viewfinder or lcd screen free sample

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While some photographers like the natural view offered by an optical viewfinder, an electronic viewfinder brings the advantage of being able to see the effect of the exposure, white balance and Picture Style settings being applied. If you apply the Monochrome Picture Style, for example, the image you see in the EVF will be mono, while with an OVF it will remain colour. This means you can use the image in an EVF to assess whether your settings suit the scene and to be confident you will get the result you want before pressing the shutter button. That"s especially helpful if, for example, the subject is backlit and you might need to use some exposure compensation.

In this way, an EVF is especially useful for relatively inexperienced photographers, because it enables you to see the effects of camera settings at the shooting stage, not just assess them afterwards. For many, it makes photography more intuitive.

Another advantage of an EVF is that it can compensate for low light levels, which means you always have a clear view of the subject. Conversely, with an optical viewfinder you"re seeing the scene with the ambient light level, which means that in dark conditions it can be difficult to compose a shot or to focus.

On the other hand, because the image you see in an EVF has to be processed before it can be displayed, all EVFs suffer from some degree of lag. Although the latest mirrorless cameras such as the EOS R5 have EVFs with a refresh rate of 120fps and the lag is only a matter of milliseconds, this can still matter if you"re shooting fast-moving action and split-second timing is critical. As technologies continue to develop, the lag is likely to get shorter and shorter, but an OVF works at the speed of light, which means in effect no lag at all. For this reason, many photographers shooting sports, wildlife or other subjects involving fast action still prefer a DSLR.

In addition, when you"re using an EVF you"re actually looking at a small screen, and even though this has a very high refresh rate, an OVF can be more comfortable over a long period of usage. This means that if you"re shooting wildlife or sports where you have to keep your eye to the viewfinder for a very long time waiting for the action to happen, an OVF could be preferable.

While some photographers like the natural view offered by an optical viewfinder, an electronic viewfinder brings the advantage of being able to see the effect of the exposure, white balance and Picture Style settings being applied. If you apply the Monochrome Picture Style, for example, the image you see in the EVF will be mono, while with an OVF it will remain colour. This means you can use the image in an EVF to assess whether your settings suit the scene and to be confident you will get the result you want before pressing the shutter button. That"s especially helpful if, for example, the subject is backlit and you might need to use some exposure compensation.

In this way, an EVF is especially useful for relatively inexperienced photographers, because it enables you to see the effects of camera settings at the shooting stage, not just assess them afterwards. For many, it makes photography more intuitive.

Another advantage of an EVF is that it can compensate for low light levels, which means you always have a clear view of the subject. Conversely, with an optical viewfinder you"re seeing the scene with the ambient light level, which means that in dark conditions it can be difficult to compose a shot or to focus.

On the other hand, because the image you see in an EVF has to be processed before it can be displayed, all EVFs suffer from some degree of lag. Although the latest mirrorless cameras such as the EOS R5 have EVFs with a refresh rate of 120fps and the lag is only a matter of milliseconds, this can still matter if you"re shooting fast-moving action and split-second timing is critical. As technologies continue to develop, the lag is likely to get shorter and shorter, but an OVF works at the speed of light, which means in effect no lag at all. For this reason, many photographers shooting sports, wildlife or other subjects involving fast action still prefer a DSLR.

In addition, when you"re using an EVF you"re actually looking at a small screen, and even though this has a very high refresh rate, an OVF can be more comfortable over a long period of usage. This means that if you"re shooting wildlife or sports where you have to keep your eye to the viewfinder for a very long time waiting for the action to happen, an OVF could be preferable.

The benefits of the viewfinder and LCD screen are often compared with one another. Depending on whom you ask, you might hear remarkably different opinions on the usability of the two.

Let’s go through some of the pros and cons of both and present you with an objective case for why you should pick one over the other. Keep in mind that this isn’t meant to dictate which shooting method you should use. There are valid reasons to use both; it just depends on the situation.

As discussed above, photography is all about precision. Viewfinders have been around long before LCD screens, and therefore many photographers find viewfinders more comfortable to work with.

Viewfinders offer much more precision when you are shooting, especially on a bright day. It allows you to focus on the small details. Viewfinders reduce image distortion and capture an accurate image. That’s why most DSLRs and high-end mirrorless cameras today still have viewfinders.

Running out of battery is a nightmare for photographers, especially if you don’t have any spares. That’s why viewfinders are considered optimal in these situations. Viewfinders use comparatively much less battery than LCD screens.

If you are shooting in an area where electricity is scarce, or don’t have access to a charger or backup batteries, the viewfinder will be a better choice for you.

Viewfinders are very convenient to use and provide smooth handling. When looking through the viewfinder, it’s easy to keep the camera steady. This makes the viewfinder an optimal choice when you need to zoom in or have a slightly heavier camera.

For many people, this extra effort of adjusting your eyeglasses is troublesome. However, some viewfinder cameras have a built-in diopter that can help make it easier to use with glasses.

Viewfinders can be much smaller compared to LCD screens. As a result, you may not be able to see everything you’re capturing in the viewfinder accurately. This drawback is very important for photographers who want to preview every single detail when taking a picture.

To see details on viewfinders, especially the electronic ones, you have to zoom in on the frame. However, this can lower the resolution of the preview. Luckily, if most of your shots consist of zoom shots, this may not bother you much.

What sets LCD screens apart from viewfinders is their ability to provide 100% image coverage to the photographer. In comparison, cameras with a viewfinder offer around 90-95% of the image, sometimes less.

What you see through the viewfinder doesn’t always end up in the final result. Small details can be crucial. That’s why this 5-10% difference in image coverage can be a significant reason why you might choose an LCD screen over the viewfinder.

When you are in a lower field-of-view, framing can be much more difficult. Many people can’t take a picture while lying on the ground using a viewfinder. This is where LCD screens come in. Flexible LCDs make it easier for you to capture images when you can’t reach awkward angles.

LCD screens produce great results for night photography. LCD screens are often used for night photography due to their bright image playback quality. They help you focus on the small details when you are shooting at night.

An evident shortcoming of the LCD screen is its lack of utility on a bright day. Because of the glare, many people cannot use their LCD screen at all on a sunny day. It’s hard to see anything on the LCD except the reflections.

