Rangefinder is a member of the Technical Image Press Association, which has contracted with Image Engineering for detailed lab tests of cameras. Recently they put the Sony Alpha 7 IV under their proverbial microscope and we’ve distilled the results.

Ever since Sony introduced the first full-frame mirrorless camera with autofocusing (way) back in 2013, the company has worked hard to retain its first-mover advantage by plowing advanced technologies and industry-firsts into what’s become a robust lineup of cameras. The new Alpha 7 IV continues the tradition, mixing in new achievements in design and autofocusing alongside advanced technologies originally debuted on other Alpha models.

The Alpha 7 IV features a 33-megapixel back-illuminated sensor and the same BIONZ XR processor that’s found in the A1 (aka Sony’s speed demon). The processor powers 10 frames per second (fps) continuous shooting with AF/AE tracking. As for autofocus, the camera boasts 759 phase-detection AF points in a high-density focal plane phase-detection system covering roughly 94 percent of the image area. It’s the first Sony camera with Real-time Eye AF that can track birds’ and animals’ eyes for both still images and movies. But humans aren’t left out: Sony says the camera’s face and eye detection accuracy for humans is improved by approximately 30 percent compared to the Alpha 7 III.

[Read: Sony A1 Review: A Furiously Fast Full Frame]

Another improvement over the A 7 III is the OLED Quad-VGA viewfinder, which has 1.6 times the resolution of the Alpha 7 III’s viewfinder.

The camera features 5-axis in-camera stabilization good for 5.5 stops of shake reduction and an ISO range that’s expandable to ISO 50 – 204,800.

The Alpha 7 IV can record 4K/60p video when shooting in Super 35mm mode, or 4K/30p video in full-frame mode. Moreover, it features 10-bit (4:2:2) color sampling, support for the S-Cinetone profile used in Sony’s cinema camera line, and H.265 encoding for when you need file efficiency.

Sony also debuted a new design element on the a7IV: a dual-layer mode dial. The lower layer lets you toggle between still, movie and S&Q modes, while the top is your traditional Auto/P/A/S/M settings.

[Read: Sony Alpha 7C Review: The Lab Test Results Are In]

The Sony Alpha 7 IV was tested using the Sony FE 1.2/50 GM lens for both resolution and speed measurements.

Consistent Resolving Power

The Sony Alpha 7 IV resolves 94 percent of its sensor’s theoretical maximum resolution and keeps this resolving power consistently through ISO 1600. By comparison, the Nikon Z 6II can resolve 100 percent of its sensor’s theoretical maximum at ISO 100 and Canon’s EOS R reached 98 percent. Nikon’s Z 7II is capable of reproducing 99 percent of its sensor’s theoretical maximum resolution at its base ISO of 64. The Alpha does outperform the Panasonic’s Lumix S5 in resolving power, however, with the S5 reaching 92 percent of its theoretical maximum.

By ISO 3200 and 6400 the Alpha 7 IV’s resolving power slips to 85 percent—better than Nikon’s Z 7 II, which dips to 80 percent at these ISO levels.

Image Engineering found that the Alpha 7 IV applies fairly high amounts of sharpening to high-contrast edges consistently through ISO 6400 and, through ISO 800, along low-contrast edges.

Noise? A Non-Issue

The Alpha 7 IV excels at controlling visual noise. In the most exacting test—images viewed at 100 percent enlargement on a digital display—the camera’s files showed no visible noise through ISO 1600. Noise only becomes obvious at ISO 6400 in this viewing condition. That’s excellent, though not better than Nikon’s Z 6II, which kept noise at bay throughout the entire ISO range in this viewing condition. The Alpha does manage to top the Canon EOS R5 and the Lumix S5 in the noise department in this viewing condition.

Switch to a large or postcard-sized print and you won’t find noise at any ISO value when viewing the Alpha 7 IV’s photos. That’s comparable to the performance of the Lumix S5 and the Nikon Z 6II.

Unmatched Color Reproduction and White Balance

The Alpha 7 IV delivers a solid 10.3 stops of dynamic range at ISO 400. That’s not quite as good as the S5’s 11.2 stops (at ISO 100) but better than the Z 6 II’s 9.8 stops.

Color reproduction is where the Alpha 7 IV stands alone from its peers, with just two colors deviating strongly from the reference target. The Lumix S5 and Nikon Z 7II produced six strong deviations, while the Z 6II generated seven.

What else did Image Engineering find excellent in the Alpha 7 IV? Automatic white balance.

Video Often Outperforms the Still Side

The Alpha 7 IV continues a recent trend of cameras that often generate better test results from video files than from still photos.

Take resolution. When viewing a still image extracted from a 4K film, Image Engineering found the camera resolving 111 percent of its sensor’s theoretical maximum at both ISO 100 and ISO 1600. That compares to just 94 percent when shooting stills. It’s the same story for dynamic range: You’ll coax out 12 stops at ISO 100 in video compared to 10 stops in still photo mode.

[Read: More of TIPA’s lab test results on new camera releases]

Texture reproduction is good in video at both high and low ISO values. Moreover, sharpening isn’t applied as heavy-handedly as it is in still photography mode.

Noise performance was deemed “excellent.” Viewing a still frame from 4K video at 100 percent and noise isn’t visible until ISO 1600, and then only barely. White balance was just “good” at lower ISOs but “superlative” when you reach the higher values.

Compared to its peers, the Alpha 7 IV offers more resolving power than the Lumix S5 in video and better dynamic range than both the S5 and Nikon Z 6II.

The Sony Alpha 7 IV’s Speed and Performance                                              

The Alpha 7 IV starts up in one second—slower than the Z 6II and (modestly) lagging the S5. It clocks in with a continuous shooting speed of 6 frames per second (fps) for RAW images using both the electronic and mechanical shutter. Switch to JPEGs and the speed improves to 10 fps (in manual focus mode).

The camera focused and shot an image in less than two-fifths of a second in bright light (300lx), of which the autofocus time was one-third of a second. Autofocus in low light (30lx) took two-fifths of a second for a total shooting time of nearly half a second.

Price: $2,500 (body)

sony.com