L0n3Gr3yW0lf
Top Veteran
- Location
- Somerset, UK
- Name
- Ovi
Disclaimer first: I had this camera with me for less than a week and I only got to use it 3 times thus far (bad weather, overworking and illness have kept me from using it). Also, this comes from using a Sony a7R Mark II for the last 9 months and past experience with Sony a7C for about 6 months.
First, the hardware:
* The build quality feels ... odd. It does feel improved compared to my previous Sony cameras. For example, the buttons are significantly more tactile and responsive with a more clicky sound to them and requiring more pressure to fully depress them. Most of the buttons are larger, especially the AF-On, which is a lot more comfortable to use. There has been some suffering of button locations but nothing major except for the loss of the AF/MF and AEL switch I am less sad about it because it couldn't be set like Olympus's Mode 1/2 switch anyways so it was less useful. But I am so happy that now the record button can be configured as a C button.
*The back dial is not particularly big and the feeling of it has not improved much, my finger can still actually miss in trying to turn it at times, I wish they would enlarge the dial and have the engraving on the inside of the dial instead. Because of the less tactile accuracy of the dial, I turn off all the Custom function buttons on its "integrated" D-pad because I would often activate and turn the dial of a function I did not wish (I would find myself stuck at ISO 50 without realizing that I pressed the right button and turn the dial just a step from Auto ISO). I set the back dial to scroll through the AF area size.
*The joystick is really nice under the finger, the raised texture dimples are unmistakable and it's large enough that I can find it with my thumb easily, but I do wish it was a bit taller and have a bit more travel when moving it around to "feel" the movement a bit better (I guess I just have to get used to it).
*At first I was not enthusiastic about the Exposure Dial being unmarked but after being used to having -0.7 EV compensation on all the time to save highlights I set that in the menu and costume set the Exposure Compensation dial to ISO instead. The front and back command dials feel great, very clicky and responsive (though I do wish Sony made them clickable for extra functionality. As for the Exposure Mode dial, I don't have much to say about it, I am not bothered by the lack of a locking mechanism as I never found it to move without my intention, having no extra fluff is very spartan and quick to use (just PSAM, 1 2 3 Custom modes and Auto). I couldn't care less about the video and S&Q modes as I don't have any interest in movie-making.
*It took some time to get used to the battery door with its new lock switch on it but it's reassuring that it's there. The battery door hasn't changed much either. The side flaps on the left side are nice as they were on Sony a7C but I rarely use them.
*The grip is bigger and it does feel nicer, especially with heavy lenses. The camera's weight feels a bit odd with the grip because it feels lighter than my Sony a7R II even though it is not still comfortable to hold. I still need an L bracket to extend the bottom of the camera because my (in between large and medium hand) pinky still hangs around like being unemployed for too long. I am happy that I found SmallRig and its brackets because the build quality is awesome and the simple but genius magnetic attachments make it very easy to take it off if I ever wanted to and its modular approach means I can take off any weight I don't want on the camera to keep the combo as light as possible.
*The EVF is an improvement though not a lot. I am happy to go back to the 120 Hz screen to have a less blurry action/tracking view and to see that the resolution does not halve when the camera is focusing. I did get an extended eyecup because I am so used to them now I don't want to use the OEM tiny ones. The proximity sensor has moved from top to bottom so the old ones will not work, unfortunately.
*The back screen resolution is a downgrade from a7R II but an upgrade from a7C. It doesn't make a huge difference BUT if it was more like the upgraded "a" version of cameras it would have been a lot better. I LOVE to have a fully articulated screen because I miss being able to see and frame vertically with ease. As well as folding it back when it's in my backpack or camera bag. I haven't played with the touchscreen yet.
*Overall I am happy with the improvements and it makes a big positive change in using the camera.
UPDATE #2:
*I don't know if Sony changed the texture or the paint they used for the body but for some reason, my Sony a7 Mark IV seems to attract dust and gunk to it like a magnet, I cleaned the camera for the 3rd time since I got it and there's seems to be gathering around the EVF edges (prism and under the EVF Eyecup). Also, there seems to be some dirt on some of the buttons (on the white paint of the letters) that just will not come out no matter how much I scrub it with a toothpick (wooden) and isopropyl.
*Finally managed to get the dust off the sensor. It took 3 swabs and 3 passovers (one per swab) to get the dust off the sensor so it doesn't show up at least to f 11 (I haven't tried to stop down more than that because I almost never use those values) but more importantly, they don't show up in images at f 6.7 with blue and white sky anymore (which was very annoying):
Before the last attempt to clean, I tried a hand air-blower and Pentax's Sensor Cleaning Kit (sticky silicon tip stick and sticky paper).