Another drawback to using an LCD screen is its difficulty in handling it. Holding the camera while looking through the LCD screen is difficult and takes a lot of effort, especially when you are zooming and trying to be precise.

Another disadvantage of LCD screens is the fact that they can easily overexpose your image. This should not be a problem for seasoned photographers who can improve the quality of the image with better handling and precision.

Those were some of the benefits and drawbacks of using a viewfinder and LCD screen to consider. So, which one is best? The answer depends on your personal preferences and budget.

If you’re a traditional photographer, you’ll probably be more comfortable with the viewfinder. If you are a photographer who likes to focus on small details and image quality, you should opt for the LCD screen.

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Screens are infinitely better for any application where you want the viewpoint to not be at eye level. Macro work, waist level, getting on the level of shorter subjects, tripod work for landscapes, etc. Even a non-articulating screen can still be viewed at an angle.

Holding a camera near your core on a strap (like a TLR) is much more stable than holding one up in front of your eye and can allow lower shutterspeeds and/or sharper images.

I don"t know any digital camera that has it"s image review screen on the top. Many articulating rear screens only fold up/down and so would still prevent the camera being braced against your body. It would be possible with my G5, but the screen would be much harder to see in it"s entirety than an EVF.

Screens (analog or digital) display a larger image and are capable of showing a lot more detail than a smaller viewfinder. You can also use things like magnification for fine focus adjustment.

Mirrorless systems allow magnified views in the viewfinder. Many have resolutions comparable or better to the rear screens (look at the Nikon Z50, Canon R6, Olympus OMD EM10iv, Fuji X-T20, Panasonic GX85.... I"ve not found one recent model with an EVF where it"s resolution isn"t at least twice the rear screen!)

Yes, you can definitely use magnification through an EVF as well. I worded my original comment so that it could apply equally to analog screens with pop-up magnifiers as well.

I"ve never seen an optical viewfinder with a pop up magnifier, I do have clip on magnifiers for some of my SLRs. I supose my 5x4 monorails have analog screens but they are very slow to use.

It is generally more relaxing to do magnified focus with both eyes open on a larger screen than with one eye shut, but there are obviously environmental or perspective reasons why you might use an EVF as well (or just personal preference).

I"ve never found it an issue closing an eye, or simply ignoring the view from it. I can easily use a viewfinder with both eyes open, when the views are different it"s quite easy to mentally select which eye to pay attention too.

I do find that longer telephotos are easier to hold steady with 10x magnification for focusing using a screen near your waist than an EVF in front of your eye. Shorter focal lengths are not as big of a deal.

What do you consider a longer telephoto? Hand holding a 600mm even without magnified view is difficult at best (nearer impossible on MFT). I have shot a 600mm on MFT using the viewfinder & a monopod. I couldn"t aim it at waist level. Using any magnification wouldn"t have been possible without a study support.

Many viewfinders have low eyepoints and are not glasses friendly. A screen makes the whole image much more easily visible without needing to squint and move your eye back and forth to see the whole frame.

If you haven"t noticed any issue, I"m guessing that you may have shallower eye sockets and/or different glasses frames; there is some variety. I can only tell you that it is a real issue for a lot of people.

Consider the timeframe as 1980 - 2010 it"ll be near enough. I would have worn glasses throughout that period. I doubt my eyes are shallower than average, somewhat deeper would be my guess. If lots of people find it an issue there must be lots of badly designed cameras about. I don"t shoot Nikon or Canon, (& back in the time when I wore glasses regularly also Sony. Minolta, Fuji, Leica...) so perhaps that"s all it is, as many photographers shoot nothing else.

Why bother, I just won"t buy a camera that"s not usable for me. If other photographers took the same view, manufacturers would stop making bad viewfinders.

Dive cameras are a notable exception because they are specifically designed for use with goggles and scuba masks. As a result, they have very long eye relief and are great for use with glasses.

My only underwater camera gets used with the rear screen when in it"s case, but it"s a very cheap model which probably wasn"t designed as an underwater camera, just sold with a case, after sales of uncased compacts started drying up.

It kind of does though. The very lightest contact on my Canons will trigger the shutter. The shutter itself shakes the camera more. In any event, it is certainly way better than pressing a two stage button.

The two stage button on most cameras can be squeezed quite gently For long exposures shake isn"t too much of problem vibrations will have died away within about a second, but just moderate shutter speeds around 1/10s I"d definitely want a release or use the self timer.

Using a viewfinder allows the camera to be braced against your face, not as stable as a top down TLR but much better than anything that lets you see the rear screen.

This was just supposed to be a few examples of where a screen can be useful or advantageous for people who aren"t used to them or think that they are silly.

They do have their place, but IMO they have more restrictions than a viewfinder. Using them where they have disadvantages compared to the available viewfinder is probably more habit from phones than actual silliness.

The viewfinder is your window to the world as a photographer – despite advancements in camera technology, the humble viewfinder remains relatively unchanged.

An electronic viewfinder is a small display that shows the scene you have in front of the camera. With an electronic viewfinder (EVF), you can see exactly what your sensor sees.

This means that you have a live version of the image you’re about to shoot. If you change the settings, the exposure changes on the viewfinder before you take the picture.

With some cameras, you can connect an external camera screen (see our guide) which mimics the EVF’s display, allowing you to see fine details and colours even clearer.

With optical viewfinders, the image may be different from the view because you’re not seeing the effect of the settings. In other words, if you change camera settings like aperture or shutter speed, it won’t be reflected in the viewfinder.

They display the settings information and focus points though, so you don’t have to take your eye off the viewfinder while focusing and taking your shot.

When the light comes in through the lens, it hits a mirror that sits in front of the sensor. Thanks to the angle of the mirror, the light bounces up towards a pentaprism. Here it’s directed towards the eyepiece to show the scene in front of the lens. Electronic viewfinder

When the light comes in, the sensor registers and processes the scene, which then sends it to the electronic viewfinder’s small display. Because it’s an electronic representation, you can see the exposure settings live.

It depends on the type of photography that you do, but the general answer would be yes. We’re getting used to taking a picture using only an LCD screen because of our smartphone cameras. However, in most situations, a viewfinder will help you improve your framing and composition.

