Sony a7R IV review

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@henrikbengtson. Not this reader.

It's only a rating. Users have reported Z batteries shooting 1800+ images per charge.

@Ramjager: That battery life indication is only the standardized CIPA rating, and depends heavily on the use, including video. You can shoot over 2000 shots with no problem if you don't too often review your shots. Acutally 670 frames for a MILC is an excellent rating.

Mechanical SLRs didn't need a battery at all. Nevertheless, pretty much everybody upgraded to autofocus cameras even though they all needed expensive lithium batteries that seemed to last just a few rolls.

Sorry but you are not comparing DSLR reality to DSLM reality but CIPA standard to your DSLR experience.
We`ve shot about 8.500 photos with a Sony A7III in a BIF session on the north sea near Bempton Cliffs in England last year needing only one battery change. 1 was totally empty the second still nearly half full !
You might agree that this is just a little more than the 700 frames stated by CIPA standards for the A7III.
My friend shooting with his A9 at this event approx. 10.000 photos did not exhaust the second battery either !
So +4000 pictures per battery might be an extreme shooting situation - but it is possible !

@toughluck. Right. I remember my Nikon FM2. Liked it a lot! Still prefer my A7RIV at the moment .

If battery life is important to you then use a DSLR

DSLRs are still the more practical workhorses of the camera world. That’s why most professionals are sticking with them.

It's fluff because you don't use it. I rely on TouchPad AF on my Panasonics to quickly position AF points in my professional event work, and it's the quickest and most intuitive way to manually select an AF point that I've ever used. Yes, as eye-detect and subject tracking get better, this becomes less necessary. But, there will always be times when the camera doesn't focus where I want it to, and at these times, TouchPad AF is the bee's knees. Joysticks, dials and buttons are vastly inferior tools for this purpose.

It's really not wise to generalize your preferences to the broad world of photographers whose work and working conditions don't match your own.

And, the fact remains - whether you care about it or not - that Sony's implementation is abysmal. My $400 Panasonic absolutely runs rings around my $3000 a7RIII in this regard.

@mferencz. Same here. Also ex Olympus user. Never touched the touchscreen, except maybe with my nose when looking through the viewfinder 😉

@mujana
Only with my Panasonics. Using touch AF on my Sonys is a constantly frustrating experience. It's like trying to herd a reluctant toddler into a bath when he really wants to play with his trucks. Face-detect works pretty well, and when there are several faces I can generally get my Sonys (in wide-area AF mode) to pick the right face by putting it in the center of the frame. But, if there are a lot of faces, or if I want to select a face that's farther away than others, I really want to be able to just tap on the target and have the camera track that one. Why Sony can't let me do this is beyond me. Add to this the lousy sensitivity and laggy response of the touchscreen and I'm frequently cursing under my breath. Now, Panasonic won't do this either, as tapping selects a fixed (non-tracking but still eye-detecting) AF point, but the speed, accuracy and responsiveness to touch are a thousand times better.

@Jacques Cornell
The idea behind real time tracking with A7RIV and A9 is that you do not need any of that. Only few cameras have it so most people are not exposed to such powerful too. You basically lock on the subject and follow it around. 99% of the time that is all you need, no more changing AF settings and moving the af points around. Sony is moving quickly toward a very automated experience in using the camera and as a photographer you can be liberated by concentrating on composition.

Maybe it has to do with a 117mb image reduced to 60mp for the internet, and then viewed on who knows what device. I think it would be ideal if you were thinking of buying it to go to a real camera shop and take a few shots, and manipulate them to your own preferences, then the true quality would be revealed - for good o bad.

I love these comments...

Magnar - Reprocessing data to a lower bit depth is not the same thing as initially capturing the image in a low bit depth , if that capture is linear.

You can take a 14-bit Raw and usually render it as an 8-bit JPEG quite happily, but an 8-bit linear capture would be incredibly limiting.

I simply did ask if it would drop to 12bit in crop mode; what I did not ask was a pointless lecture about the human perception.
More bits increase the chance for an underexposed or clipped photo to be saved/fixed in post.
Have a good day, Mr. Eye Opener, sir!

Why would we assume that "professional usage" means more megapixels, especially at the cost of slower operation?

Agreed. As a wedding photographer I had a lot of trouble with the A7rII. For one my HDD would fill up very quickly and I could get half the number of photos per card. Once I moved to the A7III I felt much more comfortable shooting. The high MP cameras do have a market but most other people are happy with 24 MP and thereabouts.

@tbcass, You need the lens too. The lens used for the first shot wasd the 35mm F1.8 ($750, -- so a grand total of $4250,--) The second used the 135mm F1.8 GM lens (costs $2100,- so a grand total of $5600.--).
Body only gies you very unsharp pictures, but with a lot of pixels!

For $5k you can buy a second hand X1D with a 3.5/45 lens and that will be an out-of-this-world output and colors.

What I see in this review is high specs but very poor looking output. Look at those skintones - it just bad.

