Sony Alpha a7 IV (no lens included)

Recording Features

Overview: The Sony α7 IV (ILCE-7M4K) Interchangeable-lens digital camera kit contains the α7 IV camera body, along with a rechargeable battery, adjustable neck strap, AC adapter, and USB cable. There are no lenses included in this "body only" kit. The α7 IV has a full-frame 35mm image sensor, and is compatible with Sony E-mount lenses. With the LA-EA4 or LA-EA5 Mount Adapter, the camera can also use Sony A-mount lenses.

3" Vari-angle LCD Touch Screen Monitor: The α7 IV uses a 7.5cm (3.0"-type) LCD screen with 1,036,800 dots. You can swing out LCD panel out approximately 176° and rotate it up to 270° (180° forward, 90° backward) so you can vary the monitor angle for both stills and movies. The touch-sensitive screen lets you perform focusing and shooting functions by touching the LCD panel. The brightness of the LCD monitor can be adjusted in 5 steps from -2 to +2, plus a Sunny Weather mode.

0.5" OLED Electronic Viewfinder: The 0.5" high contrast Quad-VGA OLED electronic color viewfinder has 3,686,400 dots, and provides approximately 100% frame coverage. You can adjust the brightness in 5 steps. The built-in diopter lets you adjust the viewfinder image to your individual eyesight. You can set the camera to switch between the LCD screen and viewfinder automatically when you look into the EVF, or choose one or the other in the camera's menu.

Display Modes: In the monitor, you can choose from the following display types: Display All Info, No Display Info, Histogram, Level, and For Viewfinder. When shooting with the viewfinder, you can choose from No Display Info, Histogram, and Level.

Live View: The α7 IV's Live View lets you use the LCD screen and Electronic Viewfinder to frame your photos as you shoot. When the Live View display is set to "Setting Effect On", the LCD or viewfinder will provide an accurate preview of your photo, including the white balance, exposure compensation, creative style or picture effect. With the "Setting Effect Off", you can check the image composition without the effects of the exposure settings.

Image Sensor: The α7 IV features a back-illuminated, full-frame 35mm Exmor-R CMOS image sensor (35.9 x 23.9mm) with a 3:2 aspect ratio. It has approximately 34.1-million total pixels and 33.0-million effective pixels. The camera also features the next-generation BIONZ XR™ image processing engine that is 8 times more powerful than the one in the α7 III. This processor offers enhanced performance, improved image quality and color reproduction, and faster continuous shooting.

Still Image Recording Formats: The α7 IV can shoot 35mm full-size image sensor photos in Large, Medium, and Small sizes. It can also shoot APS-C still images in Medium and Small. Still images are recorded in JPEG or HEIF (4:2:2 or 4:2:0 color sampling) file format in Light, Standard, Fine, and Extra Fine quality (compression) rates. You can choose to shoot in 3:2 (same as 35mm film), 4:3, 16:9, or 1:1 aspect ratio. You can record 3:2 still images in Large size using the RAW format with Uncompressed, Lossless Compressed, or Compressed quality settings. RAW images must be transferred to a computer for processing, editing, and printing using the downloadable Imaging Edge Desktop software. You can select the following image sizes:

Movie Recording Formats: The α7 IV can record 16:9 4K in XAVC HS (HEVC/H.265 codec) and XAVC S (MPEG-4 AVC/H.264) format at a maximum 200Mbps bit rate, as well as Full High Definition movies at 50 Mbps (max). You can also record movies in XAVC S-I format. Audio is recorded in LPCM 2ch (48kHz/16-bit), LPCM 4ch (48kHz/24-bit)*, LPCM 2ch (48kHz/24-bit), or MPEG-4 AAC-LC 2ch formats. Movies can be recorded in either NTSC or PAL. You can select from the following bit rates/image quality (NTSC):

* Note: Accessories that support 4ch output and 24-bits required.

