The Sony Alpha A7R IV (Mark 4) 61mp full-frame camera is the first full-frame camera to feature a 61mp Full-Frame BSI CMOS sensor. It can also record 4K video, has built-in 5-axis image stabilisation and can shoot continuously at 10fps. Plus, it has up to 15-stops of dynamic range. With a higher resolution than many medium format cameras (at 50mp), but in a full-frame mirrorless camera body it sounds impressive but, can the Sony Alpha A7R IV stand out against an ever-growing crowd of medium format cameras? That's what we'll be finding out as we put it to the test.
Sony Alpha A7R IV Features
The Sony Alpha A7R IV has a 61.0mp full-frame BSI CMOS sensor, without OLPF (Optical Low-Pass Filter), a 240.8mp multi-shot mode (combining 16 images), up to 15 stops of dynamic range and 10fps continuous shooting with AF/AE.
On the back, you find a 5.76mllion dot electronic viewfinder (EVF) which is higher resolution than the 3.69 million dots found on the A7R III and below this is a 2.95inch LCD touch-screen which can be tilted up and down.
As you'd expect from a Sony Alpha, 5-axis in-body image stabilisation (5.5 stops) is built-in along with 567 phase-detect AF points, offering AF tracking and improved AF in low-light. The touch-pad AF point control has also been upgraded with new touch-tracking and there are customisable function button controls for stills/movies (which are separate).
Real-time eye-AF is pretty cool and can be used when capturing stills/videos of both humans and animals. The left or right eye can be selected, too.
The ISO range goes from ISO100 to ISO32000 (native) which extends to ISO50 and ISO102400 and the 10fps continuous shooting, with AF/AE, is rather impressive (even though it is the same as the A7R III). To see just how good it is, have a look at the below video.
Sony say the camera's body is more resistant to dust/moisture and connectivity is improved with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth built-in.
Battery life is rated at 670 shots using the LCD screen, less when using the EVF - something we'll be putting to the test as we work our way through our review.
As for video, you can capture 4K UHD video (from 6K oversampling), and video-specific features include S-Log3 for wide 14-stop dynamic range, HLG (Hybrid Log-Gamma), real-time Eye AF, phase-detection AF, unlimited video recording (no 29min limit) and a dedicated movie function mode. Also, skin tone gradation has been improved, with improved highlight recording. FullHD video recording supports speeds up to 120fps / 100fps (NTSC/PAL).
Using the Sony E-Mount there are a wide range of Sony FE (full-frame) lenses available, from Sony and other manufacturers.
As you would expect, the camera has P, A, S, M shooting modes, giving you full manual controls, and there are three custom modes on the locking mode dial. There are a range of adjusting the look of images, with creative effects available, customisable colour profiles ("picture effect"), as well as picture profiles for video recording. Including flat and HLG (Hybrid Log Gamma), for HDR video recording.
Sony Alpha a7R IV Key Features:
- 61.0mp full-frame BSI CMOS sensor, without OLPF
- 240.8mp multi-shot mode (combining 16 images)
- 5.76mllion dot EVF, 0.78x magnification
- 2.95inch tilting touch-screen
- 5-axis in-body image stabilisation (5.5 stops)
- 567 phase-detect AF points (74% coverage), 425 contrast
- Real-time eye-AF, still, movie, human, animal, L/R eye selectable
- AF tracking, improved AF in low-light (improved accuracy)
- Touch-pad AF point control upgraded with new touch-tracking
- Customisable function button controls (stills/movie separate)
- 10fps continuous shooting, with AF/AE
- 15 stops dynamic range (up to)
- ISO100 to ISO32000 (Native), extends to ISO50 and ISO102400
- 4K video, 30/25fps, SLog2/3, HDR
- Upgraded dust and moisture resistance
- Improved connectivity, with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
- 670 shot battery life (LCD)
Sony Alpha A7R IV Handling
The Sony Alpha A7R IV has improved weather-sealing, which we found useful when caught in the rain with the camera. The camera body is made from magnesium alloy, and certainly felt very strong when we were using the camera. The grip is now larger than the previous camera, the A7R III, and this provided ample size for a firm grip of the camera, thanks to both the size, and the generous rubber provided.
The side ports include headphone and microphone sockets, a USB Type-C (USB3) connection, a micro HDMI connection, and a MicroUSB connection. These are covered with rubber that provides a very secure seal when closed. There’s also a flash sync socket.
The electronic viewfinder (EVF) features dioptre correction, and eye-detection so the camera will automatically switch between the EVF and screen when needed. The view through the viewfinder was very clear and detailed and gave an excellent view of the scene particularly when outside, where the screen was in bright light. The touch-screen can be tilted up and down, as well as away from the camera, but it can’t be tilted enough for it to be used for “selfies” or self-portraits. There’s also an outdoor setting, which increases the brightness of the screen to the maximum.
Shooting with the A7R IV, the focus is impressively rapid, and the eye-detection focus is very quick, with a high success rate. You can also select whether you want the camera to focus on the left or the right eye (something Olympus has offered for years), or on default settings the camera will focus on the closest eye. The only time we found issues with the eye-detection focus was when photographing someone wearing glasses, and this would result in the camera focusing on the frame of the glasses instead of the eyes.
