SONY A7RV vs A7IV | Is the A7RV worth the upgrade?

The Sony A7IV has been my most-used camera of 2022, but the Sony A7RV is an upgrade in almost every way. Is it worth the upgrade?

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[benjhaisch]

Should I buy another A7IV or grab an A7RV for my photo kit?

[RandumbTech]

I bought the A7RV to replace my A7iv but sold it after about 6 weeks. It was better in just about every way, but I couldn’t justify keeping both and the A7iv is more than enough for my needs. The only 2 things I didn’t like about the A7RV were the stupid lock button on the mode dial (which Benj is also annoyed by) and the awful sounding mechanical shutter (Kah-klunk). Other than that, images were stunning as was screen/EVF.

[RichardMoran]

As a 50/50 hybrid shooter that works with professional athletes. The Sony a7 rV is a no brained for my professional work. It has INSANE video features and as you mentioned great photo features.

The 1.2x crop of the 4k60 is way way way way way better than the 1.5x crop of the a7IV even if the video quality is marginally better on the a7IV

[francissosing]

Great review man. I admire how you look at it from a practical standpoint: technology isn't changing drastically, it's not game changing, manufacturers are finding ways to sell and repackage. Your current camera now will do more than good enough.

[SilatShooter]

Great comparison. I went ahead and upgraded to the A7R V from the IV, and as you clearly show the difference in IQ is truly non-existent. Will say the V is definitely the more refined camera in use, whether it's worth the extra money, especially with the IV going for near $2K used in my area is really playing with the law of diminishing returns.

[erg]

have been using the A7IV almost since it came out, very happy with the camera, just bought the A7RV so I can have a second body as backup for events and landscape, after trying for three weeks, I can say that the IQ I can get with either camera is not something that you could distinguish one from the other for practical use, I am returning the RV and will wait for the A7CII to use for travel and to pair with my small lenses to carry around town and minimize the weight I think will make more sense for my use case ...the major benefit I saw from the RV was the EVF, is really nice and will miss tilty flippy screen, was OK, but found that I did not use as much a I thought I other benefit on RV is focus stacking in camera, great for macro AF is an improvement, but, not worth extra 1, 500...so, all in all, I think I fully agree with he conclusion on this video

[mericdrives]

I'm so glad that I found this level of quality content. Thanks for your efforts Benj. You're so underrated!

[Vincecreativeservices]

I personally don’t see the reason to upgrade. I’ve held and used the A7RV, it’s the same camera, with a few features that are better in edge cases. It felt like a 1.5 update to the A7IV. I’m keeping my A7IV.

[almaw]

I think you are spot on with the a7iv. That would be a fantastic camera. I “downgraded” from an a7riv because of the noise and file management, as well as gaining the new menu and better preset dial, but would like to see the a7iv sensor in the a7rv body.

[Eazidosit]

i just brought the a7 iv last week. The small diferences between the 2 wasn't enough to justify me paying 1000+ dollars more.

[davidherring]

I stepped up from an A7RIV to an A7RV, and I honestly love 1) the new menu and 2) the screen the most. Otherwise, it doesn't feel too different. The autofocus is nuts, but I didn't feel like the A7RIV (or even the A7RIII for that matter) constantly missed focus or left me frustrated with autofocus. But that screen is so helpful, and the new menu layout to match my A7SIII is wonderful. Worth the upgrade in my opinion!

[markshirley]

Im buying a A7R5 with the Tamron 20 - 40.
Reasons in order of importance:
Rear screen - design - quality.
Improved auto wb
Improved auto iso
26mp crop (makes the 40 a 60mm)
L M R raw settings
Improved EVF
Improved stabalisation
New menu design
Improved AF not big but its there)

PS: the difference between both cameras here in the UK on the grey market is £1000.

[jeroenvdw]

I got a 2nd job a few months ago and because the money wasn't an issue anymore I just went went the A7RV. I still own the A7III, but the upgrade is pretty amazing. I like the LCD screen and better color science the most, with the faster and stickier AF as a close 2nd. Oh and the resolution is insane as well, great for cropping.

