Sony A7IV Firmware Update v1.01 is this better?

On March 30 2022 Sony released the version 1.01 firmware for the A7IV full frame camera. The benefits of the firmware release are listed as "Improves the accuracy of the Eye AF feature", "Fixes an issue where you may not be able to take photos when using a SEL2860 lens", and the obligatory "Improves the operational stability of the camera".
As an owner of the Sony A7IV since the very first day of public availability, my experience has been nothing less than amazing when using this camera in a wide range of critically demanding professional photography and video environments.
In this video, I give a basic comparison and demonstration of situations using the Eye AF feature with Human, Animal, and Bird subject selection, with both the original v1.00 firmware, and the new v1.01 firmware.

[@Technician78]

Thank you for taking time to create this very explanatory video! Great job!

[@erikdurnall9585]

You’re welcome! Thanks for watching!

[@robwasnj]

Awesome video, love the examples and voice over format in addition to the EVF views illustrating how it all works. Well done!

[@erikdurnall9585]

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed!

[@dangthaitrung]

I wear glasses. And the eye-AF now focus exactly on my eye, not the glass as before firmware update. So I confirm the update did improve eye AF acuracy in my case.

[@erikdurnall9585]

Thanks for sharing!

[@_cjmccullough]

Oh great! I had this issue as a glasses wearer as well!

[@Guairenito]

Other people reported that the camera was focusing on the eyelashes instead of the eyes with eye-autofocus.

[@erikdurnall9585]

@@Guairenito I never found that to be the case. My A7IV has been perfect from day one.

[@Guairenito]

@@erikdurnall9585 I want one 😍🤩

[@matthewjamesduffy]

Hey Erik, that was a great video thank you. I hope you'll make more videos with the Sony A7IV. The time lapses you posted are very cool and i'd love to learn how to do that with a sourdough starter.

[@erikdurnall9585]

Thanks! I am currently working on putting together a video about doing Timelapse with the A7IV along with general Timelapse concepts. Stay tuned!

[@EBLovesMusic]

Nice video. Good quality review of the update.

[@erikdurnall9585]

Thanks! Glad that you found the information useful!

[@findbinnu]

Pre FW update, using RTT and Face/Eye priority, the camera had a tendency to front focus by a few mm when using very shallow DoF primes and AF-C, burst shooting. This seems to have improved after the update; definitely more keepers now. Also, the general tracking seems a bit snappier (but this maybe placebo effect). Other users have reported improvements in overheating after the FW update. In other words, all gain, no downsides.

[@erikdurnall9585]

I have found mostly everything to be unchanged, which is good news as the camera was already perfect.

[@mykelneid6152]

Was suffering from the close range eye af issue with the 35 GM at 1.4 , it didn't get the focus right most of the time. Also while wearing glasses it always caught the frame rather than my eye. This seems to be improved significantly. It now focuses my eye properly. Still not perfect,but a lot better.

[@TrevorMcGrathPhotography]

Hi Erik, My name is Trevor McGrath (Sony Photographer) from Ireland. I'm subscriber 526. I've watched you video's on Sony Noise Comparison, the A7IV Eye AF and A7IV Firmware Update v1.01 I'm very impressed by your simple yet straightforward presentation which is direct and to the point, giving the details required. I wish you the very best of luck with the channel and look forward to more videos.

[@erikdurnall9585]

Thank you! I’m glad you enjoyed the videos! Thanks for watching and subscribing!

[@AashutoshSahu]

Hey, Erik! I saw your viral video titled (Sony's Big Secret To Clean Images: A Noise Comparison Of The Sony A7IV A1 and A7III) which has 21K views. I liked this video a lot, after that I watched a lot of your videos and I think your video is addictive.

[@mikeh.4421]

Thanks for the great info. I have the IV coming to my local shop soon. I'm going to go with the 200-600 for wildlife. My current gear doesn't have the affordable super zoom announced yet & I feel that I need the 200-600 range super zoom very soon. I had changed my mind & was going to opt for the Canon R5 & their 100-500 for an extra $1500! Thanks for bringing back to the Sony camp! I was cringing at the cost of the Canon combo. I'll get used to the size of the Sony 200-600 right? :-)

[@erikdurnall9585]

You’re welcome! You will love the 200-600! The internal zoom design is amazing and it’s not really that big. Enjoy!

[@AcidAlien]

Hey Erik, thx 4 that great Video... i have on question: Where do you get the great looking green Lenshood?

[@erikdurnall9585]

Thanks! It’s an AlphaGvrd skin.