The focus point can very quickly be changed, using either the touch-screen or the joystick on the back of the camera. This has been improved and is now larger, making it easier to use.
The mode dial and the exposure compensation dial are both “locking”, and to turn them you have to press in the middle button on the mode dial, and the exposure compensation can be locked or unlocked.
The menu system remains long-winded (as you can see above), with multiple pages of options that spread of a huge number of screens – there are 15 pages of Photo options, following by 11 pages of other photo/video options! The camera does thankfully have a “My Menu” section where you can store your favourite settings (once you’ve found them), and you can also customise the many (C1,C2,C3,C4) function buttons on the camera. The camera lets you customise the on-screen functions, accessed by pressing the Fn button, but new to this camera is the ability to customise this with different options when you’re shooting in photo or video modes.
In playback, you can delete one photo at a time, which can make deleting a number of images a time-consuming affair. Unlike other cameras, there’s no option to select multiple images to delete, unfortunately.
There’s the option to rate your images with a star rating so you can highlight the best photos, but there is no built-in raw image editing, which will mean you’ll need to edit raw files on a computer. This is frustrating is you just want to quickly make a change to an image, and is a useful feature that is found on most competitor cameras.
The multi-shot mode can produce 240mp images, taking multiple shots at a sub-pixel (0.5pixels) level, as well as gathering full RGB information at every pixel (and sub-pixel). However, you will then need to use Sony’s image editing software on your computer to produce a single high-resolution image. There are also options to shoot a lower resolution (60mp) multi-shot image, where the camera gathers RGB information at every pixel.
The camera uses the newer Z battery, and this offers 670 shots using the rear screen, or 530 shots when using the electronic viewfinder (EVF), a slight improvement over the A7R III, which also uses the same battery.
Sony Alpha A7R IV Performance
The performance section is where we look at the image quality performance of the camera. Additional sample photos and product shots are available in the Equipment Database, where you can add your own review, photos and product ratings.
Sony Alpha A7R IV (Mark 4) Other sample images
Sample Photos - Images look good straight from the camera, with rich saturated colours. Skin tones are pleasing, and the levels of detail are very impressive, particularly when you zoom in to the images. Portraits benefit from face and eye detection focus giving a good success rate. Bokeh is nice, with good subject separation, and pleasing background blur.
We are impressed by the JPEG results straight from the camera. With many cameras we find that better results can be found by processing the raw files, and adjusting settings to taste, but this time, we're not so sure, as the camera has done an excellent job, with little need to adjust the photos.
Sony Alpha A7R IV (Mark 4) Lens test images
Lens Performance - Due to a high-resolution sensor, any camera shake will be picked up, and any focus errors will be amplified when viewing images at 100%. If you use a "weak" or poor performing lens, then this will be more obvious with this camera, as the weaknesses will be amplified. However, the camera does help give a good success rate, due to the reliable focus system, and built-in anti-shake sensor.
Shooting in to the sun, with the 24-70mm f/2.8 GM lens, flare and ghosting is visible, but in almost every other situation the lens is quite resistant to flare. The lens performs well in a variety of situations, and can deliver high resolution results. We'd normally recommend shooting using a prime lens for the best results, and that still remains true, however the 24-70mm f/2.8 GM lens is capable of performing well with this camera and high-resolution sensor. Although the lens is quite large and heavy, there are smaller lenses available. When viewing images at 100%, you do notice softness towards the corners and edges of the frame.
AF performance is excellent, with a very high success rate on photos. With a 61mp sensor, you can also use APS-C (1.5x) cropping, and this gives you a 26.2mp image.
Using the multi-shot high-res mode you can capture even better images, shooting either 61mp images with improved colour and detail (combines 4 shots), or high-resolution 240mp images (combining 16 shots). You'll need to use a sturdy tripod, and you'll need to process the raw images on a computer in Sony Imaging Edge before you can use them. As the individual raw files are 117mb in size (each) you'll need a computer capable of coping with this, and to create a 240mp image, the camera uses 16 raw images!
Sony Alpha A7R IV (Mark 4) ISO test images
ISO Noise Performance - For the lowest noise and best detail possible we would recommend using ISO100 to ISO800, as images have low levels of noise and very good levels of detail. For lower light situations ISO1600 to ISO3200 still provides good results, although noise increases and fine detail is reduced. ISO6400, ISO12800 and ISO25600 show higher levels of noise, with lower levels of detail, and results could still be useful, as long as you're not looking for fine detail. At ISO51200 noise levels become stronger and we would recommend avoiding this setting if possible, although results may still be useful if resized and used on the web. ISO102400 is best avoided as noise is extremely high, and detail is very low.
Noise compared to the competition...
Compared to the Sony Alpha A7R III (with a 42mp BSI CMOS sensor), the 61mp A7R IV shows more noise at ISO3200 and ISO6400, and stronger noise reduction appears to remove more fine detail, in comparison. Therefore, to really see the added benefit of the 61mp sensor, you're best advised to use the lower ISO speeds, preferably below ISO1600. Compared to the 50mp Canon EOS 5DS R, the Canon also shows slightly less noise at ISO speeds of ISO1600 to ISO6400, however, the Sony offers a much extended ISO range, and with the Canon topping out at ISO12800, the Sony gives much better versatility.
