ILCE-7RM4

I have owned every A7r camera including the original, A7rii, A7riii, and now the A7riv. The A7riv is the first big image quality improvement in years! Is it worth it to upgrade to 60MP? Definitely but be aware that this still a specialized camera and not an action camera.The camera industry remained stead at the 24MP range for years now. In the past year the Canon R5 and R6 cameras have pushed the envelope and the new megapixel race is back in full swing. Usually high megapixel wars were more about bragging rights and marketing than actual usability. Noise and image quality decreases with higher resolutions due to smaller physical pixels. This remains true with the A7riv's 60MP sensor over the A7riii's 42MP. However the increased resolution minimalizes the perceivable noise increase (You won't see it unless you pixel peep). In addition, the higher resolution helps with sharpness, contrast, and cropping flexibility across the board and you get an overall better camera.The Good:Image Quality. As mentioned above 60MP improves sharpness and cropping flexibility. There is some degradation of dynamic range and noisier ISOs. But again, since the resolution is much finer, the small amounts of noise introduced is much less noticeable at these resolutions. When used with uncompressed RAW (see below) you get much better ISO and dynamic range.Cropping. I cannot emphasize the ability to crop with 60MP. The larger megapixel count gives greater range of flexibility to crop, refocus, and recompose photos in post. Often I change the entire composition of a photo with extreme cropping of my A7riv files. You can change full body portraits into headshots and retain excellent sharpness. Reframe centered subjects to align with rule of thirds or vice versa. The ability recompose shots afterwards is amazing!Autofocus. The A7riv has a significantly improved AF that covers much more of the sensor than the A7riii. The A7riii just added a few more contrast detection points over the A7rii but the A7riv has PDAF points nearly covering the entire sensor. With my A7riii it was very difficult to eye-AF on subjects on the corners of the sensor. With the A7riv, unless your subject is on the very edge of the sensor, you will have full AF functionality including eye-AF. Furthermore the AF is much snappier and eye-AF finds the eye faster and stays locked on in dimmer conditions and further away than the A7riii.Battery. The camera still uses the newer Z batteries that comes with the newer generation of Sony cameras. The Z Batteries have doubled life over the older W batteries. Getting such a long runtime with such a high MP camera is pretty great.IBIS stabilization. Sony was one of the first large companies to use IBIS in full frame cameras. 5.5 stops of stabilization is amazing and still makes handheld slow light photos seem like they were on a tripod. I am still amazed by this feature sometimes. Tests do show that in real world tests the A7riv has slightly better IBIS stabilization than the A7riii.Ergonomics/usability: Not much has changed over the A7riii. Every year, each new version of the camera is bigger, thicker, and heavier. The joystick feels nicer and the shape is more comfortable. The camera itself is slightly thicker which is better to hold for your hands. There are no glaring issues here.The bad:Dynamic Range. Dynamic range is on par with other cameras of this generation. However shadow recovery is slightly worse than the A7riii. This is mainly due to the use of Compressed RAW setting with continuous shooting. When using Compressed Raw and continuous/burst mode, the camera shoots at 12-bit instead of 14 bit. If you shoot in single shots with uncompressed RAW you can get much better dynamic range and shadow recovery. 60Mp files are huge and not easy to process and this camera is NOT an action camera. But the fact that you can get 10fps with a 60mp camera even at 12-bit is still pretty amazing.Processing speed: With 60MP, writing to SD cards is even slower than before. As previously mentioned you can improve image quality by using uncompressed raw which DOUBLES file sizes from around 59mb to around 117mb. This makes writing to a regular 90/95mb/s USH-I card EVEN SLOWER. You can't review images after each shot without waiting for the writing to clear. With continuous multiple shots it takes EVEN SLOWER! You can help alleviate this problem with faster UHS-II 300mb/s cards but at the time of this review these cards are RIDICULOUSLY EXPENSIVE. Sony really needs to implement compressed lossless RAW files as 60MP is nearing the limit and resolution will continue to creep up.Speed. This is not an action or sports camera, but it CAN handle some action at 10fps. As mentioned previously, shooting in burst and continuous does reduce quality a bit. If you are a wedding photographer or lifestyle/street photographer this will be fine for your needs. However if you are shooting sports, dance, motion, a dedicated action sports camera that can handle the speed without quality loss like the A1 or A9 would be better suited for you.Pixel shift. Pixel shift is a great feature on paper. The sensor shifts very slightly letting you get significantly better quality images by using quadrupling the color information in each pixel. However realistically you can't use it without some smearing or ghosting. Unless you are using it for perfectly static scenes you will get some sort of smearing. Wind moving tree leaves or grass, moving cars in cityscapes, any movement will throw off the sensor. I have never meaningfully used this feature. Additionally you need Sony's Edge software to compile the images which just adds to the processing steps.This is a great camera and a phenomenal upgrade. It does however have some limitations. For years the A7r series was the flagship camera of Sony's line. However we must remember this is really geared for landscapes and studio work were lighting conditions are controlled and you don't need to shoot fast action. Sony has diversified with the A9 and A1 line with the A9 being sports and the A1 being the dedicated all-around flagship camera with little compromises. For your everyday photographer who is not shooting ballet dancers or basketball games regularly, this should be perfectly suitable for their needs. Even professional wedding and street photographers will find little to complain about. Only the most demanding action photographers pushing the limits will want more.