Most DSLR cameras have an optical viewfinder. That means that you see the same thing as your lens, which means that it’s not affected by the exposure settings.

Photographers look through the viewfinder to get a better view of what they are shooting. For example, when you’re shooting on a bright sunny day, you can’t see many details on the LCD screen.

Normally, photographers use their dominant eye. That’s to say that a right-handed photographer will look through the viewfinder with the right eye, and a left-handed photographer will use the left eye. Of course, you’re welcome to use whichever one you prefer.

Yes, you can buy an external viewfinder for your camera. There are electronic and optical viewfinders on the market, and they can be attached to your camera via the hot shoe.

The main difference between viewfinders and LCD screens is in the way you see the scene that’s in front of you. On the LCD screen, you can see a digital representation of it, like looking at the tv. With an optical viewfinder, you’re seeing things through a piece of glass – it can be compared to looking through a window or a pair of binoculars.

Also, with a viewfinder (both OVF and EVF) you don’t have to deal with glare, you have a steadier hold of the camera, and you get better peripheral vision when you shoot.

The viewfinder helps you to frame and compose in the best possible way. Many photographers can’t live without a viewfinder on their camera, whether it’s electronic or optical.

It depends on the camera brand and model. Most entry-level mirrorless cameras don’t have a viewfinder. However, if you can spend a little bit more, you’ll find mirrorless cameras with built-in electronic viewfinders.

Hopefully, this article cleared up some of your doubts about viewfinders and how they can be used to take the possible image with your camera – whether it be analogue or digital.

I know it’s a lot of information and it can be confusing, so if you have any other questions about viewfinders, feel free to post them in the comments section below.

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Interface viewfinder digital photo video camera settings set. widescreen with ui element snapshot mode time indicator, recording label, battery icon, focus, flash vector illustration isolated on white

I shoot most of my photos using the LCD screen on the back of my cameras rather than looking through the eyepiece viewfinder. I prefer the LCD screen, especially if it"s an articularing or side-swiveling monitor, for several reasons. I think other photographers should seriously consider how the rear screen can actually make photography easier and your images better.

Especially today, the value of the LCD monitor shouldn’t be overlooked. As people who have shot pictures with their smartphones “upgrade” to “real” cameras they bring with them the experience, if not the habit, of shooting with the rear screen.

It may look "amateurish" since we see so many non-photographers taking photos with the screens on their smartphones but trust me on this one. Using live view to compose photos on your camera"s rear screen is better than peeping into the eyepiece. Here"s why.

A primary factor in deciding whether to use the rear screen monitor vs. the eyepiece for me has to do with my eyes and how well they work or don’t work.

“Accommodation" is the speed at which eyes shift focus between near and distance objects. Muscles in the ciliary body of the eye alter the shape of the eye’s flexible lens allowing the eye to change focus between different distances. As we age, eyes lose some of this flexibility and refocusing gets slower. This lag can be slightly annoying or a real problem, particularly when I am shooting in a rapidly changing situation like a sports event.

Try this. Look at a distant scene and then quickly look at the rear screen LCD monitor and see how quickly your eye refocuses on it. Do you refocus instantly? Now try the same thing with a camera with an eyepiece. You might discover that your eyes focus more quickly and easily on the LCD screen than with the eyepiece. That’s my experience and one of the reasons I use the LCD screen.

Additionally, I have worn eyeglasses since I was 12 and I have a problem with most of the eyepiece displays. With my glasses I cannot see the entire frame in the eyepiece. My glasses have progressive lenses and that sometimes makes iit even harder for me to see the eyepiece screen. My eyes demand that I shoot most of the time with the LCD screen.

I began my photographic career with a Leica M2 and learned to frame rapidly with the camera’s optical viewfinder/rangefinder. This was a glass window at the upper left-hand corner of the body with a fixed angle of view.

It was clear and sharp and when I put a lens on the camera, frame lines appeared in the window that matched the angle of view of the lens. But with this optical system I could still see the world around me. That’s why I preferred using the Leicas.

When I looked into an SLR or DSLR eyepiece I lost my connection with the scene. Suddenly I was looking at an image floating in darkness and I struggled to find the scene I had seen. It just didn’t work for me.

The LCD screen works like the Leica glass viewfinder window because it doesn’t limit my peripheral vision. I can see the monitor at the same time as I can see the world around it. This also allows me to see things happening outside the frame and lets me anticipate what may be entering the picture. It is a real help photographing fast moving animals and children and sports.

My first digital camera was a Konica Minolta Dimage A2 and it had a horizontally moveable monitor screen. At first, I didn’t know what to make of this moveable screen but with some experimentation I grew to love it.

Modern LCD screens are far better than the primitive one on the A2 and now an articulated (swivel) LCD monitor can be rotated through almost 360 degrees, and that gives me a lot of new angles for my images.

For example, working as a photojournalist with film cameras I learned all about the “Hail Mary” shot. When I wanted to take a picture over the heads of a crowd I’d lift the camera up, point it in the general direction of the action and softly say “Hail Mary” as I snapped the photo. Not being able to see what I was going to get induced a lot of prayer.

Today in the same situation all I have to do is hold the camera over the crowd with the screen facing down at me and watch until I see the framing I want. I can also rotate the screen to face up so that I can shoot at low angles without blowing out my back. This helps me get interesting perspectives of people (see image above), flowers, insects and such literally at ground level.

Another advantage of the LCD monitor is its easy-to-see gridline screen display that is available on LCD monitors. This screen display is made up of two horizontal and two vertical lines that divide the frame into thirds. These third lines can be used as a guide for composing images. Placing people and things along the grid lines or at their intersections--instead of the dead center of the frame -- makes stronger images.

To find the gridline screen go into the device’s menu pages and click on Settings>Display>Grid (or Gridlines). Best of all while the lines appear on the LCD screen or EVF they do not appear in the pictures. (Yes, you can do this with many eyepiece electronic viewfinders but I"ve found it to be much clearer and more successful using the rear LCD.)

Before checking out my hands-on review for the Sony A7 IV, be sure to read William Brawley"s initial hands-on review from October. In his review of a pre-production camera, he covered a lot of ground, including a detailed look at the camera"s key features, design, image quality, autofocus, performance and the A7 IV"s video features.

