Sony announces A7R IV: The world’s first mirrorless camera with a 61MP full-frame sensor

Having seen competitors Nikon and Canon release the Z6/Z7 and the EOS R, Sony announced yesterday the arrival of the Sony A7R Mark IV, their most advanced full-frame mirrorless camera so far. With the help of a monstrous 61-megapixel sensor, Sony says that the shooter will deliver “medium-format image quality”.

The latest arrival in their acclaimed A7 mirrorless camera series, the A7R IV’s follows its predecessor, the 42.4-megapixel A7R III that was released in 2017. It looks, based on first impressions, similar to its predecessor; it also uses the same Bionz X processor and tilting 1.44M-dot touchscreen display as the Mark III. According to Sony, the 61MP sensor on the new A7R allows for an incredible level of detail in images captured.

If you place the A7R against its competitors, its 61MP pixel count does set it apart. The Panasonic S1R, which had the highest MP count for a full-frame mirrorless camera, shoots at 47.3MP, while Nikon’s Z7 has a 45.7MP sensor. The Canon EOS R, on the other hand, has a 30.3MP sensor.

The new Alpha 7R IV combines medium format-level image quality with high-speed shooting, extremely fast focusing and an extensive list of upgrades to design, connectivity and usability. This will allow professional photographers, videographers and all other types of creators to capture content in ways that were simply not possible before.”

– Neal Manowitz, Deputy President of Imaging Product and Solution Americas, Sony Electronics

As expected, the A7R IV comes with five-axis image stabilisation built in, along with 15 stops of dynamic range, and burst shooting at 10 fps (which is pretty incredible). There is also an image buffer of 68 images, which means that you’ll get better performance when in continuous/burst shooting mode.

The sensor can also be used in APS-C crop mode, although the output will be at 26MP instead—you’ll be getting near-total-frame AF coverage, along with 325 PDAF points.

Sony has also revealed that Real Time tracking will be available for still images and, for the first time, videos (up to 4K). They’ve also brought over some Sony favourites: an AF joystick around the back of the camera as well as the popular Eye AF feature (that identifies a subject’s eyes).

Among other improvements, the A7R IV also features a 5.76-million-dot electronic viewfinder, redesigned grip, enhanced resistance against dust and moisture, dual UHS-II SD card slots, and wireless tethering.

And of course, they’re also introducing two new audio accessories that take advantage of the A7R IV’s new audio recording system that captures a digital signal: a US$350 (around RM1,437) shotgun mic and a US$600 (around RM2,464) XLR adapter.

The A7R Mark IV will be available in September for US$3,500 (around RM14,378), and marks a continued shift from many consumers from DSLRs to mirrorless bodies. Despite the best efforts of competitors like Canon and Nikon to have a bite of the full-frame mirrorless market, Sony is clearly putting down a territorial marker with the latest A7R. For more information on the camera, click here.

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