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To better reveal the differences in quality between the A7 IV’s modes and compare it against the Mark III and R6, I filmed my standard resolution chart in a variety of modes and fitted each camera with the same adapted Sigma 40mm f1.4 ART lens at f8. The a7 IV's image quality is extremely good, with excellent levels of detail, extensive dynamic range and attractive JPEG color. However, it's not significantly improved over its predecessor or its rivals: you'll get more detail in low ISO situations but this small gain seems to come with slight decreases in dynamic range and high ISO noise performance. The margins are tiny but it's hard to see a net benefit to the new chip.
You can achieve a lot with its 33MP image files. The A7 IV produces sharp, detailed images with excellent dynamic range, color and flexibility during editing. Further, while 10 frames per second isn't nearly as fast as the A9 II or A1, it's fast enough for many action situations. The autofocus system is consistently reliable and full of user-friendly features. The camera uses the same NP-FZ100 battery as many of Sony’s other A-series models, including the A7 III. It can be charged internally via the USB-C port, and went from 100% to 67% after recording a continuous 40-minute 4K/60p video clip. As such, you can expect a full charge to deliver about two hours of recording, if you keep video stop/starting and reviewing to a minimum. Image Quality Competition in this space is fierce, with Nikon and Panasonic making very capable, less expensive cameras, and Canon's EOS R6 going toe-to-toe with the Sony in most respects. Dig deep enough, though and the ways in which the Sony stands out start to add up. It's enough to wrest the crown from the R6, which is also enough for it to earn a Gold award. ScoringThe A7 IV has a fully articulating 3-inch, 1.03-million-dot LCD screen with improved touchscreen functionality, including focusing and navigating the much improved user interface and main menu system. In the A7 IV both HEIF and JPEG formats are available, although you can't select both at the same time. Whichever format option you select can then be captured independently or simultaneously with RAW. The much older A7 III model doesn't offer such a seamless experience - instead you have to use Sony's Imaging Edge software to turn it into a webcam. The A7 IV also comes with a new heat dissipation system, designed to reduce instances of forced shutdown when recording long videos. This has become a major issue for some recently released mirrorless cameras, especially when recording at more demanding image qualities. The Sony A7 IV is an extremely powerful, extremely advanced camera with state of the art autofocus, a huge buffer depth and very good video features. It can also be quite complex to set up and use. The A7 IV makes extraordinary things possible, but it doesn’t necessarily make them easy.
No trip to the beach is complete without seeing some gulls. Well, that's not strictly true, but I greatly enjoy photographing gulls. People often overlook the bird due to their commonality, but they have a striking appearance up close and possess a lot of personality and character. Every bird is slightly different, both visually and in its behavior. Gulls are also great subjects when testing a camera because they move around a lot. Moving onto stabilisation, Sony claims its sensor-shift IBIS system is now good for 5.5 stops, but as always it’s influenced by the lens in use. Here’s a view using the Sigma 35mm f2 DG DN lens which has no optical stabilisation of its own, and now with IBIS only, showing the view becoming much steadier. I managed to handhold a sharp result at ⅕ using IBIS, and 1/40 without, so that’s roughly three stops of compensation. And next with Sony’s own 70-200mm f2.8 G Master II at 200mm, first with SteadyShot disabled from the lens barrel, and now with SteadyShot enabled on the barrel. As far as I know there’s no way to separate body IBIS and lens IS – you either have neither or them both. I handheld a sharp result at 200mm at 1/13 with SteadyShot enabled and 1/400 without, so five stops for that combination. Over the left-hand side of the camera is a veritable cornucopia of connection ports - there really isn't much that you can't connect to the A7 IV. The A7 IV uses a hybrid AF system which employs both phase-detection and contrast-based auto-focusing, but the number of AF points and the frame coverage have both been increased since the previous model.The Sony A7 IV has 4 different JPEG image quality settings available, with Extra Fine being the highest quality option. The A7 IV also supports the HEIF file format with 2 options available. There are 3 different Raw compression settings, with Uncompressed being the highest quality option.
In-body 5-axis stabilisation with gyro sensors and algorithms compensate for five types of camera shake to keep your work reliably smooth and crisp, however you work. Active Mode is specifically designed to keep 4K movie shooting consistently steady and sharp, alongside great new features Breathing Compensation and AF Assist. Which brings me to the end of my review for photography quality and features, and now onto the second part, concentrating on video! Sony A7 IV review for videographersI've been to a lot of places in Maine over the years, but I've never been to Deer Isle and Stonington, at least not during the over half of my life I've been a photographer. Visiting a location for the first time is a daunting task. I try not to rush when in the field, but it can be difficult not to try to see as much as possible when visiting an unfamiliar spot. The EVF also enjoys a boost in resolution over the Mark III to bring it in line with current mirrorless rivals like the EOS R6. This makes manual focusing easier than before, especially when coupled with some of SOny’s assistance which I’ll mention in a moment. By today's standards, they are all low resolution. You could be forgiven for thinking otherwise though, since they try to not draw attention to rear screen resolution by using "dots" instead of the actual resolution. So how long can you record for? Like recent Sony cameras, the A7 IV dispenses with the half hour limit per clip that was imposed on the old A7 III and still plagues the EOS R5 and R6, but the maximum clip time is influenced by the Auto Power OFF Temp setting. At the default Standard setting, the A7 IV would overheat and shutdown in my tests after about 35 minutes of 4k, at any frame or bit rate, although the camera itself didn’t feel that warm. Set the Auto Power Off to High though and it happily kept recording in my tests until I either ran out of battery or memory. More useful to more people is likely to be the 'Focus Map' view, which gives a simple, color-coded impression of how much depth-of-field your currently-chosen aperture is giving. Given the choice, we'd prefer the addition of either waveforms or false color displays to make it easier to optimize exposure (particularly when shooting Log footage), but it's certainly a useful addition. Video Stabilization
The A7 IV offers an improved 5.5-stops of compensation, the same as on the A7S III and 1/2 stop more than the previous A7 III. Finally, you can also stabilise the A7IV's footage in post-production using data from the camera's gyro sensor and the Sony Catalyst software - yes, you've guessed it, just like the A7S III. The Sony A7 IV's maximum shutter speed is 30 seconds and there's also a Bulb mode for even longer exposures, which is excellent news if you're seriously interested in night photography. The shot below was taken using a shutter speed of 30 seconds at ISO 100.When it comes to colors, the A7 IV performs very well. The camera delivers rich colors that aren't overly saturated. The camera, like most cameras, can push blues a bit heavily, but I don't think the A7 IV goes overboard here. Likewise, the camera handles red, orange, yellow and green well in nature scenes. Even straight out of the camera with the standard color profile, colors look good and have a nice bit of pop without being unrealistic or overly vivid. The Alpha 7 IV inherits the latest colour science and creative modes from Sony’s professional line of cameras. Allowing users to shoot true-to-life vivid images in a unique style. In theory, an EVF should be more WYSIWYG than an optical viewfinder. Here, though, the A7 IV has captured a far wider range of tones than the EVF suggested, especially in the shadows. (Image credit: Rod Lawton)
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