In my review, I will instead write about my experience using a production version of the camera for wildlife (and my dog), landscape and nature photography. My reviews typically follow a tried-and-true format where I discuss aspects of a camera"s performance in specific feature-oriented sections. I"m going to mix things up a bit with this Sony A7 IV review and focus on my experience with the camera across diverse photographic situations. I"ll discuss things like ergonomics, image quality, and autofocus, but they will be spread organically throughout the review. Without further ado, let"s dive in.

Winter in New England is cold; plenty cold enough to need to wear gloves. Unfortunately, keeping your hands warm and operating a camera are often conflicting goals. Fortunately, the Sony A7 IV is not impossible to operate while wearing gloves. However, that"s not to say that it"s always easy to use either. The deep front grip feels great, but there"s not a lot of room between the back of my fingers and the side of a large lens, especially not when wearing gloves. It can end up feeling a bit cramped.

The Sony A7 IV has good controls and ergonomics overall. However, it can feel a bit cramped when wearing gloves, which is slightly frustrating when working in cold weather climates.

When it comes to the controls, my experience varied. The sub-selector autofocus joystick worked well. It has a large enough surface area and has a knurled surface that provides good grip. However, the front and rear command dials don"t stick out far, especially the rear one, so those were trickier to operate while wearing gloves. As for the different function buttons on the camera, they"re somewhat small and relatively close together, so they"re not easy to operate while wearing gloves either. There were many times when I opted just to remove a glove to perform adjustments in the camera"s Fn menu before getting back to shooting.

On the plus side, the Sony A7 IV includes weather-resistant sealing and is ruggedly built, so snowy weather isn"t a problem for camera reliability. As expected, it held up perfectly well when using the camera in the snow. Granted, heavy snowfall isn"t quite the same as heavy rain, but the melting snow on the camera didn"t ingress, and the camera was easy to wipe clean. Of course, you will want to be careful not to access the memory card slot while the camera is wet. Still, there shouldn"t be any issues using the A7 IV in inclement weather, so long as you exhibit some careful consideration.

Sure, winter in Maine isn"t conducive to beach weather, but that didn"t hold me and the A7 IV back from a trip to the ocean. Taking the A7 IV out before sunrise allowed me to test how the camera"s EVF, live view and autofocus systems perform in low-light conditions. As expected, the live view feed gets noisy in dim conditions (15s exposure at ISO 100), but it still looks pretty good and is perfectly usable for performing manual focusing.

Did I need to manually focus in these conditions? Not exactly, although the A7 IV"s autofocus system, which is rated down to -4 EV, struggled just enough to give me pause. Its low-light AF is good in most situations, but it was dark enough that I needed the confidence offered by manual focus. Thankfully, the manual focusing experience on the A7 IV is very good. By default, the camera offers a zoomed view of the selected focus area as soon as you begin to rotate the focus ring. It works well and then quickly zooms out after a short time of no interaction with the focus ring, giving you back a full view of the scene.

Doing landscape photography was a great opportunity to use the A7 IV"s tilt-swivel display. During my prior experience with Sony cameras that utilize a tilting screen, I"ve long moaned about the lack of a fully articulating display. Being able only to tilt a screen up and down is great when shooting in landscape orientation but is useless when shooting in portrait orientation. The A7 IV"s fully articulating display lets you swing the monitor out to the side and then spin it on an axis or flip it down to use in portrait orientation. It requires a bit more effort than the older flip-style display, but it"s a big improvement in overall usability.

Ever-changing light conditions also put the A7 IV"s automatic white balance to the test. While the camera occasionally tended to be a bit too warm or too cold in some situations, the natural light priority mode did a great job of preserving the colors in a given scene as I saw them in person.

As the sun crested the horizon, it threw some nice light on the incoming breaking waves. However, it was still quite dark, so I needed to increase the ISO considerably when shooting at fast shutter speed. For example, the image below was shot at 1/2000s and ISO 10,000.

While there"s visible noise when zooming in on the image, I was very impressed with the A7 IV"s high ISO performance. Not only is there good fine detail in the image – you can see individual drops of water falling from the crest of the wave – but there"s also impressive dynamic range. There"s less dynamic range than at low ISO settings, of course, but the camera did an excellent job preserving highlight detail while allowing me to pull some detail out of the shadows. The color tonality is also good, albeit slightly flatter before processing than a low ISO shot. I"m very impressed with the A7 IV at high ISO settings.

In another photo shot at ISO 5,000, we see some more of that good preservation of highlight detail on the top of the wave. You can see that the colors are just slightly better than the shot above, although I"m not certain if that"s due to the lower ISO or because of variation in the scene"s lighting. Nonetheless, I"m happy with how the A7 IV did here.

No trip to the beach is complete without seeing some gulls. Well, that"s not strictly true, but I greatly enjoy photographing gulls. People often overlook the bird due to their commonality, but they have a striking appearance up close and possess a lot of personality and character. Every bird is slightly different, both visually and in its behavior. Gulls are also great subjects when testing a camera because they move around a lot.

The flock of birds provided a great test of the A7 IV"s continuous shooting performance. The A7 IV isn"t nearly as fast as the Sony A1, which can shoot at up to 30 frames per second, but the A7 IV"s top speed of 10fps is sufficient for many subjects. Sure, you do miss moments at 10fps that you wouldn"t at 20 or 30fps, but that"s just a necessary tradeoff when considering the cost of a camera. The A7 IV has dual card slots and can accept SD cards and CFexpress Type A cards. I used the latter with the camera, opting for a ProGrade 160GB CFX card. It"s a swift card with 800MB/s read speed and 700MB/s write speed, which is quicker than even the fastest UHS-II SD cards.

Using this card, the camera"s buffer just doesn"t fill when shooting RAW and even RAW+JPEG. It"s extremely impressive, and the buffer clears nearly instantly. Shooting off hundreds of photos in a burst is a breeze. Of course, you quickly run into a photo management issue, but that"s the price you pay for excellent burst performance.

