In terms of shooting speeds, the sensor and processor enable up to 10 fps shooting, using either the mechanical or electronic shutter and with AF/AE enabled. Also, the buffer permits recording up to 828 consecutive uncompressed raw + JPEG frames when using a CFexpress Type A card.
- Making full use of the high-resolution 33MP sensor and fast processing capabilities, UHD 4K 30p XAVC HS 10-bit recording is possible using the full width of the sensor, offering 7K oversampling for impressive sharpness and realism.
- There is also oversampled 4K recording, via a 4.6K capture area, with a Super 35 crop, that offers UHD 4K output up to 60p in 10-bit.
- No recording time limit allows for unlimited clip lengths and the camera's physical design features an improved heat-dissipating structure to promote longer possible recording times; longer than one hour of continuous 4K 60p 10-bit 4:2:2 recording, for example.
- The a7 IV employs a pair of codecs to suit different workflows: XAVC HS, which uses HEVC/H.265 encoding to retain more detail at smaller bitrates and XAVC S-I, which is an intraframe codec for consistent performance and quality at bitrates up to 600 Mb/s.
- S-Cinetone can be used to deliver distinct colors and healthy-looking skin tone rendering that matches the FX9 and FX6 cameras, along with the a1 and a7S III, and is based on technology from the professional Cinema Line cameras, such as the VENICE. This color profile offers natural mid-tones, soft colors, and especially well-controlled highlights.
- HLG (Hybrid Log-Gamma) support permits recording within a wide color gamut for producing HDR-ready content directly from the camera.
- S-Log3 is also available for producing a 15+-stop dynamic range with increased grading control in the shadow to mid-tone regions of the image.
- Real-time Tracking is an AI-based subject recognition system that recognizes color, pattern, and subject distance information for high accuracy and focusing speed.
- Beyond just tracking subjects, Real-time Eye AF fine-tunes the focusing accuracy and recognizes human, animal, and bird's eyes for critical sharpness. Real-time Eye AF even maintains focus on a subject's eye when they leave and re-enter the frame, allowing for working in more spontaneous shooting situations.
- Real-time Eye AF is fully supported during video recording, for subject detection and tracking of human, animal, and bird eyes while shooting.
- For more control over how focus shifts appear during recording, seven-step AF transition speeds and five-step AF subject shift sensitivity controls let you refine how quickly focus shifts from point to point and how smoothly focusing shifts occur.
- Focus Map is a unique way of visualizing depth of field and functions in a similar way to peaking with a colorful overlay of the scene that indicates which parts of the scene are in front of and behind the focus point depending on the chosen aperture.
- A feature carried over from the FX6 digital cine camera, AF Assist lets you intuitively switch over to manual focus control for adjusting focus position when working with AF. This is a quick way to shift selective focus between various subjects in a scene while recording.
- A unique solution to compensate for how certain lenses perform when racking focus, Focus Breathing compensation will automatically smooth focus transitions and maintain a consistent field of view when changing the focus position during a shot. This mode crops into the image slightly and corrects for any detected shifts in composition when focusing is happening. This function is compatible with select E-mount lenses.
- An improved QVGA OLED Tru-Finder EVF features a 3.68m-dot resolution that is approximately 1.6x higher in resolution than its predecessor for sharper, clearer viewing. This viewfinder supports both standard 60 fps and 120 fps frame rates for smooth motion rendering and its physical design has a long 23mm eye point, 0.78x-magnification, and 37.3° field of view.
- Perfect for vlogging or other self-recording needs, the side-opening 3.0" 1.03m-dot vari-angle articulating screen can be used in a front-facing orientation or can be tilted up or down to suit working from high or low shooting angles. This LCD is a touchscreen, too, for intuitive shooting control and menu navigation.
- Full-size HDMI A port offers a more reliable connection when working with external recorders.
- A USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port has been added, in addition to a micro-USB port, for faster, more reliable tethering support. The USB Type-C connection allows the camera to be charged or powered from the host power source while connected.
- Both 3.5mm headphone and external microphone ports facilitate greater control over audio recording.
- Multi Interface Shoe supports working with the optional ECM-B1M Shotgun Microphone or XLR-K3M XLR Adapter Kit, which provide improved, clear audio recording sound by sending a digital audio signal to the camera, opposed to an analog signal.
- USB Type-C port can be paired with an optional Ethernet wired LAN adapter to provide 1000BASE-T connectivity, wired remote shooting, or FTP transferring.
