Best Sony Alpha 7R IV Black Friday and Cyber Monday Deals & Sales 2020:

Without necessarily being expected and less than two years after the presentation of the Sony Alpha 7R III (A7R III), Sony unveiled during the summer of 2019 the Alpha 7R IV (A7R IV) with a sensor with a record definition of 61 Mpx.

Presentation

With more than 5 years ahead of the competition, Sony reigned supreme in the market for 24×36 sensor hybrid devices in 2018 and even proudly announced to be number 1 in the American market. Not very difficult for the brand, so alone in this segment. But it was in 2018 that the competition woke up.

Sony faces competition

Nikon presented its 24×36 Z6 and Z7 hybrids , the latter boasting 45.7 MP. Panasonic unveiled the Lumix S1 and S1R , the most defined model of which has a 47.3 MP sensor. Canon was a little more shy with a technically lighter EOS R , but still equipped with a 30 MP sensor. Sony had thus left the list of contenders for the biggest definition and had to react.

The previous Alpha 7R III (A7R III) was already well born. In addition to great definition, on-board technologies associated with exemplary personalization have made it a benchmark. Sony therefore renews the case with the Alpha 7R IV (A7R IV) which evolves in small touches.

There is a 24×36 sensor, but with a definition of 61 Mpx. It will be necessary to leave on the lands of the medium-format to find better, for example the FujiFilm GFX 100 . The high resolution mode which already existed goes to 240 Mpx. The processor is inherited from the A9, with power to spare to engulf the pixels. Artificial intelligence is always more present with more efficient autofocus tracking and available in photo and video for humans and animals. In addition, the ergonomics have also been slightly revised with a slightly deeper handle and SD card ports, both UHS-II compatible.

In short, copying does not revolutionize anything, but corrects or improves a certain number of points which put end to end are no longer negligible. All with almost 40% more pixels.

The A7R IV is already sold at a price of € 3,990, in a bare version.

Best Sony Alpha 7R IV Black Friday and Cyber Monday Deals & Sales 2020

1. Sony α7R IV Full-frame Mirrorless Interchangeable Lens Camera (ILCE7RM4/B)

Others

2. Sony a7R III Mirrorless Camera: 42.4MP Full Frame High Resolution Interchangeable Lens Digital Camera. Front End LSI Image Processor, 4K HDR Video and 3″ LCD Screen – ILCE7RM3/B Body, Black

3. Sony a7 III (ILCE7M3K/B) Full-frame Mirrorless Interchangeable-Lens Camera with 28-70mm Lens with 3-Inch LCD, Black

4. Sony a7R III 42.4MP Full-Frame Mirrorless Interchangeable-Lens Camera (Renewed)

5. Sony Alpha a7R III Full-Frame 4K UHD Mirrorless Digital Camera, 42.4MP, Bundle. Vanguard VEO 2 264AB Aluminum Travel Tripod with BH-50 Ball Head. Lowepro Tahoe Backpack, Joby GorillaPod 3K Kit

Reactivity

61 MP swallowed up as if nothing had happened

With the heritage of the A9 , Sony has designed a very coherent 2019 range whose high-end boxes share the functionality thanks to the BionzX processor. The burst is announced at 10 fps with autofocus and exposure metering activated. Better yet, the buffer is capable of receiving almost 70 views in JPEG and RAW. Excellent performance, especially when you consider the huge definition of the sensor.

To benefit from the burst at full speed, you have to position yourself on the fastest mode (High +). The 10 fps are reached without difficulty. The Sony Alpha 7R IV does not seem to show signs of fatigue. Beware of storage capacity, because gigabytes accumulate very quickly.

Sony’s detection and monitoring still exemplary

Like the compact expert RX100 VII , the Sony Alpha 7R IV sees its autofocus and its detection improved. Artificial intelligence is a significant workhorse and Sony wants to show its know-how. Detection and monitoring are still very effective and position Sony as one of the leaders on this point. The detection of faces and eyes has been improved thanks to the possibility of selecting the left eye or the right eye, as desired. As for our tests, the number of wastes is very low.

