Sony α7 IV  Camera Review

The Sony a7 IV isn't as portable as the Sony a7 III because of its slightly larger handgrip and more robust build, including a full-sized HDMI port. However, it's still decently portable for a full-frame camera, and the body isn't overly heavy. If you need something more portable, check out the Sony α7C II, which uses the same sensor but has a significantly more compact body.

The Sony α7 IV feels very well-built. It's a step up from its predecessor, with hinged, weather-sealed doors covering all of its inputs and outputs, as well as locking doors for its battery compartment and memory card compartment. The dials feel sturdy and turn without slack. The shoulder strap attachment points are also rigid, so they won't rattle around and make unwanted noise when shooting video. However, the buttons feel somewhat mushy.

The Sony a7 IV has four command dials: a front dial that controls aperture by default, a rear dial that controls shutter speed, an unmarked exposure compensation dial with a locking function (which you can customize to control other functions), and a customizable rear control wheel (which also acts as a directional pad to navigate the menu).

The camera also has four different custom buttons, a custom menu for your most-used settings, and three custom shooting modes on the mode dial. The mode dial features a separate switch to quickly toggle between 'Photo', 'Movie', and 'S&Q' (Slow and Quick) modes, and you can set the three custom shooting modes differently within each of those modes.

• Sony a7 IV camera body
• Sony FE 24-105mm F4 G OSS
• Front lens cap
• Rear lens cap
• Sensor cap
• Lens hood
• Viewfinder eyecup
• Hot shoe protection cover
• 1x NP-FZ100 battery
• Shoulder strap
• USB-A to USB-C cable
• AC adapter
• Startup guide

The Sony Alpha 7 IV feels very comfortable to shoot with. The handgrip is large enough for most hand sizes to hold comfortably, though the camera starts to feel uncomfortable when shooting for longer periods. The texture on the grip feels nice and provides a secure hold on the camera. Most of the buttons provide decent physical feedback, although the shutter button feels very mushy with an overly shallow half-press, so it can take some getting-used-to if you're used to shutter buttons that provide more tactile feedback.

The camera has a large EVF with a fairly high resolution, so you get a clear image when shooting through the viewfinder, but the rubber around the eyecup isn't the softest or most comfortable. Thankfully, there's very little, if any, lag when shooting.

Unlike the Sony a7 III, the Sony a7 IV has a fully articulated screen, which lets you monitor what's being recorded when the camera is facing you but takes up more space when fully deployed compared to a tilting screen. Thankfully, you can now use the touchscreen to navigate the menu instead of just selecting focus points like previous models. The screen has a slightly higher resolution, allowing you to clearly see details when reviewing your images on the monitor.

In keeping with newer releases like the Sony a7S III, Sony has thankfully brought its updated menu system to the Sony a7 IV. It's a well-organized interface with clearly delineated submenus and settings. Unlike previous iterations like the Sony a7 III, the screen is also fully touch-capable, meaning you can navigate it with touch as well as with the joystick or directional pad. It also includes a custom 'My Menu' tab, making it very easy to access frequently used settings.

With firmware update 4.0, the a7 IV is now compatible with Sony's Creators' App and no longer works with the older Imaging Edge Mobile app.

The battery life on the Sony a7 IV is excellent. It uses the same battery as older Sony Alphas like the Sony a7 III and the Sony α7C, though it's rated for fewer shots according to CIPA standards. Take the CIPA rating with a grain of salt, but the camera is likely to last throughout a day of use, depending on how you use it and what settings you choose. When it comes to video, shooting extensively will drain the battery a bit more quickly when compared to the other two Alpha 7 cameras.

The Sony a7 IV can shoot at a respectable max continuous shooting speed, which is useful for capturing fast-moving subjects like birds or athletes. However, it maxes out at 6 fps when shooting uncompressed RAW files, which makes it harder to get the highest-quality captures when shooting moving subjects. If you'd prefer a camera with faster burst shooting, check out the Fujifilm X-H2S or the Nikon Z 6III.

We tested the camera with both a Sony CFexpress Type A card and a V90 UHS-II SD card. With the CFexpress A card, the buffer never filled up, whether shooting in RAW or JPEG. With the SD card, however, the buffer filled up after about 23 photos when shooting in RAW, and it took about four seconds for the buffer to empty once full.

The Sony α7IV has an excellent autofocus tracking feature. While the camera can’t automatically detect what kind of subject you’re shooting, it has different subject tracking modes for humans, animals, and birds. Eye AF is seamlessly integrated, allowing the camera to automatically switch between eyes, faces, and general subjects. It tracks moving human subjects very well, nailing focus for the majority of shots. As with newer Canon models, like the Canon EOS R6, it’s a very reliable and accurate AF system that can pretty much do all the work for you if you just want to point the camera at your subject and let it do its thing.

When not using tracking, the AF is also fantastic, especially if you use a lens with a quick-focusing motor. In scenarios where you want more control over the focus point, and you can roughly predict a subject's movement, the camera can nail focus almost every shot. All in all, it's an incredibly reliable AF system.

The Sony a7 IV has in-body image stabilization (IBIS), called 'SteadyShot' by Sony. We tested the camera with an optically stabilized lens, which works in conjunction with IBIS to reduce camera shake. It does an alright job of stabilizing handheld photos. The 24-104mm f/4 G lens we used isn't the most lightweight option and is larger and heavier than the Sony FE 28-70mm f3.5-5.6 lens we tested with the Sony a7 III and the Sony FE 28-60mm f4-5.6 lens we tested with the Sony α7C. This can result in more fatigue when shooting for longer periods. If you're after a camera with more effective IBIS, check out the Panasonic LUMIX S5 II.