The birds also proved to be a great test of the A7 IV"s autofocus system. The camera includes subject tracking features for numerous subjects, including eye AF for humans, non-human animals and birds. And yes, I know that non-human animals include birds, but the camera separates them. For what it"s worth, I"ve forgotten to switch between "animal" and "bird" settings and been fine, but it"s nonetheless recommended to select the appropriate option. I wish the camera could automatically detect its subject in certain situations, like the Nikon Z9, but I digress.

Autofocus accuracy proved a bit less consistent than the Sony A1, although that shouldn"t be surprising given the gap between the price of the two cameras. When using the Sony FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS lens, I think that I had a hit rate of around 100 percent when photographing slow-moving or stationary birds. When they were flying, the hit rate dropped, as expected, but was still quite high, probably around 75 percent. Even when the autofocus system failed and didn"t quite keep up with the subject, the AF area still maintained good tracking, ensuring that the camera had an opportunity to "catch up," so to speak, and capture in-focus shots during subsequent frames.

As for autofocus modes, the A7 IV has a lot to offer. When using the wide (full) area autofocus mode with bird AF, the camera did a great job picking up the subject across the frame and tracking it no matter where it was. The camera also did a great job selecting the desired bird when multiple birds were in the frame. When using single spot autofocus and tracking, the A7 IV performed well, too. They"re both good options. I prefer single spot or zone AF for slower subjects because I like having control over the AF. However, the auto area AF is great when photographing birds in flight. It"s hard to keep up with flying birds, so I like letting the A7 IV do it for me. And it does it well.

Another good test of the A7 IV"s continuous autofocus and tracking performance is my dog, Eevee. She doesn"t sit still. Ever. That"s no problem for the A7 IV.

When photographing Eevee during a snowstorm, the A7 IV not only handled the weather well, but it also did a great job of focusing through the many snowflakes between the camera and its subject. Snow can be challenging to shoot through, as the bright, moving flakes can sometimes disrupt an autofocus system. However, that didn"t occur during my time with the A7 IV.

It was also a different opportunity to test the camera"s continuous autofocus and buffer performance. As was the case when photographing gulls, the eye AF performed exceedingly well and tracked accurately throughout the image frame.

A separate day with bright sun put the camera to the test differently. Eevee has brown eyes set against black fur and has white fur patches. It"s a lot of contrast, and it often proves challenging for cameras in terms of both autofocus tracking and dynamic range. It"s difficult to expose Eevee to have fur detail on both black and white fur. The A7 IV"s sensor is fantastic, and it was effortless to process RAW files to preserve detail across the entire tonal range. Even when an image appeared blown out on the camera, I was able to pull back all of the "lost" highlight detail.

I"ve been to a lot of places in Maine over the years, but I"ve never been to Deer Isle and Stonington, at least not during the over half of my life I"ve been a photographer. Visiting a location for the first time is a daunting task. I try not to rush when in the field, but it can be difficult not to try to see as much as possible when visiting an unfamiliar spot.

I visited for sunset, and armed with about a week"s worth of experience with the A7 IV, I felt ready to take on a new coastal location. I first stopped at a public marina to observe the water and the fishing boats. If you"re not familiar with Stonington, it"s a small community of just over a thousand residents, but despite its size, it"s the largest lobster port in Maine. Even in the dead of winter, with the tourism industry dried up, Stonington doesn"t stop working. Lobster boats were coming and going as the sun began to set; they"re always a good subject.

After taking in the nice views, it was time to head down the road to a public beach for sunset. The area isn"t geographically large and there"s not much public land. This means that the options for landscape photography are somewhat limited for such a picturesque part of Maine. The location I settled on, called Sand Beach, is backlit during sunset, providing another opportunity for the A7 IV to strut its stuff when it comes to dynamic range.

Before getting into my subjective analysis of dynamic range, color performance and overall image quality, let"s take a brief detour to discuss objective dynamic range measurements. just me that thinks so; lab testing agrees.

Alright, back to it. So, off to Sand Beach I went, A7 IV in tow. Funnily enough, it"s the second "Sand Beach" I visited, after having photographed sunrise and seagulls at Sand Beach in Acadia National Park earlier in the week. The lighting proved dynamic and challenging. However, the A7 IV was up to the challenge. Consider the image below, it may not look too difficult, but the foreground rocks are nearly silhouettes. The same goes for the small island outcrop in the distance. However, the A7 IV"s RAW images are dynamic enough and flexible enough that it proved very easy to pull detail out of the shadows in the foreground and the small island in the back without introducing artifacts, halos, or excessive visible noise.

When it comes to colors, the A7 IV performs very well. The camera delivers rich colors that aren"t overly saturated. The camera, like most cameras, can push blues a bit heavily, but I don"t think the A7 IV goes overboard here. Likewise, the camera handles red, orange, yellow and green well in nature scenes. Even straight out of the camera with the standard color profile, colors look good and have a nice bit of pop without being unrealistic or overly vivid.

After sunset, I decided to stop at the marina again on the way off of the island. This gave the A7 IV another opportunity to showcase its high ISO performance. At ISO 6400, the camera delivers excellent fine detail. Sure, there"s noise, but it"s not distracting, and the grain is consistent and fine.

There"s often a discussion about high ISO images where the objective appears to be getting rid of all noise. And you see this with default in-camera noise reduction – although, to the A7 IV"s credit, the camera doesn"t go way overboard with default noise reduction. The typical discourse on noise misses the mark because noise itself isn"t a problem. Bad noise is the problem. What"s "bad" noise? For me, it"s grain that includes false color and irregular patterns. At its best, consistent, neutral grain can give an image character. At its worst, it"s just sort of there. It"s background noise. It"s barely noticeable when printing photos. However, false color is distracting. It gets in the way of the image. The A7 IV"s noise is the good kind, the type of noise that can sometimes add to a photo but doesn"t get in the way.

I thoroughly enjoyed using the Sony A7 IV. It"s an excellent camera. It"s no surprise that it"s proven to be popular so far following its release in late December.

The Sony A7 IV also represents something of a shift for Sony in how it prices its "basic" full-frame Alpha model. The Sony A7 III launched in 2018 for $1,999. Three and a half years later, the A7 IV launched for $2,499. Inflation accounts for some of the price increase, but not all of it. I have no problem whatsoever with the A7 IV"s higher price point. I think that it"s fair. It"s still a lot of money, of course, but it"s a lot of camera.