The A7R4 isn't for everyone, but if your niche meets the needs of high resolution and mirrorless performance, it is fantastic.Combined with the Sony 90mm Macro I can attain tac sharp focus handheld on insect eyes. I can shoot tiny jumping spiders, assassin bugs, flowers, lichen, moss, and all kinds of incredibly tiny subjects. APSC mode (or crop in Lightroom) makes this both the highest resolution Full Frame as well as a phenomenal Crop Sensor camera. Win win!Combined with Sony 24-70 F2.8 GM, I can shoot all of my day-to-day non-macro photos. Things like street photography, infant photography, family photos, and more.If dual memory card slots is critical to you, then this is a feature you need and will love. Most mirrorless cameras (ie Nikon) are a dang joke! So sad! Seriously, if you don't have dual cards in the camera then it is just a toy, not a tool. Professionals can't risk loosing photos.File size is huge, managing space might be hard, a fast computer will help in processing and managing your files. Google drive doesn't support Sony RAW files, so I also save jpg versions for quick viewing. More space gone... more upload time required.The app is actually really great for a newer app. Connecting works all the time, but only if you do things in a particular order. They should fix that... I can control my exposure triangle from the app, shoot, and review a low resolution sample. Great for a remote shutter. Doesnt let me touch to focus... would love remote focus with focus magnifier. Would die for the same with a focus stacking mode from the app. I might be a dreamer though, probably won't ever see this.Ok, and the back screen. Seriously Sony?! Still poor resolution, but the biggest sin is that the screen still doesn't flip around like canon cameras! Holy smokes, catch a clue Sony! Vloggers are a huge deal, stop ignoring them! At least the app can give you a remote live view experience on your cell phone. So that seems to be a workaround for me. But I can see that not working well for people that blog a lot.Most people could do well with an A7R3 instead. Could you benefit from the savings? Could you use that for more accessories or glass? Would that help you more than the resolution jump? Maybe!For macro, the super high resolution is really a big help. Know your needs!Hope this helps you decide on your next camera! I love my Sony A7R4!

Sony A7R IV has the resolution, autofocus, speed, and form factor that should place it near the top ranks for Camera of the Year honors. A bit disappointed to see little work done on the camera's menu structure. The camera offers 14-bit uncompressed Raw or compressed Raws that use Sony's potentially destructive compression. There's still no lossless or visually lossless compression option.There is no 4K/60p on the a7R IV but the camera remains a strictly 8-bit video camera. Most rivals now offer 10-bit capture or output: something that gives a significant boost in terms of editing flexibility to Log footage, so it's odd not to see it here.Rather than resolving existing quirks and foibles, Sony is more focused on adding attention-grabbing new features and, to be fair, Full-time Eye AF / Full-time Tracking are very impressive.

Absolute beast of a camera. So far so good.

Amazing camera! This is the one of the best hybrid cameras available today. I switched from Canon to Sony after 10 years. Their autofocus, image quality and feature rich cameras make for a better value than Canon. This camera isn’t really for beginners as the super high resolution requires extra attention to settings for optimal results. If you are a beginner or budgeting the A7III is an exceptional camera as well.

I paired it with the 12-24 mm GM 2.8 lens as I'm primarily interested in landscape photography. This camera is a beast and the 12-24 mm GM 2.8 lens is another beast in itself. I'm thoroughly amazed. You could go to any interesting areas and get stunning results. The level of resolution is amazing. You can come home and can relive the whole hiking or adventure experience. Its impressive to print them in poster sizes. With this resolution, you can zoom into the pictures and be amazed at the level of details. You can zoom, crop away and still get a great picture. Its also very easy to adjust the menus, transfer it to computer. The combination is a lot of money however.

I have 2 cameras now.. an A7R4 and A9iiA7R4 Its not good for low light, * if you have an Prime lens 1.4 you will have great shots!With Lens 2.8 you will see some or much grainy on your photos.. but up to 6000 iso its pretty good!The sensor is 61mp, so thats why there is a lot noise!But to the other site a A9ii its for the professional users.. I can take 12.000 and 15.000 ISO and some noise!Perfect for low light photojournalism and sports !So I love both.. but A9ii its better in Autofoco, low light and things are more reliable to do... wedding etc etc!A7R4 its the second for Sony Alpha cameras that offer you a great Autofoco but A9ii is a little more advanced for the autofoco and low light situations!Let me know What you think! Love both and if you can afford it.. buy both!