After using a 35mm FF Sensor Cleaning Kit with sterile swabs and cleaning fluid, it worked like magic (I have cleaned my Sony a7R Mark II as well which was A LOT WORSE, not my fault CEX really messed it up when I tried to trade it in but I refused because they downgraded the sale value by 200 £, and now it's sparkling clean with only one swab).
*Also note (not very relevant but could be helpful): The IBIS system on the Sony a7 Mark IV is very VERY lose once the camera is turned off, it seems to have a lot more space to manoeuvre but you need to be extremely careful with sensor cleaning because that sensor REALLY MOVES when you have contact with it, it moves by a couple of centimetres or about an inch. Compared to Sony a7R Mark II the older IBIS is significantly more rigid and fixed with a lot less movement in it, maybe 5-7 millimetres. Hopefully, by having the shutter mechanism closed when the camera is turned off I can avoid almost all the dust that the older Sony a7R Mark II attracts like flies to *insert preferred poop reference here*
The software:
*FINALLY, having a fast-ish camera is so much more comfortable for me. I enjoy the reactiveness of the camera, be it reacting to the dials or buttons, activating features, shooting continuously or playback the pictures. No more having to slow down because the camera can't keep up. It will take me months to get used to the camera so I can't talk much about this here but I can mention a few observations I have made thus far:
*The new menu, it's easy and quite intuitive. It has a learning curve because menus and options have been reorganised logically so there is a bit of getting used to where they are if you used previous cameras for many many years (I'm only one year into Sony's system). I haven't even set the My Menu yet but with all the customization that the camera as I think I will use it even less than on Sony a7C. The camera has 3 custom modes and that is more than enough for me, one would be for fast/tracking action for pets, one for portraits for humans and one for wildlife/bird tracking. I can share how I customised my camera if anyone is interested.
*On the UI side, I am quite happy with most things. I am still disappointed that Sony doesn't let you have a Histogram with all the information active but I do use zebras to let me know about my blown highlights. I wish the APS-C crop mode has a more obvious icon than a tiny square on literally the bottom right corner of the UI, at least make it red or any colour other than white to make it obvious that you have it on (I can often forget about it) and this will come in to play in a big way later.
I LOVE THE BUFFER BAR and I wish EVERYONE had this because it can help you know when you are pushing the limit of your tracking. Today it helps me realise that I need a CF Express Type A card for my future needs, which I will talk about later. As well as I love seeing how the buffer is being cleared in real time so I know when I am ready for the next action.
*The new connectivity options are awesome. Not just WiFi but Bluetooth as well, and the ability to stay connected with my phone and even transmit pictures as I make them is awesome, I can send RAW and/or JPEG files which is great because I can have a tablet with me (for example) and send JPEGS to it as I shoot and the client can pick with pictures they prefer on a big screen. That would make my selection process a lot easier. And in the future, I could find a way to integrate it in a studio workflow (if I can afford to make a studio set at my place). This is also great for working on the go, especially for holidays.
*The playback speed is great and very fast, no longer do I have to wait to see the picture, to zoom in to check the focus, scrolling is incredibly fast as well. And it can even group bursts and interval shooting if you do a lot of action, which I might consider setting it up that way once I get used to it. It would make it very easy to find specific groups and pictures in a day of shooting.
*White Balance is still not great but I guess I can try and set it up to work a bit better. Out of the box, the rendition of artificial light is still pretty bad, it's worst with street lamps where the tint is so orange that nothing can be recovered to a neutral position. I will have to make a custom White Balance for that kind of light. For everything else, during the day, it works great, I have found today that the White Balance on Auto was very close to daylight default settings.
*The one feature I really really REALLY love is the ability to have the mechanical shutter closed when the camera is off. It should minimize the amount of dust I keep getting while changing lenses. Only my a7R II the dust problem is so big I had to buy the Pentax sensor cleaning kit and I had to do it every 2 weeks, very frustrating. I am normally bothered when I use my primes or f 2.8 zoom but using my Tamron 150-500mm f 5-6.7 I can see the dust even in the viewfinder as I am framing because of the f 6.7 aperture. But here's the ironic bit, because I bought the camera used (stated as Good condition my MPB) it had a much of dust clumped on the sensor when I got the camera and try as I might I have yet to get rid of it enough to not show up in images at f 6.7. Today I have been staring at it every time I was using my big zoom unintentionally I am frustrated to the point that I contacted the official Sony repair service in my area and plan on sending the camera for a full-service next month. Still, after this "episode" I am hoping that this feature will keep dust away so I don't have to clean the sensor more than once a year (yus, I know the risks of using it and I don't have the habit of putting my fingers in the wrong holes
)
I will talk about autofocus, tracking and subject recognition in a post below because it deserves its own section.
