How strong is Sony A7M4? A7M4 Quan Huafu Micro-single Comprehensive Evaluation

After the indiscriminate bombing of various new products last month, the long-awaited α7 series also ushered in a new generation-α 7 IV. Since the release of α7 III for three years, it has been one of the top-selling mainframes in Quan Huafu market. Whether the appearance of α 7IV can break the proud record of the previous generation, our test may provide some reference for everyone!

On the second day after the release of α7 IV, we brought you the first-hand report at Sony Image Center in Beijing. I believe you have a basic understanding of the appearance of α7 IV. This time the real machine came to the studio, and we had enough time to play. We also put the α7 IV and previous generations of models together and made a detailed comparison in appearance.

The α 7 IV is equipped with a 33-megapixel back-illuminated CMOS image sensor, which can record at 4K 60fps in super 35mm mode and 1080p 120fps in Quan Huafu mode. The sampling rate of 4K 60 frames/sec is 4.6K, and the sampling rate of 4K 30 frames/sec is 7K.

The specification of the whole machine is about 13 1 96 80mm (at the widest point), which is 2mm longer than α 7S III, which will limit the versatility of some accessories in previous generations. After adding the memory card and battery, it only weighs 658g, which is the consistent feature of Sony α series.

Compared with α 7R IV, the top dial of α 7 IV has some changes. Under the mode switching dial, you can directly switch three shooting modes, and the top is simplified to M/S/A/P/AUTO and three user-defined mode dials. The cancellation of the exposure file on the right side adds a user-defined dial, which is convenient for users to set.

α 7 IV finally added a full touch flip screen with a resolution of 1.03 million points. This screen supports left and right 1.80 degrees, up and down 270 degrees, so that you can have a comfortable shooting posture at high angle, low angle or self-portrait. α 7 IV also adds a groove design at the lower right of the screen (the groove of α 7III is at the upper right), which is convenient for users to pull out the screen.

In terms of interface, Sony finally replaced the easily damaged micro HDMI cable interface (in the three years of using α 7 III, we broke at least four micro HDMI cables), and the full-size HDMI interface is more universal and safer. The protective cover covered by the interface adopts folding design. The interfaces near the screen are, from top to bottom, 3.5mm radio interface, 3.5mm display interface, Type-C charging/data transmission interface, and Mini USB interface (which are mostly used to transmit information with the stabilizer now). The interface can meet most of the needs of film and television workers, and it is no different from α 7S III.

The α 7 IV has a dual card slot. The upper card slot 1 supports both CFexpress card and UHS-IISDXC/SDHC memory card, and the lower card slot 2 supports UHS-IISDXC/SDHC card. The fuselage can be equipped with dual cards to record photos and videos respectively, which is especially important for the high-pixel, high-video model such as α 7 IV.

Generally speaking, compared with previous models, Sony α 7 IV is more inclined to the key layout of video shooting and follows the intuitive key layout logic on α 7III. The camera and photography system are optimized respectively, which also makes the overall capacity of α 7 IV more balanced.

In this test, the lenses of α 7 IV are all Sony FE 24-70mm f/2.8 GM. In addition, because the latest Camera Raw does not support opening the raw format of α7 IV, the photos taken in the test are all in JPEG format.

00 1 dynamic test

We shot the tolerance scale step by step in overexposed and underexposed environments respectively, and pulled back to normal exposure to see the dynamic range of α7IV.

After the exposure of each file is pulled back to the normal exposure in the later period, we can see from the screenshot that the details of α7IV can be found in both negative 4 and positive 5 files, but some details are lost in the dark part of -5 file. This high dynamic range is enough to cope with multiple shots in a large light ratio environment. See you at the endurance test tomorrow.

002 high sensitivity test

The sensitivity range of α 7 IV is ISO 50 ISO 102400. We shoot videos at different sensitivities, enlarge the later screenshots and compare the noise performance under different ISO gears.

