A7R IVA and Sony 200-600 FE 200-600 f/5.6-6.3 G OSS Question

[Aspirant]

Hi folks; I'm very close to deciding to take the plunge on an A7R IVA (I'd love the A7R V, but it's just killing me how much more $ it is) and the Sony FE 200-600 f/5.6-6.3 G OSS zoom.

I've read various posts in various places (many from several years ago, now) about what sound like serious focus issues with that lens and the a7R IV, and, I think, the a7IV, and then I've also read several posts about how those issues have been resolved by software updates or folks using different settings.

But I just can't tell, in all of the noise on the issue, whether there's still a legitimate concern about this camera + this lens issue (I am assuming there was, at least at one point) that I should be concerned about, and therefore whether I should look at something different. FWIW, I don't care about video; I'm interested in landscape and wildlife photography, so some of my subjects will be moving... thanks for any thoughts and advice on this.

[pm-r]

The AF consistency and accuracy is superior on the A7RV vs. the A7RIV.  I also think the A7RV is a little faster to get onto moving subjects too.  Because you are interested in the 200-600G, the issues you mention with A7RIV can "get you" in certain situations.  The other area where the A7RV is much better is with animal and bird eye AF.  Last, the sensor is the same but the processing of the images off that sensor is different.  Sony learns so fast!  The engineers are plotting ways to improve overall performance constantly even after a new camera ships.  Case in point, I am out shooting landscapes this week in Nevada right now.  I shot this morning at moonset/sunrise and came back to the hotel to find they released a new firmware for my A7CII.  It took just a few minutes to update the camera, and I'll be heading back out the VOF tonigth for sunset/moonrise with that installed.  Pretty cool.  In short, the extra cash it will cost you to get the A7RV instead of the A7RIV will pay off big dividends in the images you make!  pm-r 🙂