In summary
The Sony α7 IV’s move up to the BIONZ XR processor is a worthwhile advance, especially for photographers who shoot video.
Also significant are the improvements to viewfinder resolution and the shift from a tilting monitor screen to one that is fully articulated.
Sports and wildlife photographers and photojournalists will be attracted by the new camera’s superior autofocusing capabilities.
Full review
Finally announced officially on 21 October, the Sony α7 IV improves on its predecessor, the α7 III in a number of ways – some more significant than others. The jump in resolution from 24 to 33 megapixels will mean less to experienced photographers than the introduction of the new BIONZ XR processor, which delivers worthwhile performance improvements, particularly for autofocusing. The new camera introduces an upgraded tracking AF system that improves detection accuracy for human face and eyes by about 30% and can also track the eyes of birds and animals when recording stills and movies.
Angled view of the new Sony α7 IV camera fitted with the FE 20mm f/1.8 G lens. (Source: Sony.)
The new image processor also claims to be able to record an impressive 15-stop dynamic range. It also enables the α7 IV to support 4K 60p recording in Super 35mm mode and up to 4K 30p recording with 7K oversampling in full-frame mode. To take advantage of these capabilities, the camera body has been redesigned with a more comfortable hand grip. In addition, the new CFexpress Type A-compatible media slot supports media with faster writing and clearance. Details of the new features are listed below.
Who’s it For?
The price of the α7 IV puts it squarely into the professional category and many of the new features are designed to improve the ability of pro shooters to obtain a high percentage of usable shots. A body-only RRP of AU$3899 will be difficult to justify, even for relatively well-heeled hobbyists.
While the camera provides a lot for professionals, as outlined below, photo enthusiasts should probably consider the advantages of the previous model, which is still available to purchase, and can often be found at a very competitive price. The table below compares key features of the four sequential models in the α7 line, although the α7 is discontinued and the α7 II has ceased production, although a few units may remain in stores.
| α7 IV | α7 III | α7 II | α7 | |
| Introduced | October 2021 | February 2018 | November 2014 | October 2013 |
| Sensor type | BSI-CMOS | BSI-CMOS | Exmor CMOS | Exmor CMOS |
| Megapixels | 33.0 | 24.2 | 24.3 | 24.3 |
| Processor | BIONZ XR | BIONZ X | BIONZ X | BIONZ X |
| IBIS (CIPA rating) | up to 5.5 EV | up to 5 EV | up to 4.5 EV | Lens based |
| AF system | Hybrid AF; 759 PD / 425 CD | Hybrid AF; 693 points | Hybrid AF; 179 PD / 25 CD points | Hybrid AF; 117 PD / 25 CD points |
| AF detection | Human, animal face & eye, bird | Face | Predictive AF tracking | Eye AF |
| Max. image size (pixels) | 7008 x 4672 | 6000 x 4000 | 6000 x 4000 | 6000 x 4000 |
| Colour space settings | sRGB, Adobe RGB, BT.2020 | sRGB, Adobe RGB | sRGB, Adobe RGB | sRGB, Adobe RGB |
| HEIF recording | Yes; at 4:2:0 and 4:2:2 bit depths | No | No | No |
| Media | 1x CFexpress + 1x SD
both UHS-I/II compliant |
2x SD – slot 1 UHS-II compliant | 1x SD UHS-I/II compliant | 1x SD
UHS-1 compliant |
| Max. continuous | 10 fps (compressed raw) | 10 fps | 5 fps | 2.5 fps |
| Buffer capacity | >1000 frames (JPEG & most RAW) | 163 JPEG / up to89 RAW | 50 JPEG / 25 RAW | 50 JPEG / 28 RAW |
| Flash sync. | 1/250 sec. | 1/200 sec. | 1/250 sec. | 1/250 sec. |
| EVF | OLED with 3,686,400 dots, 0.78x magnification; 23 mm eyepoint | OLED with 2,359,000 dots, 0.78x magnification | 2,359,296 dots, 0.71x magnification | OLED with 2,359,296 dots, 0,71x magnification, 22 mm eyepoint |
| Monitor | 3-inch, articulating TFT LCD, 1.030,000 dots | 3-inch tilting TFT LCD, 921,000 dots | 3-inch tilting TFT LCD, 1,228,800 dots | 921,600 dots |