- Enhanced 5.5-stop effective 5-axis SteadyShot INSIDE image stabilization system compensates for five different types of camera shake encountered during handheld shooting of stills and video and allows users to confidently use any lens, even adapted lenses, for critical shooting without encountering blur from camera shake.
- For long focal lengths, the system will correct for pitch and yaw adjustments. Macro and high-magnification imagery, on the other hand, will benefit from the inclusion of horizontal and vertical shift compensation. All shooting styles will get usage out of the roll compensation. All 5 axes of stabilization will function at all times, even when used with third-party lenses and adapters or lenses with built-in optical stabilization.
- Additionally, specifically for video, there is also an Active IS mode that adds even more precise stabilization methods for even smoother footage straight out of camera.
- Built-in Wi-Fi enables the remote camera control and instant sharing of imagery to mobile devices for direct sharing online, and support for both 2.4 and 5 GHz bands also enables wireless tethered shooting support. This connectivity also provides remote camera control.
- Use of the Imaging Edge mobile app is benefitted by Bluetooth to maintain a reliable connection between the camera and mobile device.
- Supports Visual Story for easy cloud-based deliver of photos and videos immediately after shooting.
- Live streaming is possible directly from the camera simply by connecting the camera to a computer or compatible mobile device via USB, allowing the camera's video and audio capabilities to be used for live social media and video conferencing.
- 4K 15p, FHD 60p/30p, and HD 30p recording settings are available and there are also internal Creative Look and Soft Skin effects for a refined image quality straight from the camera.
- Internal recording is supported to a memory card while live streaming.
- UVC and UAC standards are supported for improved picture and sound quality during streaming.
The Sony Alpha A7 IV is the perfect option for the individual looking for a Hybrid between photography and videography. Featuring a 33MP Full-Frame Exmor R BSI CMOS sensor, compared to the 24.4MP in its predecessor.
The Impressive BIONZ XR Image Processor is capable of recording super 35 4K60p, 10-bit/4:2:2 All-Intra at up to 600 Mbps, compared to 4K30p, 8-bit/4:2:0 in its predecessor.
Additionally, the Sony Alpha A7 MK IV features a fully articulating LCD Full Touch/Touch Menu Screen. Featuring 759 Phase-Detection AF points with human, animal, and now also bird eye detection. Real-Time tracking during continuous shooting is now possible at apertures up to F22. Furthermore, the Sony Alpha A7 MarkIV features a focus map function, autofocus assist, and Breathing Compensation in movie mode.
Supporting a wide range of HDR movie production needs, the Sony A7 Mark 4 offers Slog-3 and S-Cinetone as well as a maximum ISO of 204800.
Another great feature of the Sony Alpha A7 MK 4 is in-body 5-Axis Image Stabilization rated up to 5.5-Stops.
33MP Exmor R BSI CMOS Sensor
High clarity, low noise, and vivid colour rendering are achieved by the all-new developed 33MP Exmor R full-frame sensor featuring a back-illuminated design. An impressive dynamic range of approximately 15 stops and files recorded in raw, JPEG, or the 10-bit HEIF format is achieved by the sensors upgraded design features.
BIONZ XR Processor
High-speed image processing capabilities are available for fast continuous shooting, 4K video recording, and advanced autofocus tracking performance. All this is made possible by the flagship-class BIONZ XR engine built into the Sony Alpha A7 IV. In terms of shooting speeds, the sensor and processor enable shooting of up to 10 fps, either the mechanical or electronic shutter and with AF/AE enabled. When using a CFexpress Type-A card, the buffer permits recording up to 828 consecutive uncompressed raw + JPEG frames.
Advanced External Flash Control
When fast-moving subjects are photographed using flash, P-TTL flash metering is possible in between each exposure when working with low, mid or even hi-speed continuous shooting modes. The updated flash control system you will find reduces flash trigger lag and supports adjusting select flash and transmitter units directly from the camera’s interface. For natural colour rendering the camera uses AWB information.
4K60p Video Recording in 10-Bit
Taking full advantage of the high-resolution 33MP sensor and impressive fast processing capabilities, UHD 4K 30p XAVC HS 10-bit recording is made possible by using the full width of the sensor. Also, 7K oversampling for impressive sharpness and realism is achieved. There is also oversampled 4K recording, via a 4.6K capture area, with a Super 35 crop, that offers UHD 4K output up to 60p in 10-bit.
The Sony Alpha A7 Mark 4 employs a pair of codecs to suit different workflows: XAVC HS, which uses HEVC/H.265 encoding to retain more detail at smaller bitrates and XAVC S-I, which is an intraframe codec for consistent performance and produces high quality at bitrates of up to 600MB/s.
