Nikon D4 vs Sony Alpha 1

In this comparison, we will evaluate the Nikon D4 and the Sony Alpha 1, 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 D4 was introduced in January 2012 and Sony Alpha 1 was introduced in January 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 D4 over Sony Alpha 1.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Sony Alpha 1 over Nikon D4.

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 D4 has a 3.2" Fixed screen with 921k dot resolution and Sony Alpha 1 has a 3.0" Tilting screen with 1,440k dot resolution. Tilting screen makes Sony Alpha 1 very useful for photography purposes but not so useful for video shooting. Sony Alpha 1 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 1) 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 D4 has a built-in Optical (pentaprism) viewfinderSony Alpha 1 has a built-in 0.64" Electronic (OLED) viewfinder with 9,437k dot resolution. They both have 100% coverage.

Nikon D4 features a 16.2 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 100 - 12,800 and expands to 50 - 204,800 in boosted mode. Sony Alpha 1 features a 50.1 megapixel Full Frame Stacked CMOS sensor with dimensions of 35.9 x 24 mm and a total area of 576 mm². Its native ISO range is 100 - 32,000 and expands to 50 - 102,400 in boosted mode.

Sony Alpha 1 has Stacked CMOS sensor. The key feature of such sensor is its three-dimensional structure, which consists of multiple layers of semiconductor material and circuitry stacked on top of each other. This allows the sensor to have dedicated layers for image capture and signal processing. This separation allows for faster data readout, reducing rolling shutter effects and enabling high-speed shooting and video recording. It is also more power-efficient.

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 D4 is equipped with EXPEED 3 processor and can take pictures up to 4928 x 3280 resolution. It can also take pictures with lower resolution like 4096 x 2720, 4096 x 3280, 3696 x 2456, 3200 x 2128, 3072 x 2456, 3072 x 2040, 2464 x 1640, 2400 x 1592, 2048 x 1360, 2048 x 1640, 1600 x 1064 with 5:4, 3:2 aspect ratios. Sony Alpha 1 is equipped with Dual BIONZ XR processor and can take pictures up to 8640 x 5760 resolution.

Lens Mount

Nikon D4 has Nikon F lens mount and Sony Alpha 1 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.

In-Body Image Stabilization on Sony Alpha 1

Sony Alpha 1 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 1

Sony Alpha 1 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 1

Sony Alpha 1 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 D4 has a Type C HDMI and Sony Alpha 1 has a Full Size HDMI connector for video signal output.

Battery

Nikon D4 comes with EN-EL18 battery pack with battery life of 2600 shots and Sony Alpha 1 comes with NP-FZ100 battery pack with battery life of 530 shots.

External Storage Slots

Nikon D4 has Dual CompactFlash (Type I, compliant with UDMA) or XQD card slots. Sony Alpha 1 has Dual CFexpress Type A / SD (UHS-II) card slots.

Shutter

Nikon D4 has Electronically controlled vertical-travel focal-plane shutter. Sony Alpha 1 has Electronic shutter and Mechanical Focal Plane shutter. Shutter speed can go up to 1/8000 sec on Nikon D4, and up to 1/32000 sec with electronic shutter and up to 1/8000 sec with mechanical shutter on Sony Alpha 1. Nikon D4 can shoot continuously up to 11.0 fps. Sony Alpha 1 can shoot continuously up to 30.0 fps with electronic shutter and up to 10.0 fps with mechanical shutter.

Focusing

Nikon D4 has 51 (15 cross-type) focusing points and Sony Alpha 1 has Fast Hybrid AF (Phase-detection / Contrast-detection) system with 759 focusing points. Nikon D4 has detection range from -2 to +19 EV and Sony Alpha 1 has detection range from -4 to +20 EV.

Exposure

Exposure meterings of Sony Alpha 1 ranges from -3 to +20 EV and you can set the exposure compensation within the ±5 EV range on Nikon D4 and ±5 EV range on Sony Alpha 1. You can also do exposure lock, exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Nikon D4 and exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Sony Alpha 1.

Flash

Cameras have no built-in flash but an external flash may be connected to both of them via Hot Shoe or PC Terminal or Wireless connection to Nikon D4 and via Hot Shoe or PC Terminal to Sony Alpha 1. The fastest flash synchronization speed is 1/250 sec on Nikon D4 and 1/400 sec on Sony Alpha 1.

Nikon D4 body has dimensions of 160 x 157 x 91 mm (6.3 x 6.18 x 3.58") and Sony Alpha 1 body has dimensions of 129 x 97 x 81 mm (5.08 x 3.82 x 3.19"). Nikon D4 weighs 1340 g (2.95 lb / 47.27 oz) and Sony Alpha 1 weighs 737 g (1.62 lb / 26.00 oz).

Nikon D4

Sony Alpha 1

160 mm

157 mm

129 mm

97 mm

157 mm

97 mm

91 mm

81 mm