| Touch screen | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Video | XAVC: UHD 4K 4:2:0, 10bit, 4:2:2, 10bit 50p; 1920 x 1080 (4:2:0, 8bit / 100p, 50p, 25p & 4:2:2, 10bit, 50p, 25p) |
XAVC S: 3840 x 2160, 25p | XAVC S: 3840 x 2160, 25p | AVCHD:1080/50p at 50Mbps |
| Log recording | Yes; S-Log2 / 3 / HLG | Yes; S-Log2 / 3 / HLG | Yes; S-Log2 / 3 / HLG | No |
| Battery | NP-FZ100 / 520 shots/charge | NP-FZ100 / 710 shots/charge | NP-FW50 / 340 shots/charge | NP-FW20 / 270 shots/charge |
| Dimensions | 131.3 x 96.4 x 79.8 mm | 126.9 x 95.6 x 73.7 mm | 126.9 x 95.7 x 59.7 mm | 126.9 x 94.4 x 4474 grams 8.2 mm |
| Weight | 658 grams with battery and cards | 650 grams with battery and cards | 599 grams | 474 grams |
| RRP at launch /current ($AU) | $3988 | $3099 / $2799 | $2299 / $1799
Production has ceased. |
$1999 / discontinued |
Owners of the α7 III who are pondering whether to upgrade to the new model may not gain substantial benefits from the relatively small increase in sensor resolution. What will make a difference to their shooting capabilities is the shift to the new BIONZ XR processor, which is not only faster but also provides improved AF capabilities and supports continuous shooting of uncompressed raw files at up to 10 fps. The new camera also has a much larger buffer memory for raw files.
Improvements to the focusing system could provide real benefits to sports and wildlife shooters because of the increased ability to track both human and non-human subjects (including birds). Touch-screen controls are also more comprehensive and easier to use.
Finally, the resolution improvements to the EVF and monitor will provide sharper, more true-to-life viewing. And for those who like to send pictures from the camera to a smart device, the always-on Bluetooth LE connection will be most welcome.
What’s New?
As well as a larger, more comfortable hand grip and the addition of the CFexpress Type A card slot, the redesign of the α7 IV’s body introduces a higher-resolution OLED viewfinder with 3,686,400-dot resolution and a 120fps high frame rate option that is virtually blackout free. The side-hinged, fully-articulated LCD monitor has slightly higher (1.03 million vs 0.92 million dots) resolution and its touch functionality has been updated to make menu navigation easier.
The new camera adopts the menu system that was introduced in the α7S III, which separates the stills and video settings in both the camera’s menu. Also carried over is the customisable Fn menu plus the exposure compensation dial, which is now unlabelled and equally customisable. It also gains a locking button.
The second rear dial has been raised to sit on the top panel instead of being semi-embedded as it was on the earlier camera. Other features inherited from the α7S III include the passive cooling system (essential for high-res / high frame rate video recording) and the revised dual card slot arrangement in which both slots ate able to accept SD UHS II or CFexpress Type A cards.
One nice feature that appears to be new in the α7 IV is the ability to have the shutter blind close when power it turned off to let you change lenses without risking dust from the air settling on the sensor. Note that it takes a few seconds for this function to activate.
The movie/stills/S&Q mode selector has been repositioned to sit under the mode dial making it easier to shift between modes. A small locking button on the front of the switch must be pressed before turning.
Also emulating the α7S III, the movie record button has been shifted to the top of the camera and replaced on the rear panel with a customisable ‘C1’ button. The AF joystick and AF-ON button are larger in the new camera to make them easier to use with the upgraded AF system.
The α7 IV inherits the hybrid autofocusing system from the Alpha 1, which uses 759 phase detection points covering approximately 94% of the image area augmented by 425 contrast detection points. It has also introduced three new focusing aids: AF Assist, Focus Map and Breathing Compensation.
