photo:sonya7riv
Table of Contents
Sony a7R IV
see also:
Introduction
- 61mp full frame camera with IBIS
- announced July 2019, coming Sept 2019
- it's primary target are professional still photographers wanting high resolution images who will not mind the significant post-processing and storage issues of the very large files
- although the 4K 30p and 1080 120p video is good,especially with AF tracking and the IBIS, the video features will not be exciting videographers and it does tend to overheat in video mode in warm conditions which will lock out the camera
- some hidden new features not available on the a7III or a7RIII:
- AF tracking so good that you should probably consider leaving AF mode in AF-C and consider using the Tracking Expand Flexible Spot (optionally set Touch Pad to allow setting the subject to track)
- set a button to bring up the custom My Dial feature which allows you to change function of the 3 main dials instantly (once these have been set in the Menu)
- can set the AF frame color to make it more visible eg red or white (previously only had grey which was hard to see)
- can now change video file name custom title to give unique file names for each camera which reduces risk of same file names
- can save all your settings to SD card and then re-load them at any time - unfortunately you can't name them but they are dated and time stamped - these then could be transferred to another a7RIV camera by moving the SD card over and loading them.
- even with camera turned off, the Sony app on your iPad or similar can wake it up and display images on your camera and then you can select which ones to transfer to iPad then use your app to turn camera off again - all without touching your camera!
- can now FTP tether to a remote FTP server via iPad (assuming iPad is connected to the internet)
- can FTP tether to iPad as a FTP server - see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyfdusGrWK4
- can upload IPTC information from a SD card and then have this written into each image taken
- new Sony a7RIVa model
- announced Apr 2021
- updated version with faster USB tethering (USB 3.2 “SuperSpeed USB 5Gbps.”), higher resolution rear screen (2,359,296 dots)
Brief spec comparisons
| Sony a7RIII | Sony a7R IV | Sony a9 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| sensor | 42mp | 61mp (26mp APS-C mode) | 24mp |
| PDAF points | 399 | 567 | 693 |
| PDAF coverage | 68% | 87% (100% in APS-C) | 93% |
| CDAF points | 425 | 425 | 425 |
| AF tracking with Canon lenses | variable | better than a7RIII | much better |
| Buffer depth compressed RAW | 76 shots | 68 shots | 241 shots |
| Buffer depth extra fine jpeg | 76 | 68 (204 in APS-C mode) | 362 |
| burst rate | 10fps | 10fps (compressed RAW or APS-C) 6fps uncompressed RAW | 20fps (5fps mechanical) |
| blackout-free burst | No | No | Yes |
| EVF | 3.69mdot OLED | 5.76mdot | 3.69mdot OLED |
| USB | 3.1 | USB-C charging, 2x speed of a7RIII | |
| SD card slots | one UHS-II, one UHS-I | dual UHS-II | one UHS-II, one UHS-I |
| 4K 24/30p video | full frame width, no pixel binning or Super35 | binned full frame or 1.6-1.8x crop Super35 crop | full frame width, no pixel binning |
| rolling shutter | poor | poor | minimal |
Specs
- 61mp back-illuminated Exmor R™ CMOS image sensor
- 26.2mp APS-C crop mode has 21 sec burst at 10fps and 325 PDAF which cover almost the entire area
- 15 stop dynamic range stills and 14 stops for video;
- 10fps with C-AF for 7 secs;
- improved shutter
- 567 PDAF covering 74% frame + 425 CDAF
- advanced Real-time Tracking plus Real-time Eye AF for still image recording
- new 'Focus Priority' mode tells camera to acquire AF at wide open aperture at a cost of increased shutter lag
- 5.5EV IBIS;
- 5.76mdot EVF with 60 or 120fps refresh rate (the latter has lower resolution) - similar to the Panasonic S1/S1R
- still has a tilting LCD not swivel
- anti-flicker mode
- 16 shot (4 cycles of 4 shots) HiRes mode 240mp images from a 960mp output using Sony’s “Imaging Edge™” desktop application
- 4 shot Bayer-cancelling “HiRes” mode as in the A7RIII
- upgraded grip and weathersealing especially around the battery and card doors which has been problematic on earlier models
- bracketing modes
- accessed via the Drive function
- single or continue exposure bracket at 0.3/0.5/0.7/1.0EV for 3/5/7/9 frames or 2.0/3.0EV for 3 or 5 frames
- WB Lo or Hi
- DRO Lo or Hi
- no focus bracketing and no focus stacking
- 4K video
- can choose 60mbps or 100mbps bit rates and either 24/25/30p in XAVC S format
- 100Mbps bit rates require a U3 SDHC/XC card or faster, other bit rates require a U1 SDHC/XC card or faster
- when APS-C/Super35 is set to Auto, then crop mode is used without pixel binning:
- if select 24/25p then uses a 1.6x crop factor
- if select 30p then uses a 1.8x crop factor
- when APS-C/Super35 is set to OFF, full width binned video is used
- S-Log3, HDR workflow support
- 8 bit 4:2:0 internal recording and output over HDMI
- 1080HD video from 1p up to 100p (4x slo mo if PAL) and up to 120p (5x slo mo if NTSC) using in XAVC S format
- AVCHD is available for 1080 50i/60i modes at 17 and 24Mbps bit rates
- Touch AF Tracking functionality during movie shooting
- Real-time Eye AF for movie recording
- Multi Interface Shoe™ with new digital audio interface delivers the high-quality sound recording with Sony’s new microphone and XLR microphone adaptor
- Dual UHS-II SD card slots
- USB-C charging and almost doubled data transfer speed achieved in combination with Sony’s Imaging Edge software (compared to the Alpha 7R III)
- 2.4GHz and 5GHz WiFi
- $US3500
- optional VG-C4EM vertical grip $US400 holds two NP-FZ100 batteries
- optional Multi Battery Adaptor (NPA-MQZ1K) can hold up to four Z batteries
- optional new ECM-B1M shotgun microphone $US350 that features a built-in Analog to Digital converter, and the brand new multi-interface hot shoe found only on the Sony a7R IV
- optional new XLR microphone adapter kit (XLR-K3M) $US600
issues
- you need the highest quality lenses to actually utilise this resolution, to date there are probably only a handful, and they are generally large, heavy and expensive - see https://sonyalpha.blog/2019/11/10/which-lenses-to-maximise-the-potential-of-the-sony-a7riv/
- poor video specs compared with peers and likely to have much more rolling shutter than the Sony a9 full frame mirrorless camera or the latest cropped sensor cameras
- pixel density is now approaching Micro Four Thirds system levels this has ramifications for diffraction limitation at smaller apertures
- very large file sizes means storage issues and very slow and frustrating post-processing
- uncompressed RAW = 124Mb!
