60MP, and those who do, know it. But if you know how 60MP can help you as a tool, it’s a powerful one. It’s a phenomenal imaging device.
