Sony A7 IV Uncompressed 14 bit 6 FPS Shooting? Compressed 12-bit 10fps Shooting?

[candasulas]

I have Sony A7 IV body. I usually take street photos, landscapes, sunsets, nature and rarely portrait photos.

What I'm asking is, is it okay if I use 12-bit RAW instead of 14-bit? Will I experience a noticeable loss in photo quality?
I know that 14 bits is always better than 12 bits. But storing RAW files on the computer is a big problem over time.

And sometimes 10fps shooting speed is really nice. So is it worth going from 14bit to 12bit for 10fps shutter speed?

What do you recommend about this? What is your opinion?

Best regards.

 

[Gaz]

Great question. I usually shoot in compressed raw and heif. Neither yield 14 bit files. I don’t have the keen eye of a younger person, true, and I’ve not discerned a difference. I guess I could pixel peep and test methodically to try and find one.

 

[Deleted Member 5003]

You shouldn't see a discernable difference unless you are really looking for best image quality over FPS.

Any perceived minor differences can be compensated for in Post processing in Raw.....

 

[candasulas]

Great question. I usually shoot in compressed raw and heif. Neither yield 14 bit files. I don’t have the keen eye of a younger person, true, and I’ve not discerned a difference. I guess I could pixel peep and test methodically to try and find one.

I think it should be tested methodically. I did research on the internet, they say it makes a difference when processing Raw, especially when recovering data from Shadow parts.

 

[candasulas]

You shouldn't see a discernable difference unless you are really looking for best image quality over FPS.

Any perceived minor differences can be compensated for in Post processing in Raw.....

I'm processing raw. I wonder if it will be a problem, especially with photos with shadows like sunset.

I wonder if there are artifacts or if the details of the objects are lost when processing RAW. That's why I wanted to ask people who work more professionally than me.

 

[Gaz]

Continuous shutter setting on A7iv saves compressed raw at 12 bit, otherwise 14 bit. I’ve shot sunrise on burst mode to put seagulls in the view, but usually use single shot obtaining 14 bit files, and underexpose by at least 2 stops so the sun doesn’t blow out, and, sometimes an ND filter. None of this requires burst modes.

 

[iamdlewis]

You could setup the custom settings (the 1, 2, 3 on the dial) so that 1 is normal stuff shooting in 14-bit and 2 is high FPS and 12-bit. There isn't anything that says once you start shooting in one setting you need to stay in those settings for everything.

 

[candasulas]

A7 IV'ünüz varsa, Kayıpsız Sıkıştırılmış RAW çekim yapın. Daha küçük dosyalar, eşit kalite. İşleme programınızın bunları tanıdığından emin olmak için kontrol edin. Tek sorun, 10FPS çekememeniz, ancak tanımladığınız türler için buna ihtiyacınız olmayacak gibi görünüyor.

İkisi arasındaki kalite farkına gelince, birkaç fotoğraf çekmeniz ve kendiniz karar vermeniz gerekecek. Bazı insanlar sadece jpeg çeker, bu tamamen kişisel bir tercihtir.

I'll try to shoot with lossless compressed. I usually shoot a single shot with or without loss.



But I'll take what you say into consideration. Thank you very much

 

[candasulas]

Continuous shutter setting on A7iv saves compressed raw at 12 bit, otherwise 14 bit. I’ve shot sunrise on burst mode to put seagulls in the view, but usually use single shot obtaining 14 bit files, and underexpose by at least 2 stops so the sun doesn’t blow out, and, sometimes an ND filter. None of this requires burst modes.

I did not know that. Single shot 14 bit is very good. I usually shoot single shots. I'm not with moving objects. That's why I rarely use burst mode.

I will consider your ND Filter and shooting setting suggestion. Thank you very much.

 

[candasulas]

You could setup the custom settings (the 1, 2, 3 on the dial) so that 1 is normal stuff shooting in 14-bit and 2 is high FPS and 12-bit. There isn't anything that says once you start shooting in one setting you need to stay in those settings for everything.

I will personally adjust the settings on the mode dial as you say. I usually use single shot. but it will be easy for me to reach in setting the dial to multi-shot.

Thank you very much for the information.

 

[candasulas]

I have no idea what that says. I typed in English.

Sometimes I use translate. I misspelled absentmindedly. I fixed it.

 

[MeowZzz]

Only slightly aside topic, I have been very surprised at what my Alpha cameras can manage --- the other day, we went out for lunch with my daughter in law/husband/grandson and I forgot to change the jpeg setting back. So, it was shooting 10 meg files. And they ended up looking fine on this 5k monitor.

Even, last night I shot some furry friends in jpeg, then finding they actually edited okay as well in Capture later on -- in other words, it is surprising the lattitude for adjustment, EVEN from a jpeg.

Usually when I shoot things I really want full data with (birds or flanimals), I'll go RAW like everyone else (I guess) (I mean we're all part of this time window where people worry over nothing innit!)

I would add this: I recall when I got my A7iv and was a little surprised that it fired only so many shots before hitting its buffer - then I started cutting back from RAW to jpeg x. fine to fine to std. until it sped up. So at jpeg std., I think it was was pretty much stutterless --- and then compare the feeling of quality to an equivalent scene as shot with RAW; visually it ain't all that off. Just surprising, that's all. Kind of a good surprise.

 

[Gaz]

Here’s a link to the limitations on Sony raw. The A7iv adopts 12 bit only for bust mode compressed raw. I often shoot in burst mode using Clear Image Zoom which is heif format, and those files respond quite effectively when trying to pull out details from shadow. My thoughts are that, if you want 14 bit in burst mode, do not use compressed raw format.

And, have fun!

See article:

https://www.sony.com/electronics/support/articles/00229990