Nikon Z8 vs Sony a7R V Camera Comparison - Which is Better?

Thank you for the great, detailed review!

I heard the resolution of the viewfinder / LCD of the A7RV decreases when the autofocusing point is active for tracking, is that true?

Interesting comparison. The one place I'd raise an issue with you is in regard to the Nikon Z8 battery life. I really think it's a matter of use case. As an owner of both a Z8 and Z9, I can say without reservation that the Z9 battery is otherworldly, while the Z8 battery life is rather pedestrian. But, I shoot primarily sports-related photos, composing through the EVF and shooting lots of bursts to capture that moment of movement that I'm after, even though I dial the fps down to 15fps. Last weekend during one day with the Z9 I shot 6395 frames with the Z9 and the battery indicator told me I still had over 65% battery life remaining. Meanwhile, the same day with the Z8 I shot 2475 frames and the battery indicator said I had 50 percent battery life remaining. (I shot 14640 frames over two days between the two cameras.) For you to be limited to the 375 frames you suggested in the video, you must have shot everything through the rear screen and then found several other ways to waste battery life. I won't deny that there's a learning curve to getting the best out of the Nikon with regard to autofocus, whereas the reputation of the Sony is that it's pretty much a point and shoot camera, so the Sony is great for occasional shooters. But once you learn the autofocus the Nikon is a remarkable tool for those shooting high frame rate movement shots, superb in shooting video, and great for landscape shooters thanks to the remarkable NIkon Z lenses.

Great review, I'm A7R5 owner and as wedding photographer the only thing I'm missing from Z8 is electronic shutter without rolling shutter and banding in church. One thing from your review that I don't understand are only 440 images with one battery. I make around 1100-1500 shots with one battery in around 4-8 hours. I change 2 batteries during the day and maybe use third at evening.

Informative, thoughtful review.

I’ve had the Z8 for approx a month now and average 1,200 RAW images per battery. That’s shooting primary sports, portrait or wildlife images. I expect long exposure captures to dramatically drop that image count average.

Folks learning photography are very fortunate these days to have fine shooters helping viewers make serious choices. Thanks.

Easily the most thorough and balanced comparison I’ve seen on these two amazing bodies 👍🏻

Thank you for that thorough and well thought-out comparison. You helped solidify my interest in the Sony. I couldn't have less interest in shooting video if I tried; I only shoot stills and not wildlife unless a bird flies into the frame! So - the militating factors that you listed in favor of the D-8 though I understand would be nice to have would be of no use to me. Whereas the a7R V, from my perspective, given my goals - being smaller, having the flexible back screen and high resolution EVF fills the bill in all respects, but it's nice to know that someone who really knows what they are doing has gone to all this work to help me understand exactly what I am getting. Thanks again.

Great detailed comparison. Thank you. I shoot Sony A7RIV with Tamron lenses. Two years ago, had Nikon had the Tamron option, I would have gone with Nikon. I prefer Nikon colors over Sony any day. Better video in the Nikon is icing on the cake. I am surprised because Sony was a video company way before they became a stills image company.

Nice comparison, JP. How did you find the IBIS compared between the two cameras for stills shooting? I find the the IBIS on the A7RV to be really good but I prefer the ergonomics and colours of the Z8.

I shoot Sony and I think focus tests are almost unnecessary today, these high end cameras from any manufacturer today are just crazy good

I have both cameras, the only thing I’m missing is the model. Your review is spot on.

I have both you can’t go wrong with either, your a amazing reviewer I would love to see a canon 85:1.2 v the new Nikon 85:1.2

Great review

Great comparison on these 2 cameras. I used the A7R V for a few months and when it comes to stabilization, the Sony can have an edge when Active stabilization is used. When paired with an OSS lens and further enhanced in their Catalyst software you can get some really smooth footage however, you could end up with some major cropping. Even with that kind of stabilization, I ended up trading the A7R V for the Z8 as the Z8 has better overall video codecs and it actually shoots up to 8K60 in 12 bit NRAW internally. It would have been great if Nikon had the multi-angle screen of the A7R V on the Z8, that’s the one thing I miss the most from the A7R V, the point and shoot sort of AF and the AI posing estimation. I feel that feature gives the A7R V a slight edge in overall AF usage.

How Canon R5 compares with these two cameras? Is it capable to compete in image quality and stabilization?

is the shutter any quieter than on the SONY RRRRRRRR models - AND how BAD is BANDING in e shutter mode in LED lighting ?

I have these two cameras and can tell you truthfully that they don't belong together. The sony is purely meant for image quality and the nikon is made for everything you can think of. The Z8 is competing with A1, R3 and Z9 same can't be said of the A7rv.

Thank you for your video, JP! We replaced our Canon R3 and R5's with Nikon's Z9 and Z7 II. Now, I have to question my decision as to why I never considered Sony. My wife did not care for the heavy Canon lenses. I always made excuses about how tiny the Sony camera bodies were in my hands and that I did not care for the CF Express Type-A cards. However, when I look for glass then the scale seems to favor Sony. When I examine DXOMark, they nearly always rate Sony glass higher than Nikon and Canon. I want to dabble in wildlife and sports photography. I noticed that Sony has a 200-600 lens. Nikon just released its non-S 180-600mm lens. I tried the Tamron Z 150-500mm lens. You cannot beat the price, but the lens is not for me. It sounds like the Sony A7 R V might be a camera to try. A couple of weeks ago, I handled the new Sony A9 III. I loved the new ergonomics. However, I want more than 24MP. Your thoughts?