Help Deciding going back to Sony

[rollsman44]

I had a Sony 7R about 5 years go and Hated the menu system. I remember the skin tones out of the camera were on the reddish side. Has Sony changed since then? I shoot mainly portraits and Group shots and No Landscapes.
I am thinking of going back to Sony. I dont need anymore than 24 Mpx . Also, I shoot my portraits at F 4-5.6 Thanks

 

[pegelli]

I think any menu system takes getting used to, according to reports the later cameras have "improved" somewhat but to be honest I've never had any problems with it anyway. The good thing is that there's so many customisation options (buttons and an Fn menu for your 10 most used items) that you hardly have to go into the menus anyway. The later models even have a separate menu page where you can put stuff you use often all in one place. When you giveme a Canon, Nikon or Olympus today I'm totally lost as well.

And with regard to skin tones/reds, it all comes down to profiling your camera/lens combo if it's critical. For me it isn't, skin tones are usually OK for me and if too reddish I just dial in -10 reds in Lightroom and be done with it, and sometimes dialing down orange can help as well, but I'm not a people/portrait photographer so ymmv.

Probably the best advice to see how much they changed and if you like it is to rent one for one or two weeks and see how it goes. Only you can tell if you are going to be happy with it.

 

[Saxbike]

I would echo pegelli’s comments. I set up my camera so that all frequently used functions are on custom buttons or in the function menu. The only time I use the menu button is to format the memory card.

I use Capture One because I prefer its raw processor. I used Aperture for many years and then tried Lightroom but was not happy with the raw conversions. C1 is great and has some fantastic tools for skin tone work.

Henry

 

[iiiNelson]

The menu system is what it is. I’d say that it has become “more complex” due to the nature of adding more features than was present 5 years ago. I will echo Pegelli’s comment in that regular use will make it So that it becomes second nature and there are ways to customize so that the need to dive into the menu is minimal. I also have a Panasonic S1R and I don’t find the menus on the Sony to be any easier nor harder than on that camera. I’ve read where people love the organization of it and complain about Sony so YMMV.

Regarding color... it’s a tricky situation. I find that doing a custom white balance and using a color checker provides more consistent color in any environment this I never really had or saw the issues that many have complained about with Sony. I will also say that skin tone plays a huge role in this as well and I’ve always found “Canon color” which many praise to have overly boosted red channels which require me to bring back in post for darker skin tones at least. I do believe that many people that shoot lighter skin tones like the newer Sony colors SOOC better... I don’t have a huge issue with them but I do find that I need to do more work on the newer color palette compared to the older ones so that’s one of the reason that I haven’t upgraded to the newer bodies. I’m considering upgrading all of my Sony bodies to the A7IV or whatever once announced but I’m not in a huge rush.

They’re great cameras but like all cameras they have their quirks. No one can say that they’re for you and there is no perfect solution for everyone. I do personally believe that Sony cameras have the fewest numbers of flaws and objectively it’s a system that everyone should consider but I also acknowledge its not the best choice for everyone. I will say that it’s a 90% solution for MOST people but that 10% tend to know exactly what they need and usually don’t have to be “sold” anything.

 

[k-hawinkler]

Good feedback already by previous commenters.

I shoot the A9. Features are fast sensor readout time, no rolling electronic shutter distortion, totally quiet, blackout free EVF, Eye-Af for humans or animals, fast and precise AF... My 2 cents. :grin: