Nikon D3 vs Sony Alpha 7 IV

In this comparison, we will evaluate the Nikon D3 and the Sony Alpha 7 IV, highlighting the advantages of each over the other, discussing their pros and cons, shared strengths and weaknesses, and providing a rating based on their available features and specifications to assist you in choosing the one that best suits your needs.

Nikon D3 was introduced in April 2008 and Sony Alpha 7 IV was introduced in October 2021. Let us first list highlights of the models.

Now that we've looked at the most essential specifications and gained a basic understanding of these cameras, we can delve into more details and see the differences between them.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Nikon D3 over Sony Alpha 7 IV.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Sony Alpha 7 IV over Nikon D3.

We already listed pros and cons of each model. However, you may also find useful to look at their common strengths and weaknesses shown side-by-side.

Screen

Nikon D3 and Sony Alpha 7 IV have 3.0" screens with 922k dot and 1,440k dot resolutions respectively. Nikon D3 has a Fixed screen Sony Alpha 7 IV has a Fully Articulated screen which makes it selfie and vlogger friendly and generally very useful for video shooting. Sony Alpha 7 IV also features touchscreen which has advantages such as easy menu navigation, intuitive controls, quick setting adjustment and most importantly a Touch-to-Focus functionality (available only on Sony Alpha 7 IV) allowing users to select a specific point on the screen where they want the camera to focus. This feature can be helpful for achieving precise focus in both photo and video recording.

Viewfinder

Nikon D3 has a built-in Optical (pentaprism) viewfinderSony Alpha 7 IV has a built-in 0.5" Electronic (OLED) viewfinder with 3,680k dot resolution. They both have 100% coverage.

Nikon D3 features a 12.1 megapixel Full Frame CMOS sensor with dimensions of 36.0 x 23.9 mm and a total area of 860.4 mm². Its native ISO range is 200 - 6,400 and expands to 100 - 25,600 in boosted mode. Sony Alpha 7 IV features a 33.0 megapixel Full Frame BSI-CMOS sensor with dimensions of 35.9 x 23.8 mm and a total area of 566.4 mm². Its native ISO range is 100 - 51,200 and expands to 50 - 204,800 in boosted mode.

Sony Alpha 7 IV has BSI-CMOS sensor, short for Backside Illuminated Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor sensor. In traditional CMOS sensors, the wiring and circuitry are located on the front side of the sensor, which can block some of the incoming light. BSI technology flips this design by placing the photosensitive elements (pixels) on the backside of the sensor, allowing more light to reach the pixels. This significantly enhances light sensitivity and improves low-light performance. BSI-CMOS sensors are particularly effective in low-light conditions, as they can capture more light, resulting in brighter and less noisy images. This makes them well-suited for indoor and night photography. BSI-CMOS sensors deliver a higher SNR and reduced cross-talk.

Here is a sensor size comparison chart where you can see how different sensors compare with each other:

Sensor size chart

	Sensor	Dimensions	Area	Aspect Ratio	Crop Factor
	Medium Format	44 x 33 mm	1452 mm2	4:3	0.79x
	Full Frame	36 x 24 mm	864 mm2	3:2	1x
	APS-H	27 x 18 mm	486 mm2	3:2	1.3x
	APS-C	23.6 x 15.6 mm	368.2 mm2	3:2	1.5x
	APS-C (Canon)	22.3 x 14.9 mm	332.3 mm2	3:2	1.6x
	Micro Four Thirds	17.4 x 13 mm	226.2 mm2	4:3	2x
	1-inch	13.2 x 8.8 mm	116.2 mm2	3:2	2.7x
	1/1.7-inch	7.44 x 5.58 mm	41.5 mm2	4:3	4.7x
	1/2.3-inch	6.17 x 4.55 mm	28.1 mm2	4:3	5.6x

Nikon D3 is equipped with EXPEED processor and can take pictures up to 4256 x 2832 resolution. It can also take pictures with lower resolution like 3184 x 2120, 2128 x 1416 with 5:4, 3:2 aspect ratios. Sony Alpha 7 IV is equipped with BIONZ XR processor and can take pictures up to 7008 x 4672 resolution.

Lens Mount

Nikon D3 has Nikon F lens mount and Sony Alpha 7 IV has Sony E lens mount. Due to their Full Frame sensor their crop factor (also called lens multiplier) is equal to 1x. This means that a 35mm equivalent focal length of the mounted lens will be equal to its actual focal length.