- compressed lossy RAW = 62Mb when this is opened in Affinity Photo and saved as an Affinity format to keep your edits with ONLY ONE LAYER you hit around 450MB that is almost half a Gb per edited image and you haven't even started doing layers!!
- 16 shot 240mp HiRes image = 2Gb!
- Sony compressed RAW loses image quality
- apparently uses a 12bit sensor readout instead of 14 bit (this also allows 10fps burst instead of only 6fps burst and one probably only benefits from 14bit data when shooting at base ISO)
- apparently then applies a compression tone curve to get to an 11bit space and a further lossy mapping process which not only reduced dynamic range but also can add artifacts around high contrast edges in particular thanks to the use of 16-pixel blocks 1)
- you can though use a desktop file compression app to substantially reduce file size, or you can convert to apparently lossless compressed DNG format on your computer.
- each image takes about 1 sec to save to the memory card, so your 6secs of 10fps burst will mean 60 secs of writing them to the card and that is likely to mean the camera is not operational until it completes this
- at the cost of this large file size, you are not even going to get that 61mp detail if you shoot with older lenses, you have camera shake or you shoot at higher ISO
- no lossless RAW compression
- no ability to use a lower resolution mode without resorting to cropping
- to get 10fps RAW burst you need to shoot in compressed RAW, or you can shoot in uncompressed RAW at APS-C crop mode
- menu has not been improved
- tilting LCD not swivel and the touch screen functionality is still very limited
- PDAF does not cover the full sensor (except in APS-C mode)but much better than a7RIII
- no electronic faster burst modes - this is probably due to slow sensor readout and significant rolling shutter
- still “eats” stars due to spatial filtering as with the Sony a7R III full frame mirrorless camera and Sony a7 III full frame mirrorless camera - see https://blog.kasson.com/a7riv/sony-a7riv-raw-spectra-vs-shutter-speed/, but it is probably not a big enough issue unless you are shooting for science in which case you probably should be using a dedicated cooled camera anyway
firmware updates
- version 1.10
- Dec 2019
- Enables use of “My Menu” to save or load custom camera settings
- Adds the “External Flash Set” function to allow to configure the settings of an attached flash or wireless radio commander directly from the camera.
- Improves the overall stability of the camera
HiRes mode
Reviews
-
- sensor score of 99 which is comparable to its 42-45mp current peers whilst also providing more pixels
-
- USB tethered shooting also keeps the camera battery charged and image transfer is fast
- EyeAF good enough to be trusted in a studio setting
- menu system still dysfunctional:
- If you want to use remote flash, like a Pocketwizard or Profoto TTL-S trigger, you need to dig through the settings and find Silent Shooting and turn it off
- Want to tether with the Sony a7R IV? You need to go to your settings, and find the PC Remote setting which is in Network settings and not near USB settings where you would think it should be
-
- how to use the new remote WiFi access point capability
-
- Much better ergonomics than the a7RIII
- The usual Sony (horrible) connectivity options are there: WiFi, USB, FTP, Bluetooth and NFC. A plethora of options, none of which is remotely easy and straightforward to use.
- connecting the a7R IV to acquire GPS coordinates from the phone is a pain and drains a lot of battery, avoid it all costs. I gave up on it.
- Despite the negatives, great EVF, AF and image quality - a landscape photographer’s dream camera
-
- most lenses do not have the resolution to give you 61mp even if you shoot at low ISO with a fast shutter speed
- lenses that could give 61mp in the right conditions include:
- Sony 135mm f/1.8 GM
- Sony 24mm f/1.4 GM
- Sony 50mm f/1.4 Zeiss
- Sigma 105mm f/1.4
- Sigma 35mm f/1.2
- Sony 400mm f/2.8 GM
- Sony 600mm f/4
- Voigtländer 65mm F2 Macro
- Voigtländer 110mm F2.5 Macro Apo Lanthar
- some Sony GM lenses will not even give 41mp resolution across the frame and are best suited to 24mp sensors:
- Sony 85mm f/1.4 GM
- Sony 24-70mm f/2.8 GM
-
- much improved ergonomics
- touch screen still under-utilised
- sensor still prone to dust
- intervalometer mode requires out of camera editing to create movies
- not quite as good as a7RIII at high ISOs but much better than the Canon 5DS/R
- very useful 26mp APS-C mode
- no downscaled full frame RAW options for when you don't want or need 61mp
- much improved AF tracking and AF points but not quite as good as the a9
- video largely unchanged however, AF tracking much better
photo/sonya7riv.txt · Last modified: 2023/01/01 11:10 by gary1