Two major innovations are emerging. First, detection and tracking are now available in 4K / UHD video. The processor power is used to the full here. Next, artificial intelligence is used to detect animals and their eyes. If the function has already been seen at Panasonic with the Lumix S1 and S1R , it is just as welcome at Sony. Even if it is behind the detection of humans, it remains generally effective. It becomes possible to take stock easily on cats or dogs, but also on all kinds of animals.

Image quality

Electronic noise management

Like its predecessor, the A7R III , the Sony Alpha 7R IV extends its sensitivity from 50 to ISO 102,400. The lowest sensitivity by default is at ISO 100 while 3 lower levels are available in extended mode. Overall, electronic noise management is good and progressive up to ISO 12,800. The 3 higher settings are rather to be avoided and reserved for a specific use. If the ISO 6,400 values ​​and particularly ISO 12,800 suffer a significant loss of detail, the images retain good hold. It is possible to consider a use up to ISO 3200 without having too many ulterior motives, even if a slight graduated loss is observable beyond ISO 400.

240 MP for Pixel Shift Multi Shooting

The high resolution mode is still present, but the definition now rises to 240 Mpx. This impressive figure requires a burst of 16 views to generate the final file. Sony has not really improved the recipe, however. The conversion always requires using the proprietary Imaging Edge software instead of being done internally. In addition, when viewing at 100%, there are always some faults in certain areas of the image. It is possible to get rid of it by reducing the size of the image. It’s still a bit of a shame, especially since the phenomenon is unpredictable.

Latitude of exposure

To verify the scope of the work from an “artistic” point of view, we photographed our test scene over a range of +/– 5 EV and corrected the raw files with our editing software to obtain a similar exposure.

In terms of underexposed areas, Sony offers decent performance. Almost lossless, it is possible to easily catch up to -2 EV images. By pushing the sliders to -3 EV, a very slight grain appears; it should not be annoying in most cases. It is more difficult to catch images at -4 EV. Indeed, the grain is more present and a chromatic noise appears. It will obviously be possible to catch it in postproduction, but this is generally done at the expense of the finest details. At -5 EV, the same behavior is observed, but amplified

The good performance of the Sony Alpha 7R IV mainly lies in the management of the highlights. In our test procedure, the sensor manages to keep information up to +3 EV. Which is rather rare. For example, the Fujifilm GFX 100 – 102 MP medium format hybrid that we recently tested – wins at just over 1.6 EV! For the A7R IV, the image is not degraded up to +2 EV. It is possible to push up to +2.3 EV or even 2.6 EV. Information is however lost and colorimetric drifts in orange tones are to be expected.

Stabilization

This is nothing new, Sony is used to integrating mechanical stabilization of the sensor on its high-end hybrids. Its presence on a camera such as the A7R IV which benefits from a definition of 61 MP is appreciable. The more the number of pixels increases, the more delicate the freehand operation becomes – even more than on less defined boxes. During our tests, we managed to obtain half of our sharp shots in 1/10 s. It is rather not bad or almost essential on the ground.

Video

Few developments

Sony has long cherished its videographer users. The Sony Alpha 7R IV will be no exception. The service is of course good, but you really have to look for the differences with the previous model. We find the profiles S-Log2, S-Log3, HLG, HLG1-3, alongside other creative pre-configurations. The FHD format without cropping is always present up to 120 fps to create slow motion. Like the photo part, many settings are present and allow you to calmly consider the A7R IV for filming.

Finally, few changes are proposed. The brand rests a bit on its laurels. We find 4K / UHD at 30 fps. It is a minimum on this range. Panasonic with the Lumix S1R goes up to 60 fps with a slight cropping (1.09x). The Fujifilm GFX 100 is also confined to 30 fps, but without cropping, in 4K DCI and with a speed of 400 Mb / s. In the same vein, 10: 4: 2: 2 recording is not not here. As for Sony, cropping is important and needs to be taken into account during a shoot. The rolling shutteris still relatively important in 4K / UHD and should be improved. The image quality is ultimately good, although the feeling of sharpness could be improved. The rendering is more natural, it can be accentuated easily in postproduction.

Monitoring and detection arrive on video

This is surely “the” novelty of the video part. And of the rest of the Sony 2019 range, we would be tempted to say. The autofocus with tracking and detection of the eye and faces is now available on video. Here too, the function is very effective. The point is rarely lost and faces are quickly detected. In general, the autofocus is precise and responsive.

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