Sony a7iv low light not working as expected after coming from sony a7iii

[hollaatsean]

Hi all,

 

I'd been using the sony a7iii for months and decided to upgrade. When using the sony a7iii I rarely ever took my ISO above 100 as I didn't need too. I was using a sony F1.8 / 20mm G lens. My low light performance was great.

I have upgraded recently to a Sony a7iv and using near identical settings and lens, my camera when in full manual mode set up the same as my sony a7iii, the iso is going incredibly high in order to produce a well lit picture. It's boosting up to about 12,800 even at sunrise when light is more than present. The screen is near pitch black at 100 iso now. I have even had a replacement camera which hasn't solved the issue and so that rules out any camera body malfunction. But I can almost take pictures of lightbulbs with the lens wide open at f1.8 and have the ability to focus on the bulb without it washing out the screen.

Unsure if I have any weird settings enabled or not. But my Sony a7 iii seemed to be incredible at low iso and low light but I don't know why it is not happening on the Sony a7 iv

Is there anything I could be doing wrong here? 

Edited July 18, 2022 by hollaatsean
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[Pieter]

Sounds like user error more than a faulty camera. Can you post the settings of two identical scenes shot with the A7iii and A7iv side by side with the same lens? Same lens to rule out the possibility that you accidentally left an ND-filter on. Either that or the aperture is at f/22 or so.

[hollaatsean]

I don't have the a7 iii anymore so can't post identical photos but yeah. Just wondering if there's any settings that would be causing iso to ramp up to get a bright scene even in pretty bright morning weather or indoors with lights in everywhere.

 

My phone Samsung galaxy s22 will he huge amounts brighter indoors even without night mode on.

 

Definitely on f1.8

[tadwil]

Limit the auto iso range to where you are most comfortable at - what noise level can you accept in your photos?  Or just set the iso manually yourself, - don't let the camera do what it thinks is the best option when you know better.

[Pieter]

Perhaps you set an extremely short exposure time?

[Pieter]

13 hours ago, tadwil said:

don't let the camera do what it thinks is the best option when you know better.

Since OP said he already was in Manual mode with ISO being the only auto-adjusted variable to get correct exposure, I'd suggest the total opposite: to rule out user error, set the camera to full auto mode and see if you still get extreme ISO values. If not, it's definately a setting issue.

[hollaatsean]

Auto mode in a room which I'd normally use 100 iso on sony a7 iii and have a bright image.

 

It's trying to go f5.0 lowest aperture on this lens, but 12,800 iso and 1/160 shutter and histogram is still nearly on the left fully 

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[Pieter]

Indoors at f/5, these settings don't seem too weird. 1/160 shutter speed is a bit fast, unless you're using a tele lens. If you'd use your trusty f/1.8 lens, ISO would be at around 1600, lower if using a slower shutter speed. ISO 100 indoors in these conditions sounds a bit unlikely to me. What are the exposure settings for that (smartphone?)photo you took of your camera?