Did I just WASTE $2500.00 on this camera? | Sony A7iv vs A7iii - landscape photography

Today I take the a7iv and the a7iii out for some landscape photography and see how they compare ... the results may surprise you ... ⬇⬇⬇ link to the test images below ⬇⬇⬇

I suppose you could called this a landscape photography vlog ... but I prefer on location landscape photography!

(It's expensive but well worth it!)

———————————————

My Equipment list:

Filming camera gear:

———————————————

Affiliate links
Some of the links above are affiliate links, which means at no extra cost to you I will make a small commission, if you click them and make a qualifying purchase.

———————————————

My Favourite online Photographers:

———————————————

If you would like to see more, subscribe and turn on notifications for weekly videos, hints and tips and more. If you know anyone who would benefit from this video, share and like the video.

Thanks

Mike

———————————————

Timecode:
0:00 - Sony A7iv vs A7iii - landscape camera test
0:48 - Taking the first photo
1:13 - The things I think that matter in the Sony A74
1:36 - Second photo
1:48 - That Sony Colour Science
2:21 - Third and forth photo
2:39 - What I think about the other changes in the Sony A7iv
3:09 - What I like about the new A7iv
5:26 - Heading over to Wales to get some more photos ...
6:21 - Fifth photo - In a familiar place!
6:48 - What I think about the new menus ...
8:04 - Trying to find something in the menu
8:45 - Issue with screen brightness
9:23 - What I don't like
9:51 - L-brackets don't work with the Sony A7iv
10:17 - What I use as an L-bracket
11:35 - Photo six
11:51 - Same old resolution on the monitor
12:29 - Trying to get the photograph before the light goes!
13:26 - Photo seven
13:48 - Photo eight
14:09 - My thoughts on the A7iv compared to the A7iii
15:24 - My youtube setup to get stable footage
15:49 - Advice if you are thinking of buying the Sony A7iv

———————————————

#mikesmithphotography #onlocationphotography #photography #landscapephotography

[MarkBennettCameraCrisis]

So glad to see someone else who also uses the gyro-data to stabilize. Such an underrated feature!!

[warricksmith]

Regarding the l-bracket issue. Smallrig l-brackets are designed to accommodate flippy screens. While details vary by camera model, the common elements are a gap in the back end of the vertical piece, plus the ability to move the vertical piece further away from camera body, further forward on the camera, or whatever combination may be required to achieve your preferred viewing angle.

[liljoela]

I recently bought an a7vi (upgraded from a6600) and its a game changer for me. Lots of customizable buttons, 33mp, and flip screen for vertical shots are one of my favorite features, but I can see why its not a worthy upgrade from the a7iii

[digitalclips]

Here's a tip, I bought the APS-c 70-350mm Sony G lens for my A7IV as a hiking lens. It is ultra light and small yet gives an amazing 525 effective zoom and a roughly 18MB picture at 4608 x 3027 thanks to the 33 MP sensor. I have the Sony 200-600mm but it is far too heavy for most uses.

[monsterdonltd]

I often use the A7iii and the A7iv side by side and the end results are almost indistinguishable - at least for photos, 10bit and improved colour science are huge for video.

The big change and makes the upgrade worth it in my opinion is the quality of life upgrades. Bigger more comfortable grip, better controls (separate photo and video that keeps separate settings for hybrid shooters) and the flip screen just make it faster, more comfortable and easier to use.

[TVe]

I am very satisfied with my a7iv, still the screen is not great. I use EVF when taking pictures 90% of the time.
I have never owned an a7iii, I upgraded from a6500.
70% of my photographing is landscape, the rest is birds. 33 is better than 24 when you always have to crop. As an example a7iii gives you under 11 mp i cropmode, a7iv gives you over 14.

[armondobbabone]

I got to the Display Quality Setting in 16 (3 if I use the touch screen) on my A7IV (drill down, move right)...menu structure works for me (becomes intuitive over time), but I didn't need to unlearn a previous menu scheme. You still have the absolute BEST photography "how to" content I've found - Planning, composition, execution, Hardware...Yada Yada Yada; I do wish youtube had a Favorites Channel Flag), although I could "Save" a single video to a category, and back into it. Thanks... (Glass is King!)

