Following the announcement of the Sony A7RVI which was a while ago, I have to say that, it’s a camera that I was expecting but wasn’t expecting it to be this ridiculous in every possible way, in a good way of course. With that said, after trying our the Sony A7RVI for a short while, I must say, it’s a camera I want but not the camera I need.

Sony A7RVI Hands-On

Sony A7RVI Improvements

Let’s quickly run down on the Sony A7RVI improvements, and these are great improvements, although it is pretty funny that the A7RV still does not feel dated at all since its announcement years ago.

  • There’s a new 66.8MP Stacked BSI CMOS sensor which has faster readouts and blackout-free 30-fps shooting, which means faster burst shooting and a cleaner silent-shutter performance. You get 16 stops of dynamic range.
  • You get the improved BIONZ XR2 Image processing engine which is actually the first among the A1, A9 and A7R series.
  • We finally get 8K30 no crop for videos, and 4K upto 120p which makes this a super high performance and high-resolution quality hybrid camera, although its meant for more high resolution imaging.
  • The AF is now improved as it supports Real-time Recognition AF+ with better tracking in complex situations.
  • There’s a new OLED EVF that gives 9.44M-dot which is similar to the A1 II.
  • And my favourite, a new battery, the NP-SA100 which is supposed to offer 15% improvement in battery life compared to the older NP-FZ100.

Who is the Sony A7RVI for?

Not for users like me. I am a hybrid shooter, and the A7 series is what I ideally would go for and if I want a low light performance, then it’s the A7S. But the A7R is for the high-resolution work and it’s a prim and proper workhorse that is going to help with large scale production, for wildlife, and even for birding because you get tack sharp images especially after cropping. This is that system, the apex of high-fidelity imaging.

So, ideally this is a camera I would like to have but I don’t need it.

After trying the A7RVI…

We took our good friend Darwin, from DS Studio who shoots on the A7RV and pitted it side by side and we must say:

  • The handling of this A7RVI is now a lot better because it does use a bigger battery. The thick and chonky build is something I truly love through and through.
  • Secondly, man, that backlit buttons are so underrated. Now, once you do build the memory to press buttons, you might not need it but its such a great subtle feature that just makes a world of a difference.
  • Untested by ourselves, but the NP-FZ100 was a much needed change in the battery space for the camera and now with the NP-SA100, its going to be even more amazing. Which is getting me all excited for the future Sony A7 Systems because bigger and longer lasting battery? Well count me in.
  • Although we are not in the storage war with AI, having Dual-CF Slot is going to be a huge relief for faster throughputs and read outs for many users who require the fire power. I just hope Sony resumes making Compact CF Express sooner or later once this whole shortage shenanigans are over.
  • The images we shot, were alright, though we didn’t shoot much but you can find some samples below, where we have also cropped them to see how much of the resolution is retained.

For a Cool RM 18,999

You are looking at a camera that pushes boundaries in the production space and although it is not for most of us hybrid users, it will entice a lot of the consumers who are in the line of work where they require the high resolution, impressive readouts and where their work can truly pay off the gear in every possible way.

We doubt we’d be reviewing it, but never say never, so when we do, we will let you know.

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