- So when I first heard about Sony's new A7C,
I thought, "Yeah, okay,
"this is purely just a parts bin camera,"
which it is.
It takes the best of the Alpha line
and it puts it into a smaller form factor.
(shutter clicking) (mellow music)
But what I didn't realize
is just how much more enjoyable it is
to shoot with a full-frame camera
that is actually small in size.
To have a large sensor in a small body,
to natively have access to some great Sony full-frame glass,
yet still be able to stash it quickly into a small bag.
From the sweet articulating screen
to the parts compartment having actual doors,
this camera, it's a little ripper.
(mellow music)
Okay, so the A7C is a confusing addition to the A7 line
that started with the A7 and the A7R
that both launched in 2013.
Since then, we have seen a hell of a lot
of full-frame cameras come to this lineup.
After the A7 and A7R, we then saw the A7S,
followed by the A7 Mark II, the A7R Mark II,
the A7S Mark II, the A7R Mark III,
the A7 Mark III, the A7R Mark IV,
and the A7S Mark III, and now the A7C,
which is surprisingly compact, maybe?
Maybe that's it? That's probably it. (chuckles)
It looks a lot more like the cameras
in the A6000 lineup from Sony
because its EVF is moved to the left side
rather than in the middle.
But first, let's start
with all of the hardware on this camera.
(mellow music)
Sony finally did away with the hanging doors
that took literal precision to put back on
and were always hanging in the way.
There are now very much attached doors
on the left side of the camera
that house a mic port, a headphone jack,
HDMI port, USB-C port, and one SD card slot.
These are easy to open and easy to close,
and best of all,
the mic port up on top doesn't block the flippy screen.
And yeah, we're gonna call it a flippy screen
because that's like way more fun than saying articulating.
It's easy to whip out, flip around,
or position to your needs, yet feels sturdy.
When moving around to start filming myself,
I never noticed a lag in the screen rotating
and the touch control, although limited to tapping
to set a focus point, is responsive.
All of the buttons around back are on the right-hand side
and the menu button is right in the middle,
I'll get to that in a minute.
It's not really a problem for me
because my left hand is almost always on the lens,
but I do wish there was a dial underneath the shutter button
for ISO, most likely.
That would be so much quicker
than having to like push over on the ISO button
and then flip through.
So, the menu button.
When reaching for it with my left thumb,
the EVF sensor is triggered
and it's just a tad too far to reach with my right thumb
without having to really grip the camera with both hands.
And because the menu button also acts
as a back button within the menu system,
using it just feels like a chore.
This might sound nitpicky, but use it for a bit, you'll see.
There are no improvements to the Sony menu system
in the AC7 either, which at this point, I'm just used to,
but I do wish I could touch the screen to move through it.
I'm also pretty bummed
that we aren't seeing Sony's new menu system
that they put out with the A7S Mark III.
It has a new layout
and you can also use the touchscreen to move through it.
Would've been nice to have.
(shutter clicking)
Buds, I am very happy to report
it is the perfect level of small. (chuckles)
(mellow music)
It fits in a bag and isn't annoying to carry,
but it still feels really solid
and it doesn't slip out of my hand.
Even when I'm using something
like this big 24-70 G-Master lens on it,
which paired with that 24.2 megapixel CMOS sensor,
is hella pretty.
(shutter clicking)
The A7C can shoot up to 115 raw images
at 10 frames per second with a max shutter speed of 1/4000.
It's fast.
The ISO can range from 100 to 51,200
and extend all the way up to 204,800 ISO.
In my use, anything past 12,800 ISO
started to show a lot of like smoothing and noise,
but (sighs) it's still a huge range
and I felt really comfortable leaving auto ISO on
and just setting the max to 10,000.
All of this should sound pretty familiar though,
because the A7 Mark III from two years ago
had pretty much the same specs.
Now, the image that you get will of course
be affected by the lens that you put on this camera,
and this 24-70 I've been rocking,
oh, my gosh, it's so pretty!
Like it's been really hard to take a photo
that I'm just not super happy with.
(shutter clicking)
(mellow music)
Sony also released a new kit lens with this camera
and when you bundle it with the camera,
it will run you $2,100.
It's a 28-60 millimeter F4-5.6 pancake zoom lens.
It's super compact, and it's got a decent focal range,
but it definitely feels pretty plasticky
and that slow aperture really doesn't show off
this camera's best self.
Now, on the video side, there isn't too much new here.
You got 4K at 24 frames per second
and 30 frames per second,
but to get 120 frames per second
or even just 60 frames per second,
you'll have to jump down to 1080.
There is in-camera stabilization,
but it's the standard Sony 5-axis system,
while good, is nothing to write home about.
That IS is definitely more helpful
when using a low shutter speed and taking photos,
but the beefier camera for video in the A7 lineup
is definitely the A7S Mark III,
which can shoot up to 4K at 4:2:2 10-bit
and 120 frames per second.
But that camera is also $3500, so...
There's that. (chuckles)
Now, on this camera,
there is still that rolling shutter problem,
causing quick motion to skew and bend.
So if you're doing quick pans or handheld work,
it is still very noticeable,
which doesn't make this camera the best
for professional video work.
I had the most fun taking photos with this thing
and this is where it really feels
like a little ripper, dudes.
So when you pair the flippy screen with the small size,
with that high ISO range, with that super-fast shutter,
she rips!
That's what I'm saying!
Like that's when you feel the little ripper idea.
(shutter clicking)
(mellow music)
This auto-focus system
is currently one of the best out there
and you have four pages of focusing options
within that crazy bad menu system to dial it all in.
Although I once in a while had to use the touchscreen
to lock in my focus point,
the A7C has Sony's realtime tracking system
that can latch onto a subject in the frame
and hold onto that point in focus no matter where it moves,
so long as it stays in the frame.
And if that point happens to be a face,
lay down on that shutter button and let it rip.
(shutter clicking)
Now, it did have trouble
focusing on faces with masks on them,
but let's really hope the world starts feeling better
so that's like not a long-term issue.
Now, battery life on this camera is also really good.
You can record at 4K for well over an hour and a half
with no overheating just before the battery dies.
And in running around Brooklyn taking mostly photos
and maybe five or six one-minute-long videos here and there,
I was making it through a full day
with one of the A7C's NP-FZ100 batteries.
(mellow music)
So that's the AC7,
from 115 raw images at 10 frames per second,
to a really great auto-focusing experience,
to high ISO, to pretty decent video,
but what actually makes this camera special
is its compact size.
It's being able to carry it around for hours
and not really noticing it.
It's being able to stash it into a bag super easily.
And if you're coming from the A6000 line
and you're looking for that full-frame look,
well, this camera will feel like something special to you.
And to be clear, at $1,800,
the AC7 does not have a small price tag.
It's not even a budget full-frame,
I like really wouldn't even call it that.
It is a lower-cost full-frame
and it is absolutely a parts bin camera.
I mean, it's pretty much an A7 Mark III from 2018
put into a smaller body,
but it's a lot of good parts put into that smaller body,
and hopefully it will only get better.
Man, for Sony's first compact A7,
it rips.
I don't know,
I'm like sure that I don't love this shot anymore.
Oh, the sun kinda went down really fast,
it looked so good when I was like backlit, you know?
(groans)
This is the moment where I'm like,
"Should I reshoot the whole thing?"