The AF Assist functions lets users adjust the manual focus ring on the lens to set focus and then release it to resume autofocusing and subject tracking. The Focus Map function overlays the areas in the scene that are in focus with colour in real time to help users visualise the depth of field in shots. It also provides a quick way to see which areas are in or out of focus.
The new Breathing Compensation mode will crop and resize video frames to cancel-out any change in a lens’s angle-of-view as focus is adjusted. It only works with certain Sony lenses (specifically the GM and some G series lenses) since the camera needs a profile of the breathing characteristics so it can calculate how much to crop.
As in the Alpha 1, subject-recognition algorithms combine colour, pattern and subject distance to improve Real-time Eye AF detection and tracking for humans, animals and birds. It can now operate down to -4EV with an f/2 lens in AF-S mode for improved low-light shooting capabilities and tracking is possible at apertures as small as f/11, rather than f/11 as in the previous model.
Also inherited from the Alpha 1 is the inclusion of the HEIF (High Efficiency Image File) format as an alternative to JPEG recording. While JPEG benefits from its wide compatibility, HEIF uses more efficient compression, which results in superior image quality with similar file sizes to JPEGs.
Users are given the options to record files at the 4:2:0 bit depth, which prioritises compression efficiency or 4:2:2 bit depth, which prioritises image quality. Like JPEG files, HEIC files can be combined with ARW.RAW files for simultaneous recording when a smaller image is needed for viewing while a larger one is better for editing.
In most cases, HEIF recordings will use the sRGB colour space. However, if you set HLG Still Image to ON, the camera will swap to the BT.2100 (Rec. 2100) colour space, which uses a wider colour gamut that is designed for viewing on high dynamic range TV sets.
The α7 IV gains many of its new video improvements from the Alpha 1, including the ability to record 4K/60p video from an APS-C frame crop (S35 mode) or oversampled 4K/30p without cropping. This is an improvement on the previous model, which applied a crop of approximately 1.2x crop to 4K recording.
More important is the addition of 10-bit 4:2:2 recording capability for more flexible grading of footage in post-production. There are also options to use H.265 compression (XAVC HS) and more colour profiles, including the S-Cinetone colour mode
Interval recording is available via the Drive mode settings. Users can set start times, shooting intervals, number of shots, exposure tracking sensitivity, shutter type (mechanical or electronic) and whether to prioritise the shooting interval in P and A modes if the exposures become longer than a specified value. Recordings can be played back as movie clips.
Also new is the locking card slot door in which Slot 1 is at the top and accepts either CFexpress Type A or UHS-II SD cards, and slot 2 on the bottom supports only UHS-II SD. File distribution options include stills to one slot, video to the other, separate raw and JPEG or HEIF recording, backup of all shots or overflow from one card to the other. Note: because the camera’s buffer will clear faster onto a quick CFexpress card, it’s the best choice fast continuous bursts and also for 4K movie recording.
There’s a new option in the menu that lets you decide which settings carry over from stills to video and which maintain independent values. You can choose from: Aperture, Shutter Speed, ISO, Exposure Comp, Metering Mode, White Balance, Picture Profile and Focus Mode. If you set this up when you first configure the camera, it’s easy to flick the Stills/Video switch to jump between shooting styles.
Build and Ergonomics
Like most Sony cameras, the α7 IV is made in Sony’s factory in Ayutthaya, Thailand. Physically, it’s a bit larger and heavier than its predecessor but, aside from the changes listed above, maintains the same overall design and build quality as well as dust and moisture resistance.
Front, back and top views of the α7 IV camera body. (Source: Sony.)
The α7 IV uses the same NP-FZ100 battery as the Alpha 1, α9 II, α7S III and α7R IV and can accept the VG-C4EM battery grip, which is weather-resistant and can hold two batteries. As well as providing controls for vertical orientation, it allows batteries to be recharged via the camera’s USB port, without detaching the grip from the camera.
