First Look: Sony A7R IV Packs A 60MP Full-frame

The Sony A7R III has been our Editors’ Choice pick among its high-resolution full-frame peers since its introduction.

- Jim Fisher

Although that model has been on the market less than two years, Sony is refreshing the camera. The successor may have an uninspired moniker—the a7R IV—but its upgrades are palpable. Few are as headline-grabbing as the image sensor.

60MP RESOLUTION WITH 4K VIDEO

We’ll start there. This is the first 60MP full-frame model we’ve seen from any manufacturer. Sony interchangeably used 60MP and 61MP to describe its sensor during the announcement, and the actual resolution falls a little bit in between. The camera saves JPG images at 60.2MP (6,336 by 9,504 pixels). I can’t open the camera’s Raw format yet, but Raw files should match those dimensions exactly.

It’s not just about pixels, of course. Sony promises that Raw images can capture 15 stops of dynamic range. This means the camera can better curb blown-out highlights and preserves more details in shadows. As soon as popular Raw conversion software—such as Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic CC and Phase One Capture One Pro—is updated to support the camera, we’ll put that to the test. Previous Sony cameras that have promised epic dynamic range have delivered on that promise.

The sensor boasts five-axis stabilization, effective for both still and video capture. Its autofocus system is similar to what we saw in the APS-C a6400, with real-time tracking of subjects. It can recognize human, cat, and dog faces and eyes and automatically shift focus to find them (when the feature is enabled). For humans, the feature is now extended to video, too.