Sony A7C Accessories

Sony A7C: Hello Again

I bought my Sony A7C in August 2021, with the promise that it was the first full-frame entry at an affordable price. But to get there, the A7C was lacking in dials and buttons and physical controls, and its compact small body makes it hard to grip. What it lacked, it certainly made up for the 24 mega pixels and full-frame image sensor. I was coming off the A6000, so this was a major leap for me in 2021.

I had it for a year and little things like holding it (the camera is small so my pinky would fall off) and slow-to-focus in the dark, poor battery life, lack of eye cup, and poor ergonomics… all started to bother me. Instead of waiting for the A7CII, I ended up upgrading to the Sony A74, the following year, and haven’t really look back. I know the A74 is a heavier camera, but it’s my prefer camera.

I haven’t use the A7C in over four years, but wow, I had forgotten it uses a different Sony menu system than the A74. When you click the dial, say change the F-Stop, you see very large numbers pop up. The digital eyepiece, which is off-center to the left, is not usable, at least for me, without buying a third party eyehood. Instead, I feel the camera wants me to use the digital large backscreen.

The grip is the worst, just because it’s so small. When you’re coming from a bigger camera, the A7C feels like a toy. I’m sure it’s fine if you’re just used to the smaller body.

So, I’ve been looking at various accessories for the A7C. What I am finding is that the world of accessories mostly moved on to the A7CII and A7CR… leaving very little options for the original A7C.

SmallRig A7C Full Cage with Silicone Grip

The first thing I looked at was to get a full cage, with grip. SmallRig makes various camera cages, and they actually made two versions for the A7C – the original one was just a skeleton frame, and the second one has an integrated silicone grip. Other upgrades include increasing the space in front of the hot shoe to solve incompatibility issues with microphones.

Other redesign includes rubber pads to prevent scratching and has a screwdriver at the bottom of the cage so you can tighten the camera screws or remove the cage if you need to.

So, besides from the grip, why would anyone want a camera cage? I think for one thing, the frame (which is a solid metal exoskeleton) does protect the camera’s body and adds an extra protection. Then there are holes throughout the cage to offer extra options to put a microphone, flash, lights, phone holder – anything that can use the standard 1/4”-20 threaded holes. The bottom plate is compatible with Arca, so you can quickly attach to gimbals or tripods.

Here’s a scenario where the SmallRig cage can be useful. Say, you are using a flash on the hot shoe, but you need to also need another shoe to hold the external microphone. The cage comes with an additional “cold” shoe to hold your mic! That’s pretty nifty.

I don’t think I would really utilize the cage to its maximum potential, but I just like to have the option to expand. Plus, if you want to go light and agile, you can always quickly remove the cage using the built-in screwdriver.

Unfortunately, the two negatives are that it makes the camera bigger and heavier… and it’s also very expensive, at $70. I would only recommend this if you really, really need that extra longer and deeper grip… or you are planning on using various attachments.

P.S. I did consider getting a “half-cover” leather bottom to help with protection and grip… but since it wouldn’t be compatible with the cage, I decided against it.

Godox Flash

I previously purchased an Extended A7C Eyecup, which helped with blocking out light and for better framing. I think it worked great, at least when I had it. Unfortunately, it’s broken, so I might need to buy another one. However, I am having second thoughts because the major flaw in the A7C eyecup is that it needs the hotshoe to hold the eyecup in place. So, if you need to use a flash, you have to remove the eyecup. Not an ideal (or “eye”deal if you’re being punny) situation.

While I try and figure out my eyecup problem, I do plan on using the shoe for a flash. The A7C is basically my B-Camera, I plan on mainly using this camera to take photos of my two cats. They’re always running around and sometimes it’s dark and sometime I just don’t have the time to setup the right lighting condition… so a flood light or flash will do.

The Flash that I’m looking at is the Medalight. This is a three-in-one light solution. You can use it as a regular flash, which is triggered when you press the capture button on your camera. It has four power settings, 1/8th, 1/4th, half, or full power. You can also use it as a “fill light”, which will help with focusing.

The best part is that you can detach the base and the flash and use it as a wireless transmitter to shoot the flash from a different location. Unfortunately, I read that it’s not very fast (anything above 1/125 of a second – the wireless can’t keep up). Still, it’s a good option, if you need it.

I’ve also read that the magnets that holds the flash to the base is not good. No one else complained about it, so it could be that it affects only a small batch of units.

The price is $40 for the Medalight flash, but I’m holding out for an upcoming Prime Day sale … and I’m still looking at different flash options. For example, Ulanzi FT16 Flash offers a more robust video light/bigger area and color plates (for artsy photos).

The reason why I’m looking at these other brands is because Sony is way too expensive, and the trusted-name Godox is also expensive… however, they also make entry-level inexpensive solutions. The main reason why I would eventually go with Godox is because they offer a light-syncing solution.

They have one unified base trigger called the Godox X5S ($25). The “S” stands for Sony, so if you wanted a Canon trigger, it is called X5C, etc. Not all Sony camera is compatible, just make sure your hotshoe has a round center metal contact. However, my camera Sony A7C is on their compatibility list, but not the A7IV, so I’m not sure what’s going on. I am assuming it’ll still work because it uses the same shoe contact.

Once you get the wireless trigger, you can use it with other Godox’s 2.4GHz X system units – such as TT350S ($86) and TT685II-S ($130). However, I feel the best deal might be the iT32 TTL Camera Flash with X5S Trigger (Bundle) for $105. It is really expensive, so for the time being, I might just go with a cheap $40 option… until I have the money to upgrade to their Godox flash system.

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