Sensor and Image Processing
The sensor in the α7 IV is a new back-illuminated Exmor R CMOS chip with approximately 34 million photosites that deliver an effective resolution of 33 megapixels and a maximum image frame size of 7008 x 4672 pixels. It is paired with the BIONZ XR processor, which was introduced with the flagship Alpha 1 camera and provides the speed necessary for continuous shooting up to 10 fps with AF/AE tracking and up to 4K 60p video recording.
Accordingly, the α7 IV offers an extended sensitivity range from ISO 50 to ISO 204,800 and covers a dynamic range of up to 15 stops. Improved autofocusing capabilities use 759 phase-detection AF points that cover approximately 94% of the image area to provide Real-time Tracking and Real-time Eye AF with a 30% improvement in detection accuracy for humans, along with the ability to track birds’ and animals’ eyes for both still images and movies.
The α7 IV allows users to choose from three file formats: JPEG, HEIF and Sony’s proprietary ARW.RAW. A JPEG or an HEIF image can be combined with a raw file, if desired and users can ‘sort’ the files to be saved on different cards when setting the Recording Media options.
Three images size are supported for JPEG and HEIF files (L: 7008 x 4672 pixels, M: 4608 x 3072 pixels and S: 3504 x 2336 pixels), along with four compression settings each for JPEG and both HEIF images. There are also four aspect ratio settings (the default 3:2 ratio plus 4:3, 16:9 and 1:1).
The table below shows the maximum file sizes available for still image capture at each compression level when recording with the 3:2 aspect ratio.
| File format | Quality | Image size |
| JPEG | Extra fine | 27.8MB |
| Fine | 13.3MB | |
| Standard | 9.4MB | |
| Light | 7.1MB | |
| HEIF | Extra fine | 11.9MB |
| Fine | 8.2MB | |
| Standard | 6.4MB | |
| Light | 4.6MB | |
| Compressed ARW.RAW | RAW | 45.7MB |
| RAW+JPEG | 64MB | |
| RAW+HEIF | 53.3MB | |
| Lossless compressed ARW.RAW | RAW | 53.3MB |
| RAW+JPEG | 64MB | |
| RAW+HEIF | 58.2MB | |
| Uncompressed ARW.RAW | RAW | 84.2MB |
| RAW+JPEG | 96.97MB | |
| RAW+HEIF | 92.75MB |
Buffer memory capacity for continuous shooting has been dramatically expanded in the new camera, to the point where for most file formats more than 1000 continuously recorded frames can be accommodated. When file formats are combined, up to 828 uncompressed RAW+JPEG pairs can be stored during continuous shooting, although when RAW+HEIF is selected, the more efficient HEIF compression extends the buffer capacity to more than 1000 frames.
Video
The α7 IV records all video in Sony’s proprietary XAVC format, which is also used by the company’s CineAlta professional video cameras. XAVC uses level 5.2 of the H.264/MPEG-4 AVC codec, which is the highest level supported by that video standard.
- Five options are provided in the camera’s menu:
XAVC HS 4K – which uses the high-efficiency HEVC codec and enables movies to be recorded with higher image quality than XAVC S movies but the same data volume. Long GOP compression is used. - XAVC S 4K – which records movies in 4K (3840 x 2160) resolution, also with Long GOP compression.
- XAVC S HD – which records movies in Full HD (1920 x 1080) resolution and Long GOP compression.
- XAVC S-I 4K – which records movies in 4K resolution but uses All-Intra compression, which more suitable for editing than LongGOP compression.
XAVC S-I HD – which records movies in Full HD resolution with All-Intra compression.
Users can also choose from a number of bit rates, colour sampling settings and bit depths, depending on how the recording will be used. Higher bit rates, bit depths and colour depth values will yield higher image quality.
Like the α7S III, the α7 IV does not support the Cinema 4K resolution of 4096 x 2160 pixels. But it does offer the same Slow & Quick recording modes with frame rates ranging from half normal speed to 100 times faster, depending on the selected frame rate. Some restrictions apply when 4K resolution is used.
