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Should you upgrade to the Sony A7R IV? If you have to ask the question, probably not

Sony’s recent Sony A7R IV announcement was pretty surprising, especially when most people have been expecting an A7S III announcement for far too long already. But the announcement came nonetheless. The 42.4-megapixels of the 2-year-old A7R III had been upgraded to 61-megapixels, improved autofocus, bigger buffer, dual UHS-II slots, and a bunch more. But is it really worth upgrading?

This 20-minute video from photographer Dustin Abbott provides a detailed overview comparing the Sony A7R IV with its predecessor, the A7R III. He takes a look at what’s changed, what’s stayed the same, and provides a lot of valuable insight for those considering upgrading or purchasing either of these bodies.

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Nitecore solves problem nobody had with their “World’s First Smart Battery” for Sony mirrorless cameras

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Nitecore has announced its “World’s First Smart Battery” for Sony, the Nitecore NFZ100. It’s a drop-in replacement for the Sony NP-FZ100 used in the Sony A7 III, A7R III, A7R IV and A9 mirrorless cameras. At least, it is if Sony doesn’t make 3rd party batteries impossibly impractical to use again.

As a “Smart” device, the new Nitecore Smart Battery talks to an app on your phone; Nitecore NNERGY. The app will be available for both iOS and Android and lets you monitor the battery health and other details wirelessly. Obviously, it needs power to do this, and I’m not sure a battery that drains itself is necessarily a great idea.

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Sony’s “Step Up to Sony” summer sale offers up to $1,000 instant rebate savings

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We’re always looking out for good deals at DIYP, as I imagine most of you reading this are, too. Well, Sony’s announced its “Step Up To Sony” sales event, with some pretty heavy discounts of up to $1,000 on their most popular bodies, including the Sony A7II, A7RII, A7RIII and A9.

If you’ve been thinking about grabbing a Sony, these discounts run until June 22nd, so you have a little time. But those next three weeks will pass quickly. So, don’t wait too long!

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After four decades of Canon, photojournalist David Burnett switches to Sony

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The desire to switch brands has never really been there for me. That’s not to say that I believe the brand I shoot is particularly the best, just that there doesn’t seem to be much point. The gear I use gives me what I need, and all the brands seem to leapfrog each other every year or two anyway. But there are an awful lot of people switching over to Sony right now.

The latest to join the list is photojournalist David Burnett, who’s been shooting Canon for 40 years. He recently posted a video to his Vimeo account talking about why he decided to make the transition over to Sony. And for what he shoots, it makes a lot of sense.

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Weather sealing test kills Sony A7RIII but not Nikon, Canon or Olympus

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People seem to have been switching over to the Sony A7RIII faster than I can blink. I’ve seen quite a few switching from both Nikon and Canon since its announcement. But it seems there’s one area where Sony still falls somewhat short. Weather sealing. It’s always been their Achilles heel, but people had been hoping it’s improved with the A7RIII. As this weather sealing test from Imaging Resource shows, it hasn’t.

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The Sony A7RIII is the fastest camera out there for tethered shooting, moving photos in under a second

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Of all the features I’ve read about regarding the Sony A7RIII, this is the one that’s probably impressed me the most. I don’t often shoot tethered, but when I do, it’s often quickly. Usually, I’ve got animals in front of the camera, and they tend not to take direction very well. So, I’m shooting fast, then waiting for the computer to catch up.

According to this video from photographer Evan Guttman, that waiting all goes away with the new A7RIII. In burst mode, it manages to transfer shots from the camera to Capture One in under a second each over USB3. And yes, he’s shooting raw, not jpg.

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This photographer bought one new Sony A7RIII camera but received two and he’s not the only one

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Most of us who order online have had shipping disasters at some point. Either the product shows up with bits missing, or it doesn’t show up at all. But what if you ordered a $3,200 camera like the new Sony A7RIII, and instead of receiving one, you received two?

Well, that’s exactly what happened to Louis Ferreira from SonyAddict, as well as aerial photographer Alex Workman, and probably others, too. Louis claims he knows of at least 20 others who’ve received an extra camera. They each ordered and paid for one camera body, but they each received two. An expensive make for a camera retailer to make.

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This New Zealand timelapse odyssey was shot entirely with the new Sony A7R III

You might not have heard the name Drew Geraci before, but you’ve almost certainly seen his work. At least, you’ll have seen it if you’ve ever watched the opening sequence of hit TV show, House of Cards. Because Drew shot it.

In this timelapse film for Sony Alpha Universe, Drew heads to New Zealand to show off the timelapse capabilities of the new Sony A7R III. and it’s a breathtaking film. Of course, it was shot in New Zealand, so it’s bound to be.

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A quick hands on with the Sony A7R III

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I’m at Photo Plus Expo and Sony put quite a few Sony A7R III cameras on their booth to play with. I could not resist. Here are some initial thoughts.

Even without looking at the camera specs, Sony decided to keep the price similar to the price of the Sony A7RII. This decision makes me relax, when the value of the 7RII drops, selling it second hand and getting a 7RIII would be like splitting the value drop across two years. If the 7RIV keeps the same pricing, keeping to the latest A7 series would be quite a small monthly fee.

Features wise, the camera feels like a small iteration on the previous model, more FPS, better battery, two cards slots and a joystick. There is also a pixel shift gazzilion megapixel mode, but we will have to wait for reviews to see if this technology delivers.

Regardless of what I think, though the camera is already B&H’s #1 Seller for mirrorless cameras.

Sony releases firmware to address the A9 overheating issue, and a bunch of other bugs

Shortly after releasing a bunch of software updates for their cameras and lenses, Sony releases some more to fix some of the reported problems. There are now firmware updates for six of their cameras: A9, A7rII, A7sII, A7II, A6500, and A6300. They are aimed at fixing the overheating issue that was recently reported, as well as the so-called “Star Eater” issue.

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