Dual Slot/ Dual Media Options: The α7 IV camera has two slots for recording media -- Slot 1 supports CFexpress Type A and SD, SDHC, and SDXC memory cards; Slot 2 supports SD, SDHC, and SDXC cards only. You can also use microSD memory cards when used with the appropriate adapter. The recording options for the two slots include:

• Slot 1: records still images or movies on the memory card in Slot 1.
• Slot 2: records still images or movies on the memory card in Slot 2.
• Simultaneous Recording: simultaneously records still images or movies on the memory cards in Slot 1 and Slot 2.
• Slot Recording: records still images with different file formats and image sizes by sorting them to different slots. You must set the file format and image size of still images for each slot.
• Auto Switch Media: The camera automatically starts recording on the other memory card when a memory card in use becomes full, or no memory card is inserted.

Supported Recording Formats: You can record still images with CFexpress Type A, SD, SDHC, or SDXC memory cards. The following restrictions on the movie recording formats apply for each media type:

Clear Image Zoom: Clear Image Zoom, powered by Sony's By Pixel Super Resolution Technology, increases the effective focal length of the lens by 2x-4x for Still images and HD movies, and by 1.5x for 4K movies, by digitally magnifying the center of the image with no image degradation. Smart Digital Zoom is available for still images for full frame (1.5x to 2x), and APS-C (1.3x). Standard Digital Zoom can be used for full frame and APS-C images (4x to 8x) and for movies (4x).

Focus Modes: The α7 IV's Fast Intelligent auto focus system combines the high-speed BIONZ XR image processor and improved algorithms with optimized image sensor read-out speed to provide ultra-fast auto focusing. You can choose from the following Auto/Manual Focus Modes:

• AF-S (Single-shot Auto focus): The camera focuses and the focus is locked when you press the shutter button halfway down. Recommended for use with motionless subjects.
• AF-A (Automatic Auto focus): The camera locks the focus when it determines that the subject is motionless, or continues to focus when the subject is in motion. During continuous shooting, the camera automatically shoots with Continuous AF from the second shot.
• AF-C (Continuous Auto focus): The camera continues to focus while the shutter button is pressed and held halfway. Recommended for use when the subject is in motion.
• Direct Manual Focus (DMF): After focusing automatically, you can make fine focusing adjustments manually by turning the focus ring on the lens.
• Manual Focus: When it is difficult to get the proper focus in auto focus mode, you can adjust the focus manually. This mode allows you to set the distance of a subject by rotating the focusing ring to achieve a sharp focus.

AF (Auto focus) Area: The α7 IV features 759 focus points for phase-detection auto focusing in full frame mode with full frame lens. In APS-C mode it has 713 points with full frame lens and 575 points with APS-C lens. The camera has 425 contrast-detection focus points. You can select between 6 settings:

• Wide: The camera focuses automatically on a subject in all ranges of the image.
• Zone: You can select a zone on the monitor on which to focus.
• Center Fix: The camera uses the AF area located in the center area exclusively.
• Spot: You can change the size of and move the focusing area in order to focus on a small subject or narrow area.
• Expand Spot: If focus isn't possible on the single selected point, it uses focus points around the flexible spot as a secondary focus area to facilitate focus.
• Tracking: When the shutter button is pressed halfway, the camera tracks the subject within the select AF area. You can select the desired tracking start area by designating the area as a flexible spot or an expanding flexible spot.

Eye AF: The Eye AF function has been improved with more effective eye detection and tracking, even when shooting a moving portrait subject, or if the subject is looking down or away, or is backlit. When photographing your pet or wildlife, the Animal-eye AF automatically detects and tracks the eyes of animals or birds.

Face Detection: The camera can detect human faces, and adjusts the focus, exposure, performs image processing and adjusts flash settings for best results. Faces can be registered, and priority given to those faces over others in the frame. Up to 8 faces can be detected and/or registered.

AF Illuminator: When you press the shutter button halfway down a red illuminator is emitted until the focus is locked. Under dark lighting conditions or when you shoot a low contrast subject, the AF illuminator allows the camera to focus more easily on the subject.

In-body Stabilization: The α7 IV is equipped with a sensor-shift-type in-body image stabilization system to reduce the effect of camera shake. This system is carefully fine-tuned to match the 33MP performance of the camera, allowing you to photograph faraway objects without the blur of camera shake. It features 5-axis compensation with an effect equivalent to 5.5 stops faster shutter speed. It can compensate for camera shake in the following ways: pitch, yaw, X-axis, Y-axis, and roll.

