{"id":9729,"date":"2020-03-07T10:02:49","date_gmt":"2020-03-07T15:02:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admiringlight.com\/blog\/?p=9729"},"modified":"2024-09-05T16:08:07","modified_gmt":"2024-09-05T21:08:07","slug":"review-sony-a7r-iv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/admiringlight.com\/blog\/review-sony-a7r-iv\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Sony A7R IV"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sixty-One Megapixels.  That’s the headline that accompanies almost every mention of Sony’s newest full-frame mirrorless camera, the A7R IV.  The A7R series has always been Sony’s flagship body for landscape and high image quality work, and the fourth generation bumps the resolution of the sensor from 42.7 megapixels to a whopping 60.1, which somehow gets rounded up to 61 in Sony\u2019s marketing literature.  However, the higher resolution sensor may actually be the least consequential upgrade Sony has made with the mark IV body. They’ve ported over their full tracking autofocus from the A9 and a6400, while improving ergonomics, upgrading the EVF, adding a second high-speed card slot, and maintaining a fast burst shooting speed. It’s a camera that can seemingly do everything and do it well.  I’ve been shooting with the A7R IV for nearly three months now: let’s see how well it performs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Sony A7R IV with its 61 megapixel sensor<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Note: I review gear from a real-world shooting perspective, determining how a piece of gear handles for me in actual use.  I also am not a videographer, so my camera reviews cover the still-imaging aspects of a camera. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Body and Ergonomics<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When Sony transitioned from the original A7 \/ A7R body style to the newer, updated Mark II version, they made a number of major changes to the ergonomics and controls.  These were only slightly refined in the Mark III bodies, and now for the A7R IV we see further changes that at first appear to be minor refinements.  While the A7R IV looks very similar to the A7R III, the subtle changes made make the largest change in ergonomics and handling since the jump to the Mark II body style.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most everything about the feel and controls has been refined and improved. The most obvious change is apparent as soon as you pick up the A7R IV.  The hand grip looks almost identical to the A7R III, but look closer and you’ll see that Sony has reduced the slope of the top of the grip and slightly extended it as well.  It’s also angled away from the lens mount slightly.  These subtle changes make a noticeable difference in ergonomics, and the new grip is considerably more comfortable.  It’s also taller, such that the grip can fit your pinky on it for the first time in a Sony A7 series body. The grip redesign gives you a little extra clearance for your fingers between the grip and a mounted lens, which helps the camera handle better with big glass. However, I still feel that Sony should add about 1cm of extra width between the grip and the lens mount.  Even with the redesigned grip, fingers can get a little cramped when using lenses with extremely fat barrels (think 85mm f\/1.4s and the like).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sony A7R IV<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The ergonomic improvements continue with the buttons.  All of the buttons have gotten a bit larger and some, such as the AF ON button, have gotten considerably larger.  The button action is also improved, with a longer actuation and more tactile response.  The new buttons feel great.  The focus point selection joystick also gets an upgrade.  It’s now slightly larger and has a more comfortable landing pad made of nubbed rubber.  The only control that doesn’t get any upgrade is the four-way selector and wheel, which is now the least enjoyable control on the camera to use, though it still works just fine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sony made some subtle adjustments to the dials as well. The front control dial is now angled upwards slightly, making it more comfortable to turn and use, while the rear control dial has been raised to the top plate to make it easier to access.  The exposure compensation dial gets a click lock button in the middle so you are able to lock the EC dial and prevent accidental changes.  I’ve never had a problem with this dial moving on any of my previous Sony bodies, so I leave it permanently unlocked, but for those who have desired a lock on this dial, it’s there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The top dial controls of the A7R IV<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The final improvement to the body design in the A7R IV is the improved weather sealing.  While the previous Mark II and III bodies had nominal weather sealing, the quality of that sealing was fairly mediocre.  Those cameras might withstand a light drizzle, but I wouldn’t recommend anyone use them in a downpour.  With the A7R IV, the side port doors have been redesigned, with a side-hinged design (eliminating the annoying tendency of the Mark III bodies to leave the doors in the way during operation).  These doors are rubber with deep sealing grooves that nest into the body, providing a much more robust seal.  The SD card door has been redesigned to make it more secure and with improved rubber gasketing.  And finally, the battery door gains rubber seals around it for the first time in an A7 body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The side flaps covering the ports are hinged flaps now<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