Users can also record a low-bit-rate proxy movie simultaneously with a normal or slow/quick-motion recording. These small movie files are ideal for transferring to smartphones or uploading to websites.
The α7 IV also supports S35 (Super 35mm) recording, which crops the frame to cover the same angle of view as the APS-C format. This provides a focal length extension of 1.5x the designated 35mm focal length of the lens.
Connectivity
New interface connections include the upgrade to a full-size HDMI port, which complements the regular USB-C and Micro USB ports. The USB-C port can be used for battery charging and also to live stream audio and video to a computer or smart device. Headphone and microphone ports are also provided and built-in Bluetooth LE enables the camera to maintain a constant connection with a smart device.
Playback and Software
Playback functions are essentially the same as other Sony Alpha cameras and accessed via the playback button on the rear panel. This control uses the image database that is automatically created when a memory card is inserted into the camera.
As has become usual, no software is supplied with the camera; just a stack of multi-lingual printed manuals that are little more than set-up guides which provide links to the product’s downloads pages. Owners of the camera can download a user’s manual in PDF format and access a Web manual.
The software bundle consists of Sony’s Imaging Edge software for desktop, webcam and mobile, IPTC Metadata Preset for creating and exporting IPTC metadata and PlayMemories Home for Windows and Mac. A connectivity guide for linking the camera at a TV set is also available.
Performance
Unfortunately, the ARW.RAW files recorded by the α7 IV camera were not yet supported by Adobe Camera Raw, our preferred raw file converter, when our review was carried out. So we had to rely upon the conversion facilities in Sony’s Imaging Edge desktop application, which aren’t quite as good.
Subjective assessments of stills taken by the camera were made with several different lenses, although we relied on the recently-reviewed Sony FE 50mm f/2.5G lens for our Imatest tests and the Sony FE 28-70mm f/3.5-5.6 lens for our test shots and video recordings. Both lenses showed JPEGs were recorded with excellent colour accuracy, well-controlled saturation and a relatively wide dynamic range for stills as well as movies.
Our Imatest tests showed the review camera and FE 50mm f/2.5G lens combination to be capable of exceeding expectations for the camera’s 32.7-megapixel sensor with measurements taken in the centre of the frame on JPEG files at ISO 100. Test results were close to expectations with measurements taken half and three-quarters of the way to the periphery of the frame.
ARW.RAW files recorded simultaneously with the JPEGs exceeded expectations across the entire image frame. Resolution remained high across the ISO range with a slow decline beginning at ISO 800, although overall results for the raw files were higher across all sensitivity settings, as shown in the graph of our test results above.
Low light exposures taken with the FE 28-70mm f/3.5-5.6 lens showed the review camera to be an excellent performer. Noise was barely visible in shots taken at ISO 25600 and only just discernible at ISO 51200 in the form of slight image softening in JPEGs and visible grain in raw files.
Both JPEG and raw images became increasingly noise affected as sensitivity was increased, with the softening effects of noise-reduction processing causing softness and blotches in JPEGs and increased granularity in raw files. Colour reproduction in either file type was barely affected as sensitivity was increased.
White balance performance was similar to other Sony cameras we’ve reviewed and generally very good, partly because the camera provides three auto correction options: standard, ambience priority and white priority. All three settings delivered almost neutral colour rendition under fluorescent lighting, as expected.
The white priority auto setting also removed much the warm cast imparted by incandescent lights although, as expected, more of the warm tone remained when the ambience priority and auto WB settings were used. Few traces of colour biases were visible in shots taken under LED lighting with all three auto WB settings, with the ambience priority setting retaining a slight warm cast.
Sony doesn’t provide a preset for LED lighting but the Incandescent preset tended towards slight over-correction with both tungsten and LED lights. The various fluorescent lighting settings also imparted slightly different colour casts without bringing the image colours any closer to neutral. Manual measurement produced neutral colour rendition with all three lighting types and the camera provides easily-accessible settings for tweaking colour biases on the fly.
