Sony A7 IV New a7iv owner questions

[ToasterZapper]

Hi all,

I’m new to alphashooters and also new to Sony cameras and mirrorless systems.

I’ve only had my a7iv for a few days and haven’t had chance to put it through it’s paces yet, but so far I’m really liking it and enjoying using it.

A few quick questions ahead of me posting something more meaningful in the future.

1. I’ve noticed that the lcd screen flashes/flickers briefly when pushing the shutter half way; from doing a quick Google this seems to be normal behaviour but just wanted to check whilst it’s in the return period.
2. I’ve noticed on occasion (very rare) that the camera doesn’t seem to respond to the half shutter button press and I seem to have to recompose to get it to acknowledge. Is there any explanation for this behaviour? Admittedly it could just be me.
3. I have the 28-70 kit lens with the camera. Is it just the single OSS setting in the menu that controls it for both the camera and the lens?

Thank you all in advance. Looking forward to posting here more often.

 

[MrFotoFool]

I am relatively new to Sony (but not to photography) and my only Sony body is also the A7IV, which I got at the beginning of 2022. I will try to answer based on my experience, but people who have been with Sony longer may know better.

Question 1: If the camera is either turned off or the rear screen has shut itself off by going into power save mode, then yes it may be normal to flicker on startup. Honestly I haven't noticed it, but it doesn't sound like an issue.

Question 2: I have noticed this routinely when I recharge the batteries and put them back into the camera. (I am using the extra battery grip with a holder for two batteries). It doesn't happen when I am using the camera with the batteries already installed, but when I first insert the recharged batteries and turn on the camera, it does not turn on immediately but experiences a delay of several seconds.

Question 3: While Sony's bigger lenses have a switch on the lens barrel to turn OSS on or off, this lens does not. As I understand it, OSS is always on unless you go into the camera menu and turn it off. Same is true for the camera's in-body stabilization (which works in conjuction with the lens' OSS).

 

[Deleted Member 5003]

Just to add to Mr Foto's coments :-

Question 1 ...... their are specific settings for Monitor/EVF controls in the menus and once they have been set up in terms of priority and
personal prefeences you should not experience such flickers.

Question 2......I haven't seen this on my Sony's.

Question 3......Sony's IBIS or in camera steady shot is designed to provide vibration damping for the camera and the attached lens if the
lens does not have its own steady shot(OSS)...this applies to Sony lenses and thirdparty lenses such as Sigma which are specifically designed
to be compatible with the Sony auto systems.

In my experience if you use a Sony lens with OSS(example the 24-105 f4 lens) the camera IBIS and Lens OSS are complementary and particularily
for video shooting(hand held) wherein you will experience a more significant vibration damping than using IBIS alone with OSS switched off.

As a general rule Sony does not manufacture lenses below 70mm focal length with OSS these days as their current cameras are able to interface
with lenses without OSS to collect Yaw and Roll direction data in which to provide their specified overall 5 axis vibration coverage.

 

[ToasterZapper]

Thanks both. Just to clarify on question 3 - the 28-70 kit lens doesn’t have a physical OSS on off switch so I’m wondering if the one obvious setting in the menu system controls the on off state for both the camera and the lens in this instance.

The lcd screen flicker only happens immediately on the half press of the shutter and then stops. It is very brief and only whilst the camera initially focuses. It sounds as though this is normal.

 

[MrFotoFool]

As a general rule Sony does not manufacture lenses below 70mm focal length with OSS these days as their current cameras are able to interface
with lenses without OSS to collect Yaw and Roll direction data in which to provide their specified overall 5 axis vibration coverage.

Yes but the lens in question, 28-70, DOES have OSS. The difference is there is not an external switch on the lens barrel to turn it off.

 

[Deleted Member 5003]

Ah...Ok i wasn't aware of this...Thanks for the correction.

If you cannot turn it off then presumably its vibration performance will be enhanced when used with an E-Mount
camera with IBIS...when hand holding etc.

On a tripod however with remote actuation , it may of course work against vibration damping, as whilst you can
shut down IBIS the lens will still try to damp when it is not really required.

 

[ToasterZapper]

This thread on dpreview along with the linked YouTube video shows the screen flicker I’m describing https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4414595

 

[MrFotoFool]

Ah...Ok i wasn't aware of this...Thanks for the correction.

If you cannot turn it off then presumably its vibration performance will be enhanced when used with an E-Mount
camera with IBIS...when hand holding etc.

On a tripod however with remote actuation , it may of course work against vibration damping, as whilst you can
shut down IBIS the lens will still try to damp when it is not really required.

Good point. While the only Sony lens I have DOES have an external OSS switch, my understanding is that with this 28-70 lens you can turn it off in the camera menu. Of course that's a bit of a pain and I find it odd they would include OSS but not include a switch on the lens barrel.

 

[Deleted Member 5003]

Good point. While the only Sony lens I have DOES have an external OSS switch, my understanding is that with this 28-70 lens you can turn it off in the camera menu. Of course that's a bit of a pain and I find it odd they would include OSS but not include a switch on the lens barrel.

Ok understood...I am not so familiar with the earlier lenses.......

 

[ToasterZapper]

Hi all, thanks for your replies.

I’ve spent some more time with the camera today looking into issue number 2 above.

The issue seems to occur after multiple (in the tens) half presses of the shutter one after the other (without following through to take a shot). The button then refuses to respond for a few moments and then when it does again the first single half press results in multiple focus beeps. It’s almost like a software buffer fills up and then it processes some of it.

Given the scenario in which this is occurring (completely not normal), I guess no one else has noticed?

I’m thinking other cameras will be the same so no point in going through the exchange process.