While Sony made fairly substantial refinements to the grip, buttons and dials, the overall look of the camera body is largely identical to the Mark III bodies from Sony.  The A7R IV is still a compact body that is solidly built of magnesium alloy over a steel frame. It just feels better, more polished and more robust than previous iterations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Operation and Controls<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

While Sony made upgrades across the board to button feel and size, the actual control layout for the A7R IV is identical to the A7R III.  The front of the grip still has the front control dial, while the top of the camera features the On\/Off switch surrounding the shutter release button. Behind the shutter release sit the first two programmable buttons.  For my use, I have C2 set to switch between manual focus and autofocus, while C1 is switched to toggle between full frame and APS-C shooting modes.  I\u2019ve never programmed a button to do this before, but with the insane 60 megapixel resolution and 26 megapixel APS-C resolution, it makes sense if you\u2019re going to crop in post later, to just use the mode in camera for easier composition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rest of the top controls consist of the standard PASM mode dial, which has the typical modes, plus movie mode, S&Q mode for high or slow frame rate movie recording, plus an Auto mode and three programmable modes where camera settings for various setups can be saved.  This allows you to have a setup for sports or wildlife, for instance, which perhaps bumps up minimum shutter speed and changes autofocus modes to operate better for tracking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The back command dial has been moved to the top plate now, which makes it a little easier to access, and finally the exposure compensation dial sits in its usual place , though the dial is a little taller and features that previously mentioned toggle lock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rear of the camera is dominated by the tilting touch screen, and flanked on the right side by the improved focus joystick, the four-way control dial, the Play and C4 programmable button (which defaults to the delete button in playback). The Fn button sits below the focus joystick and brings up the Function menu, which is a customizable 12 item menu for often used settings.  I\u2019ll get more into touch screen operation shortly, but this is one area where touch operation would be helpful.  The boxes in the Fn menu just beg to be touched, and Sony has seen fit to let us poke away in frustration while nothing happens.  Still, the joystick and dials can be used to easily select items and change their settings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The rear of the A7R IV<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Above these controls on the rear top of the camera are the C3 programmable button, the menu button, movie record button, AF-On button and AEL button.  All of these, save for the menu button, can be reprogrammed to whatever purpose you desire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The joystick on the back can be used to reposition autofocus points anywhere in the frame, as well as navigate through menus and through images when zoomed in.  Speaking of the autofocus points, the A7R IV finally <\/i>allows you to change the color of the AF area in the viewfinder to red.  It\u2019s a small thing, but it makes a big difference in day-to-day operation, as the AF point location is finally clearly visible and won\u2019t get lost like the gray point of all earlier models.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If  you’ve used Sony cameras in the past, this control scheme will be very similar or identical to other cameras in the lineup, which makes it great for those upgrading.   In all, Sony didn’t mess with much here, for good or ill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The menu system is the same general system as on the A7 III and A7R III.  It\u2019s a multiple tabbed interface with many pages per tab, which holds a dizzying array of options with which to customize your camera.  While these options provide a tremendous amount of customization and ability to tweak all aspects of camera operation and quality, the sheer number of options can make it very confusing and difficult to find specific options.  Thankfully, the A7R IV has the same \u2018My Menu\u2019 option where multiple pages of your most commonly changed settings can be selected and arranged.  When you\u2019ve spent the time to set up this menu, along with the customization of the Fn menu and the buttons and dials, it eliminates almost all of the menu diving that you would otherwise do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The now standard ‘My Menu’<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The recall custom hold function from the mark III bodies also makes its return, allowing you to set multiple settings to a single button that can then be recalled simply by holding one of the custom buttons on the camera. For example, if you\u2019re shooting tripod mounted, with 2 second self timer and single AF, but suddenly an action opportunity arises, if you have a custom hold button set with continuous AF, 8 FPS burst and zone AF, you can just pick up the camera, hold that button and get the shot without having to change multiple settings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overall, the A7R IV\u2019s controls are familiar, powerful and mature, though sometimes at the expense of ease of use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Continue: Viewfinder, Autofocus and Performance<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Viewfinder and Rear Screen<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The A7R series has always been where Sony has debuted new EVF technology, and the A7R IV is no different.  