Sony announces 61-megapixel Alpha 7R IV full-frame camera

After several days of teasers, Sony has confirmed that the latest model to grace its popular Alpha 7 range will be the Sony Alpha 7R Mark IV. Sony unveiled the camera at an event in New York and it brings several major new features with it, not least the company’s first new full-frame sensor since 2015.

According to Sony, the Alpha 7R IV’s new sensor is the world’s first 35mm full-frame 61-megapixel back-illuminated Exmor R CMOS image sensor and it has a claimed 15 stops of dynamic range.

The full list of specifications are as follows:

• Sensor: 35mm full-frame 61-megapixel back-illuminated Exmor R CMOS
• ISO sensitivity: 100-32,000
• Focus type: Fast hybrid autofocus with 567-point focal-plane phase-detection AF and 425-point contrast-detection AF
• Performance: High-speed continuous shooting up to 10fps with AF/AE tracking
• Lens compatibility: Sony E-mount
• Viewfinder: 1.3cm EVF (1,600 x 1,200 OLED)
• Display: 7.5cm TFT LCD
• Battery life: Approx 530 shots (viewfinder) / 670 shots (LCD monitor)
• Release date: August 2019
• Price: £3,500 (body only)

The Alpha 7R IV also has Sony’s highest-ever resolution electronic viewfinder – an OLED unit at 1,600 x 1,200. As before, there’s five-axis optical in-body image stabilisation, which reduces handshake by up to 5.5 stops, and a newly designed shutter assembly that’s also designed to reduce image blur.

Other highlights include real-time eye tracking in stills and video – which works on both animals and humans, by the way – 576-point hybrid autofocus with 75% frame coverage and pro-level 4K (3,840 x 2,160) video recording with support for HLG HDR, S-Log 3 colour and full pixel readout with no pixel binning.

The camera also has SuperSpeed USB Type-C connectivity for speedy data transfer and will be the first Sony camera to have digital audio input capabilities via its new “multi-interface shoe”.

Perhaps most impressive of all the Alpha 7R Mark IV’s new features, however, is its new pixel-shifting ultra-high resolution mode, which can combine up to 16 full-resolution images (a total of 960 megapixels of data) to produce a final image 241 megapixels in resolution. No word from Sony on how big the file sizes will be, though.

You can explore a more exhaustive list of features over at the official Sony Alpha 7R IV website. The camera will launch in August 2019 and will start at £3,500 for the body only.