Drive Modes: The camera offers the following shooting modes: Single shooting, Continuous Shooting, Self-timer (Single), Self-timer (Continuous), and Bracketing (continuous, single, white balance, and DRO).

Continuous Shooting: The camera can record still images continuously while the shutter release button is held down. You can select from the following speeds: Hi+ (10 fps), Hi (8 fps), Mid (6 fps), and Low (3 fps). In most cases, you can record up to 1000 images, depending on the file format and the memory card capacity.

Self-Timer: You can set the camera to several self-timer settings:

• 10 Second: After you press the shutter button, the shutter will be released about 10 seconds later. This is convenient when the photographer wants to appear in a photo.
• 5 Second: After you press the shutter button, the shutter will be released about 5 seconds later. This is convenient when the photographer wants to appear in the photo.
• 2 Second: After you press the shutter button, the shutter will be released about 2 seconds later. This is convenient to reduce camera-shake.
• Continuous Self-timer: The camera records 3 or 5 images continuously after a 10, 5, or a 2 second delay. You can choose the best shot from the multiple shots taken.
• Bracketing Self-timer: The camera records multiple images, each with a different exposure, after a 10, 5, or 2 second delay.

Bracket Shooting: Bracket shooting allows you to shoot 3 images, each with different degrees of exposure, white balance, flash intensity, and dynamic range. You can select the increment steps for each frame of the bracket.

Interval Shooting: The Interval Shooting function lets you automatically shoot a series of still images and create a time-lapse movie from the images using Imaging Edge Desktop software. You can set the following:

• Shooting Start Time: the time from when you press the shutter button to when interval shooting starts (1 second to 99 minutes 59 seconds)
• Shooting Interval: the time from when one exposure starts to when the next exposure starts (1 second to 60 seconds).
• Number of Shots: the number of shots for interval shooting (1 shot to 9,999 shots)
• AE Tracking Sensitivity: tracking the auto exposure vs. the change in luminance during interval shooting (low, mid, high).
• Shutter Type: mechanical shutter or electronic shutter
• Shoot Interval Priority: whether or not to prioritize the shooting interval when the exposure mode and the shutter speed becomes longer than the shooting interval. (Off/On)

Exposure Modes: The top-mounted Mode Dial lets you select from the following exposure modes:

• iAuto (Intelligent Auto): This mode allows easy shooting with settings adjusted automatically using scene recognition.
• Program Auto (P): For shooting with the exposure adjusted automatically (both the shutter speed and the aperture value), while allowing you to adjust other settings manually.
• Aperture Priority (A): This mode allows you to shoot after adjusting the aperture value manually, letting the camera set the appropriate shutter speed. This mode gives you greater control over the depth of field.
• Shutter Speed Priority (S): This mode allows you to shoot after adjusting the shutter speed manually, letting the camera set the appropriate aperture. You can choose a shutter speed of 1/8000 to 30 seconds for still images, or 1/8000 to 1/4 second for movies. With a high shutter speed, the moving subject appears as if it is frozen on the image. With a slow shutter speed, the moving subject appears as if it were flowing. Bulb photography is also available in this mode.
• Manual Exposure (M): This mode allows you to shoot after adjusting the exposure (shutter speed and aperture) manually.
• Memory Recall (1, 2, 3): You can register often-used camera settings (including Shooting Mode, Aperture, Shutter speed) in one of three memory positions on the Mode Dial for easy recall.

Still/Movie/S&Q Dial: Using the ring around the Mode Dial, you can quickly and easily switch between still image shooting, movie recording, and S&Q (Slow-motion/Quick-motion) shooting mode.

Exposure Compensation: Exposure compensation is used to alter the camera's standard exposure setting. You can make the image look lighter (increased exposure) or darker (decreased exposure) The exposure compensation amount can be adjusted using the rear dial on the camera +/-5.0 EV in 1/3-step or 1/2-step increments. For movies, you can adjust the exposure compensation value within a range of +/-2.0EV for movies.

Metering Mode: A 1200-zone evaluative sensing system provides multi-pattern measuring for superior exposure control accuracy in a wide range of lighting conditions. You can select the method for measuring the brightness of a subject from the following methods:

• Multi-pattern: This method uses the whole screen divided into 1200 zones to measure light.
• Center-weighted: While emphasizing the central area of the screen, this method measure the average brightness of the entire screen.
• Spot: This method measure light only in the spot metering circle in the center of the frame.
• Entire Screen Average: Measures the average brightness of the entire screen.
• Highlight: Measures the brightness while emphasizing the highlighted area on the screen.

