Sony Body Change / Upgrade?

Matt-P

Matt-P

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Matt
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After a bit of advice on the best way forwards. Currently shooting (for pleasure only) on a Sony A7iv, subjects are landscapes, wildlife and a bit of aviation. I'm finding myself doing a little more sport photography now with my kids clubs and thinking of a kit change / upgrade. In an ideal world I'm looking for a few more FPS and blackout free shooting, making me think options could be:

1) Get a second hand A9 - keep two bodies and use each as appropriate
2) Get a second hand A1, sell the A7iv, and use it for everything
3) Outside option - move to a Nikon setup as Z8 curious, use as a do it all camera.

Realise there is no need to change and I'm the limiting factor here rather than the camera, but any thoughts / experience / suggestions?
 
I can't see any of those being much better than the A7iv, I would wait for the next iteration - A7v presumably which could easily be out later this year.
 
I have an A9 and a Z8 plus I'm a fan of blackout free shooting and I think if I had to make a choice from the options you've listed, I'd go for the A1 although not sure I would choose any upgrade from the capable A7m4. Personally I find multiple bodies fiddly and prefer to try and keep it the minimum possible and I think there's a lot of overlap between the A9 and the A7mk4. From what I can see it's around £1,000 for a well used A9 and £1,500 for a good one which is still a decent chunk of money whereas if the A9s were a lot cheaper I think it may have been worth trying to dip your toe into the stacked sensor world.

I'm also not keen on switching brands unless there's a really good reason for it. I was using Nikon F-mount up to the D750 and then bought an A9 (for speed/silence) with an A7SII (for video), I also have RX100s, RX10 and an RX1 which will all a bit different I find it easy to move between them. I added the Z8 as I still have a good range of F-mount lenses and wanted the stacked sensor benefits with them (plus I damaged the D750) but as I'm really familiar with Sony cameras I do find it a bit of hassle using the Z8 at the moment. It's not a criticism of Nikon and I'd be saying the same for Sony if you were used to using Nikon bodies.
 
Second hand A1 can be found at a good enough price that I don't think you need swap brands to Nikon to get highres stacked sensor camera that "does-it-all". Depending on the lenses you have got may even end up losing money to swap
My only problem with A1 is Sony really suck at updates and sometimes their flagship feels less flagship :facepalm:

Also I shot with A1 previously and then I downgraded to A7IV, the 8fps of the A7iv really sucks. It can't even properly do 10fps because you get the "slideshow effect" at 10fps which is worst than having blackout.

This is just a hobby for me and it's nice to be able to shoot at higher FPS. But people managed with 8fps and blackout in the past. I can manage too for a hobby. Missing a shot or two isn't end of the world (I have missed shots for stupider reasons like forgetting SD cards!). If I was professionally shooting I'd go back to the A1 and have a second A7RV body.
 
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Thanks for the helpful replies, definitely a bit to think on there. Might look to borrow / rent an A1 for a weekend to cement my decision.
 
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