Autofocusing was almost always fast and accurate and we experienced no incidences of hunting, even when shooting in very low light levels. Focus tracking of moving subjects worked especially well when recording video clips and the ability to shift focus quickly by touching the LCD screen proved valuable for obtaining smooth recordings.
Video recordings were made with the FE 28-70mm f/3.5-5.6 lens and performance was generally excellent, even in overcast conditions. The camera recorded a wide brightness range with plenty of scope for post-capture editing.
Autofocusing in movie mode was also excellent and the system was able to keep track of moving subjects, even when other moving objects entered and crossed the frame. The audio quality from the camera’s built-in microphones was generally good but weren’t able to test the camera’s full capabilities, either with an accessory microphone or when recording video to an external recorder.
The camera’s built-in stabilisation was also very competent, although we were unable to fully challenge it with the Sony lenses we had access to. Examples of hand-held shooting at slow shutter speeds can be found in our review of the Tamron 150-500mmf/5.6-6.7 Di III VC VXD lens, where we used the α7 IV camera for some tests.
We carried out our timing tests with an 80GB Sony TOUGH CFexpress Type A card, which was provided by Sony and has an 800MB/s read speed rating and a write speed rating of 700MB/s. The review camera took just over a second to power-up, when the card had been used previously in the camera. This is about average for current Sony cameras.
Capture lag averaged 0.2 seconds becoming negligible when shots were pre-focused. Shot-to-shot times ranged from 0.3 to 0.7 seconds, depending upon how fast as we could keep pressing the shutter button. We used the LED indicator on the camera to estimate processing times. Both JPEG and ARW.RAW files were processed in just under two seconds on average and we found no significant differences in processing times for compressed and uncompressed raw files and even RAW+JPEG pairs.
Because of the camera’s huge buffer capacity, we opted to record bursts of approximately 10 seconds for our measurements. With the electronic shutter and the High-speed+ mode, we recorded 110 frames in 10.3 seconds, which was close to the specified 10 fps frame rate. With the mechanical shutter the camera recorded 68 frames in 10.2 seconds in the burst mode without pausing, which falls a little short of the 8 frames/second rate specified for the camera. We were unable to measure buffer clearance times as the indicator LED on the camera did not glow while frames were being processed in either recording mode.
In the normal high-speed continuous shooting mode, the camera appears able to keep up a continuous capture rate of around six frames/second with all file formats for as long as there’s space to accommodate them, suggesting shots are processed on-the-fly.
Conclusion
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SPECS
Image sensor: 35.9 x 23.9 mm Exmor R CMOS sensor with 34.1 million photosites (32.7 megapixels effective)
Image processor: BIONZ XR
Lens mount: Sony E-mount
Body: Magnesium alloy with weather-resistant construction
Image formats: Stills: JPEG (DCF Ver. 2.0, Exif Ver. 2.32, MPF Baseline compliant), HEIF (MPEG-A MIAF compliant; 4:2:0 / 4:2:2 ), RAW (Sony ARW 4.0 format compliant; Compressed / Lossless Compressed / Uncompressed); Movies: XAVC S: MPEG-4 AVC/H.264, XAVC HS: MPEG-H HEVC/H.265
Audio: LPCM 2 ch (48 kHz 16 bit), LPCM 2 ch (48 kHz 24 bit), LPCM 4 ch (48 kHz 24 bit), MPEG-4 AAC-LC 2 ch
Image Sizes: Stills: Movies: XAVC HS 4K: 3840 x 2160 (4:2:0, 10bit, 4:2:2, 10bit / 50p); XAVC S 4K: 3840 x 2160 (4:2:0, 10bit, 4:2:2, 10bit / 50p & 25p); XAVC S HD: 1920 x 1080 (4:2:0, 8bit / 100p, 50p, 25p & 4:2:2, 10bit, 50p, 25p); Slow & Quick mode frame rates: 1 fps, 2fps, 3fps, 6fps, 12fps, 25fps, 50fps, 100fps
Digital zoom functions: Clear Image Zoom: Still images: Approx. 2x, Movies: Approx. 1.5x (4K), Approx. 2x (HD)
Aspect ratios: 3:2, 4:3, 16:9, 1:1
Image Stabilisation: Image Sensor-Shift mechanism with 5-axis compensation; CIPA rated for up to 5.5 stops
Dust removal: Charge protection coating on optical filter and image sensor shift mechanism
Shutter (speed range): Electronically-controlled, vertical-traverse, focal-plane shutter (30 to 1/8,000 second plus Bulb; flash sync at up to 1/250 sec.
