At 61 Megapixels, the Alpha 7R IV will give you tremendous resolution and shooting flexibility like never before. Here’s what you can do to get the most out of every pixel. 

Print in large format  

Why do megapixels (MP) matter? For starters, it lets you print bigger. Viewed on screen through your phone’s Instagram or your laptop’s browser, images are downsized to much lower viewing resolutions where the size of MP isn’t as important. But in print, the more MP you have, the more detail you capture with each shot and the better your prints will look at larger sizes. The images are sharper, resolving more detail. The average A4 photo print without any form of enlargement software would require an 8MP camera. With 61MP, you can print even larger sizes rivalling sizes that used to be only limited to medium format cameras. 

Crop to perspective

Ever felt like a landscape photo you shot would have made a better portrait? Crop it vertically or to a proportion of your choice without losing any detail. If you have the space, you could even turn it into three separate portraits with just as much detail that combine into a masterpiece on your living room wall. And if that tiny sheep on the edge of a cliff makes a fantastic social media square frame, simply crop with ease.  

Zooming into a photo of a licensed plate number would often result in a pixelated blur, but with 61MP you can now get discernable digits as the details retain their full sharpness. This means that every single frame can potentially be cropped to show every detail in crisp resolution. 

Wildlife Photography - Shoot from a safe distance 

Another use of the fine detail you’ll capture is for wildlife photography. Wild animals spook easily and are hard to approach to photograph. With a good zoom lens on the Alpha 7R IV, you won’t need to. Stay at a safe distance and take your shot. In your picture, it’ll seem like that bird, lizard or squirrel was right in front of you. 

Macro Photography - Get up close with the finer details 

Snap on a macro lens, meant for taking pictures of things really close up. What the extra MP will give you could well be the difference between just seeing the bee’s fuzzy butt and being able to count the hairs; or just the detailed head of an ant and what it’s holding in its jaws. That’s pretty amazing stuff. 

Reevaluating your workflow 

The larger file sizes that come with 61MP photos will affect your processing time and how you edit photos. No matter what software you choose, it will take longer to batch process from RAW (.ARW). If you want to speed this up, consider either increasing your computer’s RAM or using a more powerful machine. You could also consider downsizing images prior to editing by adjusting the image size. 

Further to that, you would need additional storage. More hard drive space and perhaps additional memory cards and external storage is recommended, if not necessary when shooting with the Alpha 7R IV.  

This should ease the transition from any previous lower megapixel cameras you might have used without affecting the experience of getting that final image. 

Maximising possibility 

Whatever your subject might be, what the additional MP of the Alpha 7R IV gives you is the ability to do more and perform better. Your food shots will pop. You’ll finally capture that roosting hornbill. And if you’re a professional, you’ll be dealing with some really happy clients. Capture infinite possibilities with the full strength of 61 megapixels.