Jay Mayuga Photography

Why Sony A7 is my primary camera for Wedding Photography

Disclaimer:

This post is not in anyway comparing myself to other photographers, nor belittling other shooters and camera manufacturers, these are just my personal opinion and experiences using the said camera.

I’m not a brand ambassador and bought all my cameras and lenses mentioned here using my hard earned money.

I am a landscape, portrait and wedding photographer and does not shoot video. Other genre need different set of camera/tools; With that out of the way, let’s talk about this camera which was first launched in October 2013.

Yup, you read it right – Sony A7 (not the A7ii or A7iii) is my primary camera for wedding and portrait shoots.           

Before I explain the reasons why, below are some of my full frame cameras (in order) for the past 11 years of shooting weddings and portraits. I also tried and used APS-C sensor cameras, but that’s a separate topic on a separate day.

• Canon 6D

• Canon 5DII

• Sony A7

• Sony A7ii

• Sony A7iii

• Sony A7Rii

• Nikon D750

• Back to Sony A7

As you can see, I tried and used a lot of full frame cameras and it boils down to these reasons why I chose the Sony A7 as my primary camera for portrait and wedding photography.

1. Electronic Viewfinder.

“What you see is what you get” – The main reason I love using EVF. DSLRs like Canon 6D and Nikon D750 use Optical Viewfinder, which is looking directly thru the lens reflected by the mirror inside the camera - similar to what film cameras used in the days. I don’t know how good you are at nailing exposure but using optical viewfinder means you always need to check your exposure meter, and adjust the exposure triangle (ISO, aperture and shutter speed) accordingly. I often use the “live view” function of DSLRs to set the correct exposure in-camera, which is slow for weddings. Using the electronic viewfinder makes changing and nailing the exposure easier A LOT. You can preview what the image will actually look like before you click the shutter button, plus you can choose a setting where the viewfinder can act as an “optical” or “electronic”, best of both worlds.

2. It’s cheap.

I bought this used Sony A7 for PHP22,000 with 25k shutter actuations. Considering it has a full frame sensor and electronic EVF, is already a bargain. As a comparison, here are some price of used cameras and other DSLRs with full frame sensors.

• Sony A7ii – P35,000

• Sony A7iii – 75k to P85,000

• Canon 6D – P30,000

• Canon 5Diii –40k-P50,000

• Nikon D750 – P50,000

Yah, it’s cheap but what about the lenses? I agree, Sony native lenses are expensive and you don’t have huge lens options back in 2013, but many 3rd party lens manufacturers like Sigma, 7Artisans, Mitakon and many more started producing very cheap Sony mount lenses which compete very well with Sony glass, some are better than Sony’s. Adapting lenses is also an option - more of this later.

3. Image quality.

I’m sure most of us at one point took a landscape photo in a beach using our mobile phone, and wondered why the sky is pure white (you cannot see the clouds anymore) while the sands are well exposed, or vice versa – this is where dynamic range comes into play.

Dynamic range is the ability to preserve/recover shadows or highlights whether in camera or in post-processing. Our eyes have a huge dynamic range (it is measured in stops in photography terms). All Sony A7 cameras have a full frame sensor with great dynamic range. I’m not here to start a debate about full frame versus cropped/APS-C bodies, or Nikon is better than Canon, etc. I owned both full frame and cropped camera bodies, but for critical and paid shoots, I always grab my full frame camera body and have the cropped sensor one for back-up. I am confident using the Sony A7 up to ISO 8000.

Below are some images using a full frame and cropped sensor cameras.

Most youtube photographers say Sony has the worst color science while Canon and Fuji are the best. It is true, but that only applies if you don’t edit your images, majority of all professional photographers I knew do. Let me be clear on this, editing is different from manipulation. When I edit my images, I make sure that I want people to see what I saw during that time when I took that photo. Image manipulation is editing your images by adding or removing something. If you shoot in JPEG, then yes, you might stay away from Sony A7 (A7iii already addressed this I believe), but if you are shooting in raw and applying presets/profiles then you will love the raw images from Sony A7. Lastly, if you someone relies heavily on a certain brand that produces their “look”, then what happens when that company goes out of business? I always shoot in raw, in that way I can use any camera brands while producing consistent colors.