Exposure Compensation: +/- 5EV in 1/3 and 1/2EV steps
Exposure bracketing: Single, 3/5/9 frames selectable. (Ambient light, Flash light)
Other bracketing options: Continuous (3 frames across 1/3EV steps), WB, DRO, flash (3 frames in intervals of 0.7EV steps)
Self-timer: 2, 5 or 10 seconds delay plus Continuous and Bracketing self-timer with 3 or 5 frames at intervals of 2, 5 or 10 seconds
Interval recording: Yes, for time-lapse movie
Focus system: Fast Hybrid AF (phase-detection AF / contrast-detection AF) with 759 phase-detection AF points covering approximately 94% of the image area; 425 points (contrast-detection AF)
AF selection: Wide / Zone / Center Fix / Spot / Expand Spot / Tracking [Still images: Human (Right/Left Eye Select) / Animal (Right/Left Eye Select) / Bird; Movies Human (Right/Left Eye Select) / Animal (Right/Left Eye Select) / Bird]
Focus modes: AF-A (Automatic AF), AF-S (Single-shot AF), AF-C (Continuous AF), DMF (Direct Manual Focus), Manual Focus
Exposure metering: 1200-zone evaluative metering with Multiple, Centre-weighted, Entire Screen Average, Highlight and Spot (Standard / Large) metering patterns
Shooting modes: Intelligent Auto (Auto), Program AE, Aperture Priority AE, Shutter Priority AE, Manual Exposure
Picture Profile modes: Black level, Gamma (Movie, Still, S-Cinetone, Cine1-4, ITU709, ITU709 [800%], S-Log2, S-Log3, HLG, HLG1-3), Black Gamma, Knee, Colour Mode, Saturation, Colour Phase, Colour Depth, Detail, Copy, Reset
Creative Look modes: ST, PT, NT, VV, VV2, FL, IN, SH, BW, SE, Custom Look (1-6)
Colour space options: sRGB (with sYCC gamut), Adobe RGB and Rec. ITU-R BT.2100 standard (BT.2020 gamut)
ISO range: Auto (ISO 100-12800), ISO 50 to 204800
White balance: Auto / Daylight / Shade / Cloudy / Incandescent / Fluorescent / Flash / Underwater / Colour Temperature (2500 to 9900 K) & colour filter / Custom
Flash: Multi-interface shoe for external flashguns
Flash exposure adjustment: +/- EV in 1/3EV steps
Sequence shooting: Max.10 frames/sec. with locked AF
Buffer capacity: Max. >1000 Large/Fine JPEGs or RAW files; 828 Uncompressed RAW+JPEG pairs
Storage Media: Dual slots for SD and CFexpress Type A cards (both UHS-I/II compliant)
Viewfinder: 0.5 type 3,686,400-dot OLED Quad-VGA EVF; 0.78x magnification; 23 mm eyepoint, -4.0 to +3.0 dpt adjustment; selectable STD 60 fps / HI 120 fps frame rates
LCD monitor: Side-opening 3-inch vari-angle touch-panel TFT LCD with 1.030,000 dots, 5 steps of brightness adjustment plus Sunny Weather mode
Interface terminals: USB multi/micro, 3.5 mm stereo mini-jacks for microphone and headphones, Vertical grip connector
Wi-Fi function: Built-in Wi-Fi; Bluetooth v4.1 (Bluetooth Low Energy) 2.4 GHz band
Power supply: NP-FZ100 rechargeable Li-ion battery; CIPA rated for approx. 520 shots/charge
Dimensions (wxhxd): Approx. 131.3 x 96.4 x 79.8 mm
Weight: Approx. 658 grams with battery and card
Distributor: Sony Australia; 1300 720 071
TESTS
Based on JPEG files recorded with the FE 50mm f/2.5 G lens.
