Sony Alpha 7 IV Full-Frame Mirrorless Camera With 33MP Sensor, 4K 60fps Video Recording Launched

Sony has launched a new full-frame camera that can take excellent stills and videos. The Sony Alpha 7 IV is the fourth-generation Alpha 7 series camera and succeeds the Alpha 7 III, which was launched in 2018. The new camera brings significant improvements, including higher resolution, faster and more reliable autofocus, improved user interface design, and enhanced video recording capabilities. Touted as a hybrid camera, the Alpha 7 IV offers the convenience to switch from photo mode to movie mode easily with the help of its dual-layer mode dial. Sony also announced two new flashes—HVL-F60RM2 and HVL-F46RM—along with the Alpha 7 IV camera.

Sony Alpha 7 IV Features, Specifications

The Sony A7 IV’s body is constructed using magnesium alloy to keep its weight in check. The redesigned body aids in protection from external elements like dust and moisture. Sony claims that the design, production, and packaging of its new camera was done keeping the environment into consideration. The camera uses recycled plastic called SORPLAS, which is produced using renewable energy such as solar power generation. The product packaging also adopts recyclable plastic-reduced materials.

The Sony A7 IV scores heavily over its predecessor as it comes with a new 33MP full-frame backside-illuminated Exmor R CMOS image sensor from Sony. It offers a wide sensitivity range of ISO 50 to ISO 204,800. According to Sony, the Alpha 7 IV inherits its colour science from Sony’s A7S III, promising superior colour reproduction and lower noise compared to the Sony A7 III. The camera is powered by Sony’s BIONZ XR image processor that inherits advanced AF (Autofocus) capabilities from Sony’s flagship Alpha 1 camera lineup. It offers 759 phase-detection autofocus points, real-time tracking, Eye AF (for humans, animals, and birds).

The camera can shoot 10fps in burst mode with unlimited continuous shooting. However, it is limited to 828 shots if you choose to shoot in uncompressed RAW or JPEG formats. The camera sports a 3.68-million-dot OLED quad-VGA live viewfinder which has improved in resolution. The 3-inch 1.03 million-dot side-opening vari-angle touchscreen LCD display offers flexibility to shoot from different angles.

The Sony A7 IV also excels in videography as it can shoot 4K 60fps videos in Super 35mm mode and up to 4K 30fps recording with 7K oversampling in the full-frame mode. It features a 10-bit colour depth with 4:2:2 colour sampling for natural colour gradation. The XAVC S-I intra-frame encoding allows efficient editing workflows and the XAVC HS provides doubled compression efficiency. The camera is also capable of 120fps slow-motion video recording in Full HD resolution. It also has 5-axis in-body image stabilisation for a 5.5-step shutter speed advantage.

Other noteworthy features include dual-band Wi-Fi, Imaging Edge Mobile app connectivity, Bluetooth, AI video editing cloud service, and a USB 3.2 Gen. 2 Type-C port. The camera comes with a high capacity Z-series battery and an improved heat dissipation system. 

Sony Alpha 7 IV Price, Availability

The Sony A7 IV is priced at $2,499 (around ₹1,87,055) for the body only package, which is $500 more than the launch price of the Sony Alpha 7 III. Pairing it with an FE 28-70mm F3.5-5.6 OSS zoom lens will cost $2,700 (around ₹2,00,000). The camera will be available for purchase in the UK and the US starting December 2021.