Sony just announced the new a7C compact full frame camera this week. Will it be a good camera for real estate photography? That is the question we will dive into in this post.
So the new A7C announced by Sony this week is the most compact full frame camera now in the Sony line up. It’s essentially a full frame camera crammed into one of their crop sensor bodies out of the a6000 series. It has a very similar look and layout to the crop sensor bodies. This is great if you travel a lot or do street photography or for hiking or any type of photography when you’re out and about a lot and need to keep your bulk down. I know this doesn’t really pertain to us as real estate photographers necessarily but if you do those other types of photography and want a camera that suits all of your needs then this might appeal to you. Not to say that the other a7 full frame cameras like the a7iii are bulky by any means but this is a more compact solution.
So spec wise, the new a7c essentially takes the same capabilities of the Sony a7iii (which is my current favorite RE photography camera that I use everyday) and crams them down into a smaller body. Sounds good right? It is good and sort of surprising they were able to get a lot of technology into this smaller body. There are some key differences though which I will get to shortly. First though, let’s talk about the main ways that they are similar.
So we have:
The same 24MP back illuminated sensor.
Both have 5 axis IBIS (this is one surprising feature that they were able to incorporate into the a7c).
Same great FZ100 Battery.
4K video recording up to 30fps, 1080 recording up to 120fps.
Same amount of focus points, basically the same autofocus system.
So there you are, basically the same capabilities as the a7iii in those main areas. So now let’s outline how the a7c differs from the a7iii:
It has only 1 Card slot
It has no front exposure adjustment wheel on the grip. You need to use the dial wheel on the back to adjust f stop or shutter speed.
There’s hardly any customizable buttons which is a bummer because I use them a lot and it speeds up my workflow. There is however 1 more custom slot on the dial over the a7iii which is nice.
It has a fully articulating screen which is definitely a benefit over the a7iii. It is a touch screen but has the same limited touch functions as the a7iii has so you can’t touch to navigate the menu or anything like on the new a7siii. Also, it’s the same older menu design you find in the a7iii and not the new design like in the a7siii. I’m sure Sony could have implemented this but deliberately held it back. I’m pretty certain the A7IV will have it whenever it comes out. They don’t want to threaten a7iii sales too much I’m sure.
There is no time recording limit for video which is great if you ever have a need to do a long recording. The a7iii has the 30 minute limit. All the new cameras coming out from here on out shouldn’t have the record limit anymore as it was some arbitrary tax law thing that is no longer an issue.
There's no joystick for selecting focus points.
The price is $200 less than the a7iii coming in at $1798 vs $1998 for the a7iii.
Alright, so as you can see, at its heart the a7c is a compact a7iii but there are some key differences. Do I think it's a capable real estate photography camera? Yes, absolutely. It’s essentially identical in its photo and video capabilities to the a7iii which is a fantastic real estate photography camera. Would I choose this camera over the a7iii? No, I would not. The main reason being is that it’s only $200 less and that is not a big enough incentive to forgo some of the important features that the a7iii has over it. For instance, the dual card slots alone on the a7iii is worth the extra $200 to me easily. As professionals, having that backup card slot just in case one card fails is very important in my opinion. I also love my custom buttons and use them a lot and I would definitely miss them on the a7c. I wish it was priced a little cheaper as I think it would make it a more enticing option. If you are a real estate photographer that likes to do other types of photography such as travel or something of that nature where you would benefit from a more compact camera then maybe this would be the right solution for you. As I said, it is certainly very capable of doing the job!
Alright guys, that’s all for this post. I just wanted to share my thoughts on this new camera from my own perspective as a real estate photographer and... I just like talking about cameras :). What do you think of this new camera? Are any of you thinking about getting it? Whatever your thoughts are please leave them in the comments below.
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