S-Cinetone, S-Log3, Other Colour, and Gamma Controls
The Sony Alpha A7 4 employs technology brought down from Sony’s Cinema Line cameras, such as the Sony Alpha A1, A7S II, FX9 and FX6 with the incorporation of S-Cinetone. Delivering distinct colours and healthy-looking skin tone rendering.
S-Log3 is also available for producing a 15+-stop dynamic range with increased grading control in the shadow to mid-tome regions of the image. Recording within a wide colour gamut for producing HDR-ready content directly from the camera is possible with HLG support.
Al-Based Autofocus
Get the subject in focus with almost edge-to-edge focus point coverage (94% of the image area), a Fast Hybrid AF system incorporated 759 phase-deduction points for quick and precise focusing in different lighting conditions and sensitivity down to -4 EV. Autofocus is available in still as well as video modes.
Real-Time Tracking and Real-Time Eye Autofocus
The Sony Alpha A7 M IV features tuned tracking and subject detection capabilities. Locking quickly onto subjects and recognizing the eyes and faces of subjects for accurate focusing capabilities.
Real-Time tracking identifies a subjects colour, pattern and distance from the sensor for accurate focusing and tracking speed.
Furthermore, the a7iv also features Real-Time Eye focus. Able to recognize human, animal, and new to the Sony A7 MarkIV now Bird eye detection as well.
AF During Video Recording and Additional Focusing Modes
The A7 4 also features all the autofocus features as in still, in video modes. With upgraded shift sensitivity and autofocus transition controls, you have the power to refine how quickly focus shifts from subject to subject and how smoothly shifts occur.
Movie Autofocus Breathing Compensation compensate for the way certain lenses perform when focusing. Crops slightly into the image and corrects for any detected shifts when focusing occurs. Depending on the aperture chosen, Focus Map provides professional colour grading in a smaller camera body. With a unique way of visualizing depth of field, and indicating what is in front of and what is behind the focusing point.
Another great feature incorporated into the Sony Alpha A7 MK IV, brought down from the Sony FX6 is Autofocus Assist. Allowing you to switch over to manual autofocus even while shooting, enabling you to select the subject on which to focus even while recording.
Viewfinder and LCD Screen
The newly improved Quad VGA EVF Tru-Finder comprises of 3.69M dot resolution. Producing a sharper and clear viewing image, this viewfinder supports both 60 fps and 120 fps for smooth rendering.
Another upgrade from the predecessor, the Sony Alpha A7 MK 4 is perfect for vlogging, and other self-recording applications. The side opening 3.0” 1.03m-dot vari-angle fully articulating screen. The screen features touch capabilities as well, for intuitive shooting control as well as menu navigation.
Hybrid Stills and Video Body Design
Dual memory card slots allow for flexible file saving. One slot is a dual CFexpress Type A and SD slot, while the other is solely an SD card slot, both compatible to accept UHS-II memory cards.
The menu options are accessible from the touch LCD screen and updated for easy access to all menu options. Accepting the high-capacity Sony NP-FZ100 battery, producing up to 520 shots when using the viewfinder and up to 580 when the LCD screen is used.
Ports and Interface
Working with external recording, the Sony Alpha A7 IV features a full-size HDMI A port for reliable connections.
Both a micro-USB port as well as a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C, allowing the camera to be charged or powered from the host power source while connected.
USB Type-C port can be paired with an optional Ethernet wired LAN adapter to provide 1000BASE-T connectivity, wired remote shooting, or FTP transferring.
5.5-Stop 5-Axis SteadyShot INSIDE Image Stabilisation
Enhanced 5.5-stop effective 5-axis image stabilization compensated for five types of camera shake while shooting in handheld position. Even allowing you to use any type of lens, as well as adapted lenses. This system allows for blur-free images caused by camera shake.
Additionally, specifically for video, there is also an Active IS mode that adds even more precise stabilization methods for even smoother footage straight out of the camera
Wireless Connectivity and Streaming
The Sony A7 MarkIV additionally features built-in Wi-Fi for remote control as well as instant sharing to mobile devices. Supporting both 2.4 and 5 GHz bands makes it possible for tethered shooting support.
The Image Edge App is benefitted by Bluetooth to maintain a reliable connection between the camera and mobile device.
For live streaming, you can simply connect your camera to a computer, or mobile device via the USB port. This allows the camera’s video and audio to be used for live social media and video conferencing.