The Sony a7 IV has excellent dynamic range, so it can capture a wide array of highlight and shadow detail. It also has amazing exposure latitude, so pushing the exposure of a photo results in minimal noise, which is great if you want to pull out more shadow detail or correct an underexposed image.

The Sony a7 IV is fantastic at resolving fine details. With its high megapixel count, you can expect nicely detailed photos even when punching in on your images.

The Sony a7 IV has good RAW noise handling, so you can shoot at higher ISO settings in low-light situations without introducing too much noise. The higher megapixel count means smaller individual pixels, resulting in finer-looking noise at higher ISO settings than you get from competitors with lower-resolution sensors, like the Canon EOS R6.

The Sony a7 IV supports Log recording to take advantage of the full tonal range of the camera's sensor and give you more control over the exposure and color of your videos when processing your footage. However, it doesn't support RAW recording, even when using an external recorder. For RAW video capability, consider the Nikon Z 6III, which not only outputs RAW video but also records RAW video internally. Besides that, the Sony is also limited to 4k recording, whereas newer cameras like the Panasonic LUMIX S5 IIX can capture 6k open gate, which gives you more flexibility to crop your footage for different platforms.

This camera also includes a 'Breathing Compensation' feature to correct focus breathing. It prevents the field of view from shifting as you focus the lens. That said, it's compatible primarily with higher-end lenses, like the Sony 24-105mm f/4 G lens.

The Sony a7 IV supports 4k video up to 60 fps, which is great for capturing high-speed footage and fast-action. However, shooting at 4k / 60 fps incurs a significant 1.5x crop, just like the Panasonic Lumix DC-S5. If you want a camera that doesn't impose a crop at 60 fps, check out the Canon EOS R6 Mark II.

This camera has superb internal recording capability. When using a Sony CFexpress Type A card or an SD card with a V90 rating, you can capture footage at bit rates of up to almost 600 Mbps.

It can record 10-bit 4:2:2 video internally, matching up with competitors like the Canon EOS R6 and the Panasonic LUMIX S5 and giving you much more latitude to make color and tone adjustments in post. There's no recording time limit, which is fantastic for filmmakers or videographers who want to shoot longer-form content.

We tested the camera with 'Auto Power OFF Temp' set to both 'Standard' and 'High'. When set to 'High', the camera stayed on during the entirety of the recording period and didn't overheat, although it did feel warm to the touch. When set to 'Standard', the camera preemptively powered itself off after about 15 minutes of recording.

The Sony a7 IV has fantastic autofocus when shooting 4k video. The camera has integrated face and eye tracking that can differentiate between humans, animals, and birds, and it quickly and accurately finds its subject in most situations. You can let the AF find its subject automatically by using the 'Wide' area mode, or if you want more control over the focus, you can use a smaller AF zone or spot area mode. It also has settings to fine-tune how quickly it shifts focus from one subject to another. When tracking a specific subject, it sticks with them even when they move around or pop in and out of frame, and it rarely loses track or shifts focus outside of its intended target. All in all, it's an incredibly feature-dense and reliable AF system.

Video quality is fantastic in 4k. Footage looks sharp and retains an excellent amount of fine detail. In low light, 4k videos look amazing, retaining a ton of shadow detail and sharpness without too much noise.

If you'd like to compare the test scene extract with other cameras, we also shot the test scene with the camera pulled back farther to get comparable framing and get around the 1.5x crop imposed by the camera at 60 fps. You can see that here.

Unfortunately, rolling shutter is pretty disappointing. There's a lot of noticeable skewing of vertical lines, especially when panning the camera very quickly.

The Sony a7 IV has a wide range of frame rate options in 1080p. It can shoot at up to 120 fps, which is great if you want to incorporate slow-motion footage into your videos.

FHD internal recording specs are superb. It can record 1080p video at remarkably large bit rates to capture more information and give you more to work with when editing, albeit at the expense of larger video files that take longer to transfer and process. The max bit rate is only achievable when shooting in 'XAVC S-I' format. The default FHD format gets up to around 46 Mbps. As with 4k, the camera supports 10-bit 4:2:2 video capture in 1080p, allowing more leeway when color grading and editing your footage.

Autofocus is fantastic in 1080p. It has no trouble keeping up with moving subjects thanks to its sophisticated face- and eye-tracking, which can follow people or animals as they move around the frame and even when they pop in and out or turn around. The general subject or object tracking performs just as well, rarely slipping out of focus or jumping to another subject.

Video quality is excellent in FHD. Video looks sharp and detailed, even in low light.

Rolling shutter is much better in 1080p resolution. Skewing and distortion are far less noticeable than in 4k.

The Sony α7 IV has excellent dynamic range in video. In S-Log3, it captures a very wide range of detail above the background noise floor, but even its usable dynamic range, with a more strict SNR threshold, is excellent, making it well-suited for high-contrast scenes and trickier lighting conditions. You'll have the most dynamic range at the base ISO 800 in S-Log3, though the image also cleans up at ISO 3200.

Tested settings:

• Resolution: 4k
• Frame Rate: 30 fps
• Log Format: S-Log3

The camera does a great job of preserving a wide range of detail both above and below middle gray. It does especially well with shadows across most of its ISO range.

Tested settings:

• Resolution: 4k
• Frame Rate: 30 fps
• Log Format: S-Log3

This camera has two SD card slots, which is great for those who want a running backup or for video shooters recording large video files. The first slot also takes CFexpress Type A cards if you want to take advantage of faster read and write speeds, though you can only have one type of card in that slot at a time, whether it's SD or CFexpress Type A. They're also conveniently located on the side of the body, allowing you to switch out cards when the camera's mounted on a tripod.

The Sony a7 IV has a full set of inputs and outputs, including a full-sized HDMI port, which video shooters will be happy with. There's also a headphone jack and microphone input.