[@ThanhNguyen-sk6uc]

I love the A7IV, it's a great companion to my A7R4

[@erikdurnall9585]

It is an incredible camera.

[@pattespattes]

how did you manage the choice to take a shoot with your a7riv and not with the a7iv ? I have to take a second camera with my a7riv for wedding day and I'm start thinking to get an a7 IV

[@giljesusseraspe9225]

Getting the A7mk4 as backup for my A1.

[@erikdurnall9585]

They are the perfect pair!

[@AllThingsFilm1]

These are good demonstrations. However, since your focus - no pun intended - is on photography, it would also be interesting to see how the improvements to the Eye AF would work on video footage. Since you've already updated your A7iv, this may not be possible. But, as a filmmaker myself, my interests would be on improvements on the video side of production.

[@erikdurnall9585]

I don't think there ever was much room for improvement either way.

[@roganthoerson1909]

i haven't yet installed the new firmware but i can tell that for ducks i have seen the eye AF selecting the wing as it was the eye and i think it is because there is a black area. i don't have any peacock in the neighborhood but would be interesting to see if it is failing the eye AF.

[@Jonathantuba]

I have had the A7iv since launch in November. I have never had problems with eye AF and so far I have seen no difference since the update. Mind you I am using an F2.8 zoom lens which would not have as shallow depth of field as say F1.4 prime.

[@erikdurnall9585]

I agree. The camera was phenomenal before, and it’s still phenomenal.

[@brynjarbjorgvinsson1987]

Great video, Question, where did you buy the skin for the lens ?

[@erikdurnall9585]

I use the AlphaGvrd skins. They’re nice but this “code green” skin wasn’t as precisely cut as the previous skin I had from them which was the “Obsidian Camo”. I’m thinking of going with no skin for the summer then trying out the “Urban Camo” skin in the fall. alphagvrd.com/collections/sony?gclid=CjwKCAjwur-SBhB6EiwA5sKtjh5I8bECbLFL-i2eXa0qizKTSdMFcpoQMa_kcDRYGs0W2X50hGBHXRoC1w0QAvD_BwE

[@ericusjtm28]

I have the 7iv plus the 200-600 and yes it improves

[@erikdurnall9585]

Thanks for sharing your experience.

[@MrBritishGent]

One early review of the A7IV suggested the Eye-AF tended to focus on eyelashes rather than the surface of the eye itself, which I guess could have been an issue in some very specific situations with ultra-shallow depth of field. Perhaps Sony have addressed that in the new firmware...?

[@erikdurnall9585]

I never experienced any issue with the original firmware and I haven’t experienced any issues with the new firmware. I did conduct a before and after test, which I show in this video which indicates no detectable improvement and maybe not quite as perfect as the original firmware was. The original firmware seemed to be much more stable. The new firmware seems to be more jumpy and erratic at times.

[@boxemail6697]

Hello sir could you tel me witch lens i choose for a7iv 4k 60fps crop to cover 4k 60fps full frame without loosing resolution?

[@qlim1702]

hi erik, do u still keeping Firmware 1.01? could not get it on sony website.

[@slm3501]

Hello Erick, I don't know if you'll remember, in the Facebook group of A7IV I posted that my machine was heating up in the video menu even without touching the device, the battery drained at the rate of 1% per minute, you said that this is normal, that your A1 did that, I even reluctantly believed it, but after the update firmware it doesn't happen anymore, the machine needs to stay there for 10, 12 min to down 1% battery. Just for information, hug! I believe de issues are different for each user, like its seems de AF issue and how I said, maybe some hardware difference into cameras.

[@erikdurnall9585]

Thanks for sharing your experience!

[@bvill6749]

When you say you opened up your exposure, do you mean you lowered the shutter and aperture ?

[@erikdurnall9585]

Yes. I opened my aperture up 1/3 of a stop, and lowered my shutter speed 1/3 of a stop.

[@thegeneral123]

The impression I get from what I've read and seen. Is that this firmware update seems to benefit the first batch of Sony A7IV cameras more than later production models. So I wonder if there were some niggles during early production which the firmware fixes/mitigates. I won't be at all surprised if there's an internal check with the software used to update the firmware checking where the camera was production date wise and it's not one firmware covers all. Or it just brings early release models up to the current standard. I do thing there's more to this though. Getting my A7IV in April apparently, pre ordered since beginning of 2022. Will be interesting to see if Sony ship it with 1.01 already installed.

[@piotrgraniszewski8544]

So how is it? What is your production month? What is your firmware?