This is the camera that put my 50 mp Canon 5DS into retirement. It's not just the additional 10 mp you get with the a7riv, it's also the superior quality of Sony's lenses, the superior dynamic range of the sensors, and the amazing Sony focal systems. I've shot everything from landscapes to sports to fashion with my iv. It never disappoints and routinely amazes---detail and tonal contrast is better than anything I've ever used before. With the Sony 70-200 mm G lens, the iv does a superlative job at just about everything. My Canon bodies and lenses are now a back up system. There's a steep learning curve with the iv, and of course, the raw files are huge and cumbersome, but it's all worth if if image quality is your goal.

Incredible camera. I upgraded from the A7iii and I am amazed by the picture quality and the ability to crop the photos and still retain the resolution. I took it on a recent trip to Key West for a wild dolphins watch. I am so glad I brought the A7riv with me. I was able to take some amazing pics of the dolphins from far away using the Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 and then crop in. The focus tracking works amazingly well as well. Noise is definitely worst then the A7iii in low light situation. But I am willing to live with that with all the other amazing features of the A7Riv.

Easy to handle.Silent operation. Amazing picture quality. Good range of excellent lenses. Bit expensive though.

I love the technology and the 61 megapixels.Three months after the warranty expired the shutter stopped working. After reading some literature it was obvious that other customers did have the same issues. Unlike Nikon or Canon professional cameras, Sony cameras have very low actuation numbers.

I have Sony A7M3 & this is my second camera. The A7RM4A is one of the best camera from the Sony platform. If resolution and details are what you are looking for, close your eyes and go for it. ❤️

Ok so after a few days upgrading from my good old Canon 6d, here are a few cons :Noise :- noisier than A7R3 and A73 so not great for taking pictures of my kids inside with only ambient lightning- A7R4 is about 1/3 stop noisier than A7R3 which means, to have as little noise, you need to let enter 1/3 stop more light- which means you need to lower your shutter speed (or increase aperture) by 1/3 stop, for example from f/250 to f/160, which means you will have more difficulty freezing action so your image have chances to be blurrierFile size :- uncompressed raw files are huge (120mb)- there is no lossless raw compression- you will a fast computer ($$) and a lot of SSD space to process these files- you will need large fast SD cards (UHS-II, U3, at least 256GB) that are expensive ($$)- even Sony SF-M sd card is relatively slow and won't allow me to quickly see my photos to review focus for example, I have to wait for the buffer to clear, else it's laggy, which is quite annoying, I will have to try Sony SF-G- Canon r5, Sony a7rIII, a7s3 files are much smaller so they are faster to process, think about it since your time is valuableComplexity :- not much is simple with this camera- menus could be worst but they are not user friendly at all- a "slow" SD card makes shooting in continuous mode quite annoying/odd/slow, Sony should warn the user- no scene selection mode like on my Canon 6D for people that want or need simplicity (I don't trust full auto mode)- saved settings for memory recalls can't be renamed to meaningful description- touch tracking not enabled by default- limited touch screen functionalities (only useful to set tracking point basically)- enabling Preview makes Continuous Mode atrocious because the Preview also appears in the Viewfinder- to zoom a Sony lens, it's the inverse direction than on the Canon (might be Canon's fault)- would be nice if Sony gave recommended settings (some kind of pre-sets/suggestions for Custom Keys/Buttons and My Menu Favorites)- no automatic focus bracketing- PlayMemories software keeps creating .modd files and importing my PC pictures in its library even if I unselected all folders from being imported.I tried the feature "View on TV", I get "could not authenticate the connection" on the camera and Registration failed on my sony TV (xbr 65x900e). I tried multiple times. Then I tried connecting by entering the password, I got "could not find the access point".Then I tried the new app for ios devices called Visual Story. First, why not on android ? This is not very respectful of android users. Second, it was not available in Canada. Third, (once I changed my country in apple store) the process to set it up is a mess, the ipad does not see the camera when trying to connect via bluetooth to set up the FTP and I tried with multiple ipads.Update after a few months : I got used to its many flaws and I was able to get good results without too much trouble. But this does not make it a better product. Another missing opportunity : there is no way to see the focus points using Sony Imaging Edge. Let's say you want to check where your focus was to better understand the end result. Finally, for video, the image stabilization is disappointing. My phone and my gopro are miles better and both are less expensive. Now Sony released the A1, double the price of the R4 and they have not updated the firmware on the R4 since over 6 months, pretty disappointing, not sure I will buy another camera from Sony because I don't want to encourage Sony to release more expensive products instead of improving flawed products already released.Any pros ? Ok cropping when you have images of that size/resolution is pretty insane (as long as you have low iso and no motion blur), dual slot is always good to have, dynamic range is good, battery life is ok and it survived to Canadian winters.