α7 IV has dual native ISO, namely ISO 800 and ISO3200 in S-Log mode. It can be clearly seen that when ISO 3200 and below, the picture details and dark noise are well controlled. When ISO6400 makes a slight noise in the dark; When ISO 12800 is used, the dark noise is increased, but it is within the acceptable range. In ISO25600, the details of the picture are blurred and the noise in the dark part continues to increase; After ISO25600, the details of the picture are blurred seriously, and the noise in the dark part is further increased. The noise increases further after several gears, so it is not recommended.

003 jelly effect test

The effective pixel of α7 IV is 33 million, which is much higher than that of α7 III, and it is bound to be more difficult to control the jelly effect. We use shooting fans with different video specifications, and we can see that under the premise of the same moving speed of the object, 4K 30fps is oversampled from 7K, so the jelly effect will be more prominent than the other two items. When shooting fast-moving objects, we can use the 4K60fps format for recording.

004 autofocus test

The focusing of α7 IV is phase autofocus plus contrast detection focusing. We mainly measure the autofocus performance of α7 IV by tracking people's movements, drawing pictures and focusing in dark light. Set to continuous focus mode, the default focus transition speed is 5, and turn on face/eye priority focus.

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First of all, in the fast and slow movements of the characters, we can see that the follow focus of α7 IV does not hesitate at all. After the young lady approached a little, the eye focus frame followed firmly; In the test of drawing and redrawing characters, Miss Jie can keep up with the focus at the center and edge of the picture. After Miss Sister finished drawing a picture, the focus shifted smoothly, and she didn't look for the focus repeatedly. When a character enters the screen, the focus responds immediately with almost no delay.

The environment of dark focus test is -5, and eyes can be seen. In such a dim environment, the eye focus frame can keep up with the movement of human eyes most of the time, and the subject focus frame can keep up completely. More importantly, even if people turn around, focusing can accurately lock the subject. Of course, we don't usually shoot in such a dim environment, but if there is such an extreme demand, it is recommended to turn off the eye recognition function to prevent the focus from jumping back and forth between the human eye and the subject.

To sum up, the autofocus performance of α7 IV has been greatly improved compared with α7 III. The focus of human eyes can be trusted, the focus system is well adjusted and the focus experience is excellent.

005 anti-shake test

The α7 IV fuselage comes with five-axis anti-shake, which can achieve a level 5.5 anti-shake effect. In addition to the standard anti-shake mode, this α7 IV also adds an enhanced mode to the anti-shake menu in camera mode. After the anti-shake mode is turned on, the jitter caused by a large number of handholds can be eliminated; Turn on the anti-shake enhancement mode again, the picture will be partially cropped, but it can offset more irregular hand shake and achieve a more stable hand-held shooting effect.

006 creative appearance

This time, 10 creative appearances have been added, which can be applied in photography and video mode. If so, these creative appearances will only affect JPEG format, not raw format. It has a good direct effect on architectural shooting, panorama, character skin color and so on. , and can provide reference for later retouching.

007 color reproduction test

In the aspect of color reproduction, we used the standard color mode of α7 IV to shoot Miss Sister and 24-color color cards, and later introduced Da Vinci. It can be seen that α7 IV can almost coincide with the skin color index line in the aspect of skin color restoration, and the skin color of the characters is no longer as yellow as before. Combined with the results of color card analysis, the overall imaging style of α7 IV tends to be green, blue and other cool colors, which largely solves the problem of "Sony yellow" that has been criticized by users.

The α7 IV uses the same BIONZ XR processor as the α7S III, and can oversample from 7K to 4K in the shooting format of 4K 30fps, so as to obtain a picture with a definition far exceeding that of ordinary 4K. Most of the following samples were taken at 4K 30FPS. As can be seen from the sample, the video clarity of α7 IV is amazing, and the power of full pixel reading and oversampling can be seen.

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Shoot video samples

The night scene in the second half of the sample is directly obtained after Lut recovery, and there is no noise reduction in the later period. It can be seen that α7 IV does not lack too much high sensitivity because of the high pixel of 33 million, and the imaging quality in ISO6400 is acceptable.

