A7 IV expected to be launched 21/10

The Sony A7IV has now been added to the Sony Lens Compatibility site. It looks like the same LA-EA support as the A1: screw-drive supported with the LA-EA5 and no AF with the LA-EA2 and LA-EA4. The A7RIV remains the only camera body that fully supports all the LA-EA adapters and A-mount Lens Compensation.

Well, the A9 is a four year old camera that was sold for $4500, this is $2000 cheaper. The A9 has faster read-out, faster fps and faster shutterspeed (1/32000). The A7iv has the latest colourspace, faster memory cards and 33mp - plus better video.
The A7iv is an all-round camera, the A9 (II) is a specialist tool.

For some a (used) A9 (II) is the best, for others the A7 IV. I am happy with my A7r IV.

There are a lot of options about.

This seems to have a focus upgrade compared to the A9 and A7R4, not that the A9 is bad, so that would be good. However, I am unsure how much better it is. The bird eye af is a nice addition. From what I understand the A7R4 has the same issue as the A6600 and wont allow focus tracking with animal eye-af. The A74 seems to have fixed this. Good.

The buffer, although headlines at 830 raw + jpeg, actually doesn't do that unless you use the cfexpress-a card on its own. If you use an SD or Cfexpress and SD then it is closer to 50, not bad but hardly exciting.

There are a lot of upgrades for video, but since that is not my thing I don't feel qualified to comment.

Personally I would prefer a camera more stills orientated, but given a falling camera market I can see why this needs the video capability as it can appeal to both stills and video users.

Not sure I like the flip screen. I can see the advantages in some circumstances, but it is slower to deploy, at least for stills. For video it is a different story. Similarly I would have prefered to retain the dedicated ev compensation wheel with the markings. Not sure how having a programable one with no markings is better as I use the ev compensation wheel a lot.

It will be interesting to see what comes next.

QuietOC wrote: Someone will make a sticker for the exposure compensation marking. I like that movie and S&Q are on a separate control. Those never made any sense. I haven't ever used the number settings on the mode dial. Still way too much clutter for a control for me. A simple A-S switch is all I want.

For what it is worth, I do like the number settings. It's easier to flip between your stills-photography settings and video-settings. Especially because if you change some settings for your video, they're preserved when you flip back to stills.

I can be taking pics, then want to record some video clips. All I have to do is select the preset number button. All the settings, picture-profiles etc get loaded in one go. And everything foes back to how I was shooting when I switch back.

addy landzaat wrote: For those who want a more photography oriented camera, the A9 II and A7rIV are photocentric, this is a hybrid camera. Also, what do you need? What are you missing for photography?

It has a lot that I like. The button and dial laden right top plate with a barren left is interesting. I would like to hold the camera because that thumb rest looks cramped.

The following video explains 50 differences between A7III and A7IV:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYaRmHmsvRM
In the text below the video, there is a list of those 50 topics. I quote:

Chapters 00:00 Hello! 00:13 #1 Cohesive Design 00:30 #2 Look & Feel 00:54 #3 Buttons 01:17 #4 Different Dials 01:50 #5 Better Port Doors 02:11 #6 Shutter Can Close! 02:24 #7 Strap Rings 02:38 #8 Memory Slots 03:12 #9 Better Heat Dissipation 03:31 #10 Increased EVF & LCD Resolution 03:56 #11 Flip Out Screen 04:08 #12 Touch Display 04:24 #13 New Menu 04:37 #14 Separate Photo Video Settings 05:20 #15 Save / Load Settings 05:31 #16 Screen Reader?! 06:01 #17 Better Video File Names 06:34 #18 More Ways to Find Photos? 07:09 #19 Divider Frame 07:33 #20 Scene Marker! 08:01 #21 Bulk Wireless Transfer 08:22 #22 No More NFC 08:38 #23 MORE AF POINTS! 08:50 #24 Real Time Tracking AF 09:28 #25 Animal & Bird Eye AF in VIDEO MODE?! 09:34 #26 Focus Options Limiter! 10:11 #27 Soft Skin Effect 10:19 #28 Overall Colors 10:30 #29 More Creative Looks Control 10:45 #30 Cinetone Profile 11:02 #31 SLOG3 Expandable ISO 11:18 #32 Megapixel Upgrade 11:32 #33 New File Types 12:06 #34 Shutter Type 12:19 #35 Increased Buffer 12:45 #36 4K Quality 13:07 #37 4K 60P 13:33 #38 Video Codecs & Bit Rate 14:25 #39 S&Q is it better? 14:47 #40 Proxy Recording 15:03 #41 Stabilization 15:14 #42 Flexible Exposure 15:38 #43 Focus Breathing Comp 16:07 #44 External Monitor Usage 16:43 #45 AF Speed & Sensitvity 16:54 #46 Focus Mapping 17:25 #47 No Recording Limit 17:40 #48 Gyro Metadata 17:59 #49 4CH Audio Recording + New MI Hotshoe 18:19 #50 Built-in Webcam Capability

LAbernethy wrote: I'm sorry to hear that. I never liked the A7.

Which one? There is a huge difference between the different versions. This seems comparable to the A7r4/A1/A7s3.