White Balance: You can adjust the color tones according to the lighting conditions. You can choose from the following WB options, and adjust the +/- 3 to fine tune the colors: Auto WB, Auto (Ambience), Auto (White), Daylight, Shade, Cloudy, Incandescent, Fluorescent (Warm White), Fluorescent (Cool White), Fluorescent (Day White), Fluorescent (Daylight), Flash, Underwater, and Custom (1, 2, 3).

Color Temperature/Color Filter: You can adjust the white balance further by selecting Color Temperature or Color Filter in the Custom White Balance option. With Color Temperature, the higher the number, the more reddish the image, and the lower the number, the more bluish the image. Color Filter achieves the effect of Color Compensation filters for photography. Based on the set color temperature as the standard, the color can be compensated to Green (G) or Magenta (M).

ISO Settings: ISO is a unit of measurement of sensitivity to light. The larger the number, the higher the sensitivity. The camera's ISO can be set manually or automatically, depending upon the exposure mode. For still images, the sensitivity can be set to ISO 100 to 51200, expandable to ISO 50 (min) and ISO 204,800 (max).

Multi-Interface Shoe: The α7 IV does not have a built-in flash, but is equipped with the Multi-Interface Shoe, allowing you to use an external flash, such as the HVL-F20M, HVL-F28RM, HVL-F46RM, or HVL-F60RM2. The ECM-XYST1M stereo microphone is also compatible.

Flash Features: When an optional external flash is attached, the camera offers several Flash Modes: Autoflash, Fill-flash, Slow Sync, and Rear Sync. You can adjust the amount of flash light in a range of -3.0 EV to +3.0 EV with the Flash Compensation feature.

Wi-Fi / Bluetooth

Wireless Overview: The Sony α7R IV lets you connect wirelessly with your mobile phone, tablet, or computer via Bluetooth (ver. 4.1) or Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g/n/ac, 2.4GHz/5GHz) through the Imaging Edge Mobile or Desktop apps.

Imaging Edge Mobile App: To interface with the Sony α7R IV, your smartphone/tablet must have the Imaging Edge Mobile application. With the app, you can transfer still images and 4K videos from your camera, shoot remotely using your phone, add location information from your smartphone to your image files, and change and save camera settings using your phone. The app is compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch, and requires iOS 13.7 or later. It is also compatible with Android smartphones and tablets with the Android 7.0 and up operating environment.

Wi-Fi Functions: The following wireless functions can be performed with the α7 IV:

• Smart Remote: You can use a smartphone as a remote controller for the camera. Still images shot via remote control are automatically sent to the smartphone's memory. You can also change some of the camera's settings, including EV, Self-Timer, and Review Check.
• Send to Smartphone: You can transfer still images to a smartphone for viewing. Images can be transferred in its original image size, or resized to 2M or VGA. RAW images are converted to JPEG format before being transferred.
• Send to Computer: You can transfer images stored on the camera's memory card to a computer connected to a wireless access point or wireless broadband router in order to easily make backup copies.
• View on TV: Images can be viewed on a network-enabled TV.

Streaming Webcam: Using Sony's Imaging Edge Webcam software, you can use the camera to live stream high quality video on many of the popular video conferencing software platforms, including Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Google Meet. You can control the look of your content by choosing the lens focal length to control the depth-of-field. Your video stream will stand out with better quality images, even in difficult lighting. To stream from your camera, you will need to connect it to your computer via the included USB cable. The camera's microphone will not capture sound, so a separate microphone is required, plugged into the computer. Optional accessories include a tripod or other mount, and a constant light source. Imaging Edge Webcam software is compatible with is compatible with Windows 10 (64-bit only) and macOS Big Sur (Version 11), macOS Catalina (Version 10.15), macOS Mojave (Version 10.14), and macOS High Sierra (Version 10.13).

Play And Print Functions

Playback Screen: You can view your photos back as a single image on the LCD monitor, as an Index or as a Slide Show. During Index View mode, you can view 9 (3 x 3) or 30 (6 x 5) images at once.

