The brand new Sony a7 IV offers some remarkable specifications as a hybrid camera and could be a perfect choice for countless wedding photographers and videographers. Having used it to shoot a couple of weddings, one filmmaker lets you know his thoughts.
For anyone who needs fantastic video alongside excellent stills performance, Sony appears to have done a great job with the a7 IV. It was probably impossible for the manufacturer to have matched the impact of the camera’s predecessor, the a7 III, but it appears to have come pretty close, though there are a few areas that have left certain fans slightly disappointed.
The lack of full 4K 60p video will frustrate some and I’ve speculated that it might have been the wrong decision from Sony, though photographers would be justified in expecting the bump in sensor resolution that probably makes the higher video frame rate unfeasible. The processor inside this camera might be Sony’s best but it’s likely that data simply doesn’t come from the sensor fast enough, also explaining the uncompressed raw stills rate of 6 frames per second.
Filmmaker, Matt Johnson, has his own theory as to why Sony has made this decision and to me it makes sense. At just $2,498, the a7 IV will be an appealing prospect over the more expensive a7S III and some feature differentiation will help to protect sales of the video-centric sibling.
Are you a wedding shooter pondering the a7 IV? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