No.

Saying "Period! Full stop!" in an effort to suppress discussion automatically decreases credibility.

"No question about it!" "Case closed!" "'nuff said!" Sean Spicer photo commentary.

also, what ISO do you shoot to be bothered with noise?
anyway, in those situations, please think back to film.

Well fans can go crazy on anything :)
and D850 no doubt is still a great camera to go crazy on

It is indeed

@Mark K
That's good question. 1Dx3 will sure happen sooner than later but 5D5? I think Canon is done with that and will make semi pro mirrorless camera instead, expecting you to use adapter if you still have EF lenses.

Dit that. I know the other ones are better, but like I said, for a 6 year old model, it's very impressive. I didn't said it was the same IQ, just ... closer than most of us would imagine.

Oh I hear ya, but that's where the improvements have mostly been.

Agree the original is still amazing value.

"Amazingly, the 2008 Canon 5D II had about the same noise performance as the A7."
My brother has the 5DII still. Same noise? No. 5DII is definitely worst. I don't know how it came so "close" in dxo mark measurement but even so ... 1815 vs 2248.

@ NicoPPC: Some are bored, no matter what is thrown in front of them. ;-)

You are waiting for the upcoming A7IV with 24 or 36 Mp sensor and a little less features, I suppose?

Let's hope they keep the 5.76 Mdot viewfinder this time. But knowing Sony it will probably be 3.6 Mdot for the lower end model

That said I really don't know when the A7 IV will come. The A7 III is still doing incredibly well in the market against the S1 and the Z6. And I think it would be smarter for Sony to wait a little until their new processor with new encoder is ready so they can give the A7 IV some updated video specs.
Otherwise mid cycle competition could be rough

@Magnar W
I hope A7IV will have most of its features, especially the newer AF and better ergonomics.

@Aegon Targaryen
the 1DXII is a great camera, too bad that it is a bit of a dinosaur nowadays and I do not enjoy the weight carrying and neither the archaic feel to it. Sold it last month because of that.
Why would I want to relay on menus and touch interface when I can access directly what I want at the push of a button? If I am using the EVF I need to take my eye away from it to look up the monitor, if I am shooting with the monitor I need to access the menu disabling the liveview and then navigate where I need to. I do not see the advantage.

Maybe, if I had a camera with more touch control I might appreciate it more. To be honest I do not mess much with the menu at all, everything is programmed on button with occasional need to access "my menu".

@Deso
"When shooting something and holding the camera close to the ground, you may notice that a good touchscreen could help a lot in getting the shot"
I might need a more specific example because i still do not see much of a benefit.

I prefer inspecting the sensor more or less every time I change lens. At least I know if it needs cleaning. Much less problems with sensor dust since I started using a mirrorless because of that.

But will Canon have as good an AF? IBIS? Good lens selection?

@DeathArrow
differently from Nikon, Canon R system is truly backward compatible. I would not complain about Canon EF lineup. So no brainer for a current Canon user.

@armadino, both Nikon Z and Sony E can use a lot of adapted lenses. But that's not the point. Having a lens that's designed for mirrorless not only will have improved IQ but better AF. I got it, you don't care about IQ and AF. In that case, you might be best served by your old Rebel. :)

I shot with Canon for probably 30 years, and made the switch last year to Sony. No looking back for me.

@DeathArrow
mmm.... let me think, I shoot with an A7RIII and an A9, now I guess, since today, with the A7RIV too. I have the FE 24/1.4GM, Sigma 35/1.2 FE mount, FE 55/1.8 ZA, FE 85/1.8, Sigma 105/1.4, FE 135/1.8 GM, FE 100/2.8 STF GM, FE 70-200/2.8 GM, FE 100-400 GM, FE 200-600 G. That does not mean I appreciating shooting with and adapter a Sigma 20/1.4, 35/1.4 , Canon EF 300/2.8 IS L Canon EF 500/4 IS L etc

i meant that it's the moment when half of century leadership of Canon and Nikon fell to "walkman guys" and this review is moment when fanatics of Canon and Nikon realised that. that is most impressive meltdown of big community of really smart people i ever seen. its not like usual internet trolling it enhanced with intellect. which is basically make it even more stupid

Better leaving it clear that putting nobs or buttons that should be used with your right hand.
Just saying...

Moderate drink can steady the grip. Might make Sony's IBIS more like Olympus's.

@cgarrard
if you do not understand the relevance of being able to control all key parameters with your right hand I would not say it too loud....

So now we're criticising an empty space? Wow, haters inspiration has run dry...

@Jay:
Nikon puts immediate access to as many as 5 separate functions in that little space.

Sonys need more buttons. Period. That wasted space is egregious, and deserving of condemnation.

@Aegon Targaryen
it would be interesting what is that you badly need to control from there that you do not access immediately and comfortably elsewhere already without having to actually engage your left hand.
"Nikon puts immediate access to as many as 5 separate functions in that little space."
and who says that is a good idea?