Richard Spangler
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Looking for thoughts on overall IQ, AF, eye AF, performance etc. I know its a big price difference but how do they compare? thanks
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Has anyone compared the A1 to the A7iv?
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AlephNull
Veteran Member
The cruel truth is that you can spin it different ways, depending on what you really want.
If you can afford the A1, and you want to convince yourself (or someone else!) that it is worth the extra money, then “the A1 is vastly better than the A7IV, and they are barely comparable”.
If you can’t (or don’t want to) afford the A1, then “the A7IV is almost the same camera for far less money”.
Seriously, you can make a convincing argument either way.
I bought the A1 as soon as I could, and I have been using it for almost a year (ok, almost 11 months) during which time it has let me capture some photographs I would not have caught without, and a lot more that would have been more difficult with any of the other cameras I have owned. It has been a lot of fun to use, and it has pushed me to improve my skills. I would not replace it with an A7IV, but I can afford the A1.
If you have A7R series and/or A9 cameras, then things get more complicated. Some of the features of the A7IV are less attractive if you have A7R or A9.
the af speed and accuracy is not comparable, not even close, it's like trying to compare a ferrari to a toyota corolla.
if you don't care about using the best af in the industry, can't afford it, etc., then you should be comparing the a7iv against the rest of the unstacked sensor cameras on the market.
Tristimulus
Veteran Member
The A1 has a stacked image sensor, offers a fast scanning full electronic shutter, and is over all quite a bit more responsive than the A7IV. That is what we pay for.
The A7IV is top notch in its class, and most would be well served by this camera. To me the main difference is the around 1/20 sec scan time of the full electronic shutter - the workaround is obviously the mechanical shutter. And a not equally responsive camera. No big deal.
The price difference between is also about diminishing returns.
Guess the main difference in image quality (not that large) and auto focus (the A1 is faster, more responsive and stick better to subjects when tracking) is a matter of personal needs and wants. How differences are experienced in real life use is very subjective.
In my world there is no want for the A1 (could well get one but is not willing to pay the asking price for a camera). Am very well served without the A1.
But if willing to pay the A1 offers an incredibly responsive camera for the money.
If not willing to pay then the A7IV is a terrific and well rounded package for the money.
The AF is quite comparable actually. They have similar speed in acquiring focus, locking on, tracking and AI algorithm in knowing what to lock onto. In fact, at this point in time the 7IV has bird eye AF and the A1 doesn't (unless it has acquired it in a firmware update and I haven't heard about it)
They also share the same menu speed, layout and deep buffers. Where the A1 trounces the 7iv is in raw speed in terms of fps. There's no comparison there. The electronic shutter, blackout free EVF, EVF quality, Megapixels, things of that nature are miles better on the A1.
In terms of what a layman would use the camera for the experience with the A1 and A7IV would give a similar usage experience barring fps. Don't let enthusiast on an enthusiast forum fool you.
They also share the same menu speed, layout and deep buffers. Where the A1 trounces the 7iv is in raw speed in terms of fps. There's no comparison there. The electronic shutter, blackout free EVF, EVF quality, Megapixels, things of that nature are miles better on the A1.
In terms of what a layman would use the camera for the experience with the A1 and A7IV would give a similar usage experience barring fps. Don't let enthusiast on an enthusiast forum fool you.
The A1 has Bird Eye AF.
Yep, I know the A74 has bird eye AF, I was responding to a comment by a user who said that the A1 doesn't have bird eye AF claiming it was a fact.
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I really should change my username..
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Funny… I upgraded from the A7RII to the A7IV. The A7RIII was not enough of a jump for me, and the files from the A7IV are just more than I need or what to deal with (in terms of MP). The A1 files are probably at my (arbitrary limit), but I don’t want to pay that kind of money for a camera even though I can afford it (living in one of the most expensive countries on the planet).
Missed that…. You’re right. ApologiesYep, I know the A74 has bird eye AF, I was responding to a comment by a user who said that the A1 doesn't have bird eye AF claiming it was a fact.
My bad, although I did allow for me being wrong in my statement. My point still stands that the two cameras are more comparable in aspects the OP asked about than it would first appear.Yep, I know the A74 has bird eye AF, I was responding to a comment by a user who said that the A1 doesn't have bird eye AF claiming it was a fact.
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I really should change my username..
TBH, you wouldn't have missed a FW update adding bird eye AF to the A1, as the A1 was released with bird eye af.My bad, although I did allow for me being wrong in my statement. My point still stands that the two cameras are more comparable in aspects the OP asked about than it would first appear.Yep, I know the A74 has bird eye AF, I was responding to a comment by a user who said that the A1 doesn't have bird eye AF claiming it was a fact.