The A7R IV debuts a new 5.76 million dot electronic viewfinder, which is a substantial resolution upgrade from the earlier 3.7 million dot finder found in the A7R III and a huge upgrade over the 2.44 million dot finder in the A7 III.  The increased resolution is definitely visible, and the large 0.78x magnification makes the viewfinder both very large and very clear.  The viewfinder defaults to a 60Hz refresh rate, though it can be bumped to 100Hz by changing the EVF refresh rate to high in the settings.  Do note, however that upping the refresh rate will reduce the resolution of the EVF.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the EVF is an improvement on earlier Sony bodies, and is overall quite good, it isn\u2019t quite as natural looking as some of the other EVFs in the market, despite the excellent resolution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rear screen on the A7R IV is 1.44 million dots, which is generally fine, but is pretty low resolution compared to a lot of competitors, many of which have 2 million dot rear screens that are clearer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I mentioned earlier, the rear screen is touch capable, but Sony hasn\u2019t seen fit to take full advantage of the hardware.  Swiping through images, touching to focus or change focus point and use of the rear screen as a focus point trackpad is all possible, but that\u2019s where the capabilities end.  Menu navigation, on-screen buttons, etc are all only usable with the joystick or four-way dial.  This is pretty lame for a camera released in 2019, especially one that sits as the company\u2019s flagship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Autofocus and Performance<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Sony\u2019s autofocus systems have been best in the mirrorless world for the last few years, and the A7R IV inherits all of that legacy and incorporates all of the latest functions, with 425 phase detect autofocus points, real-time Eye-AF and real-time tracking.  The AF points cover almost the entire sensor vertically, and about 80% of the frame horizontally, providing near full-frame coverage of the sensor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Autofocus performance on the A7R IV is very similar to that of the a6400, which is excellent.  While the slower sensor refresh doesn\u2019t allow the R IV to keep up with the A9 series at the absolute pinnacle of mirrorless AF performance, the A7R IV provides fast, accurate autofocus in both single shot AF and continuous AF.  The real-time tracking and real-time Eye AF are game changing technologies, and I was extremely glad to have these capabilities on my full frames body after experiencing them on the a6400.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Eagle Building a Nest – Sony A7R IV with Sigma 150-600mm f\/5-6.3 C @ 600mm, f\/7.1 – AF Tracking<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Real time tracking allows you to start focusing on an object, and the camera will track wherever it goes in the frame.  Combined with the ability for the camera to grab eyes anywhere in the frame, taking candids of people has never been easier.  The camera just grabs the eye, holds on and doesn\u2019t let go, even if your subject is moving around.  For capturing photos of children, it\u2019s simply brilliant, as you can focus on the composition and capturing the decisive moment, rather than constantly fiddling with the AF joystick to position your focus point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I noted in my a6400 review, it\u2019s also really nice for macro work and wildlife as well.  The camera just sort of melts into the background and allows you to focus on the image, rather than your focus settings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Performance<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The A7R IV, despite being one of the highest resolution cameras in existence, doesn\u2019t slack in the performance department either.  It is capable of shooting at 10 frames per second without AF tracking, or 8 frames per second with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shooting at these frame rates while pumping 60 megapixel images into the frame buffer uses a tremendous amount of data.  As you\u2019d expect, the buffer isn\u2019t quite as large as on many other cameras, but given the data requirements, the buffer certainly isn\u2019t bad at all.  If you insist on shooting uncompressed RAW files, which weigh in at a hefty 120 MB each, the buffer is a middling 32 frames when shooting at 10 FPS.  If shooting heavy bursts, you certainly could run into a limitation here.  However, move to compressed RAW or JPEG shooting, and the buffer extends to a very respectable 70 frames or so, which should satisfy all but dedicated sports photographers, and even they would probably do just fine with that buffer in many situations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Helping with the large data requirements is the fact that both SD card slots are now UHS-II capable, rather than the single UHS-II slot on earlier models.  This is especially helpful since the mark III bodies would write at UHS-I speeds to both cards if using two cards, even if writing less data to the UHS-I slot.  With both cards now being UHS-II, that limitation no longer applies. Even with the extra speed, writing the 120MB uncompressed RAW files takes a second or two to write full from the buffer to the card.