[bomatravels]

I loved my a7iv more than the a7iii (for videos mainly).
Sadly, got stolen last week in London 💔

[ivotouart]

I'm confident that there's an L-bracket for this like the SmallRig X-T4 L-bracket which has a slot in the side portion of the bracket where you can shove the screen and rotate it a bit.

[doplinger]

I don't feel the need to upgrade from my a7iii, but who doesn't like new kit? I will likely have to wait for the a7v. The biggest bump in my photography right now has come from getting a nicer computer, Dell XPS 17 with a 4k display and dedicated graphics. What a difference that makes in how my images look - they're not as bad as I thought!

One thing I would like to see - that focus mapping for video but make it work for photos too. Peaking is just to hard to get right.

[martin]

'Enjoyed watching your channel for the first time! I use the Sony a7riii for landscape and have really enjoyed it. Recently, I've been focusing less on upgrading, but advancing my photography skills and knowledge. However, I do invest in high quality lenses. I recently read a short book called "The Lesser Photographer" which dealt with our gear obsession. He pointed out that most of the more renowned images throughout history were shot with what we would consider poor equipment today or are blurry to some extent. His points being that our obsession should be more on the story and composition of our photo than the actual gear that we use. There is no question that gear matters (dynamic range, etc.), however, I am now focusing more on getting the photo right and less attention to updating my gear.

[mtbboy]

9:31 I wish all cameras came with flip out tilt screen. Not just flip screen or tilt screen, but both. I got my used Sony A7iv for a deal too good to refuse from a dealer.

[SneakyCaleb]

I thought I was gonna keep my Sony a7 iii as a back up cam but after using the a7 iv I don’t even want to keep that camera as a back up any longer the a7 iv is such a dramatic improvement in every way from the buttons to the software to the auto focus to the hand grip. It’s not even close. Maybe I’m weird but I don’t understand your L bracket complaint. You can keep the screen in the same position as the a7iii. Sure you can’t flip the screen out as well with one on but it’s still an added benefit/feature for when you aren’t using an L bracket.

[RFranks]

I hate flippy screens for the reasons you mentioned, I reckon the Pentax K1 back screen is the best one out there.

[AlynWallace]

I've been using the Silence Corner ATOLL in place of an L-bracket and have been absolutely loving it!

[jimbass]

After watching this video I decided to buy the A74. I have the A73 and really like it, but it's no good for photographing birds or other wildlife. After watching Mark Galer's video, I understand that Sony has included many of the features from the Sony Alpha 1, which I cannot justify buying, into the A74. The advanced focus tracking alone seems well worth the price. If all I did was landscapes, I would agree with you.

[patrickl]

Hi Mike, I've moved from an A7 Mk1(2016) to directly a A7RIII (2018). Until there, I've not seen any need to migrate towards the IV generation. As landscape photographer, like you, I like multiple megapixels. With 42MP, this allows a big crop and simplify the setup to bring. I mainly take the 16/35 and the Tamron 70/180 and I cover almost 95 % of images. With the big matrix and the possibility to expand the image with softwares like Topaz, the need of intermediate 50mm and also my 100/400 (sigma) is less necessary. As you said, lenses are more important to get a photo. So investing there is key. I hope you'll be happy with your new gear and I'm looking forward for new videos about your passion...

[MarkKidsley]

for the body improvement, and new dials on the top. its a godsend for me

[bartjes]

Thanks for sharing. I'm a hobby (mainly) landscape photographer and use a Canon 6D Mk.2. The flippy screen of that is more useful as I can rotate it fully into the cavity it came from. I do find the dynamic range and higher ISO performance poor despite using Topaz denoise. I'm looking into Sony A7 for my next camera, either the III or IV version. This is valuable input for that decision which won't happen this year anymore though.
For screen viewing you can buy a simple 'LCD viewfinder', a rubber sleeve with lens you can use to review your photos or live-view so the ambient light or glare doesn't affect the experience.

[sicf]

I'd agree about the menu system, I had no issue with the old style.