Aims

I have a question for Photographers who own a Sony A7R series camera. I personally own and love my Sony A7Rii. I know there have been several upgrades and I believe the latest model is an Riv. I’ve been trying to read as much as I can about the newest releases so I can decide if I want to upgrade. Does anyone have any feedback on the other models? I know my camera still gets awesome reviews but I have an opportunity to sell my camera body and upgrade. I am primarily a landscape and nature photographer and also do architectural photography for a few clients. Thoughts?

PixelStan77 Loc: Vermont/Chicago

Sounds like you have GAS

UTMike Loc: South Jordan, UT

I love my 7riii, which is on sale now. The increased battery life (I rented an rii for a week) is a major improvement.

Aims

Good to know. Thank you! Yes, I have a friend who has a Canon and she is amazed at how quickly I have to replace batteries on my A7Rii. I own 5 batteries just because of that!

nicksr1125 Loc: Mesa, AZ

Have an A7RIII. Even with A mount lenses & an LA-EA4, the operation is faster than my Alpha 850. I normally have a Tamron 150-600 mounted for wildlife shooting along with a Vello BG-S6 vertical grip. Probably won’t buy another body. I shoot at ISO 3200 regularly and see very little noise

wireloose

Also very happy with the a7riii, it was a big improvement over the ii, the battery as others have mentioned and for me, coming from Canon, the joystick was also a big deal. I’ve looked at the iv but it didn’t give me GAS, but coming from the ii it might make more sense For you to go with the newest model.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

Currently their is a debate between the Sony A7rIII and A7rIV. The debate centers around the noise difference between the two. Supposedly the III has much less noise than the IV. I currently own the IV and try not to use it at a high ISO and I have not noticed a noise issue yet, unless I crop.
I shoot with a team that used the III and switched to the IV only to revert back to the III. Their complaint, NOISE in the IV.
Make your own decision. The III is currently on sale at a good price.

Nalu Loc: Southern Arizona

I have both the III and IV. I definitely like the feel of the IV over the three. As you probably know, the IV has a 61 MP sensor. I am not sure how many people actually have the need for such a large sensor. But, in my opinion, operators need to be very good in their shooting techniques to make good sharp images. Don't get me wrong, the camera can create phenomenal images as can be seen in numerous posts on this sight, but you just need to know that small mistakes can show up very quickly with that large of a sensor. RE noise, no worries, just fix it in Topaz DeNoise.

Aims

Thank you for the info. I wonder if the other upgrades outweigh the noise? More MP, higher number of FPS...it’s interesting to compare all 3 models.

Aims

And Topaz is pretty amazing!

Aims

And there’s my debate! I still love my ii.

ORpilot Loc: Prineville, Or

I traded my Riii for the Riv. I had the a7s and the a99ii. I rented the a7iii and loved it. And traded my a7s for the a7iii. The 7iii is only slightly more noise than the 7s but more useful to me since it has 24mp. I picked up a used Riii and did not like it as much as my a99ii. After the Riv had been out a few months I rented one. I like it and traded off my a99ii and Riii for it. Yes it has a bit more noise than the a99ii and the Riii in low light shots but I use the 7iii for those situations. I shoot mostly landscapes. The extra mp's is a big plus. I really like the Riv over the Riii. But.... the high MP required me to upgrade my lenses. My Zeiss lenses were OK but my old Minolta and Sony kit lenses were not good enough to fully utilize the high MP of the Riv. So consider the cost of lens upgrades, if you jump to the Riv vs Riii. As for battery... the bigger battery is really nice. It lasts as long as my batteries for my a99ii did. A big plus for the Riv is the speed of focus. It is really fast, Only the a9ii is faster. This is a big plus when I shoot birds and animals with the Riv. I suggest that you rent one or both for a few days to check them out.

BobHartung Loc: Bettendorf, IA

My approach is to match your tools to you needs. Unless you print over 40" you probably will gain nothing. Unless the Riii or Riv have some specific benefit, keep your jingle in your pocket.

Aims

Very helpful! Thank you. I am mostly into landscape and nature...so the iv sounds perfect for that. Now you have me curious on lenses but I had done an initial splurge on those when I bought my ii so I don’t think there will be an issue.

repleo Loc: Boston

For reasons beyond my control, I had to replace my beloved A7Rii. While I was at it, I decided to upgrade to the A7Riii which was the latest A7XXX at the time. The joy stick is a real 'joy'. I use it with spot focus nearly all of the time. Also, the bigger battery is a real bonus. I don't bother carrying a spare anymore. I don't have much need for the 2nd memory card slot, but it is nice to have. Likewise, I haven't tried the pixel shift feature but it is on my list to experiment with. The firmware on the A7Riii can be upgraded to include animal eye autofocus and an intervalometer not available for the A7Rii. Also, Imaging Edge app comes with increased remote control functionality on the A7Riii. On the downside, they dropped the availability of the Playmemories apps.
A confess, I do tend to suffer acute attacks of GAS occasionally, but I have not been enticed to upgrade to the A7Riv. I am more tempted to upgrade my trusty and much used A6000 to the new A7C compact FF at some point in the future.