The answer — one pick, priced
Get the
Sony A7 IV
No budget ceiling
The safest pick for your own kit — the card's default when unknown, with 33MP files, the deepest third-party lens catalog to grow into, and now $500 below MSRP.
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Fit ledger — need → measured evidence
■ The catch — co-equal billing, always
It's the slow one. 10 fps burst versus 40 fps on the R6 II, the lowest IBIS in the list at 5.5 stops, and 4K/60p only in a Super35 crop — action shooters and video-first creators are giving real capability up.
Dealbreaker? Runner-up №1 fixes burst and AF for the same price ↓
■ Every product has a catch. Verdicts that hide it are how bad buys happen.
Runners-up — if your needs differ
Adjacent verdicts — same method
Traps — this verdict avoids
The body-only mirage
Every list price here is body-only. A kit lens adds $400–$700, and a real f/2.8 zoom or f/1.4 prime kit costs far more — many of these 'under $3,000' bodies top $3,000 the moment you add glass.
The mount lock-in tax
Lens ecosystem cost dwarfs the body over 5+ years. Sony E has the widest third-party AF selection while Canon RF blocks most third-party AF lenses — you're choosing a system, not a body.
The no-IBIS gotcha
The cheapest full-frame here, the Canon R8, has no IBIS at all — handheld video wobbles and low-light stills suffer, and the IS lenses that compensate run $600–$1,500 each, erasing its price edge.
Provenance — 9 sources, dated
Winners are picked before affiliate payouts are checked, from the full research dossier at knowledgelib.io. Prices, stock and listings are re-verified monthly by an automated pipeline. Some links earn us a commission — it never changes the pick, and we say so here rather than in a footer you'd never read.