While the entry price has changed – although you can still get a Sony A7 III and save money – the spirit of the A7"s newest "basic" model stays the same. Like prior iterations, the Sony A7 IV combines some of the high-end performance of Sony"s flagship model while tuning performance and specs down to meet a much lower price point. The A7 IV does feature some of the same tech as the Sony A1, although it never quite matches Sony"s super-fast flagship camera. However, where the A1 is overkill for most photographers, the A7 IV is an ideal camera for many.

You can achieve a lot with its 33MP image files. The A7 IV produces sharp, detailed images with excellent dynamic range, color and flexibility during editing. Further, while 10 frames per second isn"t nearly as fast as the A9 II or A1, it"s fast enough for many action situations. The autofocus system is consistently reliable and full of user-friendly features.

If the Sony A1 is Sony"s "do-it-all" camera for pros, then the A7 IV is Sony"s "do-it-all" camera for everyone else. Make no mistake, though, the A7 IV is not a compromise or concession. No, it"s not as good as the A1 for resolution or speed or the A7R IV for resolution or the A7S III for low-light performance and video, but the A7 IV is really damn good.

While it"s not as long as the gap between the A7S II and the A7S III, it still feels like the photo world has waited quite a while for a successor to Sony"s wildly-popular "basic model" A7 Mark III full-frame mirrorless camera.

But finally, we have a follow-up. The appropriately-named Sony A7 Mark IV brings with it a host of new features, upgrades and improvements both inside and out compared to 2018"s Mark III. To name a few, we have an all-new sensor, a newer processor, an updated AF system and new AF features, plus new ergonomics and controls, a new LCD screen and more video features. There are a lot of new features and improvements here.

And the fact that we have this array of features and improvements in what is essentially Sony"s "base model" Alpha 7-series camera (if you don"t count the A7C) is pretty amazing. Granted, this camera isn"t coming in at an "entry-level" price point, either, but Sony is calling this camera "the new basic." And "basic" feels like an understatement. This new A7-series camera has a lot of impressive and sophisticated features, many of which are borrowed or derived from Sony"s high-end Alpha 1 and A7S III models. And yet, the A7 IV doesn"t come with a wallet-scaring price point in the way that the A1 does.

Back when we reviewed the Sony A7R IV, we questioned whether or not it was Sony"s "most versatile camera ever," given its combination of high-resolution and performance. However, this new Sony A7 IV is, at least for me, making me reconsider this stance. With the A7 IV, we have a very enticing combination of imaging capabilities, high-performance AF, and robust video features at a decent price point.

Please note: The A7 Mark IV review sample we used for this review is currently running on early, pre-production firmware. Final image quality and performance may differ once the camera has reached final production.

Unsurprisingly, at first glance, the new Sony A7 IV doesn"t look all that much different from its predecessor or really any of Sony"s recent-generation Alpha full-frame mirrorless cameras. The A7 IV maintains that characteristically angular, almost chiseled design with a deep handgrip and a smooth, matte black finish. However, if you look closely or can compare the Mark III and IV side by side, there are several notable differences to this new camera"s design, the most prominent of which is the even larger and deeper handgrip. From an overall physical standpoint, the new A7 IV is essentially an A1 and A7S III put together. The A7 IV shares the same slightly larger footprint of the A1 (and A7S III), along with the deeper and more comfortable handgrip. At the same time, the A7 IV uses a similar overall layout of buttons and controls as well as the LCD screen design as the A7S III.

In the hand, the camera feels very durable with excellent build quality, much like I experienced with the A1. First and foremost, when you pick up the camera, you"ll immediately notice and likely appreciate the larger grip. Much like with the Sony A1, the new grip design of the A7 IV makes the camera much nicer to hold, especially if you have larger hands. In my hand, the camera feels sturdy and substantial and much more comfortable to hold than the earlier, smaller A7 III camera that I"ve shot with several times, for example. Although the A7 III is much improved ergonomically compared to the very first generation model, the camera"s grip is still a little on the smaller size.

In particular, when using the predecessor, I noticed a tendency to wrap my pinkie finger under the base of the camera since the grip just felt a bit too small to fit all four of my fingers around it. The larger size of the A7 IV"s grip seems to have alleviated that, despite the camera not being much taller than the predecessor. The grip here is wider, and I"m more easily able to get a full hold of the camera. Overall, the camera feels sturdier, more substantial in the hand, and simply more comfortable to use -- especially with larger, heavier lenses -- without having a noticeable impact on the camera"s general compact footprint. The A7 IV is still smaller, lighter and more portable than a typical full-size, full-frame DSLR, which I very much appreciate.

The A7 IV also is said to be dust- and moisture-resistant against harsh conditions, and while I didn"t experience any rain or bad weather during my time with the camera, the A7 IV feels very well built and reliable. The body feels robust, and the controls and dials feel solid and not at all cheap or flimsy.

In terms of the A7 IV"s general control layout, the camera is not drastically different than the previous model, but there are some nice changes and improvements to the dials and buttons on both the top deck and the back of the camera. On the top of the camera, to the right of the EVF, the controls and dials of the A7 IV borrow a similar look and feel to those of the Alpha 1, though with some minor differences. The A7 IV features both front and rear control dials. The front control dial is again recessed into the top of the handgrip on the front, while the rear dial is now fully moved up to the top deck of the camera like on the A1, as opposed to being recessed into the back of the camera. It"s not a drastic change, but compared to the A7 III, the rear control dial on the Mark IV is a bit larger and more prominently placed, making it easier to operate.

Another minor change to the top controls is that now the C1 custom function button has been replaced by a dedicated video recording button, as we see on the A7S III. Instead, the A7 IV has this second C1 button moved to the back of the camera next to the EVF, where the recording button was on the A7 III.