No Low-Pass Filter on Sony Alpha 7 IV

There is no optical low-pass filter (OLPF), also known as an anti-aliasing filter, in front of the sensor on Sony Alpha 7 IV. This results in a slightly sharper image but may also introduce moiré patterns and aliasing artifacts when photographing subjects with fine, repetitive patterns or details.

In-Body Image Stabilization on Sony Alpha 7 IV

Sony Alpha 7 IV has a built-in 5-Axis Sensor Shift in-body image stabilization (IBIS) with 5.5 stops of compensation. This means that you are still getting vibration reduction when camera is paired with non-image stabilizied lenses. It also works with lenses with optical image stabilization and in combination can achieve even better compensation.

Built-in Wi-Fi on Sony Alpha 7 IV

Sony Alpha 7 IV has a built-in Wi-Fi (Wi-Fi 5, 802.11ac/b/g/n, 2.4/5 GHz) which allows to easily transfer photos and videos from the camera to other Wi-Fi-enabled devices, such as smartphones, tablets, printers, or computers. This eliminates the need for cables and allows for quick and convenient media sharing and social media integration. It gives you the ability to control your camera remotely using a smartphone or tablet. This is particularly useful for taking self-portraits, group shots, or capturing images in challenging conditions without having to touch the camera. Firmware updates can also be downloaded and installed wirelessly.
  Check out the cameras in our database that have built-in WiFi.

Bluetooth on Sony Alpha 7 IV

Sony Alpha 7 IV has a built-in Bluetooth which lets you to connect the camera to a smartphone or a dedicated remote control device. This allows you to remotely trigger the camera, adjust settings and controls remotely through a paired mobile app. While Wi-Fi is generally faster for transferring larger files, Bluetooth can be used for small, selective transfers, it can provide real-time information about your camera's battery status, memory card capacity, and other key settings directly on your paired smartphone or smartwatch.
  Check out the cameras in our database that have built-in Bluetooth.

USB Inputs and HDMI Outputs

Both models have USB inputs for data transfer. Nikon D3 has an HDMI and Sony Alpha 7 IV has a Full Size HDMI connector for video signal output.

Battery

Sony Alpha 7 IV comes with NP-FZ100 battery pack with battery life of 600 shots.

External Storage Slots

Nikon D3 has Dual CompactFlash (Type I/II, compliant with UDMA) card slots. Sony Alpha 7 IV has two card slots - one for CFexpress Type A / SD (UHS-II) and one for SD/SDHC/SDXC (UHS-II).

Shutter

Nikon D3 has Electronically controlled vertical-travel focal-plane shutter. Sony Alpha 7 IV has Electronic shutter and Mechanical Focal Plane shutter. Shutter speed can go up to 1/8000 sec on Nikon D3, and up to 1/8000 sec on Sony Alpha 7 IV. Nikon D3 can shoot continuously up to 11.0 fps. Sony Alpha 7 IV can shoot continuously up to 10.0 fps.

Focusing

Nikon D3 has 51 (15 cross-type) focusing points and Sony Alpha 7 IV has Fast Hybrid AF (Phase-detection / Contrast-detection) system with 759 focusing points. Sony Alpha 7 IV has detection range from -4 to +20 EV.

Exposure

Exposure meterings of Nikon D3 and Sony Alpha 7 IV range from 0 to +20 EV and -3 to +20 EV respectively and you can set the exposure compensation within the ±5 EV range. You can also do exposure lock, exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Nikon D3 and exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Sony Alpha 7 IV.

Flash

Cameras have no built-in flash but an external flash may be connected to both of them via Hot Shoe or PC Terminal to Nikon D3 and via Intelligent Hot Shoe to Sony Alpha 7 IV. The fastest flash synchronization speed is 1/250 sec on Nikon D3 and 1/200 sec on Sony Alpha 7 IV.

Nikon D3 body has dimensions of 160 x 157 x 88 mm (6.3 x 6.18 x 3.46") and Sony Alpha 7 IV body has dimensions of 131 x 96 x 80 mm (5.16 x 3.78 x 3.15"). Nikon D3 weighs 1300 g (2.87 lb / 45.86 oz) and Sony Alpha 7 IV weighs 659 g (1.45 lb / 23.25 oz).

Nikon D3

Sony Alpha 7 IV

160 mm

157 mm

131 mm

96 mm

157 mm

96 mm

88 mm

80 mm