It’s been one year since we did a photo shoot with the Sony A7C at the Springbrook Nature Center in Fridley… so I thought it would make sense to do a test run of the new Sony A7IV camera at the same location, on August 1, 2022.

Even though Sony called the A7C “the world’s smallest full frame camera”, playing around with the A7IV, I didn’t really think the A7C was that small. It is smaller, but looking at the camera, side-by-side, they look similar to each other, in terms of size. You will only notice the differences when you hold the A7IV. It’s bigger and it’s heavier. You noticed the bigger grip, which I find too big.

You also notice a ton of extra dials and buttons. Power users will want to assign certain items to certain buttons and dials, which is simply a better experience. You see the A7C can do many things, but you have to dig through Sony’s menu, which is slow and cumbersome. With the A7IV, you just assign that feature to button.

Sony also revamped the camera menu, which is found in newer cameras. It’s color-coded and looks good. I am looking forward to having Sony update all their cameras with this new menu system.

All the photos on my hike through the Springbrook Nature Center were taken with the Tamron 28-200mm lens, which is still my favorite lens. I still somewhat wish I could reach just a little further, maybe 400mm… but those long lens tend to be very pricey and has very limited usage. You basically will want a long lens for photographing animals and sports. For everyday use, I think the 28-200mm range is just perfect. Of course, I did debate on getting a 600mm or 500mm lens last month, but weighing all my options and its usage, I am going to put purchasing that lens on pause. Companies are always coming out with new lens option, so I will wait it out. Right now, 28-200mm is perfect for me.

The A7IV uses a new auto-focusing system… which I’m not quite used to. To be honest, I felt the A7C did a better job on auto-focusing, but I’m still learning to use the A7IV, so perhaps it’s just a matter of figuring it all out.