The main PASM Mode Dial on the top of the A7 IV remains similar to its predecessor in that it still lacks the locking button that we see on other Alpha cameras, such as the A1, A7R IV and A9 II. The selectable modes have also been simplified down to just the standard "PASM" modes, an Auto mode and three customizable preset modes. Movie mode, S&Q and Scene modes have been removed from the dial. However, the A7 IV introduces a new shooting mode switch underneath the Mode Dial. This new locking slider control lets you quickly switch between Photo mode, Movie mode and S&Q (Slow & Quick) mode. The locking feature is nice and helps avoid accidentally changing your primary shooting mode. I do wish the main PASM mode dial had a locking feature, as well, like on many of Sony"s other, higher-end Alpha models, but the dial feels stiff enough that accidental mode changes are probably going to be rare for most people.

Regarding the Stills/Movie/S&Q mode switch, the camera also lets you customize nearly all the buttons and dials across the camera individually, depending on the shooting mode. For example, you can have controls set up for still photography and then an entirely separate set of button and dials functions customized for when you flip into Movie mode and S&Q mode. The level of customization the A7 IV offers is impressive.

On the left side of the EVF, we once again have a big blank spot. With the A1 and A9-series, Sony adds some additional controls, a dial for Drive mode and another for Focus mode. While I"d ideally love to have these additional physical controls on the A7 IV (and other A7-series cameras), I suppose it"s a differentiating factor between Sony"s more consumer-focused cameras and their pro models. Nonetheless, it feels like a big chunk of unused space on the camera, and perhaps a couple of additional custom function buttons would do nicely there.

Moving down to the rear of the camera, the A7 IV"s button layout is essentially unchanged compared to its predecessor -- with the exception of the aforementioned swapping of the C1 button and video recording button. Several of the button designs are updated and enlarged, matching those of other recent-generation Alpha cameras. The buttons are all slightly larger and generally easier to press. The AF-ON button is notably larger, and the multi-directional joystick control is both bigger and has a new bumpy texture for better grip and operability.

I really have no complaints at all when it comes to the buttons and dials of this camera; having reviewed the new Alpha 1, the overall user experience here is essentially the same and an overwhelmingly positive one. The larger size and the deeper, more tactile feel of the buttons presses are small but pleasing improvements to the A7 IV"s usability compared to the previous model. The updated joystick control is especially nice; the texture is great, and the movement of the control feels responsive. I also appreciate that Sony continues to keep a dedicated 4-way directional control, which of course, works for menu navigation. The menus, by the way, in the A7 IV have been completely overhauled, matching the much nicer UI design of the A7S III and A1. The menus are fully navigable via touch and swipe. You can also navigate the menus with the joystick control, but I still prefer navigating menus with a 4-way directional control, as I find that much more accurate and faster to operate.

Continuing with the product tour, the other major new physical design change on the A7 Mark IV is a switch to a vary-angle LCD touchscreen as opposed to the two-way tilting screen of the A7 III. The LCD screen here is essentially the same one as in the A7S III, offering a 3.0-inch touchscreen LCD panel with 1440K-dots of resolution and a 3:2 aspect ratio. Given the hybrid photo/video nature of the A7 IV and its target customer base, it doesn"t surprise me to see Sony switching to this vari-angle screen design. The ability to flip the screen to the side and outward to a front-facing position is excellent for video creators. For stills, I personally prefer the "older" tilting LCD design -- like on the A1 -- as I find that easier to use for shooting from low angles. However, the articulated design of the A7 IV does allow for easier low-down shooting with the camera in a vertical orientation.

In the field, the rear display works very well. Quality-wise, the rear LCD is crisp and sharp, and it performs well outdoors in bright light. Sony states that live view quality, for both the LCD and EVF, has been improved, with attention put on reducing false colors and increasing image resolution. The LCD"s touchscreen offers a responsive feel when using tap-to-focus functions and navigating through on-screen menus, such as the Function shortcut menu. You can navigate the deeper main camera menus via touch, and while it generally is useable, the UI feels a bit on the small size, in my opinion, to be easily tappable and scrollable. It"s fine, on occasion, and it can be done, but I found it much quicker to just use physical controls for menu navigation.

As mentioned, like on the A7S III and A1 before it, the A7 IV brings over a wholly revamped menu system compared to what"s used on the A7 III. Overall, the new menus on the A7 IV are much easier to navigate and find the items you"re looking for, despite the expansiveness of the camera"s menus. The two-column menu design lets you see at a glance several, if not all, of the related items for a given menu category or section, which I found makes it much easier and faster to find the setting I"m looking for. Further, the way the menu options are categorized is much more intuitive than in prior models.

Last but not least, the electronic viewfinder on the A7 IV gets a bit of an upgrade over the previous model, upping the QVGA OLED screen resolution from approximately 2.3 million dots to 3.68 million dots. The refresh rate also gets a boost, with the camera offering both a normal 60fps frame rate as well as now a faster, smoother 120fps for improved usability when tracking fast-moving subjects. In use, much like with the camera"s overall design and controls, I really have no complaints about the EVF on the A7 IV. It"s bright, sharp and offers a large, clear view of the scene. The 0.78x magnification factor makes it a fairly large EVF amongst several competing full-frame mirrorless cameras, but it"s not the largest -- nor the highest-resolution EVF out there. However, it gets the job done and does it quite well.

At the heart of the new Sony A7 Mark IV is an all-new 33.0-megapixel full-frame Exmor R back-illuminated CMOS sensor, paired up with Sony"s newer BIONZ XR image processing engine that we see inside the Alpha 1 and A7S III. Unlike the flagship Alpha 1 camera (or the A9-series), the sensor inside the A7 IV is not a stacked CMOS sensor design. Nonetheless, the camera"s imaging pipeline offers impressive fine detail capabilities, an expansive ISO range and very good dynamic range, and the camera overall has very impressive performance capabilities, despite not having a sensor with a readout speed as quick as the A1 or A9-series.

In terms of specifics, the new A7 IV, despite its newer sensor and updated image processor, offers the same, albeit expansive, ISO range as its predecessor. The native ISO range spans ISO 100 up to ISO 51,200, while the sensitivity can be expanded down to a low ISO 50 and up to a whopping ISO 204,800. Sony also states that the camera offers approximately 15 stops of dynamic range, which is, again, the same as with the previous A7 III. However, seeing as the camera uses the same image processing engine from the A7S III and A1, Sony also states that the A7 IV gains the improved image processing capabilities of these higher-end cameras, which are said to provide improved color accuracy and more natural-looking tonal gradations.