The enhancement of fuselage anti-shake is also very practical. In the past, α7 III only had the SteadyShot ordinary anti-shake mode, which in many cases could not completely filter the hand shake and needed to be trimmed and stabilized later. Although the enhancement mode is cropped, it can at least let us shoot videos, which can greatly increase the probability of obtaining available materials.

In addition to the human eye recognition focusing mentioned above, α7 IV also has animal eye and bird eye recognition focusing, and the success rate of bird eye recognition is very high. α7 IV supports 4K 60fps and 1080P 120fps slow motion recording in the machine, and the bit stream and color depth are the same as those in the normal video mode. With the anti-shake blessing, it is easier to capture the graceful posture of birds.

These days, our most intuitive feeling is that the usability of α7 IV has changed greatly compared with α 7 III. For example, the exposure compensation pulsator in the upper left corner can customize other functions. I usually set the rotation adjustment ISO in the M file, so that the right index finger can control the aperture, the thumb can control the shutter speed and ISO, and the finger sliding can quickly adjust the exposure without any buttons. This slight improvement in operation allowed me to experience the SLR only on the α 7 IV.

The menu layout follows the new menu on α 7S III, and the menu logic is much smoother than α 7 III. First, the menu will display different functions (photography/video shooting) according to the current gear. The full touch screen combined with the custom menu placed in the first column will make the setting very efficient, and you don't have to turn over the 10 menu to find a function that you don't know where to hide.

Of course, with the new menu, you have to have this full-touch flip screen to help you improve your efficiency to the greatest extent. The touch effect of the display screen is good, and it is difficult to use. In addition, the flip screen design can basically be said to remove all the pain points of previous generations of models. The flip screen greatly improves the experience of low-angle composition or vertical shooting, and it can be more handy when taking selfies.

With these functions, α 7 IV becomes a perfect live broadcast host, except for a Type-C data cable. α 7 IV supports that the machine is directly connected to the computer through the Type-C interface to be recognized as a camera (at present, most manufacturers need to download special software to be recognized by streaming software such as OBS). When setting the live scene, you can turn on the preset appearance of beauty and creativity. And get 1080 full HD 60-frame live images. At present, there is no other micro-single mode that can do this. With the excellent focus of α 7 IV, it is easy and efficient for a single person to build a live room.

Sony's α 7 product line has a clear positioning in different series of hosts. "S" focuses on high-performance photography, "R" focuses on high-pixel photography, and "M" is a "bucket machine" for balanced photography. Therefore, before the release of α 7 IV, although we can make a rough prediction of its parameters, 422 10 bit and 7k excessively adopted the recording formats of 430 fps and 330 fps. It can be seen that in the series of α 7, Sony not only relies on the knife method, but also takes into account the performance and price. We can also see the innovation of α 7 IV in operation logic, direct color and live broadcast function, and the determination to set a new benchmark for Quan Huafu.

If you are already a user of Sony E-port family, with the advantage of universal bayonet, the starting cost of α 7 IV will be reduced a lot, and many upgrades are beyond the reach of α 7 III or a6000 series hosts. These two types of users can rush without hesitation; For users of α 7R or α 7S series, these three product lines have their own emphasis and need to be measured according to their own needs.

If you don't have a Sony minicomputer in your hand, or are still waiting to see who is the most worthwhile Quan Huafu mainframe at present, don't forget to book our next issue of Quan Huafu mainframe review. We have assembled Canon R6, Nikon Z6 II, Panasonic S5 and α 7 IV with high voices to compete on the same stage to help you choose your machine more rationally.

Advantages:

1, the operability of the dual system has been significantly improved.

2, portrait skin color, creative appearance and other colors are optimized.

3. The focusing system is very reliable.

Disadvantages:

1, the jelly effect is great, which will affect the shooting of moving objects.

Real shot proof