Using a combination of phase-detection AF and contrast-detection AF, Fast Hybrid AF focuses precisely even on small subjects or on people posed in front of a nighttime background. A wide, dense AF area covers roughly 94 of the image area for both still and movie shooting with 759 phase-detection points, while the contrast-detection AF system uses 425 points. This vast collection of data is analysed in real time by the latest powerful processing engine to achieve the AF system's impressive results.

The α7 IV is equipped with robust wired and wireless communication features for more comfortable sharing and distribution. In-body wireless LAN uses a 5GHz band in addition to the 2.4GHz band, for fast data transfer. Background FTP transfer of files can be set to occur automatically while shooting continues, and a USB Type-C® connector supports fast SuperSpeed USB 10Gbps (USB 3.2 Gen 2) data transfer.

The α7 IV's Quad-VGA OLED viewfinder provides roughly 1.6 times the resolution of the α7 III viewfinder, with a 37.3° FOV and a 23mm high eyepoint. With high resolution, improved electronic viewfinder image quality, and fogging and dust resistance (including significantly improved internal fogging resistance relative to the α7 III), it is designed for clear and comfortable viewing in a wide range of shooting environments.

The large, side-opening 3.0-type 1.03-megadot touch-panel LCD monitor offers ample brightness for clear viewing in outdoor settings, and its 3:2 aspect ratio makes efficient use of the display area. The vari-angle mechanism allows flexible positioning and framing for handheld shots, gimbal-mounted or documentary-style self-shooting, or very low ground-level shots.

The α7 IV's menus are specific to either stills or movies, and for easier navigation menus are configured to show three levels of hierarchy at once. Separate functions for stills and for movies can be assigned to various buttons and dials, including the new, freely customisable Rear dial R. With controls tailored to whichever shooting mode you are currently using, the flexible access provided by the Rear dial R contributes to greatly enhanced still and movie shooting efficiency.

Befitting the α7 IV's status as a true hybrid camera, it comes equipped with a dedicated Still/Movie/S&Q dial to instantly switch between movies and stills. The dial switches the menus, functions, and custom settings of various controls between still and movie mode, and settings such as aperture and shutter speed are also maintained separately for stills and movies. S&Q mode can also be selected, for fast access to slow-motion or quick-motion shooting.

For the first time in the α series, the α7 IV provides compensation for focus breathing. Focus breathing is any change in a lens's angle of view that corresponds to changes in focus. Sony's original Clear Image Zoom technology is used to automatically maintain a consistent angle of view, for more movie-like focus transitions. This feature can be used in conjunction with Active Mode image stabilisation to shoot stable, consistent imagery.

The new Focus Map overlays focus information onto a live real-time display to show which areas are in or out of focus. Being able to clearly visualise depth of field in this way makes it easier to quickly set up your ideal focus point and depth of field during rehearsal. As a result you can use the camera's excellent video definition and fast lenses to create impressive shots with shallow depth of field.

The AF Assist function, inherited from the Cinema Line FX6, lets you seamlessly switch to and from manual focus during movie shoots. When this feature has been turned on, rotating the focus ring temporarily switches operation from autofocus to manual focus to allow you to deliberately shift your focus to a different subject.

Touch Tracking lets you select a subject to track simply by touching the LCD screen, even while using the viewfinder, for more intuitive AF control for both still shots and movies. Easier focus operation is particularly helpful when you're shooting movies alone or using a gimbal, allowing you to concentrate on composing your shots.

The Real-time Eye AF function is now capable of detecting the eyes of birds and tracking them in real time, for both still shots and movies. The BIONZ XR engine runs optimised AF and tracking algorithms to ensure uninterrupted tracking even for birds in flight, whose movement is hard to predict. Once you've selected a bird, the camera will automatically detect and precisely track that bird's eye, whether the bird is perched or in flight.

The superior processing power of the BIONZ XR engine has led to improvements in both Real-time Eye AF and Real-time Tracking features. Improved face detection translates into 30 better eye-detection accuracy, while faster image processing yields higher accuracy when the subject is looking up, down, or sideways. Real-time Tracking allows you to select your subject and then leave tracking to the camera, relying on the latest subject recognition algorithm and high-speed analysis of spatial data by the processing engine.

Live streaming is as easy as connecting to a computer through a USB connection, and you can choose from four different output formats, including high-resolution 4K video. You can select whichever configuration is best for current network conditions and the devices used, and simultaneous internal recording is also available, giving you broad flexibility to cover a wide variety of needs.

Both the mechanical and electronic shutters allow continuous shooting at up to 10 fps with AF/AE tracking. The latest powerful processing engine and increased buffer memory allow faster writing to memory cards, so you can shoot more than 800 uncompressed RAW+JPEG frames (more than 1600 altogether), or more than 1000 compressed RAW+JPEG frames (more than 2000 altogether, up to a full memory card) . Increased processing power also allows you to change menu settings even while data is being written to the memory card.

Active Mode uses the camera's stabilisation unit, gyro sensors and sophisticated algorithms for highly effective in-camera optical image stabilisation during movie shoots. The powerful processing engine precisely detects the required amount of compensation for smooth stabilisation in all formats , including 4K, without compromising the α7 IV's compact size and mobility. And, because the gyro data is also recorded alongside the video, even more effective post-production stabilisation can be applied for ultra smooth shots using Catalyst Browse/Prepare software .

The α7 IV's high-precision stabilisation unit and gyro sensors work with stabilisation algorithms to achieve up to 5.5 steps of shutter-speed compensation, to maximise the performance of the camera's 33.0MP sensor. This in-body stabilisation allows effective use with a wide range of lenses. The live monitor view shows the stabilised still image while the shutter button is half-pressed, an especially helpful feature when using a telephoto or macro lens, and it can be used in conjunction with the MF Assist and Focus Magnifier features.