[@thegeneral123]

@@piotrgraniszewski8544 It came with 1.00 no idea on production month, I got it end of April. I updated to 1.01 before doing anything else and it's been great. Not seen any focus issues.

[@piotrgraniszewski8544]

@@thegeneral123: Thanks for your response! I am eyeying the A7 IV (no pun intended, LMAO) as an upgrade from my A7 II, and so I am investigating any potential issues.

[@thegeneral123]

@@piotrgraniszewski8544 You're very welcome, I also was using the IV as an upgrade over the II which to be honest had god awful autofocus for anything beyond spot focus. It's also a big upgrade over my X-T3 which is my other main camera. I'm a lot more invested glass wise in Fuji so for my A7IV I'm only planning on 2-3 lenses. Been using my Sigma 24-70 F2.8 and have just bought the Tamron 70-180 F2.8 for a bit more reach.

[@ardl7099]

@@thegeneral123 how to check firmware & production month on sony ?

[@tsizzle]

Sony claims that there was another “improvement to EyeAF” in the latest firmware V1.10. Have you had a chance to examine this to confirm the improvements? Thanks.

[@erikdurnall9585]

I have only just updated to 1.10 and I am currently testing and will be releasing a complete review soon.

[@networm64]

@@erikdurnall9585 Man waiting forever for that update video!

[@alexkooistra]

I can use both on cam monitor and external simultanious

[@erikdurnall9585]

Not with HDMI Info Display on.

[@akilescam]

Does this update solve the camera overheating problem?

[@erikdurnall9585]

I’ve never experienced any overheating problems so I wouldn’t know.

[@MarianMoisii]

What about overheating? After update overheating issues gone?

[@erikdurnall9585]

Never had any overheating before the update or since the update.

[@prince-sonawane]

What about the heating issue ? is this fixed ?

[@erikdurnall9585]

I'm not aware of any overheating issue, and I have not experienced any overheating.

[@trosencrantz]

@@erikdurnall9585 Exteneded video shooting will surely get it to overheat if you don't set the setting to HIGH. I had mine turn off while shooting a wedding last weekend 3x but I forgot to turn it to High, which I'm hoping will help, as others have mentioned.

[@DashVisionLLC]

Anyone have issues updating their a7iv with a M1 MacBook?

[@erikdurnall9585]

No issue here. Updated with M1 MacBook Air with no problem.

[@MarianMoisii]

What about overheating?

[@erikdurnall9585]

I haven't experienced any overheating before or after the update.

[@MarianMoisii]

@@erikdurnall9585 I have plan to buy it that why I asked you; For now I use sony sony a6400 but I want to make updade to A74 ,but this I don't want waste my money

[@MarkKidsley1989]

Mine has been but I’ve not updated firmware yet

[@MarianMoisii]

@@MarkKidsley1989 I just want like to have honest answer about it .... Or maybe A6400 I should keep my a6400 becouse A7IV has a huge problem from my point of view: overheating. Maybe. the problem with autofocus or others can be solved from the firmware update but about overheating I don't know what to say .... I'm afraid I'll waste money with this camera .

[@MarkKidsley1989]

@@MarianMoisii mine seems very sporadic… had it overheat on a job twice but trying to replicate it on my lap, it doesn’t overheat… I was filling in 4K 24p for about 2hrs though in 20min intervals

[@orlandonoa]

Not better in low light with a 3rd party (Sigma) lens. Would like to go back to old firmware if possible,

[@MarkKidsley1989]

Nope still overheating for me

[@erikdurnall9585]

I'm not aware of any overheating.

[@trosencrantz]

Even when set to High? Mine did the previous weekend but it wasn't set to high yet, which I've done and need to test.

[@MarkKidsley1989]

@@trosencrantz yup

[@99unclebob]

thx Eric, i got my A7iv and 200-600mm lens combo on the 28th of Dec. here in Canada is when they were open to the public, although i ordered mine in early November and was using an A77 MKii which has performed flawlessly, i have found no issues with the EYE AF and after watching your video i will not do the firmware update, Apple did the same thing to me with the last update to Aperture this pro photo software i purchased when i had my MacBook Pro built, the buggers took away features i used regularly that i now no longer have, nothing worse than losing some thing you paid through an update 👍

[@erikdurnall9585]

Enjoy your already perfect camera. The new firmware doesn’t make an already perfect camera more perfect. Enjoy!

[@99unclebob]

@@erikdurnall9585 thx its a whole new learning curve for my, it is like going back to school in its own way, like taking a correspondence course, nice part is you can sit anywhere you want at home and do it 👍 i am just hobbyist who loves pics and started doing bits of video,