Olympus FE-47 vs Sony A7R IV: A Hands-On Comparison From Compact Snapshot to Pro-Level Mastery

When faced with two cameras as different as Olympus’s FE-47 compact point-and-shoot and Sony’s flagship A7R IV full-frame mirrorless, it’s tempting to declare a winner straight away. Yet, as an enthusiast who has tested thousands of cameras across all tiers for over 15 years, I'm compelled to take a nuanced, use-case-driven approach. This isn’t about crowning an outright champion but understanding where each shines and who they serve best.

In this comprehensive, side-by-side review, I’ll walk us through everything from sensor technology and ergonomics to autofocus, image quality, and shooting versatility. You’ll discover why the little Olympus matters in casual, budget-friendly contexts, while the Sony tackles pro-level demands like a seasoned workhorse. Along the way, I’ll share in-the-field insights to help you make a confident choice tailored to your photography goals.

Seeing Is Believing: Physical Size and Handling Dynamics

To kick things off, let’s examine the physical form factors - a crucial factor influencing comfort, portability, and shooting style.

The Olympus FE-47 is a quintessential compact camera, measuring just 98x61x27 mm and tipping the scales at an unassuming 204 grams, powered by simple AA batteries. Its petite chassis fits effortlessly in pockets and backpacks, making it a classic grab-and-go option for casual strolls, family events, or quick travel snaps.

In stark contrast, the Sony A7R IV is a weighty 665g titan housed in a solid 129x96x78 mm mirrorless body. This DSLR-style approach offers a full grip, customizable buttons, and the reassuring heft that many pros prefer for stability - especially when paired with sizable lenses. Though far from pocketable, its size is justified by robust build quality, advanced features, and the ability to handle pro use.

Ergonomically, the FE-47 opts for simplicity, no fancy articulating screens or deep grips - just a small fixed display and minimal controls, reliant on on-screen menus for settings adjustments. The Sony, on the other hand, boasts an abundance of dials, a deep thumb rest, dual SD slots, and a tilting touchscreen that favors precision and rapid manual input in the field.

Control, Layout, and User Interface - The Day-to-Day Experience

Looking down at both cameras’ top plates reveals a lesson in design philosophy.

The Olympus FE-47’s top sports a minimalist array - a shutter button encircled by a zoom toggle, a power switch, and a modest built-in flash. The simplicity stresses point-and-shoot ease, but experienced photographers might find the lack of dedicated ISO, exposure compensation, or manual shooting modes limiting.

Meanwhile, Sony’s A7R IV is a playground for control freaks: dedicated dials for shutter speed, exposure compensation, and drive modes, alongside customizable buttons and a rear thumb dial. The balance between tactile inputs and touchscreen navigation allows seamless switching between auto and manual exposure, crucial for complex shooting scenarios.

For photographers who value intuitive, in-the-moment control, the Sony unquestionably leads. The Olympus, however, succeeds at delivering straightforward snap shooting, perfect when fumbling with many controls isn’t an option.

Sensor Technology and Image Quality - Where They Play to Their Strengths

At the heart of every camera lies the sensor, and the gulf between these two models demonstrates how sensor technology has evolved over a decade - alongside diverging target markets.

The FE-47 sports a 1/2.3 inch CCD sensor measuring just 6.08x4.56 mm with 14 megapixels. This compact piece of silicon is typical of entry-level compacts from the early 2010s - a sensor size and resolution conducive for sharing images on social media or small prints but constrained in terms of low light, dynamic range, and detail.

Contrast that with the Sony’s mammoth 35.8x23.8 mm full-frame backside-illuminated CMOS sensor, packing an astonishing 61 megapixels. This sensor captures vast tonal range (backed by a dynamic range rating of 14.8 EV on DxO Mark), remarkable color depth, and impressive low-light performance (ISO 50–32000 native, extendable beyond 102,000).

Practically speaking, this translates to the Sony delivering spectacular image detail, color fidelity, and noise control - perfect for landscapes, portraits, studio work, and large prints. The Olympus performs well under bright daylight but struggles with noise and lacks depth in shadows when shooting in tricky lighting.

Live View, LCD, and Viewfinder - Seeing Your Shot Before You Press the Button

The Olympus FE-47 sticks with a 2.7-inch, fixed, relatively low-resolution screen (230k dots) and no viewfinder of any kind, which feels very basic by modern standards and limits composing in bright sunlight - a common frustration during outdoor shoots.

In contrast, the Sony A7R IV sports a high-resolution 3-inch tilting touchscreen with 1.44 million dots, offering sharp previews and touch-based focus selection. Adding to this, the eye-level electronic viewfinder is a marvel: 0.78x magnification with a 5760-dot OLED panel delivering 100% coverage and zero lag, critical for tracking fast-moving subjects and precise framing.

For street photographers or those shooting in glaring daylight, the Sony’s EVF and high-res LCD substantially enhance compositional flexibility. The FE-47’s screen is sufficient for casual shots but limits creative evaluation and critical focusing accuracy.

Autofocus Capabilities - Speed, Accuracy, and Tracking

Autofocus technology has undergone a seismic shift since the Olympus FE-47’s release.

The FE-47 offers basic contrast-detection autofocus with no phase detection, limited focus points, and no face or eye detection. Continuous autofocus is unavailable, so fast or unpredictable subjects are challenging to capture sharply.

