Houseofcamera–Sony Global released the successor of the A7 III, namely the Sony Alpha A7 IV. The A7 full-frame mirrorless camera made by Sony, which debuted in 2013, followed by the A7 II in 2015 and the A7 III in 2018, is among the most sought after by hobby photographers and enthusiasts. If the first three generations of the A7 always used a 24 MP resolution sensor, this time, Sony chose a 33MP resolution sensor with a faster-performing BionZ XR processor.
One different thing that is also physically visible is the use of an articulated LCD screen, not flipped up or down. This trend has been carried out by Sony since the A7C and A7S III, signaling that Sony is now targeting the videographer segment as important as the photographer segment. With a price tag of $2499, this A7 IV camera still carries the mainstay features of its predecessor, such as a sensor-shift stabilizer, dual memory slots, and reliable autofocus performance. But of course, there are some refreshments given in the latest generation such as:
- 4K 60p 10-bit video feature (in super 35mm Mode)
- CFexpress Type A and SD card slots
- Autofocus 759 points with face/eye, animal, and bird detection
- the lever to change photo and video mode
- larger and more accessible video record button
- The exposure compensation wheel can be changed to other functions
- Depth Map for videos
- Focus Breathing Compensation (video will crop slightly)
- New menus like Sony A7SIII and A1
Judging from the continuous improvements made in the A7 family segment, it’s no wonder that in this fourth generation, the A7 IV camera is getting more mature and can be relied on by photographers and videographers even for professional needs. Indeed, from the price, the A7 IV is noticeably higher than the A7 III, let alone the A7 of the previous generation. Here it is felt that there is a close price between the A7 IV and the A7R IV, for example, which might confuse potential buyers.
Main Specifications Sony a7 IV
- 33MP. BSI CMOS full-frame sensor
- Shooting up to 10 fps in Losy Raw with a wide buffer
- In-body stabilization rated up to 5.5EV
- Full-width 4K oversampled 7K, up to 30p
- 4K/60p (from 4.6K capture) in Super35 / APS-C mode mode
- 10-bit video or HEIF stills capture
- H.265 video, S-Cinetone color mode
- 3.69M dot. OLED viewfinder
- Twin card slots (1x CFe A/UHS-II, 1x UHS-II SD)
- Full-time Bluetooth LE connection
The A7 IV has improved almost all of its specs over the a7 III, from basics like sensor resolution and viewfinder to significantly improved video capture options.
Price
Sony A7 IV has a recommended price of $2499, up to $500 from the launch price of the a7 III.
The heart of the a7 IV is the new 33MP BSI-CMOS sensor. This is a step away from the 24MP chip used by the a7 III and its direct rivals Panasonic and Nikon. Since BSI sensors are already widely used in current-generation cameras, we weren’t expecting a huge increase in image quality. We were most likely to expect a slight increase in detail and comparable low-light performance in terms of image quality.
Despite its higher resolution, the a7 IV can still shoot at 10 frames per second. However, it can only do so in a lossy compressed format if you want to shoot Raw and drops to 12-bit Mode, which further reduces the dynamic range. A7 IV has a lossless compression option when you need maximum processing flexibility. However, the burst rate drops to around 6 fps if you use it. Sony says the Camera’s buffer depth allows for more than 800 Raw+JPEG images, but this is in the uncompressed Raw format, which shoots at around 6 fps.
Our first look at rolling shutter speeds shows that this isn’t a particularly fast sensor. A 14-bit read from across the sensor for stills takes about 1/15 sec (~66 ms), which is about seventeen times longer than what the super-fast a1 takes to read out its sensor. This means the silent shutter mode produces significant distortion with moving subjects.
Full-width 4K video takes about 26.5 milliseconds, comparable to other models in its class. Like most of its competitors, the Camera is likely to drop to 12-bit readout for video mode, but downsampling from 7K to 4K will reduce noise and prevent DR from dropping to ~12EV. The 60p recording has a rolling shutter speed of about 12.8 ms, which is low enough to avoid distorting all but the fastest movements.
Autofocus system update
In terms of autofocus, the improvement on the a7 III should be quite significant, not because of the promise to focus in darker conditions (–4EV with the F2 lens) but because it was one of the last Sony cameras not to integrate Eye AF into its main AF system, and relies on a much more primitive AF tracking system. The A7 III can detect human eyes but can’t seamlessly and reliably switch between eye, face, and body tracking.
The A7 IV does this and has modes that can more accurately detect and track animals, including birds, dogs, and cats. For the first time, this animal detection capability also extends to the Camera’s video mode.
Also, even with subjects the Camera hasn’t been trained to recognize, the a7 IV uses pattern detection, subject color, and brightness to help it stay focused on your chosen subject.
The system’s simplicity makes it difficult to convey how effective it is. But like Canon’s latest AF system, you just have to indicate to the Camera what you want to focus on, and the Camera will use the most appropriate powerful AF algorithm to maximize your hit rate. Until you use a system like this, or comparable to recent Canon cameras, it’s hard to appreciate how powerful, reliable, and simple the system is.