The A7 IV offers a variety of image quality settings and image file modes. In addition to RAW capture, of course, the A7 IV features both JPEG and higher-quality HEIF image formats, in both 4:2:2 HEIF and 4:2:0 HEIF. Both JPEG and HEIF formats each have four levels of quality settings, ranging from Light up to Extra Fine -- as well as Image Size settings (large, medium, small). Meanwhile, with RAW, the camera offers uncompressed, lossless compressed and compressed RAW formats.

In addition to the standard Picture Profile presets, which offer a wide range of in-camera image adjustment parameters, such as black levels, saturation, detail (as well as the movie-specific Profiles like S-Log3, HLG and S-Cinetone), the A7 Mark IV also gains a new Creative Look feature. These Creative Look presets, formerly known as "Creative Style," first appeared on the A1 and A7S III. Though not exactly the same, the Creative Looks presets are in some ways similar to Fujifilm"s Film Simulations or rather a set of in-camera image filter presets.

The A7 IV includes 10 pre-made Creative Looks, including a multi-purpose "Standard" look, a Black and White look, a Sepia-tone look, one for Portraits, a more neutral look with reduced saturation and sharpness, and more. There are also 6 additional preset slots for allowing for customized versions of these Creative Look presets. Here you can adjust several different parameters, including contrast, shadows, highlights, sharpness, clarity and more. You can, however, also tweak the parameters of the existing set of pre-made Creative Looks. As expected, these Creative Looks are all used for in-camera image processing for JPEGs (or HEIF) images and do not affect RAW files, which is handy. You can shoot RAW+JPEG using a certain Creative Look, but then have the full RAW file available for full post-processing and editing adjustments.

For some reason, Sony uses rather confusing and nondescript two-letter abbreviations for these Creative Look presets. The standard default preset is "ST," which makes some sense, as does "PT" for the portrait-centric preset. But then there"s an "NT," which the camera describes as "expresses a relaxed mood with reduced saturation and sharpness." I guess NT stands for "neutral?" There are also two "VV" presets, a VV and a VV2, which I assume stand for two different "Vivid" preset styles? It"s just rather strange and confusing if you"re not already familiar with the naming. Fortunately, you can tap on the little "?" icon or press the trashcan button to see a description of all the presets. Still, it seems just a little clunky.

Like other Sony A7-series models, the new Mark IV also includes in-body image stabilization. The 5-axis combined optical and in-body image stabilization system is upgraded slightly compared to the SteadyShot system in the predecessor, offering up to 5.5 stops of stabilization correction versus the 5-stop system in the Mark III.

With a new 33-megapixel sensor, the A7 IV is now the highest resolution model of the "basic" Sony A7-series cameras, finally getting a boost in resolving power compared to the previous models" 24-megapixel sensors. In fact, the new A7 IV approaches the resolution of the original A7R model, which used a 36MP sensor. When you look at competing full-frame cameras on the market, the 33MP A7 IV stands out among a crowd of 20-24-megapixel cameras, such as the Canon R6, Panasonic S1 and Nikon Z6 II, making it one of the highest-resolution "enthusiast-oriented" full-frame cameras on the market.

For a vast majority of users, the previous A7 models" 24MP sensors are plenty sharp and detailed for all but the most demanding high-resolution photo needs, while at the same time offering easily manageable file sizes and storage requirements. However, I think the 24MP resolution level is now getting a bit stale. Computers are much faster, and media storage, both in terms of memory cards and external or internal drives, continues to get more affordable. The modern digital photography workflow for more and more users is able to comfortably handle higher-resolution images. Still, 33MP, I think, strikes a good balance between excellent resolving power and manageable file sizes. Uncompressed RAW files are around 70-75MBs, while the Compressed RAW format creates around a 35-40MB file.

Overall, in my time with the camera so far, I"m extremely pleased with the image quality of the A7 IV, at both low and higher ISOs. That said, given Sony"s legacy of fantastic image quality with their full-frame Alpha cameras, I wasn"t expecting a poor showing this latest camera. From a sheer detail perspective, there is a lot to like from this new 33MP full-frame camera, even with just JPEG images. Images straight-out-of the camera are crisp and sharp with lots of fine detail and well-controlled noise when shooting at higher ISOs. Colors look vibrant yet natural and not overly saturated when using the normal picture profile or the default "Standard" Creative Look.

Most of my shooting time so far has been during the daytime, so I haven"t yet really pushed the higher ISO performance of the camera. That said, trying to photograph wildlife and birds in heavily forested locations and with overcast weather conditions, the high did have to rise somewhat to get properly exposed shots. At mid-range higher ISOs, between ISO 3200-12800, the image quality remains very good. Images pulled straight from the camera look sharp and detailed, and the default "Normal" setting for in-camera noise reduction did a surprisingly nice job at retaining fine detail while removing background noise. Looking closer at higher ISO JPEGs, you can certainly see evidence of noise reduction processing. However, it doesn"t feel overly aggressive to my eye. Yes, you can see some smoothing and softness from the NR processing, but fine detail is still clearly visible, and it doesn"t appear mushy or overly processed. Beyond noise, colors also remain rich and vibrant at these ISO levels, as well, which is great to see.

RAW files, of course, will give you much more fine-grained control over noise reduction and sharpening. I wasn"t expecting to be able to edit RAW files given how new the camera is, but Capture One does appear compatible with the A7 IV raw files already. (Adobe Camera Raw is not comparable with A7 IV raw files at this time, however.) I plan to explore raw file flexibility and higher ISO performance in a follow-up Hands-on Review Part II.

Like many of Sony"s high-res full-frame cameras, the sensor in the A7 IV lacks an optical low-pass filter (OLPF), enabling you to capture more extra-fine detail. Many higher-resolution cameras these days are doing away with the OLPF in order to eke out just a bit more per-pixel detail out from the sensors, at the risk of capturing moiré and aliasing artifacts however. In most day-to-day shooting, you likely won"t encounter issues, and indeed in my time with the A7 IV so far, I haven"t noticed any moiré artifacts in the shots I"ve captured -- though that"s not to say it can"t happen. However, if you photograph subjects with fine, repeating patterns, aliasing and moiré pattern artifacts could