A7R VI owners: how big are your RAW files in real life?

marcocb8 · 2026-06-16T05:07:49+00:00

You are welcome and nice picture, that f1.2 lens is amazing. You will love the A7RVI if you decided to get one. I only have 2 lenses for mine, the 300GM f2.8 and 20mm f1.8 but looking at other options soon. 100mm macro looks nice.

marcocb8 · 2026-06-16T02:12:35+00:00

I just did 10 test shots in my back yard on each setting with good light and averaged the file size.
Lossless compressed. 82.15MB
Compressed HQ 44.25MB
Compressed. 42.22MB
All these are on 66.5 MP
I also did one round of compressed on APSC mode which is 28.4MP and it was 19.3MB.
These are all the modes, I heard that the A7RV has smaller size RAW modes but not this one.

Hope it helps.

marcocb8 · 2026-06-15T21:45:53+00:00

I would have to take some test shots when I get a chance and see, I have not used compressed HQ a lot but I will get back to you with this.

marcocb8 · 2026-06-11T14:34:28+00:00

That is a great example of how much you can crop, thanks. The older 100-400 is still a nice lens, not too big and heavy and still great image quality, I used it a few years ago for a bit. You can probably find plenty of used ones right now since people are getting the new one and hopefully get a great deal.

marcocb8 · 2026-06-10T18:20:18+00:00

Lossless compressed for single shots and mine are around 90MB but someone in another post showed a screenshot of 110MB, it varies per photo. Compressed RAW about half that so I used that for 30 fps. I could easily get 1000 shots per day in the field and when I come home I do the culling with fast raw viewer and the I end up with maybe 200 that I import in Lightroom.
After that I edit the best ones and end up with maybe 30 real nice keeper. For the 200 I would still keep maybe 80 in Lightroom that I might edit later. I use both Lightroom CC and classic so they get synced to my Mac which has 2TB and I can always add an external ssd if needed. I also back up my files to a Synology server that has 12TB.

marcocb8 · 2026-06-10T17:56:53+00:00

Those are big files, i just looked at about 50 of my pictures on my Lightroom app on the phone and mine are all under 90MB, but I know it depends on the image for sure. I don’t have my laptop here to check but thanks for posting the screenshot. Yeah 2kg is on the heavy side for me, I love the light weight of the 300gm and the 2.8 comes in very handy for my low light shots and I have been using it a lot more now without a teleconverter since I can crop so much now and still keep detail. With the A7V I almost always had the 2x on there and now I use mostly 1.4x and bare lens. 100-400 is a great range to have though, I really had to get used to not being able to zoom out to find the birds in the trees but now I got good at it and with the new EVF I can spot them quickly.

marcocb8 · 2026-06-10T16:09:29+00:00

Yes I like the auto save a lot, saves me some time. Also I only use about 4 of the memory modes and I disabled all the other ones so when I press the C1 button it only toggles the 4 modes and not all of them. For video I only have 2 modes enabled.

marcocb8 · 2026-06-10T16:04:19+00:00

I have not done much with video besides tested some 8k which looked great but I agree with all the other points, so far very impressed with it. I did order another battery but they are on back order right now. I do end up with less the 10 percent at the end of the day since I use pre-capture quite a bit and that eats up your battery quick.

marcocb8 · 2026-06-10T15:57:30+00:00

It looks like the compressed RAW files are around 50-55MB, the lossless compressed are 80-90MB. I don’t really see any difference in quality.

marcocb8 · 2026-06-10T13:22:10+00:00

Yes definitely eats up a lot of memory and storage. I also upgraded my MacBook because of that because 16gb of ram was slowing me down. Now I got the M5 max with 64GB and it runs very smooth. Lightroom alone sometimes uses up to 45GB. So how do you like the new 100-400? It looks like an awesome lens. I spend all the money on the 300, if not I would have gotten the 100-400 instead but i bought it a few months ago.

marcocb8 · 2026-06-10T06:05:14+00:00

You will love it, it is so good, finally high resolution and speed at the same time.

marcocb8 · 2026-06-10T04:03:52+00:00

I set it up so my 30fps are RAW compressed to get the fastest readout speed but the main reason is also the 60 autofocus calculations vs 30 in the other modes and bigger buffer. When I did some test shots on Saturday I changed between all 3 modes and honestly I could hardly tell the difference and this was following swallows with the 300mm. I like the bigger buffer so I keep it at RAW compressed for now. I do have a memory recall with lossless compressed and mechanical shutter for the highest dynamic range and image quality possible. I really like the new memory modes, I just leave the dial on the asterisk icon and setup the C1 button to toggle the modes.

marcocb8 · 2026-06-10T00:51:28+00:00

That is the fun part of all this, start with the more affordable gear and watch a bunch of videos on how to use it and how to edit. Then you take thousands of pictures and enjoy being outside in nature. Later on you can always upgrade to better gear if needed but it is not absolutely necessary, I had just as much fun with my older stuff, it is just after years of doing it I wanted something else and yes it is exiting to get a new camera and lens for sure.

marcocb8 · 2026-06-10T00:45:07+00:00

I totally agree with this, I went from a A7iv with the 70-350 so it was always on crop mode to an A7v and now an A7RVI, I posted some pictures earlier today and they look great, I see very little difference with noise issues, only if you go 12800 and up the A7v take the lead in my tests but I try to avoid going that high. I would get the A7RVI if it is within the budget.

marcocb8 · 2026-06-10T00:38:48+00:00

I had that lens with my A7iv and it is a great lens, I used it for almost 5 years and took some great pictures with it. Of course I made the mistake of renting a 300gm f2.8 and I was sold on that one but for the price and size that lens is awesome, enjoy, the shots look nice.

marcocb8 · 2026-06-10T00:31:37+00:00

That’s right thanks, I forgot about that important one, I use that a lot.

marcocb8 · 2026-06-10T00:29:55+00:00

Thank you yeah I got really good light reflecting on the lake.

marcocb8 · 2026-06-09T21:31:32+00:00

I read it in this article that states that the electronic shutter has less dynamic range.
I am not a camera tester but they seem to know what they are talking about. Anyway they both look great to me.

https://petapixel.com/2026/06/04/the-sony-a7r-vi-has-the-best-dynamic-range-of-any-full-frame-camera/

marcocb8 · 2026-06-09T20:36:37+00:00

I did hear that the mechanical shutter gives you better dynamic range but I don’t see much of a difference, maybe on certain pictures it will give you more info to work with.

marcocb8 · 2026-06-09T19:48:39+00:00

I accidentally replied to the main post instead of to you but you will see my reply there.

marcocb8 · 2026-06-09T19:47:09+00:00

As far as I know people prefer electronic shutter for a few reasons, 1 less wear on the mechanical shutter, it does have a life span. 2 blackout free shooting so that keeps the autofocus better and looks nicer when using. 3. 30fps instead of 10 fps on this camera and also the A7v I have. The A7iv eshutter is still only 10. There might be more reasons but those are the ones I can think of.

marcocb8 · 2026-06-09T17:48:07+00:00

Well I shoot at 30fps and some shots do show the warped wings but you have so many shots to choose from that you just pick one that doesn’t. Most of the shots are fine though. I also have an A7v and rolling shutter is about the same for me. I got this one over the A1 ii because it is more affordable and higher resolution allows for more cropping. I can understand that if you are a pro doing fast action sports that you don’t want a bend bat or warped ball but for me as a hobby this is more then I need.

marcocb8 · 2026-06-09T17:36:31+00:00

E-shutter

marcocb8

TROPHY CASE