Image Quality
The first thing to notice is that the a7 IV’s 33MP sensor can capture a lot of detail and, as we saw in real-world samples, JPEG colors that are directly comparable to the best of its peers. A higher pixel count, combined with Sony’s JPEG, makes for more fine detail than its competitors. Moiré appears, but not too much, indicating there is an anti-aliasing filter, but perhaps not an overly aggressive filter.
As we expected, smaller pixels mean more noise if you view an image at full pixel resolution, but this difference will disappear if you view an image that is scaled to the same size. Push it to a higher ISO, and noise levels start to creep up, outpacing the levels of its closest rival.
This added noise can’t just be blamed on the pixel count, though, as it’s a bit noisier than some of its higher resolution counterparts. Overall, it’s a good performance, but not great, with detail capture that looks like the a7 IV’s strong suit.
Videos
After autofocus, the biggest improvement is in terms of video capabilities. The A7 III is the first a7 model to offer 4K capture. The implementation is pretty good for early 2018, with an over-sampling of 24p from the full width of the sensor, but cropping is necessary for 30p shots. All footage is captured in 8-bit precision at a relatively modest bit rate.
The A7 IV is very advanced, adding 10-bit capture to increase the flexibility of Log recording processing and enabling full Hybrid Log-Gamma (HLG) capture for playback on HDR TVs.
It also can shoot 4K/60p for action-taking or slow-motion work, but this requires cropping to APS-C/Super 35 dimensions. The footage is from the 4.6K region. There is also an option to use H.265 compression (XAVC HS) and apply the S-Cinetone color profile.
An improved Eye AF and tracking system is now available in video mode, which will substantially increase the extent to which you can rely on fixed autofocus on your chosen subject. As in still shooting Mode, the Camera has been trained to recognize people, animals, and birds.
Menu options let you decide which settings carry over from still image to video and which retain independent values; you can choose from Aperture, Shutter Speed, Iso, Exposure Comp, Metering Mode, White Balance, Picture Profile, and Focus Mode. It’s a good idea to have this set up when you first start shooting with the camera, so you can simply flip the Stills/Video switch when you want to switch between shooting styles.
HEIF 10-bit silent
Sony A7 IV gains the ability to capture 10-bit compressed images instead of only 8-bit JPEGs that have been offered historically. Unlike Canon, instead of using only HEIF capture for HDR images, Sony makes it easy for you to shoot standard DR images in 10-bit, with a choice of 4:2:2 or 4:2:0 chroma sub-sampling.
The downside of this added flexibility is that you have to use HEIF capture before using Hybrid Log-Gamma (HLG) color/gamma mode, rather than changing the two settings to match each other. But it’s worth a try: pictures captured in HLG can show more of the Camera’s dynamic range to give you a much more lifelike version of your image when viewed on an HDR-capable TV.
Body and control
The A7 IV appears to share the body with the a7S III, which offers a series of improvements over the previous a7 model. The grip is a bit deeper, the joystick on the back is improved, and there’s a full-size HDMI Type A jack on the side of the Camera.
The further improvement over the A7S III is the move to an unmarked lockable button on the Camera’s shoulder, meaning it can be reused if you’re not shooting in a way that requires exposure compensation.
There’s also a fully articulating rear screen. It’s not to everyone’s taste but allows for video capture, vlogging, and selfies in a way that the tiltable screen doesn’t.
Sony A7 IV still offers twin card slots: both accept UHS-II SD cards, with the top one also taking one of Sony’s tiny CFexpress Type A cards, which can maintain write speeds much faster than the fastest SD cards (usually 400MB/s minimum continuous writes). Vs. 90MB/s minimum continuous write for V90 SD card).
Closeable shutter
Sony A7 IV gains the ability to close its mechanical shutter when the camera is turned off, helping to prevent dust buildup on the sensor. Shutter blades tend to be very light, which also means they can be quite fragile, so this should be seen as a dust prevention measure, not a physical protection measure.
Constant smartphone connection
Sony Globe has offered Bluetooth on its cameras for years but only uses it to transfer location data from smartphones. The A7 IV adds a constant connection option of the kind offered by most of its competitors. This means you only need to pair the camera with your smartphone once, after which they will automatically re-establish the Energy Saving Bluetooth connection, making it faster and easier to transfer images to your phone.
Battery.
Sony A7 IV uses the same NP-FZ100 battery as the a7 III and other recent Sony cameras. This is a large and useful unit that, combined with the relatively modest resolution of the viewfinder, allows the a7 IV to achieve a CIPA battery life rating of 580 shots per charge using the rear display and 520 shots per charge using the EVF.