Enlarged Display: You can enlarge an image during playback to view details of your photos. The maximum magnification depends upon the size of the original image: Large: 19.5x, Medium: 12.8x, Small: 9.7x.

Auto Review: After an image is recorded, you can have the camera automatically display it on the LCD monitor for two, five or 10 seconds. You can also turn off auto review.

Image Rotation: Vertical shots can be rotated automatically so that they are displayed upright during playback. This can be done manually or automatically.

Slide Show: You can automatically play back still images continuously in a slide show. You can set the interval to 1, 3, 5, 10, or 30 seconds.

D-Range Optimizer/Auto HDR: The camera allows you to correct the brightness and contrast of an image automatically, using the D-Range Optimizer (DRO) and Auto High Dynamic Range functions. The DRO optimizes the gradations of a recorded image in each area of the image; you select the optimal level from Lv1 (weak) and Lv5 (strong). When Auto HDR is selected, the camera shoots three images with different exposures, then overlays them to create one image with the correct exposure and an overlaid image.

Protect Images: You can protect all images on your memory card or select only certain images to be protected from accidental erasure.

Battery Information

InfoLithium Battery: The α7 IV is powered by the supplied, high-capacity NP-FZ100 InfoLithium battery (7.2V, 2280mAh, 16.4Wh). The battery communicates data to the camera, so that the percentage of battery power remaining can be displayed. The battery life specs are as follows:

Charging: The NP-FZ100 InfoLithium battery requires approximately 255 minutes (4 hours 15 minutes) to reach a full charge using the supplied AC-UUD12 AC adapter and USB cable. You can also charge the battery with a commercially available AC adapter or mobile battery. When a device that is compatible with USB Power Delivery (9V/3A or 9V/2A), fast charging is available.

Power Save: You can set different time intervals for the camera to switch to Power Save mode. You can set the interval to 10 seconds, 1 minute, 2 minutes, 5 minutes, or 30 minutes. Once the camera goes into Power Save mode, you can return to the shooting mode by pressing the shutter button halfway.

Connections

HDMI: The camera has a full-sized HDMI (Type A) connector that allows 4K movie and 4K still image playback. HDMI resolution options include: Auto, 2160p, 1080p, or 1080i. No HDMI cable is included.

Digital Terminals (USB): The camera features two USB terminals--USB Type-C and Multi/Micro USB. You can use either terminal for supplying power, charging the battery, or USB communications. The USB-C terminal is compatible with SuperSpeed USB 10 Gbps (USB 3.2). The Multi/Micro USB is compatible with Hi-Speed USB (2.0).

Microphone: A 3.5mm stereo minijack is provided for connecting a microphone.

Headphone: The 3.5mm stereo headphone jack lets you listen to audio through headphones during movie recording or playback.

Software

Downloadable Software: The α7 IV does not include software in the box. Instead, Sony offers software for Windows- and Mac-compatible computers for importing still images and movies recorded with the camera to your computer. You can download the software to your computer using the appropriate URL provided in the supplied Instruction Manual.

Imaging Edge (Remote/Viewer/Edit): Imaging Edge desktop software lets you remotely operate the camera from your computer, either tethered with a USB cable or wirelessly via Wi-Fi. The software lets you make precise adjustments to the focus and composition, using the grid, guide, and overlay functions, and view images live on the large computer screen. You can also perform confirmation, selection, image-quality adjustment, and RAW development on your computer. The software is compatible with 64-bit versions of Windows 10 and Windows 8.1, as well as macOS 10.14-10.15 and macOS 11 operating systems.

Imaging Edge Webcam: This desktop application can turn your Sony α7 IV into a high-quality webcam for live streaming and video conferencing. The software is compatible with Windows 10 (64-bit), macOS 10.14, 10.15, macOS 11, and macOS 12. Using the camera as a webcam has the following benefits:

• Image Quality: The camera captures faces with natural colors in low light or with back lighting situations.
• Large Sensor: The camera's large image sensor can help make the subject stand out while blurring the background.
• Auto Focusing: When Real-time Eye AF and AF Tracking are enabled the subject stays in sharp focus at all times.
• Easy Setup: Once you connect the camera to your PC via USB, you simply select the camera to be used in live streaming or video conferencing.