Fact: All camera brands use Sony for their sensors except Canon, which makes their own sensor.

4. Lens selection.

My dad owns a Nikon film camera with a Nikon 50mm f1.2 lens on it. Thanks to adapters, I was able to use that Nikon lens on my Canon bodies, as well as with my Sony cameras. With the proper adapter (which is like P500 for manual focus only adapter) you can use all vintage lenses you can think of - lenses for full frame, medium format or aps-c.

Below are some images using my Sony A7 camera with different adapted lenses.

5. Many focus points

I remembered using my Canon 6D before which has 9 focusing points, and always ended up using the center point most of the time, because it is the only cross-type AF point and the most reliable. Sony A7 has 25 contast-detection AF points and 117 phase-detection AF points, like WOW! Just imagine the newer mirrorless cameras after this 1st Sony A7. Goodbye to focus and recompose technique, now you can literally choose a focus point for a face or an eye. Autofocus speed is not that great though, I will not use this camera for any fast-moving subject. I shoot weddings and portraits and the most fast-moving condition I had is people walking down the aisle during wedding ceremony procession – in that case Sony A7 is enough for me. I already shot hundreds of engagements and weddings with the couple moving towards me while I’m using a non-autofocus lens, since majority of my lenses are manual-focus only. If you are using a native Sony lenses or 3rd-party Sony-mount lenses, or into using vintage/manual focus lenses, then Sony A7’s autofocus speed is enough in my honest opinion.

6. Weight and size.

Sony A7 is 2nd lightest full frame mirrorless digital camera (1st is Sigma fp) in the world. I’m a wedding photographer and you’re moving, taking photos for like 10-12 hours on a typical wedding; By the time we reached reception, I bet the lightest camera you have feels very heavy by that point – which if not disciplined can result to being lazy taking more photos/moments.

By comparison, here are the cameras I had and their corresponding weight (batteries not included):

• Sony A7 – 474 grams

• Fuji X-Pro1 (cropped sensor) – 450 grams

• Sony A7ii – 556 grams

• Sony A7iii – 650 grams

• Canon 6D – 770 grams

• Canon 5Dii – 904 grams

• Canon 5Diii – 950 grams

• Nikon D750 – 750 grams
  

7. Battery life

This one is a con; I usually carry 5 batteries for a full wedding – this is using autofocus lenses. If you are using manual focus lenses, 3 batteries will do. If carrying many batteries is a big deal for you, then you can choose other DSLRs or Sony A7iii, which have bigger and longer battery life. Thanks to 3rd party battery manufacturers, I can buy a 2 pcs of Sony A7 batteries (plus charger) for half the price of a single original Sony battery.

8. Grip and handling

This is a con as well, for me Canon full frame DSLRs and Mirrorless have the best grip ever. I added a 3rd-party vertical battery grip to my Sony A7, which makes handling more comfortable, plus it takes 2 batteries at the same time.

9. Menus

Another con for some. I memorized the menus after using the camera for 6 years now. Finding a setting is not an issue for me anymore, and if you’re really honest with yourself, you will just set the settings once and like leave it for life haha!

10. Single SD card.

With newer cameras now having dual card slots, it gives you more confidence when shooting a paid event knowing that if you 1st card fails, you still have 2nd card to the rescue. I always use San Disk cards and never had an issue for 5 years now.

11. Wifi

If you want to transfer your images to your phone immediately then you’ll be delighted that this old camera has Wifi and it works wonders! I can easily transferred batch of images to my phones and edit them via Lightroom mobile, ready to be posted on social media.

12. Build quality

I’m not sure if this camera is weather- proof but I already this use this on a -10deg Celcius shoot, and on extreme heat weather condition. I haven’t used this on a rainy day without an umbrella.

13. Burst rate

This camera shoots 5 frames per second in burst mode, which is sufficient for my needs as a portrait and wedding photographer. If you’re into sports photography or other genre, then stay away from this camera.

Wow! You reached this point! Thank you for reading and I hope I gave some insight about this old but good camera.

Did I miss something? Any questions you want to ask regarding this camera or the lenses I use? Send me a message in facebook or instagram and follow me there as well. :)\

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