Typically, we take this kind of hype with several grains of salt, but the images we captured were really fine.Īnd on the off chance 61MP isn’t enough resolution for you, the Mark IV has a 16-image pixel-shift mode that outputs a 240MP file, easily surpassing the 180MP eight-image mode of the Panasonic Lumix S1R.

What’s more, the A7R IV delivers a claimed 15 stops of dynamic range for “breathtaking realism,” according to Sony, which puts it well within - and potentially even above - medium format territory. You can still shoot all the same subjects, and there are very few delivery methods where the difference would be noticeable at all. 61MP may sound like a lot less than 100, but in any practical sense, it really isn’t. Clearly targeted to studio professionals, it’s hard to knock such cameras, but the rest of us don’t have that kind of money, or simply don’t want a camera that big and bulky. There’s been a lot of buzz in the photo world with the introduction of medium format cameras like the $10,000 Fujifilm GFX 100, with a 100MP sensor. But for viewing images online, especially on the likes of Instagram, it’s beyond overkill. If super-large prints or extensive cropping are in your plans, then the A7R IV probably looks very attractive. For another perspective, 8K TV, still a nascent technology, is “only” 7,680 x 4,320 pixels, or about 33MP. 61MP comes out to 9,504 x 6,336 pixels, or enough resolution to make a 31 x 21-inch print at 300 pixels per inch. We’ve been quite pleased with the 24MP images from the Sony A7 III and other cameras with similar sensors. To be honest, not everyone needs so much resolution - in fact, most people don’t.

The goods news is, we can talk as much as we want about the image quality and what a 61MP sensor can do. Not that this impacted our shooting very much, but it does mean this is our initial hands-on impression and not a final review. The samples we used were production-ready in terms of image quality, but the bodies and the attendant circuitry were a little squirrelly and likely to be updated before the cameras hit store shelves. The new A7R IV arrives in September for $3,500. Not that we’re complaining, mind you - especially since we got a chance to see what that resolution really means capturing a variety of subjects at the A7R IV launch event in New York City. Yet here we are in 2019 and the numbers keep soaring into the stratosphere. That statement is pretty incredible when you recall people jumped up-and-down over the 42MP A7R II just a few years ago. The Sony A7R IV is a 61-megapixel full-frame mirrorless camera.

Sony a7r iv