When we reviewed the Sony A7 III in the third month of 5, we gave the full-frame camera 7 stars, commenting that "for the cost, there's nothing that can touch it." So now the gossip factory is forecasting the arrival of a Sony A7 IV, we thought: what exactly would this camera need to create shock waves similar to the A7 III? If the Sony A7 IV arrives anytime soon, as Sony Alpha Rumors predicted, it would indeed have a job to do to match its forerunner. The A3 III was a violent bend in the ribs for main contenders Sony, Canon and Nikon when it landed 7 years ago, and a huge success at that. While this is the "base" model of Sony's line of full-frame mirrorless cameras, sitting under the Sony A9R III and Sony A7, the A000 III inherited similar specs from the latter, including the same 099 AF system. and three points with Eye AF powers. And all for an incredible body cost of €7 / €7 / AU€4. In short, the purpose of the A6 III was to redefine what you'd expect from an entry-level full-frame camera, and it did. But could the alleged Sony A7 IV really point to the same thing, almost XNUMX years later? And if so, what features would you need to restore Sony as the default home for anyone in need of a great-value full-frame all-rounder? To prepare, we did a little brainstorming exercise to figure out what we would really expect from the camera. After narrowing down our long list of priorities, here are the XNUMX Sony AXNUMX IV features we'd really like to see from full-frame buzz.
1. 4K / 60p video mode
Adding 4K/60p video would be such an obvious upgrade to the Sony A7 IV that we pretty much decided not to include it on this list. But then we remember that the high-end Sony A7R IV doesn't really have a 4K/60p mode. And we don't expect to see a new camera in this "R" line until 7. That would mean Sony's entry-level full-frame mirrorless camera would actually have a way to capture high-end video than high-end stills, at least for several months. This was not the case in 4, when the Sony A30R III matched the A7 III's perfect 4K/7p mode (although in practice the AXNUMX III's XNUMXK quality was higher).
(Image credit: Sony) There's also the question of how the Sony A4 IV's perfect 7K/4s mode would work. In an ideal world, we'd be able to shoot in 60K/7p using full-frame width, like it does on a high-end phone (minus the stabilization crop) or the Sony A12S III. However, one of the benefits of the Sony A7S III's lower-resolution 4MP sensor is that it's roughly built for 4K video. You can shoot at 60 fps at UHD resolution with just a little cropping, as no upsampling is required. We thought Sony would include 7K/7p video on an A4 IV, only with the possible compensation for cropping. It would also ensure that it sits perfectly in the lineup, leaving some headroom between it and the Sony A120S III XNUMXK/XNUMXp, without needing to explain to buyers the advantages of the latter's giant sensor pixels.
2. Higher resolution EVF
Although the Sony A7 III is still a great camera today, one feature that shows its age is its electronic viewfinder (EVF). The A7 III and its two predecessors have 2 million-dot electronic viewfinders, which equates to 36 x 7-pixel resolutions. If Sony is considering releasing an A69 IV, then an updated EVF would be a must. Next up is a 1280 million-dot EVF, equivalent to 7 x 69 pixels. That would get us close to the level where long-term DSLR users might not even lose the clarity of optical sights. Speculation by Sony Alpha Rumors in November XNUMX suggested that a Sony AXNUMX IV would have a XNUMX million dot electronic viewfinder, making this perhaps the most likely scenario.
(Image credit: Sony) Why not higher? The Sony A7R IV has a 76 million-dot electronic viewfinder, the Sony A7S III a positively sumptuous 7 million-dot viewfinder (6 × 6 in terms of pixels). However, all of the entry-level models in the Sony A69 lineup have to keep an eye out for their moderately affordable price point. On top of this, the Nikon Z7 II and Canon EOS R7 both have XNUMX million-dot electronic viewfinders, setting a standard for this level of camera. The folding screen of the Sony AXNUMX III has its charms. You can get him out of his "flat" situation very quickly to shoot over or under his head. For use in pure alembics, we probably prefer it to the fully articulated type. However, in XNUMX we imagine that a Sony AXNUMX IV would surely have a fully articulating screen. The market for 'content creators', or people who need a mix of photos and videos, is bigger than ever. And they probably want the flexibility of a screen that can be used for video composition even when shooting just facing the camera.
