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The Lowdown On The Sony a7C

I’ve been writing articles for Photography Masterclass Magazine for a few years now and during that time, there’s been a running joke (at least in my head) that every time I research a new camera or piece of photography gear, I’m inevitably tempted to buy it for myself.

I suppose in some ways, that’s a good thing, because when my interest is piqued, I can hopefully communicate to the readers the points that catch my interest, and thereby help people make an informed decision if a piece of gear is right for them.

But on the other hand, it’s also frustrating because I very rarely am able to follow through and actually buy the piece of equipment that I’m writing about. That’s generally because the items that I write about often cost money—cameras or lenses can easily go up to several thousand dollars—and I unfortunately don’t have piles of cash just lying around or burning a hole in my pocket.

I’m reminded of the saying that you shouldn’t go grocery shopping on an empty stomach because seeing all the food will only make you hungrier, and you’re more likely to leave with a cart full of food you don’t need. In the same vein, maybe I should make my own mantra: Never research cameras or photography gear on an empty wallet.

That’s all just to say that, as I was researching and reviewing the new Sony a7C camera, of course I kept thinking about whether I should buy it myself. However, in contrast to when I’m looking at something like a new Canon camera, which I’m unlikely to actually buy.

Doing so would require switching to an entirely new brand and system), or something cool and fun like an accessory that’s specialized for vlogging (which I don’t even do), I could realistically add the Sony a7C to my kit bag. I fit right into the demographic that this Sony seems to be courting with this camera, and I have a feeling that there are quite a few people out there in the same position as I am.

What position am I in, exactly? Well, I’ve been shooting with a Sony a6000 for about five years now. Although there are many things that I love about that camera, I often miss some of the features that I had on the cameras I owned previously, which were a couple of older Nikon DSLRs.

Those cameras were also great, but they had just gotten outdated after a while and weren’t working reliably, which led me to switch to the Sony. In making that change, I sacrificed some solid features (literally solid—I’m pretty sure I could have used my D360s as a club if I were attacked by a wild animal), but I gained a much smaller, lighter camera that I was more likely to carry with me, and therefore more likely to use.

However, I did miss some things about my Nikon DSLRs. For example, I missed using my camera in Manual mode, and then using my thumb and index finger to quickly slide the dials to adjust the aperture and shutter speed.

That was a lot of fun, and even though the Sony A6000 has a manual mode, the dials are on the back and positioned much more awkwardly, so I rarely use them for that purpose.

I also missed some of the versatile Nikon and third-party lenses that I had. They gave me a lot more flexibility, and at a significantly cheaper price than what I could find for my new Sony. To be fair, there are now more options for Sonycompatible lenses than there were five years ago, and Sony continues to expand their options.

Nevertheless, in my day-to-day photography, I often had the nagging feeling that even though everything on paper indicated that my mirrorless Sony a6000 was a more advanced camera than my old Nikon D80 or D300s, I still felt like I’d somehow downgraded by making the switch. Because of that, for some time now, I’ve considered upgrading to something like an a6600, or going all the way to a Sony a7 III.

I’ve also looked over the fence and wondered if the grass was greener these days on Nikon’s side. I’ve taken quite a few looks at the Nikon Z6, and I’ve even thought about whether it would make sense to go back to the warm embrace of a DSLR like the D750 or D850.

But in the end, no matter what camera I looked at, I never actually made the switch because the drawbacks to doing so always seemed to outweigh the advantages.

That’s what makes the new Sony a7C so exciting, since it seems to hit several sweet spots in terms of features, technology, ergonomics, and price.

Simply put, the a7C is one of the best options out there if you’re looking for a compact, full-frame mirrorless camera with up-to-date features like Sony’s great autofocus and in-camera image stabilization. In fact, it’s one of the only options if you’re looking for a camera with those characteristics.

To use a medical term, the a7C essentially has most of the guts of its bigger sibling, the a7 III, but those guts are packed into the body of its smaller sibling, the a6600. In terms of price, though, its body-only price tag of around $1,800 positions it closer to the a7III, which costs about $200 more for only the body. Let’s take a quick look at the features of the a7C to see if it’s got what it takes to stand on its own, or if it’s just a kind of Franken-camera, cobbled together from the parts of other Sony cameras.

The a7C boasts a 24-Megapixel full-frame sensor, an articulating touchscreen, 4K video, in-body image stabilization (IBIS), WiFi connectivity, and Real-time Tracking autofocus. To quote Han Solo, “She may not look like much, but she’s got it where it counts, kid.” And really, the part of that quote about not looking like much is also debatable.

As mentioned before, the body and styling of the a7C hews closer to the a6000 series, which means that it’s more of uniform rectangle shape when viewed head-on. It doesn’t have the bump for the viewfinder in the middle of the camera because the viewfinder is on the far side of the camera, which means most users will probably look through it with their right eye. It’s also closer in weight, feel, and design to the a6600 than the a7III. On the back, it has a couple dials that you can use with your thumb (including a programmable dial, a vertically-oriented dial that works mainly with the on-screen menus, and an exposure compensation dial), but it’s missing a dial on the front—dang it!

Moving on to the rest of the hardware, the a7C has a single card slot, a microphone and headphone jack, a Multi-Interface Shoe for a microphone or flash, and the Sony Z-type battery, which is larger than what you’d find on models such as the a6000. Like the features, the styling of the A7C also seems to be going for a “Somewhere In Between” sweet spot, combining a mostly modern look with a few semiOld School touches, such as the silver metal top.