Sony a7V

In April 2017, I got myself the top-of-the-line Canon DSLR, the 5D Mark IV. And it has been my workhorse for the past 9 years. I’ve taken so many beautiful photos with it that you can find on my Flickr.

Unfortunately, misfortune has struck. On my latest sunrise shoot, it was on a tripod, and when the waves came in, the tripod tilted and the camera fell into the water and sand. Corrosion got the best of the wide-angle lens; it no longer worked. The body miraculously survived, but without my main lens for landscape photography, I was left with a puzzling situation: do I fix it, get a new one, or get a completely new camera?

Why would I get a completely new camera? Well, in the almost 10 years since, camera technology has greatly advanced. Not only for photography but also in the video space. My old Canon was completely useless for video. So I have actually been thinking about whether I should swap to a more versatile all-rounder. But since I never did so much video, it was never worth it.

But now with my main lens destroyed and fixing it costing more than getting the same lens second hand, I started researching what would be the best option for me if I didn’t have a camera at all.

All roads led me to the not-yet-released Sony a7V. It was about to be announced in a few weeks, and there were plenty of leaks about it. So I decided to wait for the announcement, and then if it was the same as what the leakers posted, then I’d get it.

And as you can probably tell by the title of this post, it met (and exceeded) my expectations. So I got it and bought all new lenses for it. I went with almost the same combo as I had before:

• Wide angle: FE 16-35mm F2.8 GM II
• Zoom: Full Frame E-Mount 70-200mm F2.8 GM OSS II Lens
• Prime: Sonnar T* Full Frame E-Mount FE 55mm F1.8 Zeiss Lens

The wide angle is basically the same as I had on the Canon, 16-35mm and f/2.8, so not much changed there.

The zoom is quite different in that it is only up to 200mm (not 300mm), but to compensate, it’s now at a fixed f/2.8 instead of variable f/4-5.6. And this specific GM lens is also very fast at autofocus, which will greatly help with wildlife photography.

For the prime, I also decided to splurge a bit more, so instead of just getting a cheap nifty fifty at f/1.8, I went for a slightly fancier Zeiss lens at 55mm. Zeiss lenses are known for their clarity and sharpness, so I figured it would be a good upgrade.

Overall, I am very happy with the camera and all of its new features (which I have yet to figure out how to use), and the new lenses. Looking forward to taking some amazing photos and videos!