Sony Alpha 7C Full-Frame Mirrorless Camera – Silver (ILCE7C/S)

We have had this camera since 1 June 2021and we purchased it to see if a compact full frame camera would work for us. We were looking for a smaller camera that was not an APS C sensor based camera.

First a little background. My wife and I are keen semi professional photographers and own a Canon R5, Canon R6, Nikon Z6 II and Fuji X T4, along with a good selection of Canon RF, Nikon S Z and Fuji XF lenses. I have owned the Sony A7RIII and A7RIV and traded them for the Canon R5 and R6 cameras. We have been taking pictures for over 60 years in my case.

I traded the Sony A7RIII and Sony A7RIV simply because I did not like taking pictures with them. Technically they were superb but they were difficult to handle and the new Canons (R5 and R6) were a revelation in handling and I ‘wanted’ to take pictures with them. I say this because I expected to dislike this A7C. It has the same menu system as the A7RIII and A7RIV (which I did not like) and the comments on the EVF and lack of controls in the reviews made me wonder why I wanted to try this.

However it is the size that wins you over immediately. Picture quality is superb and autofocus is excellent. This is a full frame camera in the body of an APS C body and it handles exceptionally well. Somehow those awkward angles etc. of the bigger bodies goes away and it feels so good in both my wife and I’s hands. I cannot confirm whether the autofocus is better than the A 7III but it seems the equal of the A 7RIII and A 7RIV, if not a little better (I do not have them to test them side by side but it certainly feels that way). In short we love this camera and, and this is the ‘real’ test, we tend to take it with us when we are looking to have a camera with us just in case.

Pros:
1. Small body that feels solid and beautifully made. Access doors are nice quality (not floppy rubber plug in pieces) and fully weather sealed.
2. Excellent out of body JPGs, RAWS excellent and easy to recover detail in the shadows and highlights.
3. Superb Autofocus that glues to your subject.
4. Fast operation.
5. Flexible ‘flippy’ screen.
6. Access to a wide range of FE lens mount lenses.
7. Kit lens is much better than you would expect and very small. Ideal for street photography and the one lens you might just happen to have with you.
8. Excellent battery life.
9. Excellent video output.
10. In body image stabilization.

Cons:
1. The EVF is truly awful but just about allows you to aim the camera and take a picture when the rear screen is not viewable.
2. Lack of a joy stick is an irritant to me, but you get used to it.
3. Kit lens 60 mm max focal length is too short and the wide angle is not wide enough (28 mm). An equivalent to that Canon RF 24 -105 f/4 – 7.1 would be wonderful.
4. The Sony lenses are large for their capabilities (the F/4 24 -105 is enormous), Canon make smaller and better lenses for full frame. However Tamron are filling the gap. We have bought the F/2.8-5.6 28 to 200 mm Tamron for the A 7C and it is a good match, still not small but light and still easy to use and handle.
5. IBIS not good enough for video, and needs a gimbal.

We love this camera and we use it a lot (we have aleady taken around 4000 shots!!) and used it in a wide variety of conditions where it has excelled. Thoroughly recommended.

Best purchase by far thank you, Amazon.

In love with it. Got with kit lens and tamron 70 180. The autofocus is so good. Gyro stabilization is extremely helpful.

I bought this when it was on sale for $1600, just before the mkii dropped. At that price it is a beast, with very fast and accurate AF, plenty of resolution and nice color and detail. I mostly pair it with Sony 16-35 f/4 PZ lens for a light package, used for commercial street photo and real estate. The menu system is still a version of the old style, but with some streamlined elements. I’m so used to it coming from my A7rII, it works totally fine for me. I have not tried video functions as I use an FX-3 for that. The viewfinder is big enough for me, although using with glasses makes it a bit small. My only quibble is a slightly slow startup time. Overall this camera is a joy to use, so incredibly small and light for full frame.