The built-in Soft Skin Effect makes skin look more beautiful, softening wrinkles, blemishes and dull patches while preserving liveliness in eye and mouth areas. Complementing the capabilities of the full-frame sensor, this feature can add appeal to live-streamed sessions as well as enhancing still shots and movies. Four level settings are available, so you can adjust the degree of the effect as you wish.

The α7 IV provides S-Log2 and S-Log3 gamma curves, with the latter allowing capture of 15+ stops of dynamic range. The S-Gamut3 and S-Gamut3.Cine colour gamut settings make it easy to match α7 IV footage with footage from VENICE digital cinema cameras or Cinema Line cameras like the FX6 and FX3. The native sensitivity when shooting S-Log is ISO 800, and it can be lowered by as much as two stops (ISO 200-640) below the standard range to achieve extra low noise.

The α7 IV supports S-Cinetone, based on expertise gained through development of the VENICE CineAlta camera. This look is responsible for the beautiful skin tones for which Cinema Line cameras like the FX9, FX6 and FX3 are widely acclaimed. It delivers natural mid-tones for healthy-looking skin colour, plus soft colours and gorgeous highlights. Because it's in-camera, it's easy to create a more expressive look for your movie imagery without post-editing.

Broaden your creative palette with a selection of ten Creative Look presets. You can easily impart a particular mood in your still images, movies and live streaming, and all preset selections are available in-camera without post-editing, so you can share your vision immediately after shooting.

The α7 IV gives you an impressive range of video recording options. Full pixel readout without binning allows 4K 60p recording, and when recording 4K movies at 30p, full-frame 7K oversampling produces high-resolution, highly detailed 4K. 10-bit 4:2:2 video can be recorded internally, allowing fuller, more natural gradations and greater editing freedom. The XAVC HS™ file format provides roughly twice the coding efficiency of MPEG-4 AVC/H.264.

The α7 IV offers HEIF (High Efficiency Image File) still-image encoding, in addition to conventional RAW and JPEG. Smooth 10-bit gradations provide more realistic reproduction of skies and portrait subjects, and the use of 10-bit depth minimises degradation of image quality when editing. HEIF still images recorded in HLG mode can be played back on a compatible BRAVIA 4K TV, via an HDMI connection, to display images with an extraordinarily wide dynamic range.

Visible benefits of the powerful new 33.0MP sensor and engine go beyond mere numbers. They include soft, natural-looking human skin textures, a stunning level of detail in landscapes and scenery, and better colour reproduction, with higher subjective resolution resulting from improved algorithms. The standard sensitivity range of ISO 100-51200 is expandable to ISO 50-204800 for stills and ISO 100-102400 for movies, with low-noise performance throughout.

The BIONZ XR engine, also used in the flagship α1 and α7S III models, provides up to an 8x increase in processing speed. The engine concentrates real-time processing of AF, image recognition and image quality adjustment to minimise processing latency, for greatly increased movie and still processing power. User interface, network, and file management processing is distributed in order to deliver fast response regardless of real-time processing load.

The full-frame Exmor R™ CMOS sensor delivers outstanding speed and superb image quality. The use of copper wiring contributes to higher transmission speeds and faster AD conversion, while fast sensor readout enables 10-bit 4:2:2 4K recording at up to 60p . The sensor also provides improved colour reproducibility, low-noise performance at all sensitivities, 15-stop dynamic range on stills, and increased AF precision and focal stability.

Where a Sony product contains software that is subject to updates, Sony may issue security updates and updates necessary for the proper functioning of the device.

This product is compatible with Final Cut Pro X and iMovie.

Expand your creative horizons with Imaging Edge Desktop and Imaging Edge Mobile . The Imaging Edge Desktop PC application lets you control and monitor shoots directly from your PC screen, preview photos, and develop RAW/HEIF data into high-quality photos for delivery. Imaging Edge Mobile applications use the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth® functionality of the α7 IV to provide a wide variety of convenient shooting and sharing functions.

Sony's "Road to Zero" environmental plan was launched in 2010 with the ultimate goal of achieving a zero environmental footprint. Currently nearly all  plastic packaging materials for the α7 IV are  recycled. Recyclable materials are also used for camera bodies whenever possible, reducing environmental burden without compromising functionality. While retaining state-of-the-art performance, we aim to further reduce energy and resource consumption to reduce the burden on the environment.  

We have improved the dust and moisture resistance of the α7 IV to provide outstanding reliability even in challenging outdoor shooting environments. Design refinements include more sealing at body seams and the battery compartment cover (compared to the α7 III), a redesigned lens lock button, and extra cushioning around the mount. A lightweight, high-rigidity magnesium alloy used for the camera's top cover, front cover, and internal frame provides excellent durability.

Dual media slots allow you to continue shooting even if one memory card fills up. One of the slots supports high-performance CFexpress Type A cards, and both slots support UHS-I and UHS-II SDXC/SDHC cards. With their fast write speeds, CFexpress Type A cards are particularly suited to high-speed continuous still shooting as well as high-resolution, high-bitrate 4K movie recording.

To allow extended continuous recording, efficient heat dissipation is provided by Sony's proprietary Σ (sigma)-shaped thermal mounting. The mounting, which is also used on flagship models, is constructed from a graphite material with excellent thermal conduction properties. This structure allows the image sensor, a major source of heat inside the camera body, to move freely during image stabilisation while heat is efficiently dissipated.

The α7 IV relies on a high-capacity Z battery (NP-FZ100), along with external power options that include USB power supplies and AC adaptors. Battery drain can be minimised by adding a high-capacity mobile battery for outdoor shooting. A USB charger or mobile battery that supports USB PD can be connected to the camera's USB Type-C® port, for extended recording.