Sony Alpha 7R IIIA vs Olympus Tough TG-4

In this comparison, we will evaluate the Sony Alpha 7R IIIA and the Olympus Tough TG-4, 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.

Sony Alpha 7R IIIA was introduced in October 2017 and Olympus Tough TG-4 was introduced in April 2015. 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 Sony Alpha 7R IIIA over Olympus Tough TG-4.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Olympus Tough TG-4 over Sony Alpha 7R IIIA.

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

Sony Alpha 7R IIIA and Olympus Tough TG-4 have 3.0" screens with 2,360k dot and 460k dot resolutions respectively. Sony Alpha 7R IIIA has a Tilting screen which makes it very useful for photography purposes but not so useful for video shooting. Olympus Tough TG-4 has a Fixed screen Sony Alpha 7R IIIA also features touchscreen which has advantages such as easy menu navigation, intuitive controls, quick setting adjustment and most importantly a Touch-to-Focus functionality 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.

Electronic Viewfinder on Sony Alpha 7R IIIA

Sony Alpha 7R IIIA has a built-in 0.5" Electronic viewfinder with 3,686k dot resolution. It has a 100% coverage and 0.78x magnification. There is no built-in or optional viewfinder available on Olympus Tough TG-4.

BSI-CMOS Sensor

Sony Alpha 7R IIIA features a 42.4 megapixel Full Frame BSI-CMOS sensor with dimensions of 35.9 x 24 mm and a total area of 861.6 mm². Its native ISO range is 100 - 32,000 and expands to 50 - 102,400 in boosted mode. Olympus Tough TG-4 features a 16 megapixel 1/2.3-inch BSI-CMOS sensor with dimensions of 6.17 x 4.55 mm and a total area of 20.7 mm². Its native ISO range is 100 - 6,400 and expands to 100 - 12,800 in boosted mode.

The cameras have 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.

Sony Alpha 7R IIIA is equipped with BIONZ X processor and can take pictures up to 7952 x 5304 resolution. Olympus Tough TG-4 is equipped with TruePic VII processor and can take pictures up to 4608 x 3456 resolution.

No Low-Pass Filter on Sony Alpha 7R IIIA

There is no optical low-pass filter (OLPF), also known as an anti-aliasing filter, in front of the sensor on Sony Alpha 7R IIIA. 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.

Image Stabilization

The cameras have a built-in image stabilization (5.5 stops of compensation in Sony Alpha 7R IIIA). On Sony Alpha 7R IIIA it means that you are still getting vibration reduction when it 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 GPS on Olympus Tough TG-4

Olympus Tough TG-4 has a built-in GPS (Global Positioning System) technology which allows you to automatically tag the location where you took your photos. You can later categorize, organize, and search for photos based on location. This is very useful for travel and outdoor photographers for documenting the locations where images were captured.
  Check out the cameras in our database that have built-in GPS.

Built-in Wi-Fi

Cameras have built-in Wi-Fi (802.11b/g/n 2.4 GHz on Sony Alpha 7R IIIA) 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 7R IIIA

Sony Alpha 7R IIIA 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.

NFC on Sony Alpha 7R IIIA

Sony Alpha 7R IIIA has Near Field Communication (NFC) technology which simplifies the process of pairing it with other NFC-enabled devices like smartphones or tablets. It allows to quickly transfer photos and videos or remotely control the camera from compatible device. NFC can also be used for authentication and security purposes. It can verify your identity before accessing certain features or transferring sensitive data. It can be used with NFC-enabled accessories as well, such as lenses, flashes and GPS devices.

USB Inputs and HDMI Outputs

Both models have USB inputs for data transfer. Sony Alpha 7R IIIA has a Micro HDMI and Olympus Tough TG-4 has a Micro HDMI connector for video signal output.

Battery

Sony Alpha 7R IIIA comes with NP-FZ100 battery pack with battery life of 650 shots and Olympus Tough TG-4 comes with LI-92B battery pack with battery life of 380 shots.

External Storage Slots

Sony Alpha 7R IIIA has two card slots - one for SD/SDHC/SDXC (UHS-II) and one for SD/SDHC/SDXC/Memory Stick Duo Hybrid (UHS-I). Olympus Tough TG-4 has a single SD/SDHC/SDXC Memory card slot.

Shutter

Sony Alpha 7R IIIA has Electronic shutter. Shutter speed can go up to 1/8000 sec on Sony Alpha 7R IIIA, and up to 1/2000 sec on Olympus Tough TG-4. Sony Alpha 7R IIIA can shoot continuously up to 10.0 fps. Olympus Tough TG-4 can shoot continuously up to 5.0 fps.

Focusing

Sony Alpha 7R IIIA has Fast Hybrid AF (Phase-detection / Contrast-detection) system with 425 focusing points and Olympus Tough TG-4 has 25 focusing points. Sony Alpha 7R IIIA has detection range from -2 to +20 EV.

Exposure

Exposure meterings of Sony Alpha 7R IIIA ranges from -3 to +20 EV and you can set the exposure compensation within the ±5 EV range on Sony Alpha 7R IIIA. You can also do exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Sony Alpha 7R IIIA and exposure bracketing on Olympus Tough TG-4.

Flash

Olympus Tough TG-4 has a built-in flash with maximum range of 7.90 m at ISO 1600. Sony Alpha 7R IIIA has no built-in flash but an external flash may be connected via Intelligent Hot Shoe or PC Terminal. The fastest flash synchronization speed is 1/250 sec on Sony Alpha 7R IIIA.

Sony Alpha 7R IIIA body has dimensions of 127 x 96 x 74 mm (5 x 3.78 x 2.91") and Olympus Tough TG-4 body has dimensions of 112 x 66 x 31 mm (4.41 x 2.6 x 1.22"). Sony Alpha 7R IIIA weighs 657 g (1.45 lb / 23.17 oz) and Olympus Tough TG-4 weighs 247 g (0.54 lb / 8.71 oz).

Sony Alpha 7R IIIA

Olympus Tough TG-4

127 mm

96 mm

112 mm

66 mm

96 mm

66 mm

74 mm

31 mm