First, the hardware:
* The build quality feels ... odd. It does feel improved compared to my previous Sony cameras. For example, the buttons are significantly more tactile and responsive with a more clicky sound to them and requiring more pressure to fully depress them. Most of the buttons are larger, especially the AF-On, which is a lot more comfortable to use. There has been some suffering of button locations but nothing major except for the loss of the AF/MF and AEL switch I am less sad about it because it couldn't be set like Olympus's Mode 1/2 switch anyways so it was less useful. But I am so happy that now the record button can be configured as a C button.
*The back dial is not particularly big and the feeling of it has not improved much, my finger can still actually miss in trying to turn it at times, I wish they would enlarge the dial and have the engraving on the inside of the dial instead. Because of the less tactile accuracy of the dial, I turn off all the Custom function buttons on its "integrated" D-pad because I would often activate and turn the dial of a function I did not wish (I would find myself stuck at ISO 50 without realizing that I pressed the right button and turn the dial just a step from Auto ISO). I set the back dial to scroll through the AF area size.
*The joystick is really nice under the finger, the raised texture dimples are unmistakable and it's large enough that I can find it with my thumb easily, but I do wish it was a bit taller and have a bit more travel when moving it around to "feel" the movement a bit better (I guess I just have to get used to it).
*At first I was not enthusiastic about the Exposure Dial being unmarked but after being used to having -0.7 EV compensation on all the time to save highlights I set that in the menu and costume set the Exposure Compensation dial to ISO instead. The front and back command dials feel great, very clicky and responsive (though I do wish Sony made them clickable for extra functionality. As for the Exposure Mode dial, I don't have much to say about it, I am not bothered by the lack of a locking mechanism as I never found it to move without my intention, having no extra fluff is very spartan and quick to use (just PSAM, 1 2 3 Custom modes and Auto). I couldn't care less about the video and S&Q modes as I don't have any interest in movie-making.
*It took some time to get used to the battery door with its new lock switch on it but it's reassuring that it's there. The battery door hasn't changed much either. The side flaps on the left side are nice as they were on Sony a7C but I rarely use them.
*The grip is bigger and it does feel nicer, especially with heavy lenses. The camera's weight feels a bit odd with the grip because it feels lighter than my Sony a7R II even though it is not still comfortable to hold. I still need an L bracket to extend the bottom of the camera because my (in between large and medium hand) pinky still hangs around like being unemployed for too long. I am happy that I found SmallRig and its brackets because the build quality is awesome and the simple but genius magnetic attachments make it very easy to take it off if I ever wanted to and its modular approach means I can take off any weight I don't want on the camera to keep the combo as light as possible.
*The EVF is an improvement though not a lot. I am happy to go back to the 120 Hz screen to have a less blurry action/tracking view and to see that the resolution does not halve when the camera is focusing. I did get an extended eyecup because I am so used to them now I don't want to use the OEM tiny ones. The proximity sensor has moved from top to bottom so the old ones will not work, unfortunately.
*The back screen resolution is a downgrade from a7R II but an upgrade from a7C. It doesn't make a huge difference BUT if it was more like the upgraded "a" version of cameras it would have been a lot better. I LOVE to have a fully articulated screen because I miss being able to see and frame vertically with ease. As well as folding it back when it's in my backpack or camera bag. I haven't played with the touchscreen yet.
*Overall I am happy with the improvements and it makes a big positive change in using the camera.
UPDATE #2:
*I don't know if Sony changed the texture or the paint they used for the body but for some reason, my Sony a7 Mark IV seems to attract dust and gunk to it like a magnet, I cleaned the camera for the 3rd time since I got it and there's seems to be gathering around the EVF edges (prism and under the EVF Eyecup). Also, there seems to be some dirt on some of the buttons (on the white paint of the letters) that just will not come out no matter how much I scrub it with a toothpick (wooden) and isopropyl.
*Finally managed to get the dust off the sensor. It took 3 swabs and 3 passovers (one per swab) to get the dust off the sensor so it doesn't show up at least to f 11 (I haven't tried to stop down more than that because I almost never use those values) but more importantly, they don't show up in images at f 6.7 with blue and white sky anymore (which was very annoying):
Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
Before the last attempt to clean, I tried a hand air-blower and Pentax's Sensor Cleaning Kit (sticky silicon tip stick and sticky paper).
Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
After using a 35mm FF Sensor Cleaning Kit with sterile swabs and cleaning fluid, it worked like magic (I have cleaned my Sony a7R Mark II as well which was A LOT WORSE, not my fault CEX really messed it up when I tried to trade it in but I refused because they downgraded the sale value by 200 £, and now it's sparkling clean with only one swab).
*Also note (not very relevant but could be helpful): The IBIS system on the Sony a7 Mark IV is very VERY lose once the camera is turned off, it seems to have a lot more space to manoeuvre but you need to be extremely careful with sensor cleaning because that sensor REALLY MOVES when you have contact with it, it moves by a couple of centimetres or about an inch. Compared to Sony a7R Mark II the older IBIS is significantly more rigid and fixed with a lot less movement in it, maybe 5-7 millimetres. Hopefully, by having the shutter mechanism closed when the camera is turned off I can avoid almost all the dust that the older Sony a7R Mark II attracts like flies to *insert preferred poop reference here*
The software:
*FINALLY, having a fast-ish camera is so much more comfortable for me. I enjoy the reactiveness of the camera, be it reacting to the dials or buttons, activating features, shooting continuously or playback the pictures. No more having to slow down because the camera can't keep up. It will take me months to get used to the camera so I can't talk much about this here but I can mention a few observations I have made thus far:
*The new menu, it's easy and quite intuitive. It has a learning curve because menus and options have been reorganised logically so there is a bit of getting used to where they are if you used previous cameras for many many years (I'm only one year into Sony's system). I haven't even set the My Menu yet but with all the customization that the camera as I think I will use it even less than on Sony a7C. The camera has 3 custom modes and that is more than enough for me, one would be for fast/tracking action for pets, one for portraits for humans and one for wildlife/bird tracking. I can share how I customised my camera if anyone is interested.
*On the UI side, I am quite happy with most things. I am still disappointed that Sony doesn't let you have a Histogram with all the information active but I do use zebras to let me know about my blown highlights. I wish the APS-C crop mode has a more obvious icon than a tiny square on literally the bottom right corner of the UI, at least make it red or any colour other than white to make it obvious that you have it on (I can often forget about it) and this will come in to play in a big way later.
I LOVE THE BUFFER BAR and I wish EVERYONE had this because it can help you know when you are pushing the limit of your tracking. Today it helps me realise that I need a CF Express Type A card for my future needs, which I will talk about later. As well as I love seeing how the buffer is being cleared in real time so I know when I am ready for the next action.
*The new connectivity options are awesome. Not just WiFi but Bluetooth as well, and the ability to stay connected with my phone and even transmit pictures as I make them is awesome, I can send RAW and/or JPEG files which is great because I can have a tablet with me (for example) and send JPEGS to it as I shoot and the client can pick with pictures they prefer on a big screen. That would make my selection process a lot easier. And in the future, I could find a way to integrate it in a studio workflow (if I can afford to make a studio set at my place). This is also great for working on the go, especially for holidays.
*The playback speed is great and very fast, no longer do I have to wait to see the picture, to zoom in to check the focus, scrolling is incredibly fast as well. And it can even group bursts and interval shooting if you do a lot of action, which I might consider setting it up that way once I get used to it. It would make it very easy to find specific groups and pictures in a day of shooting.
*White Balance is still not great but I guess I can try and set it up to work a bit better. Out of the box, the rendition of artificial light is still pretty bad, it's worst with street lamps where the tint is so orange that nothing can be recovered to a neutral position. I will have to make a custom White Balance for that kind of light. For everything else, during the day, it works great, I have found today that the White Balance on Auto was very close to daylight default settings.
*The one feature I really really REALLY love is the ability to have the mechanical shutter closed when the camera is off. It should minimize the amount of dust I keep getting while changing lenses. Only my a7R II the dust problem is so big I had to buy the Pentax sensor cleaning kit and I had to do it every 2 weeks, very frustrating. I am normally bothered when I use my primes or f 2.8 zoom but using my Tamron 150-500mm f 5-6.7 I can see the dust even in the viewfinder as I am framing because of the f 6.7 aperture. But here's the ironic bit, because I bought the camera used (stated as Good condition my MPB) it had a much of dust clumped on the sensor when I got the camera and try as I might I have yet to get rid of it enough to not show up in images at f 6.7. Today I have been staring at it every time I was using my big zoom unintentionally I am frustrated to the point that I contacted the official Sony repair service in my area and plan on sending the camera for a full-service next month. Still, after this "episode" I am hoping that this feature will keep dust away so I don't have to clean the sensor more than once a year (yus, I know the risks of using it and I don't have the habit of putting my fingers in the wrong holes
)I will talk about autofocus, tracking and subject recognition in a post below because it deserves its own section.
Last edited:
