I traded in my A7R III last month for what I thought was an A7R IV not knowing that I had actually bought a A7R IVa the existence of which I was totally unaware of. I understand the main differences between the IV and IVa are a higher resolution rear screen and a higher specification USB port and fixing some “bugs”. Knowing that Photolab 4 supports the IV I thought I was set but no, all files including those taken a day before with my III but downloaded from the IVa are not recognised. I spent some time going back and forth with DxO Support including submitting one ARW file taken with the IVa but was told that despite Sony stating that the changes were primarily physical that each camera “encrypts the RAW files from that specific model in a unique way” and all I could do is put in a request.
I do not understand why a photo which was taken with a III and is recognised by Sony Play Memories Desktop as taken with a III is not recognised by PhotoLab 4 nor do I understand why photos taken by a camera which supposedly only has physical changes is also not supported.
Sony A7R cameras are used by many professionals and amateurs ie this is not some obscure product. I therefore pointed out to DxO Support that DxO should be proactive in supporting the IVa and letting IVa owners know what it intends to do rather than the usual which is it may or may not depending on requests. Having actively supported DxO with every release since PhotoLab 1 Essential, I feel let down and noted that there must come a time (2 months, 6 months, 1 year or forever) when zero access to PhotoLab 4 Elite will mean I will have to reluctantly move to another editing software.
I would ask DxO to please give us faithful DxO supporters and IVa users some information as to their intentions.
Thanks,
Chris