As you would expect, the noise performance of a 61mp full-frame sensor, can't keep up with a larger medium format sensor, with a lower resolution of 50mp (and larger pixels), and the Fujifilm GFX 50R delivers better noise performance.
Sony Alpha A7R IV (Mark 4) White-balance test images
White Balance Performance - Auto White Balance (AWB) gives a slightly warm result under tungsten lighting, and the camera has options (in the menus) to adjust how auto white balance performs, with the choice of warm or cool (white) results. For the most accurate results under tungsten lighting, the tungsten preset gives the best result. Auto white balance in mixed lighting gives a yellow / green tone, however results under fluorescent lighting are better. There were times when the auto white balance gave cold results, which meant we had to switch to a white balance preset for more pleasing results. The fluorescent presets are best avoided as they can give a colour cast to the image.
Video - The camera offers 4K UHD video recording, at frame rates up to 30fps (at 100mbps). In order to switch between NTSC (30fps) and PAL (25fps) frame rates you need to switch between NTSC and PAL modes, and the camera will then ask you to format your memory card before using it. This can be extremely frustrating, although you can work around this by having different memory cards for PAL and NTSC recording. The camera includes S-Log2/3 and HLG picture profiles, so you can set up the camera to your requirements, and with microphone and headphone sockets, clean HDMI out, there is very little lacking from the camera for serious video recording. However, the lack of CINE 4K video is a little surprising.
There is a Super35 crop available (downsizing 6K footage to 4K), but with this off, the camera uses the full-width of the sensor. Also on offer is FullHD video, up to 100fps (PAL), 120fps (NTSC). Other slower (more normal) frame rates are also available.
Results are good, with crisp, detailed footage, and the camera's image stabilisation system helps keep footage steady. In the video below, we've used the touch-screen to change the focus point, and the camera gives a smooth transition in focus between the different points. Additional videos can be found on the ePHOTOzine YouTube Channel.
Value For Money
The Sony Alpha A7R IV will be available for £3500 body only, which is not much more than other high resolution mirrorless cameras, and less than 50mp medium format mirrorless cameras. Alternatives to look at include the following high-resolution / high-megapixel cameras:
- Canon EOS 5DS R, 50mp FF CMOS sensor, DSLR, £2595 body only
- Panasonic Lumix S1R, 47mp FF CMOS sensor, Mirrorless Camera, £3399 body only
- Nikon Z7, 45mp FF BSI CMOS sensor, Mirrorless Camera, £2899 body with mount adapter
You could also look at the medium format Fujifilm GFX 50S (£4999 body only), and Fujifilm GFX 50R (£3999 body only), with a 50mp medium format sensor, or for more resolution there is the Fujifilm GFX 100, with a 100mp medium format sensor, and a £9999 price body only.
Sony Alpha A7R IV Verdict
Sony continue to innovate with the latest high-resolution, high-speed, BSI CMOS sensors, and this means they're able to offer high-resolution 61mp images, with low noise. The Sony E/FE mount has been around for a good length of time, and this means there's a good range of lenses available, and thanks to Sony's recent efforts to introduce high quality lenses ("Tomorrows lenses, today") they are capable of working extremely well with the new 60mp sensor, producing extremely impressive image quality. The A7R IV also benefits from 5-axis image stabilisation, and this makes it easier to get high-quality results, and with a more stable (softer) shutter release, you can use the camera without having to worry about shutter shock.
If you're looking for a high-resolution full-frame camera, then the Sony Alpha A7R IV gives high resolution 61mp images, with ease, and a high level of success. You don't need to use a tripod (unless you want to), you don't need to use a self-timer, or worry about shutter shock, instead you can simply concentrate on your photography, framing, and composition, and shoot away. The camera has a reliable focus system, and gives good JPEG results straight from the camera. If you pair the camera with a high quality zoom lens, or a prime lens, then you can quickly get great results.
The camera offers improved handling, with a larger grip, and better controls, but despite some improvements, the menu system remains long-winded, and badly organised, (why isn't there a separate video section in the menus?), so can take some time to get used to. With a MyMenu system, and customisable function screens (separate for stills and video), the camera can be customised to your preferences, so that you can try and avoid using the menu system.
There's still the NTSC/PAL switchover issue for video recording, and we live in hope that this will one day be resolved. Ignoring this issue, the camera gives an excellent video solution, and the use of the Z series battery is a welcome addition, improving stills and video battery life. With Sony on the 4th version of the Sony A7R camera, the A7R IV is the best yet. Should you buy it? If you need (or want) high-resolution images, and have the computer power to deal with larger, high resolution images, then the Sony Alpha A7R Mark IV offers a very complete package, with a wide range of lenses available, right now. Something very few other systems can say.
| The Sony Alpha A7R IV offers a high-resolution 61mp full-frame sensor, and a wealth of features that should leave you satisfied for years to come. |
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