Just spent this morning taking my first shots with it. Very happy! My requirements are possibly not typical -
I did NOT want an interchangeable lens camera (if I wanted to change lenses I'd use my 1Dx).
I wanted the largest possible sensor in a 'compact' body (I've had a couple of earlier G series).
Need to provide at least A4 300dpi magazine quality images.
It did not have to be 'pocketable' (I have a S95 for that).
A decent zoom range/fast lens.
Only shoot in RAW.
I tested the only other camera that seems to meet all of the above, the Sony RX10, but wasn't really impressed with the quality of the file. The lens is a beauty though. Also as a long time Canon user, it's interface etc was very foreign. Reports on Sony's RAW implementation (
http://diglloyd.com/blog/2014/20140214_1-SonyA7-artifacts-star-trails.html ) also turned me off.
I bought the EVF, large grip, filter attachment & a spare battery - just over AUD$1200 all up. The EVF (first one I've used) is excellent. It is truly a joy to be able to shoot with a compact camera up to my eye instead of being held at arm's length!
Yes the shadows are a tad noisy, but only a tad. Far worse at 100% on the monitor than printed (where they are perfectly fine). Otherwise the only two minor gripes are I wish the Exp Comp (set to the front ring) worked with the shutter button half depressed and that the EVF took more effort to move from the horizontal to vertical orientation. I wear glasses and found that the EVF's rubber eye piece "grabbed" my glasses and moved as I moved my head.
With 70 RAW images taken, all with the EVF, the battery indicator has not moved from Full.
As I said, very happy with it.
