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Sony A7R IV Performance


Timing and Performance

Generally very good performance for its class, though buffer clearing is sluggish.

Startup/Play to Record

Power on
to first shot
~1.3 seconds

Time it takes to turn on and capture a shot.

Play to Record,
first shot
~1.5 seconds

Time until first shot is captured.

The Sony A7R IV's startup time (power on to first shot) was pretty fast for mirrorless camera, though still slower than most DSLRs. Switching from Play to Record mode and taking a shot was oddly a bit slower in our tests.


Shutter Response (Lag Time)
Mechanical Shutter (EFCS On/Off)

Full Autofocus,
Center AF area
AF-S mode

0.205 / 0.278
second

Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture, with the lens already at the proper focal distance setting.

Manual Focus
0.124 / 0.194
second

For most cameras, shutter lag is less in manual focus than autofocus, but usually not as fast as when the camera is "prefocused".

Prefocused
0.022 / 0.093
second

Time to capture, after half-pressing and holding shutter button.
Electronic Shutter (Silent Shooting Mode)

Full Autofocus,
Center AF area
AF-S mode

0.406 second

Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture, with the lens already at the proper focal distance setting.

Manual Focus
0.327 second

For most cameras, shutter lag is less in manual focus than autofocus, but usually not as fast as when the camera is "prefocused".

Prefocused
0.207 second

Time to capture, after half-pressing and holding shutter button.

The Sony A7R IV's full-autofocus shutter lag (with the subject at a fixed distance) was good, measuring in at 0.205 second in Single-area (Center) AF mode with the Sony Zeiss 35mm f/2.8 lens. This was with electronic first curtain shutter (EFCS) enabled by default. With EFCS disabled (fully mechanical shutter), full AF shutter lag increased to 0.278 second. In Silent Shooting Mode (fully electronic shutter), full AF shutter lag increased to 0.406 second.

When manually focused, the Sony A7R IV's shutter lag dropped to 0.124 second with EFCS, and 0.194 second without. With the fully electronic shutter, manual focus shutter lag was 0.327 second.

The Sony A7R IV's prefocused shutter lag was only 0.022 second with EFCS, which is very fast. Without EFCS, prefocused shutter lag increased to 0.093 second, but with the fully electronic shutter, it tested at 0.207 second.

To minimize the effect of different lens' focusing speed, we test AF-active shutter lag with the lens already set to the correct focal distance.


Cycle Time (shot to shot)

Single Shot mode
Large/ Extra Fine JPEG
< 0.3 second

Time per shot, averaged over a few frames (we no longer test for buffer depths in single-shot mode).

Single Shot mode
RAW + LEF JPEG
< 0.3 second

Time per shot, averaged over a few frames (we no longer test for buffer depths in single-shot mode).

Early shutter
penalty?
No

Some cameras don't snap another shot if you release and press the shutter too quickly in Single Shot mode, making "No" the preferred answer.

Continuous Hi+
Large/Extra Fine JPEG
0.10 second
(10.0 fps);
70 frames total;
62.3 seconds to clear*

Average time per shot. Slowed to an average of 0.98s or 1.0 fps when buffer was full with a fair amount of variation.

Continuous Hi+
Uncompressed RAW
0.14 second
(7.2 fps);
32 frames total;
14.3 seconds to clear*

Average time per shot. Slowed to an average of 0.65s or 1.5 fps when buffer was full with a fair amount of variation.

Continuous Hi+
Compressed RAW
0.10 second
(9.9 fps);
74 frames total;
25.8 seconds to clear*

Average time per shot. Slowed to an average of 0.35s or 2.8 fps when buffer was full with a lot of variation.

Continuous Hi+
Uncompressed RAW + LEF JPEG

0.14 second
(7.2 fps);
32 frames total;
29.3 seconds to clear*

Average time per shot. Slowed to an average of 0.94s or 1.1 fps when buffer was full with a lot of variation.

Continuous Hi+
Compressed RAW + LEF JPEG

0.10 second
(9.9 fps);
68 frames total;
60.5 seconds to clear*

Average time per shot. Slowed to an average of 0.99s or 1.0 fps when buffer was full with a fair amount of variation.
*Note: Buffer clearing times measured with a Sony 64GB SF-G UHS-II SDXC card (R:300MB/s, W:299MB/s). Slower cards will produce correspondingly slower clearing times. Slow cards may also limit length of bursts in continuous mode. ISO sensitivity and noise reduction settings can also affect cycle times and burst mode performance.

Single-shot cycle times were very fast, at under 0.3 second for both Large/Extra Fine JPEGs and RAW + Large/Extra Fine JPEG frames. (Note that we no longer test single-shot mode with just RAW files, as the results are usually somewhere in between JPEG and RAW+JPEG modes.)

In Continuous Hi+ mode, the Sony A7R IV's top burst speed is a claimed 10 frames per second, and that's with continuous AF/AE. In the lab, the A7R IV essentially met that spec with JPEGs and compressed RAW files, but the speed dropped to about 7.2 fps with uncompressed RAW files. In Continuous Hi mode which updates the viewfinder image between captured frames for easier subject tracking, the Sony A7R IV met its spec at about 8.0 frames per second with JPEGs and compressed RAW, but it also slowed down when shooting uncompressed RAW, to about 6.4 fps. The A7R IV also offers Mid and Lo Continuous modes rated at 6.0 and 3.0 fps respectively, however we did not test those modes.

Buffer depths were quite good when shooting best quality JPEGs, at 70 frames in Hi+ mode, increasing only slightly to 72 frames in Hi mode in our tests. Uncompressed RAW buffer depth was pretty good, at 32 frames regardless of the mode. Switching to (lossy) compressed RAW mode increased buffer depths to 74 RAW files and 68 RAW+LF JPEG and also exhibited almost no reduction in burst rate. Sadly, the Sony A7R IV still does not offer a losslessly compressed RAW option.

Unfortunately, even with one of the best performing UHS-II cards on the market (a Sony 64GB SF-G UHS-II SDXC card), clearing the buffer can take a long time, particularly with best quality JPEG files. Buffer clearing ranged from 14.3 seconds after a max-length burst of uncompressed RAW files to a worst-case of 62.3 seconds after a max-length burst of best quality JPEGs in Hi+ mode. The A7R IV does let you change some settings, access the menus and view just-shot images while the buffer is clearing, though.


Bottom line, the Sony A7R IV generally offers very good performance for the class and resolution, with relatively quick startup speed, good AF speeds, low shutter lag, fast burst speeds and generous buffer depths, however buffer clearing can be slow, particularly with JPEG files.

Battery

Battery Life
Excellent battery life for a mirrorless camera.

Operating Mode Battery Life
Still Capture,
(EVF, CIPA standard)
530 shots
Still Capture,
(LCD Monitor, CIPA standard)
670 shots

The Sony A7R IV uses a custom NP-FZ100 rechargeable lithium-ion battery pack for power and comes with a single battery, a dedicated battery charger, and an AC adapter for in-camera charging via USB. While CIPA-rated battery life is well above average for a mirrorless camera, it's still well below most prosumer and pro DSLRs when using their optical viewfinders. We recommend purchasing a second battery and you may want to consider getting the optional VG-C4EM portrait battery grip which doubles battery life with a second battery installed.

The table above shows the number of shots the camera is capable of on fully-charged battery, based on CIPA battery-life and/or manufacturer standard test conditions. While real-world battery life tends to be much better for mirrorless cameras, CIPA-rated battery life is still very useful for comparison purposes.

(Interested readers can find an English translation of the CIPA DC-002 standards document here. (180K PDF document))

 

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