Is the Sony a7 IV About to Be Released and Will It Have a Flip Screen?

Is the Sony a7 IV About to Be Released and Will It Have a Flip Screen?

With the Sony a7 III having proven so popular since its launch in February 2018, its successor is eagerly anticipated. An announcement on the a7 IV might be coming very soon and there’s a huge amount of speculation as to what features Sony plans to include. Will it finally have the flippy screen that YouTubers have been begging for?

Sony’s aggressive release schedule has certainly shaken up the industry somewhat since it launched the a7 back in 2013. With its three flavors — a7, a7S, and a7R — it almost feels like Sony is releasing an updated version camera every couple of months, though the still-unreleased a7S III definitely seems as though the manufacturer has hit some problems in getting that particular model to market.

With the a7 II reaching shelves in November 2014 and the A7 III being released in February 2018, you’d be forgiven for thinking that there might be more of a gap before an a7 IV finally emerges, but rumors have emerged that Sony is planning an announcement during the CP+ show in Yokohama, Japan which kicks off in just over a month’s time (February 27). Also, the last a7 came only a matter of months after the last a7R, and given that the a7R IV was launched in July 2019, the moment for an a7 IV might be upon us.

With incremental upgrades now being the new normal, Sony fans might not want to get too excited about what the a7 IV will bring. According to Sony Alpha Rumors, the sensor is expected to remain at 24 megapixels and the camera will feature the same EVF, autofocus system and form factor as the recently-released a7R IV. I wonder if there might be a small bump in the quality of the LCD screen given that the screen on the a7R IV is not particularly amazing. Sony also seems to have fallen behind in terms of touchscreen functionality, so this may be something that they seek to address. Would Sony have included a touchscreen in the a7R IV if it were about to include it in the a7 IV?

One big change might be the LCD screen which may finally flip out completely. For whatever reasons, Sony has been reluctant to implement a side hinge on any of its APS-C cameras, preferring to flip the screen down or up for those wishing to see themselves while filming. Is this about to change?

Sony Alpha Rumors is maintaining that this rumor is fairly unreliable at this stage, and the changes over the a7 III might yet be refinements rather than significant changes. Those refinements will certainly be welcome tweaks to the a7 III, but those hoping for an improved menu system may not wish to hold their breath.

What do you think Sony is about to announce? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

Andy Day's picture

Andy Day is a British photographer and writer living in France. He began photographing parkour in 2003 and has been doing weird things in the city and elsewhere ever since. He's addicted to climbing and owns a fairly useless dog. He has an MA in Sociology & Photography which often makes him ponder what all of this really means.

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17 Comments

Sounds like a good plan if they hate having photo taking customers. Back in reality though Sony has never physically differentiated their a7 collections and I don’t see it starting now.

I love how the "artist" rendered image has the screen flipping out the side where you hold the camera...

Aha nice catch!

Lol. Whoops. 😂🤦🏻‍♂️

Didn't Canon patent the flip screen and that's why no other brand can make it too?

Definitely not. The Nikon D5500 has one, GH5, and plenty of other cameras

Olympus E-M1 Mk 2, Pentax K-70, Panasonic G80/85, Leica V-Lux 5, and the list goes on and on.

Zach, Canon has many patents on flip screens. Latest one being filed in 2017. I'd do a quick patent searches before saying "definitely not". Canon is probably making good money on patent licensing as long as it doesn't conflict with their target market.

Isn't the A7 wedding photographers favourite, why would they want a flippy. For photos flippys are crap only good for video and smug faced YouTubers

The entire line would benefit from a flip out screen with touch menu. I switched from Canon to Sony and miss having a flip out screen. As a paid photographer there are times where the flip out screen comes in handy, especially when you are on location and you don't have space or time for an ideal setup.

I used to be super excited about the a7sIV, but honestly, if you're really into video, the bmp4k and 6k have about everything we need. (If you are looking for that cinema style, which I am.)

It had better have at least 3 card slots.

Please sony I need Sensor cover, am tired of dust :(

sony alpha rumors themselves marked the rumor about the flip screen as "wild rumor" aka click bait. remarkable how fstoppers copies this click bait without loosing a word about it and presenting a photo where the screen is on the side where you hold the camera... good work FS... not

Nikolas: I'd argue that 67 words of the 479 in this article discuss the flip screen. 14 of those words are "Sony Alpha Rumors is maintaining that this rumor is fairly unreliable at this stage" so I'm not really sure that your point stands. Plus, speculation as to whether Sony will ever include a flip screen in the a7 has been rife for years, so I don't think those 67 words are exactly unreasonable.

Sony, please: sensor cover to prevent dust and fully functional touch screen.