You are correct, that for most users, the A74 is all the camera they will need. I use 2 A1s for my wedding work, and owned an A74 for 3 days before sending it back to Panamoz; I just couldn't get on with how loud the shutter was compared to my A1's or my A9ii.
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I really should change my username..
AlephNull
Veteran Member
Sorry, but no. The A7IV may have the same AF algorithms, but the A1's stacked sensor provides more data faster to those algorithms.
The stacked sensor is the key difference in the A1, and it makes a huge (and expensive) difference. That's how the A1 is capable of issuing 120 AF commands per second (twice the speed of the A9). The A7IV cannot match that.
That stacked sensor is not just about fps. It's about AF, and it's about no rolling shutter, and it's about flash sync at 1/200 on electronic shutter. And blackout-free shooting. And shooting in silence. I really appreciate shooting in silence. The first high speed camera I owned was a Canon 1D III - that was not a quiet camera.
The A1 difference is a lot more than "just fps".
I'm inclined to turn your argument on its head. I'd suggest that a professional photographer is more able to do without many of the features of the A1 than a layman. The professional can judge their focus better, and can choose the moment to trigger the shutter better; they can even live a poorer quality EVF, because they have had to - they don't NEED the A1. (Doesn't mean they don't want one! And they can probably use it better when they get it, too).
When I went into my dealer and saw other people placing their pre-orders for the A1, I saw a lot of "laypeople". Keen photographers, but not professional photographers. Retired people. Especially retired people who in normal times would be indulging in international tourism, but in January 2021 they could not. So they had a bit more to spend, and the A1 arrived at an opportune time... It also meant that they didn't have to choose between an A7R type and an A9 type, and they didn't have to carry both (been there, done that, for many of them). Remember those ads about "The One"? I don't think those ads were aimed at professional photographers.
All of that said, the A7IV is a good camera. Sony knows perfectly well that not everyone can afford an A1, and even if they can, it may not be right for them - the A1 can be a demanding beast, with more controls than most. A camera that is somewhat simpler, and much less expensive, is a good thing.
That is a good point, actually. The A1 is not a camera for the casual photographer - you need to be keen, and willing to learn. You wouldn't buy it as a status symbol (it looks like all the other Sonys, no big heavy body or Leica badge).
BTW: the A1 was the first Sony camera to be announced with bird eye AF (it did not come in a firmware update).
yysc
Forum Enthusiast
Sony has not provided official figures on how many AF calculations the A7 IV does per second so any comparison in this regard with the A1 is pure speculation.
For sure the camera does not scan the entire sensor for AF, rather a small fraction of it, so for pure AF calculation the non-stacked sensor can pull it off.
The A7 IV is able to scan the sensor 120 times per second (for the EVF) just fine so it should likewise be able to deal with this data too for AF calculations.
The two sources below indicate A7 IV is also 120 AF calc/sec. I don't know what their source is:
Sony Alpha 7 IV Review
Is the Sony Alpha 7 IV right for you? Learn all you need to know in The-Digital-Picture.com's review!
www.the-digital-picture.com
The a7 IV (and a1) AF system has 759 phase-detection AF points and 425 contrast-detection areas with 94% coverage, focuses in light levels as low as -4 EV (really dark), focuses with an f/22 aperture opening, and performs 120 calculations per second. It is critical to get the eye(s) in focus when photographing living subjects.
Tristimulus
Veteran Member
Not quite so.
The A1 can handle auto focus information and do more corrections per second than the A7IV can do. The A1 auto focus is also more sticky.
But the A7IV auto focus is still impressive.
Jb502
Leading Member
So does the a7iv. Even in video which the a1 does not.
Jb502
Leading Member
Don't know what your smoking. "reading" 120 frames from the evf" (which by the way it is not reading from the evf, it is providing data for the evf to display), is not nearly the same thing as reading from the sensor 120 times per second.
Sony has not mentioned the scan speed of the a7iv, because it is not worth mentioning. If it was scanning at 120 times per second, believe me, they would mention in.
I suppose this is the information I should have said prior but mistakenly thought it was stills. Can the A1 do BEAF in video yet?
daran
Senior Member
Possibly. But at least if you use tracking, the area you can follow would have to be rather small as you need all the pixels for that. It would be surprising if this were true. As Sony made a big presentation around the A1 being able to do this and also about the A7m4 sharing the new processor, but they never mentioned that the A7m4 would AF equally fast. I doubt it does.
Abott is quoting what Sony said about the A1. He makes it rather clear he's merely extrapolating from that (the A1) and does not really know for a fact whether it applies to the 7m4.
No idea where DP got this from, but to my knowledge Sony hasn't publicly stated so. He may be basing this on what Abott said. The Net is but one big set of echo chambers.
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