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Both card slots are now UHS-II<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s worth noting that not all UHS-II cards are created equal, and the A7R IV craves fast cards due to the sheer size of the image files.  Ali Griffin has done some fairly extensive testing<\/a> on a variety of SD cards, and found that Sony\u2019s own SF-G Tough cards were the fastest in the A7R IV, maxing out the camera\u2019s write bandwidth at 200MB\/s.  SanDisk\u2019s Extreme Pro 300 was just behind.  As these cards are exceptionally expensive, I have opted for the much more budget friendly, but still very fast Sony SF-M Tough UHS-II cards, which have the same extremely strong build quality as the SF-G Tough cards, and work very well with the A7R IV. In my testing, the A7R IV is able to write to the SF-M cards at the card\u2019s rated speed of 150MB\/s.  I\u2019ll take the slight speed reduction for the huge cost savings.  They\u2019re good cards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The general camera performance of the A7R IV is also quite good, with little to no lag in entering menus, and shutter lag is low.  However, Sony still has a few odd delays built into certain operations that are a bit frustrating in this day and age.  The camera takes longer than most to turn on and be ready to shoot, with about a two second delay from power on to shot.  Also, certain settings can\u2019t be changed when the camera is writing an image to the card, such as drive mode.  These quirks should be a thing of the past by now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Continue: Key Features<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Key Features<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Connectivity<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The A7R IV comes with an array of ports for connecting devices and accessories, including both Micro USB and USB-C ports for connecting to computers and for charging the battery in camera, a mini-HDMI output, 3.5mm microphone and headphone jacks and a PC Sync port for off-camera flashes.  While the ports are the same as those found on the A7R III, Sony has rearranged things a little, moving all ports except the sync port to the two flaps towards the rear of the camera and leaving the sync port to itself behind a door at the front of the camera.   This way, all the video related ports are behind one door, with computer connection\/charging behind another and flash behind the third, creating better organization.  I\u2019ve enjoyed having a sync port on the camera already, as during a shoot about a month ago, my 5-year-old radio triggers decided to die on me, leaving me to grab my sync cord to continue shooting. (I’ve since transitioned to Godox flashes and triggers, which I will likely cover in an upcoming article).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like all recent Sony camera bodies, the A7R IV comes fully equipped with both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on board.  This allows one to remotely connect to a smartphone or tablet for transferring images or for remote capture.  When the WiFi connections work, they work well, and the 5GHz WiFi option is dramatically faster than the 2.4 GHz connections that were present on earlier cameras.  However, the current state of Sony\u2019s Imaging Edge mobile application is a disaster.  Frequently, I would connect only to have the camera disconnect mid-transfer, or take an exceptionally long time to recognize the camera and connect.  The most recent updates even have the infuriating step of requiring the user to select which camera to connect to….halfway through connecting to the camera you just told it to connect to.  That sentence is confusing because the steps required to connect are equally confusing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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WiFi – Remote connection with the camera off (left), and the resulting index of images to transfer (right)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Sony has introduced one new wireless feature that has the potential to be outstanding once the bugs are ironed out: you can now connect to the camera wirelessly when the camera is off, transfer images and turn the camera back off.  I love being able to simply pick up my phone, whether my camera bag is across the room or in the trunk of my car (while I\u2019m parked), and snag a selection of photos from the day\u2019s shooting.  I had serious issues when utilizing this feature on the 2.4GHz wireless, and contacted Sony about it who confirmed my findings and informed me it would be fixed in a future firmware update.  We\u2019ll see about that, as this occurred about two months ago and I am still waiting. However, switching to 5GHz wireless has allowed me to connect to the camera and transfer up to around 10-12 images without issue.  Selecting a large group of images still has the potential to have the camera shut itself back down halfway through the transfer.  When this gets fully ironed out, it will be amazing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One other item that bears mentioning: like previous Sony cameras, the camera can utilize remote shooting via a smartphone or tablet, but the app still lacks some basic functionality like the ability to select or move the focus point. How is this still missing, Sony?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pixel Shift<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

