In brief: Sony's latest full-frame mirrorless camera is official as the imaging specialist has formally announced the Alpha 7 IV interchangeable-lens camera. The Alpha 7 IV features a newly developed 33-megapixel full-frame back-illuminated Exmor R CMOS image sensor with a standard ISO sensitivity of 100-51200 and an expanded ISO of 50-204800.
The BIONZ XR processing engine, meanwhile, is borrowed from Sony's flagship Alpha 1, to deliver high-speed autofocus and continuous shooting up to 10 frames per second with AF/AE tracking. The 759 phase-detection autofocus points cover approximately 94 percent of the image area, and Sony says the Alpha 7 IV has face and eye detection accuracy for humans that is 30 percent better than what the Alpha 7 III was capable of. The camera can also track birds' and animals' eyes in stills and videos for the first time.
A five-axis in-body stabilization system provides up to a 5.5-step shutter speed advantage, and there's also an improved grip for better comfort. Sony has additionally baked in a 3.68 million-dot OLED Quad-VGA electronic viewfinder, which the company says offers 1.6 times the resolution of the unit on the Alpha 7 III. A 3-inch, 1.03 million-dot touchscreen rear LCD panel is also present should you not want to use the EVF.
Video enthusiasts should know that the Alpha 7 IV is capable of capturing video in 4K 60p quality in Super 35mm mode, and up to 4K 30p with 7K oversampling is available in full-frame mode. The camera also features 10-bit depth 4:2:2 color sampling to enable natural gradation alongside XAVC S-I intra-frame encoding to boost the efficiency of editing workflows and XAVC HS H.265 long-GOP for doubled compression efficiency.
The Alpha 7 IV's body is constructed using a magnesium alloy to reduce overall weight, while the redesigned lens lock button helps to enhance dust and moisture resistance. That said, Sony stresses that the camera is not guaranteed to be 100 percent dust and moisture proof, so keep that in mind when shooting in suspect environments. It tips the scales at approximately 1.73 pounds with the battery and a single memory card installed (there are two card slots).
Connectivity options are aplenty and include Bluetooth 4.1, dual-band Wi-Fi and wired LAN.
As for battery life, Sony said users can expect to snap around 520 shots when using the EVF or about 580 photos with the LCD. When recording video, you can get approximately 170 minutes of continuous recording with the viewfinder or 175 minutes with the rear-mounted display.
Sony's new Alpha 7 IV is scheduled to launch sometime in December and will set you back $2,500. B&H Photo is already accepting pre-orders with a listed ship date of December 30. A bundle that includes Sony's FE 28-70mm f/3.5-5.6 OSS lens will set you back $2,698.