[ggivensjr]

I'm still using A77M2 and A99M2. I'm considering moving to mirrorless and A7IV and A7RV/A7RIV. One important feature to me is that A74 does not have a sync port for using with studio lighting but A7R5 (and presume A7R4) does have sync port. Also I shoot mostly wildlife and landscape so the extra MPs allows considerable cropping. Do you ever shoot wildlife or landscape?

[balamina]

Thank you so much Benj for the very informative and useful comparison video! God bless and good luck!

[echoauxgen]

I am first a hobbyist and second a stills photographer. I went A7rii in '17 having also my '14 A7s. Resolution is more or less in prints and unless you look at a photo with a magnifying glass then you may see a difference . As a tool for images I will never sell my A7rii, why you may ask? A little unknown is the on camera playmemories apps and the main one is the "Digital Filter". When I got the A7s I discovered Milky Way images in '15 and I never went to a dark dark place but just coastal beaches with very dark skies but lit brightly for cities. What the digital app does is it captures a sky and foreground separately with any setting you can think of like WB along with about 10+ other settings. It performs in camera and gives a raw or jpeg output that can be adjusted before sending to the SD card. As far as MW's you can capture over a lit city where everyone will think you PS'ed it. This is a main reason to forever keep a M1 or M2 model Sony. A A7rii is very sharp and great. A friend sold me his A7RIV when he upgraded to the A7RV it was also great but when I saw all the unsaid thing I sold it and got the A7RV. One was the focus stacking still needed PS to merge all. Another I found out after getting was noise of a A7S, A7Siii and the A7RV were the same at 200%. To me the A7RV is like a lazy photographer's camera with the AF stuff, but a one and done camera for whatever you can think about to capture. Video is a generational thing so be happy you get that too. The only to add is the "Digital Filter" app so you do not have to carry a lot of filters and holders around. One thing about this review is the ISO test, Sony cameras from M2 and up have ISO Invariance meaning you can shoot say at 640 and in post increase exposure and get less noise meaning also no flash needed at the party, heh it is a lit room is it not! I have never needed a flash from the beginning '14. And if you ever have used the two level auto mode you would not have to also well there is is a flash mode for night portraits where you can use a flash! There is a 900 page book about all you can do with the A7RV even with video. Study before that first shot, like formating you now can do a complete format just by pressing the trash can before on your cameras was a fast format leading to confliction of some images, so why has not Sony done a update to all cameras? It is the little things that make a great camera and great photographer.

[PaulChoate-sv]

So image quality is about the same the same BUT now my 70-200 F2.8 becomes a high quality 300mm F2.8 in crop mode with a better view finder, back screen and tilt screen. Sounds good to me.

[AlexKim-polx]

Hi, great review. Please tell me, I want to change canon 5 d m 3 to Sony. I want to spend on a good camera, for a long time. Is it worth spending more money on Sony a7r 5?

[chrisbennett]

Very good comparison, and I agree, that image quality should always come first. In that respect, they are very similar. As an architectural photographer, the resolution bump can be useful for me, though most of my clients, don't actually want or need it. The rear screen is a big part of the reason I just ordered an A7RV to replace my A7IV. I often need to back my camera into tight spaces to get more in the frame and this is a big plus. The autofocus upgrades, though impressive, would make more sense in a faster camera, like the A1. It's great for the new A9III.

On using the cameras together, I think that would be good, but after years of using multiple Sony bodies I find it is rare that the menus of two different models can be set up exactly the same way. This is something that really helps workflow. You didn't touch on the new menus of the A7RV but I think they are likely to be a decent upgrade for most users too. I have the new V2 menus on my A1 and they are great to work with. I suspect the A7RV and A1 will be a closer match than the A7IV and A1, when it comes to menus. Now, if they added the A7RV updates to the A1, that would be a killer camera! I'll sell a kidney for that one.

[ocelotsixsix]

Awesome review this was super helpful as I am a concert photographer and I use the asr7iv was thinking of upgrading to the new one but If I'm not gaining anything really in the dynamic range what a saver