If the 60 megapixel resolution of the A7R IV is simply too low for your needs, then you\u2019re probably shooting with 100 megapixel or higher medium format cameras. However, if you\u2019re not, and you have a scene that is perfectly still, the A7R IV has the capability to create up to 240 megapixel images with full RGB color information at each pixel by stitching 16 separate images that are shifted slightly via the in-body IS system.  The A7R III featured a version of this ability, which would stitch four images together shifted by single pixels to create native resolution true RGB files, but the A7R IV expands on that ability with the 16 image stitch at ultra-high resolution.  If you desire, the four image shift is also still available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The process is performed by turning on the Pixel Shift mode in the camera menu, focusing and then shooting.  The camera will then take 16 consecutive images.  Unfortunately, unlike the more recent Olympus camera bodies that feature a very similar system, the A7R IV can\u2019t stitch the images in-camera.  Instead, the images must be opened in Sony\u2019s Imaging Edge program on the desktop.  Here, the images can be selected and then merged into a single 240 megapixel RAW file.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In practice, the pixel shift feature is limited to scenes that have absolutely zero motion.  Moving water or foliage moving in the wind will cause artifacts, as will any motion of the camera.  Also, due to the absolutely insane resolution, nothing but the absolute sharpest lenses will show any significant improvement.  As a result, the 240 megapixel mode is something that most photographers will try once or twice and then forget forever.  The 4 image shift mode is a bit more practical, and provides a little extra sharpness and elimination of essentially all moire, which can be quite nice in the right circumstances.  See below for what is likely a best case scenario for increased resolution, with the exceptionally sharp Sony FE 90mm f\/2.8 Macro.  The full image is shown first to get an idea of the overall frame.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The full image – Pixel Shift<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This next shot shows a 100% crop from a single 60 megapixel frame on top with a 100% crop from the 240 megapixel pixel shift image below. The 240 megapixel image clearly has more detail, and it becomes even more apparent when upsizing the 60MP single image.  However, even with an exceptionally sharp lens, you can see we aren\u2019t fully resolving all 240 megapixels here, despite there still being a tangible difference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Pixel shift comparison – 60MP image on top, 240MP pixel shift image below, 100% crops<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Upsizing the 60MP image truly shows the increased detail, but I\u2019m unsure of how much practical use this is, given the technical limitations on capturing the pixel shift image, as well as the needs for such extreme resolution, given that the 60 megapixel native files already provide tremendous detail and ability to make large prints.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Pixel shift comparison – 60MP original, upsized to 240MP (top) – 240MP pixel shift image (bottom)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Intervalometer<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Sony\u2019s intervalometer is effectively unchanged from the one introduced in the Mark III series of bodies with a firmware update late in the cycle. The Intervalometer is quite easy to set up.  You choose a start time delay, which can be as short as one second and as long as 99 minutes.  This is the delay after you press the shutter button that the camera will begin the sequence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can then set the interval between photos (between 1 second and 60 seconds), and finally the number of shots to capture (up to 9,999).  Taking those 10,000 shots with a 60 second interval will take 166 hours to complete, but you can do it if you have some sort of external power source attached.   The camera also does the math for you, telling you the total time to capture the sequence at the current settings.  You can set the camera to autofocus between frames if you like, with a sensitivity for AF changes.  It\u2019s quite simple, and works the way you\u2019d expect it to work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Interval Shooting Menu<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In-Body Image Stabilization<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The in-body IS system in the A7R IV has been upgraded from previous models, and Sony claims 5.5 stops of image stabilization.  I have never found Sony\u2019s claims particularly accurate, and I found the mark II and III versions of the A7 series to yield sharp shots around two stops slower than what would otherwise be usable handheld.  With the A7R IV, I do notice an improvement, and it\u2019s in-line with their claims of an extra half stop over its predecessor.  However, in this case, for me, I get about 2.5 stops of extra handholdability with the A7R IV stabilizer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, the A7R IV\u2019s extra dense sensor shows any shake more apparently than lower resolution bodies when viewing images at 100%. One of the other great benefits of stabilization is a stable viewfinder, and here, Sony\u2019s stabilization does great, keeping the view nice and steady while shooting. Overall, it\u2019s not game-changing stabilization like that of Olympus Micro 4\/3 bodies, but it is certainly better than an unstabilized body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other Items of Note<\/h4>\n\n\n\n