61
Herewetakeacloser look at some of the Sony
Alpha7RIV’sotherfeatureswe’reyettomentionFocal points
Continuous
shooting
Images captured in a
burst can be displayed
as a group to save
you trawling through
hundreds of shots.
These groups can also
be deleted or protected
in one quick operation.Anti-flickershooting
Flickerfromfluorescentandother artificial lighting is detected by the camera
andtheshutteractionis timed to minimise the flicker effect on still images.
Thismodehelpssuppressexposure and colour anomalies at the top and bottom
ofimagesshotathighshutter speeds between continuous shots.Touchscreen
response
The response speed of
touchpad operation is
said to be 1.5 times
faster than the A7R III.
The touchscreen also
supports repositioning
of the AF point with
your thumb when the
viewfinder is raised
up to your eye.Real-time Eye
AF for Animals
Advanced AI-based
subject recognition
in Sony’s Real-time
Eye AF includes an
algorithm supporting
animal tracking. It
greatly increases your
success rate when
shooting pictures of
animals in the wild or
pets at home.96.4mm
7 7. 5 m m
Rating
function
Ratingscanbe
appliedduring
reviewplayback.
Imagesrated
between1 to 5
starspickedup
byLightroom.
Theprotect
functionis
assignedtothe
custombutton
C3bydefault.128.9mm
CAMERA TEST Testbench
closer to perfecting the build and
handling of its A7 series. Picking
up the A7R III after using the
A7R IV feels like a backward
step. Based on this, I wouldn’t
be surprised if Sony perseveres
with the larger grip and body
refi nements that have been
introduced on the A7R IV and
carries them across to its other
A7-series models in the future.
Viewfi nder and screen
Unlike the A7R III, which employs
a 3.69-million-dot electronic
viewfi nder, the A7R IV is the fi rst
A7-series model to sport a new
and improved 5.76-million-dot
UXGA OLED electronic viewfi nder.
It’s the fi nest example of any EVF
we’ve used on an A7-series model
and presents a crisp and clear
viewing experience, with the
advantage over an optical fi nder
being you’re able to view exposure
changes live. Depending on your
preference, it can be set to a
display speed of 60fps or 120fps,
with the latter rendering fast
motion better at the expense of
consuming more battery power.
Below the EVF, very little has
changed. The A7R IV inherits
the same 3in, 1.44-million-dot
tilt-angle screen as the Sony A7R
III. Again Sony has persisted with it
being tilt-only. While it does offer
assistance with low- and high-
angled shooting, it doesn’t offer
the same fl exibility in the portrait
format as you get with some
cameras that feature three-way
tilt or vari-angle screens. The way
the touchscreen allows you to set
the focus point and examine
magnifi ed images in playback
mode will appeal, but compared to
other manufacturers’ screens, the
A7R IV’s touchscreen functionality
is behind the times. You can’t
navigate the menu, make
exposure adjustments or swipe
through images by touch. Given
how advanced the camera is in
other areas, the touchscreen
control is a bit of a letdown.Performance
The image quality from the A7R III
was remarkable, but the 61MP
images out of the A7R IV go
one better. The detail is absolutely
phenomenal, but you do need
to be wary that this draws
attention to optical fl aws and the
slightest sign of camera shake.
The good news is that the image
stabilisation is remarkably effective
at ensuring the camera can be
used handheld, but as a matter
of principle you will want to keep
shutter speeds high when the
camera is used unsupported.
Dynamic range is astonishing at
the low end of the ISO range, with
the ability to pull out immense
detail from dark shadows without
noise being overpowering. To
prevent highlights being blown out
in high-contrast scenes I elected
to expose for the brighter parts in
a scene and then process the raw
fi le to lift the shadows and balance
the exposure.
I couldn’t fault the metering
system in use. It rarely misread a
scene and the same can be said
for the auto white balance system.
Colour is faithful and consistent,
resulting in images that appear
neither too warm nor too
cool. If you end up shootingAF tracking
sensitivity
This is adjustable in five
steps and governs how
the camera reacts to
subjects that move
outside the focus area.
It’s set to 3 (Standard) by
default but can be raised
to 5 (responsive) or
lowered to 1 (locked on).