As always, these numbers are more useful for comparing cameras, Than getting an idea of exactly how many shots you’ll get. We tend to find ratings of over 500 shots per charge mean there’s no need to worry about battery life in anything other than the most intensive pro sports or wedding shots.
As you’d expect from a new camera, the a7 IV can be charged or powered via the USB-C socket.
Autofocus
Autofocus is a very broad subject, with different subjects requiring different modes and different photographers preferring different approaches, making it nearly impossible to provide a comprehensive and definitive assessment of performance. We’ve used the Camera in various situations and with different lenses, but we can’t cover every aspect of the Camera’s performance.
Social and everyday photography
Like a growing number of newer cameras, the a7 IV has an AF system that uses machine learning to teach it how to recognize certain types of subjects and optimize which focus points are selected for these subjects. It builds this subject recognition system into its main AF system and will switch between subject-aware and generic (non-recognition-based) tracking as needed.
This means that in wide-area AF mode (where the Camera selects a subject), the Camera will prioritize whatever face it can see in the frame, But it also means that if you select one of the ‘tracking’ modes or tap on the back screen, you can choose which people in the scene you want to focus on. The A7 IV makes it incredibly easy to focus on the face of your chosen subject. But we found a lot of the pictures taken were very forward-focused. This is only really noticeable if you use a wide aperture and look closely at the results. Still, it is not quite accurate compared to the previous generation Sony cameras.
Autofocus overview
Based on our experience, Sony’s AF system is very powerful and easy to use, giving little reason to switch between the many AF-area mode options (quite a lot, frankly). We found that leaving the Camera in AF-C with medium-sized flexible AF (tracking) points and Face/Eye priority turned on very well in all but the most demanding circumstances.
Video stabilization
Sony A7 IV Offers 2 levels of stabilization, Standard and Active. The Standard uses in-camera stabilization (or lets a stabilized lens take over some types of correction). At the same time, the Active also cuts out and adds a level of digital correction.
Standard Mode helps smooth out some hand movement if you’re trying to mimic ‘locks’ (tripod-style shots without motion), while Active provides something closer to a static shot.
However, despite the name, active Mode doesn’t work well if you try to move while the camera is recording. The A7 IV records the gyro sensor readings alongside the recording, allowing you to apply post-shot corrections using Sony’s Catalyst software and apply more stabilization in exchange for more substantial cropping, but we found this quite time-consuming. Process, which we’ll probably only use to the extreme.
Video summary
Sony a7 IV’s Video capabilities bring it back into the competition with the capabilities offered by Panasonic and Canon, and its autofocus makes it even easier to use. We found that its image stabilization isn’t as effective as smoothing out intentional camera movement, but overall it’s a very good video camera.
The things we like
- Good image quality in both stills and videos
- The simple and powerful AF system
- The decent dynamic range provides flexible raw files
- 10-bit video provides useful processing flexibility
- Improved ergonomics
- Extensive customization
- USB-PD support for charging or operation
The things we don’t like
- Eye detection seems less accurate than in previous cameras
- The back screen is a quite low resolution
- Video stabilization struggles with intentional camera movement
- The blast rate drops from 10fps to 6fps if you want full DR Raw
- Multiple options and settings are unnecessarily complicated
- No option to reprocess raw images in-camera
Conclusion
Sony a7 IV is the best expensive model in the series, but also the most capable.
The a7 IV’s image quality is excellent, with excellent levels of detail, a wide dynamic range, and attractive JPEG colors. However, it’s not a significant improvement over its predecessor or competitors: you’ll get more detail in low ISO situations, but this small improvement seems to come with a slight drop in dynamic range and high ISO noise performance. The margins are small, but it’s hard to see the net benefit of the new chip.
Autofocus is very powerful and can be very easy to use. For most subjects, you can simply aim the AF point at your subject and be confident that the Camera will track it and place the focus in the right place. We feel it is not as accurate as of the previous generation model in terms of focusing on the eye, but it is much faster and easier to use.
Video is also impressive, with several tools supporting high-quality video capture; while video industry-standard features such as waveforms are absent, a7 IV makes solo shooting easier by extending its impressive AF capabilities to video mode. Only the slightly jerky stabilization counts compared to a very powerful camera.
However, the a7 IV’s extensive customization and power come at the cost of hassle. Once explored the Camera and configured it the way you want, you can ignore a lot of stuff lurking in the menus and just go out and shoot. But the ability to define almost any behavior can be overwhelming. Even as a seasoned enthusiast shooter, the simplicity of the AF system I appreciate far outweighs the extensive (overhaul?) level of customization the Camera offers.
In eight years, the a7 series has gone from a low-cost full-frame camera with rough edges and autofocus that lags behind its DSLR counterparts to one of the most versatile cameras we’ve ever used. Some photo or video activities that the a7 IV can’t do comfortably.
Competition in this area is fierce, with Nikon and Panasonic making very capable and cheaper cameras and Canon’s EOS R6 competing with Sony in many ways. Dig deep enough,