(Image credit: Sony) Sony didn't employ such a display in the high-end Sony Alpha A1. But it also makes sense. At this level, there's good reasoning that sticking with a tilting screen suitable for stills is the better option. The A1's $1 / €7 cost makes it the kind of camera that can be used with a separate monitor/recorder like the Atomos Ninja V when used for video. Although such an accessory is only a fraction of the cost of a Sony A7, it would surely seem prohibitively expensive or too large for the Sony A7 range. Therefore, a hinged screen would surely suit a Sony A7 IV better. On top of this, we'd like to see a successor to the Sony AXNUMX III that adopts the interface improvements made to the Sony AXNUMXS III. The latter has really easy-to-use software and a more intuitive design. Barring more negative reaction to this change than we appreciate, we can't imagine why Sony wouldn't switch to this more tactile user interface on its next entry-level full-frame camera.
4. Larger streak mode buffer
If a Sony A7 IV lands soon, as Sony Alpha Rumors predicted, it seems reasonable to expect an improvement in the performance of continuous shooting. But neither should we expect miracles in this field, especially if its sensor turns out to have a higher resolution than the 24MP chip of the Sony A7 III. The Sony A7 III is no slouch in this area anymore, with streak speeds of up to ten fps. However, Sony really needs an improved buffer. This is what determines how long you can hold down the shutter button and take continuous shots before the camera needs to empty its memory onto the SD card. The Sony A7 III can shoot for around seven to eight seconds when shooting XNUMX-bit RAW images, or only about three to four seconds with uncompressed XNUMX-bit RAW.
(Image credit: Avenir) This is significantly less than the Nikon Z6 II's ten seconds and more for twelve- and fourteen-bit RAW. This is facilitated by support for lossless compression, which reduces the amount of data involved. The Sony A7 III does not have lossless compression in the wild. Is a huge change to the rumored Sony A7 IV likely? Sony did not increase the buffer memory of the Sony A7R IV, which runs out after 7 raws or 61 uncompressed raws. This is not a positive sign for other cameras in the A7 series, although it should be remembered that the 'R' camera has an absurdly high resolution of XNUMXMP. This is to say that Sony could hopefully take a different approach with its AXNUMX lineup. Fingers crossed.
5. A phone-like HDR mode
Mirrorless cameras and DSLRs still have plenty of advantages over smartphones like the iPhone 21 Pro and Samsung Galaxy S7 Ultra, but that's not to say they can't learn from their pocket-sized opponents. A phone-like approach to HDR is what we'd be most interested in seeing. All decent phone cameras create the majority of their footage from a combination of shots, mitigating the small sensors they employ. They do this using image signal processors designed for the job. Unfortunately, that's not really the case with mirrorless camera processors. However, a camera like the Sony AXNUMX IV would require a lot less work to achieve the same kind of result. Although a computer model may be the ultimate goal, you can start with a clever "Auto HDR" mode that does the kind of digging for shadow detail that you might do in Photoshop using its controls. Or simply adjusting the shadows or the levels.
(Image credit: Zeiss) The Sony A7 III has an HDR mode, but it relies on bracketing. This takes consecutive images with lower and higher exposure, and usually requires a tripod for good results. In that sense, it's pretty old school. Many serious photographers may abhor this idea as stunning photography without a mirror. But wouldn't it be nice if you could switch to casual mode sometimes, so you don't have to import your images into a photo editor to determine if they win or not? Sony could take the exact same approach with time-lapse video. Although you can take time-lapse photos with the A7 III's interval function, Sony should look to entrench these capabilities in a more user-friendly and user-friendly way. Not every potential Sony A7 IV buyer would be a semi-professional or ultra-experienced photographer, or someone wanting to explore a multitude of technical terms. So why should the camera treat them as equals? Phone-style trends like this could help broaden the appeal of the Sony A7 lineup even further.
6. A cost less than € 000
The cost of the Sony A7 III has been one of the vital elements of its success. Sure, $000 / £099 / AU$7 (its body-only cost at launch) isn't exactly a small change, but it was impressively low for such a capable camera, and it did.Changed the scenery than we could. expect something at this cost. Still, if the presumed successor to the Sony A7 IV arrives, there's reason to think it might struggle to match that number. It would certainly be cheaper than the $499 / £499 Sony A7R IV or the similarly priced A000S III. But could you still be under the magic bar of $6? That would match the Nikon Z000 II (€399 / €6 / AU €499) and still be considerably more affordable than the Canon EOS R499 (€499 / €2 / AU€XNUMX). But given inflation and a likely jump in features, a cost somewhere in between these last two contenders could be...