Based on ARW.RAW files converted into TIFF format with Sony Imaging Edge desktop software.
SAMPLES
Auto white balance with incandescent lighting, Standard mode.
Auto white balance with incandescent lighting, Ambient Priority mode.
Auto white balance with incandescent lighting, White Priority mode.
Auto white balance with fluorescent lighting.
Auto white balance with warm-toned LED lighting, Standard mode.
Auto white balance with warm-toned LED lighting, Ambient Priority mode.
Auto white balance with warm-toned LED lighting, White Priority mode.
ISO 50, 30-second exposure at f/5.6; 67mm focal length.
ISO 100, 20-second exposure at f/5.6; 67mm focal length.
ISO 800, 10-second exposure at f/6.3; 67mm focal length.
ISO 6400, 2-second exposure at f/8; 67mm focal length.
ISO 12800, 2-second exposure at f/11; 67mm focal length
ISO 25600, 2-second exposure at f/16; 67mm focal length.
ISO 51200, 1-second exposure at f/16; 67mm focal length.
ISO 102400, 1/2-second exposure at f/16; 67mm focal length.
ISO 20400, 1/2-second exposure at f/18; 67mm focal length.
28mm focal length, ISO 500, 1/30 second at f/10.
70mm focal length, ISO 3200, 1/80 second at f/8.
70mm focal length, ISO 2000, 1/60 second at f/6.3.
70mm focal length, ISO 200, 1/15 second at f/6.3.
70mm focal length, ISO 10000, 1/20 second at f/14.
45mm focal length, ISO 640, 1/50 second at f/11.
28mm focal length, ISO 160, 1/20 second at f/4.
28mm focal length, ISO 10000, 1/30 second at f/11.
Close-up; 36mm focal length, ISO 12800, 1/10 second at f/7.1
56mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/60 second at f/8.
55mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/160 second at f/8.
70mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/100 second at f/6.3.
51mm focal length, ISO 640, 1/60 second at f/4.5.
29mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/30 second at f/4.
70mm focal length, ISO 1000, 1/80 second at f/5.6.
Still frame from XAVC HS 4K 50p video clip; 200M 4:2:2 10bit. Long GOP compression.
Still frame from XAVC HS 4K 50p video clip; 150M 4:2:0 10bit. Long GOP compression.
Still frame from XAVC HS 4K 50p video clip; 75M 4:2:0 10bit. Long GOP compression.
Still frame from XAVC S 4K 50p video clip; 200M 4:2:2 10bit. Long GOP compression.
Still frame from XAVC S 4K 50p video clip; 150M 4:2:0 8bit. Long GOP compression.
Still frame from XAVC S 4K 25p video clip; 100M 4:2:0 8bit. Long GOP compression.
Still frame from XAVC S HD 50p video clip; 50M 4:2:2 10bit. Long GOP compression.
Still frame from XAVC S HD 50p video clip; 50M 4:2:0 8bit. Long GOP compression.
Still frame from XAVC S HD 25p video clip; 50M 4:2:0 8bit. Long GOP compression.
Still frame from XAVC S HD 100p video clip; 100M 4:2:0 8bit. Long GOP compression.
Still frame from XAVC S-I 4K 25p video clip; 300M 4:2:2 10bit. Intra compression.
Still frame from XAVC S-I HD 50p video clip; 222M 4:2:2 10bit. Intra compression.
Still frame from XAVC S-I HD 25p video clip; 111M 4:2:2 10bit. Intra compression.
Rating
RRP: AU$3988; US$2499 (body only)
- Build: 9.0
- Features: 9.0
- Versatility: 9.2
- Autofocusing: 9.0
- Still image quality JPEG: 8.9
- Still image quality RAW: 9.0
- Video quality: 9.1
BUY
