Sony A7C vs. A7 iv

drd1135

Zen Snapshooter
Location
Virginia
Name
Steve
I'm looking at getting a more modern Sony body, mostly for better handling and speed, especially tracking and C-AF. The A7C would be a cheaper alternative and the AF appears to be great, but the A7 iv is a tempting commination of upgrades and a few extra MP doesn't hurt. Any opinions on this?
 
If it were me, I'd be going with the A7IV.

But that's just me, YMMV, as they like to say.

Which model are you shooting now?
I just sold my A7Riii. The AF is supposedly much better, and that would help with grandkids. Part of me knows that if I get the A7C, I might regret not getting the A7iv, but not the other way around. The route of most likely satisfaction is probably to spend the extra $700. It would be a lot easier if I did any video, but I am yet to hit the video button on a Sony body deliberately.
 
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I would probably go A74 as well. The A7C does come close in a lot of respects, but even ignoring video the A74 is the better camera in my opinion. New sensor, better EVF, better EyeAF... the big advantage on the A7C is size. Although some people do not like the A74 flippy screen, so there is that.
 
I love my a7C as a casual snapper, and it's great for shooting our kid. But for anything more involved I grab my a7R III instead. So I'd say get the a7 IV, unless you really want the smaller size of the C. Street and casual might be where the C shines...
 
I like the IV too. The bigger EVF, grip, and resolution.
For strictly grandkids action - the A7C using the LCD with the real time/eye AF is sooo easy.

Edit: My assumption. I haven't actually tested it on grandkids. Should read, ...with the real time/eye AF should be a joy to use.
 
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I would probably go A74 as well. The A7C does come close in a lot of respects, but even ignoring video the A74 is the better camera in my opinion. New sensor, better EVF, better EyeAF... the big advantage on the A7C is size. Although some people do not like the A74 flippy screen, so there is that.
I’m good with a flippy screen.
 
I'm just looking around for a camera with more modern performance, especially AF-C and Tracking. My main brand at this point is Fuji, and it's clear that better performance is going to cost pretty much the same as a Sony. I also have a few Sony lenses that I like very much. I've consider the Nikon Z5, Z6, and Z6II which are cheaper but I'd need lenses and I'm not sure I wouldn't be happier with the Sony performance.
 
Well, the a7C isn't a slouch in the AF department. It's a significant step up from the a7R III. But one really needs to consider whether it's the small size of the C or the better ergonomics and more controls of the IV one holds in higher value. Also the a7C viewfinder does not compete with the larger bodies, though I think it is better than its reputation.

Canon and Sony are the kings of the AF-C hill currently, so if you already have Sony glass, then that pretty much should make the decision easy.
 
I'd look at reviews of the A7iii with the latest firmware updates to see how the AF-C stacks up. I have both it and an A9 and they're pretty close as far as I'm concerned. The A9 does track amazingly well but the A7iii is close enough that the money saved might be worth it. I still reach for my A7ii when it comes time to put manual focus lenses on though for some reason. I think it's more a case of familiarity breeds success than anything else though.
 
Most of the used A7iii I’ve seen are about as much as a new A7c, with the latter having better AF-C and tracking. I’m not bothered as much by the ergonomic differences as the overall performance bump of the 7iv over 7c.
 
Most of the used A7iii I’ve seen are about as much as a new A7c, with the latter having better AF-C and tracking. I’m not bothered as much by the ergonomic differences as the overall performance bump of the 7iv over 7c.
I have no experience on the 7 IV, but I think even the 7C received a slight bump in AF performance compared over the 7 III. Or then again I might be dreaming. It's significantly better than the 7R III at least.

We recently made a trip to my grandfathers place with our family, to meet my mom and my little sisters kids (she was on nanny duty). So four generations and all the first cousins of the latest gen at the same place and time. The a7C had no problem tracking those kids (3, 5 and 8 y.o.) running around a large farm inside and out. And that's what I mainly use mine for, since that's where it's agility shines. Plus I don't want 80+ megabyte raw-files from those outings, since I might easily end shooting maybe 300-450 frames in an evening. 24mpix is more than enough for those shots...

Landscape shooting is where I find the more limited controls and lesser EVF compared to the 7R III become slightly frustrating.

Any chance you might get to try both the 7 IV and 7C in real life?
 
The A7c's EVF is small, and by today's standards low resolution, so yes, I'd try it out. I'm reasonably certain it's the same size as my now sold M6ii, which was one of the things I didn't like about that camera. I had to shove my eye right up against it to get a good view, and even then it wasn't great.

Then there's the lack of customisable buttons, single SD card (a couple of years ago I had an SD card jam in one of the slots of another camera), fully articulating screen (I prefer flip screens) and lack of lossless raw. I also wanted the Tamron 28-200mm and wasn't sure how it would feel on the A7c. These things tilted me towards an A7iv, but the price had me hesitating, so in the end I gave up on the 'best' AF requirement and went with the A7RiiiA during his months EOFY sales.

I think in retrospect if the A7c used the same EVF as the A7iii, I'd probably have gone that route. I know it doesn't bug everyone, but it's worth considering.
 
The A7c's EVF is small, and by today's standards low resolution, so yes, I'd try it out. I'm reasonably certain it's the same size as my now sold M6ii, which was one of the things I didn't like about that camera. I had to shove my eye right up against it to get a good view, and even then it wasn't great.

Then there's the lack of customisable buttons, single SD card (a couple of years ago I had an SD card jam in one of the slots of another camera), fully articulating screen (I prefer flip screens) and lack of lossless raw. I also wanted the Tamron 28-200mm and wasn't sure how it would feel on the A7c. These things tilted me towards an A7iv, but the price had me hesitating, so in the end I gave up on the 'best' AF requirement and went with the A7RiiiA during his months EOFY sales.
Sadly one can't fit a big EVF in to a small rangefinder-styled body. The EVF in the 7C in comparable in size and usability to a Fuji X-E3 (of the cameras I've experience with), though it does have a bit better colour and contrast than the Fuji.

But I don't get what you mean by "lack of lossless raw"? Do you mean lossless compressed, since both the a7R III and a7C have either lossy compressed or lossless uncompressed raw-files. The latter being admittedly quite large...

The Tamron 28-200 balances surprisingly nicely on the a7C, by the way...
 
Sadly one can't fit a big EVF

No. And by itself it wouldn't have deterred me, thought I wished they'd gone bigger.

Yes sorry, lossless compressed raw. The A7iv has it, so that was a + for the A7iv over the 7c. I went with the A7Riii despite not having lossless compressed raw as it ticked more of the boxes that were important to me.

Glad the Tamron balances well on the A7c. I've only gone out shooting once with mine, but initial impressions are pretty good so far.
 
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