In comparison, the Sony A7R IV features a hybrid autofocus system boasting 567 phase-detection points spread over 74% of the frame, supplemented by 425 contrast-detection points. This system incorporates real-time Eye AF for humans and animals, advanced tracking, and touch-AF via the rear screen. Continuous autofocus functions flawlessly at 10 frames per second burst rates.

These significant AF advancements make the Sony a powerhouse for wildlife, sports, and event photography, where precision and speed are non-negotiable. The Olympus is more suited to static subjects and casual shooting.

Burst Shooting and Shutter Speeds - Capturing the Decisive Moment

The FE-47 has a maximum shutter speed of 1/2000s and lacks continuous shooting capabilities. For fleeting moments, this is a serious limitation - perfectly acceptable for casual snapshots but insufficient for action photography.

Sony’s A7R IV impresses with shutter speeds ranging from 30s to 1/8000s and a sustained 10 fps burst rate with full AF/AE tracking, rivaling many professional DSLRs. Whether it’s catching a bird mid-flight or a decisive race finish, the Sony is tailored for fast-paced photography.

Built-in Flash and External Flash Options

The Olympus’s pop-up built-in flash offers a respectable range up to 3.8 meters and several modes (auto, fill, red-eye reduction). No external flash compatibility exists, limiting flash versatility. This is fine for occasional fill-in lighting but unsuitable for serious flash work.

Sony’s A7R IV lacks a built-in flash but supports external flash units with wireless control, Hi-speed sync, and rear-curtain sync. For professional workflows, this expandable flash ecosystem is invaluable.

Video Capabilities - Casual Clips vs. Pro Production

Video specs showcase a similar disparity.

The FE-47 is limited to VGA resolution (640x480) at 30 fps, recorded in Motion JPEG format - adequate for brief, low-res clips but incommensurate with modern content creation demands.

The A7R IV offers UHD 4K 30p video at 100 Mbps with full pixel readout and no pixel binning, along with various codecs and manual exposure control during recording. Support for microphone and headphone jacks also enables higher-quality audio capture - a must for professional videographers.

Connectivity and Storage - Sharing and Flexibility

Connectivity on the Olympus is non-existent beyond USB 2.0 for image transfer; no Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or GPS features are present, which limits instant sharing or remote control.

The Sony shines with built-in Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC, and USB 3.1 connectivity, allowing seamless smartphone integration, remote shooting, and rapid file transfers - key for modern workflows under deadline pressure.

Storage reflects the same divergence: Olympus uses a single SD/SDHC card slot plus internal memory, while Sony embraces dual UHS-II compatible SD card slots, facilitating simultaneous recording for backup or overflow, appealing to pros.

Battery Life - A Practical Consideration in the Field

Olympus runs on two AA batteries, which while easily replaceable worldwide, offer limited shot capacity compared to proprietary Li-ion packs. This can be convenient for casual users but less efficient for extended sessions.

The Sony NP-FZ100 battery offers approximately 670 shots per charge, a stellar figure considering the heavy processing demands. Having spares on hand ensures uninterrupted shooting days - important for professionals roaming landscapes or events.

Durability and Weather Sealing - Ready for the Elements?

The FE-47 lacks environmental sealing or rugged features, implying a need for careful handling.

The Sony A7R IV boasts dust and moisture resistance (though not waterproof), underpinning its professional reliability during adverse weather outings, such as mountain landscapes or rainy photojournalism assignments.

Lens Ecosystem and Expandability

Olympus FE-47’s fixed 36-180mm (35mm equiv. 36-180mm) F3.5-5.6 lens means zero lens swapping freedom - fine for snapshots but limiting creative control and optical quality.

Sony’s E-mount system unleashes access to over 120 native lenses, from ultra-wide primes to super-telephotos, including third-party options from Zeiss, Sigma, and Tamron. This flexibility opens doors for specialized genres like macro, wildlife, portraiture, and astrophotography.

Application Across Photography Disciplines - How They Stack Up

To better illustrate practical usage, I evaluated both cameras focusing across key genres:

Olympus FE 47 front Olympus FE 47 screen back Sony A7R IV front Sony A7R IV screen back

Portraits

Sony A7R IV’s advanced face and Eye AF, coupled with a shallow depth of field from fast primes, enable flattering skin rendition, sharp detail, and beautiful bokeh. Olympus’s fixed lens and rudimentary AF struggle to isolate subjects or finely tune exposure, rendering less professional results.

Landscapes

With a whopping 61 MP sensor capturing exquisite detail and dynamic range, the Sony dominates landscapes. Its weather sealing lets you shoot in challenging conditions. The Olympus’s smaller sensor limits print sizes, detail, and usable dynamic range, best for casual scenic shots.

Wildlife

Sony’s rapid 10-fps shooting and tracking AF excel in capturing birds and animals on the move. The Olympus’s slower AF and continuous shooting constraints make it nearly impossible to freeze fast wildlife action.

Sports

Professional sports photographers will appreciate Sony’s autofocus reliability and burst speed. The Olympus was never designed for such demands.

Street Photography

Here, Olympus’s diminutive size and “stealth” vibe have a niche. Although with limited manual controls and small screen, it’s best for casual street shooting. Sony’s larger frame might draw attention but offers unbeatable image quality.

Macro

Sony’s vast lens options include specialized macro optics with close focusing and image stabilization, while Olympus fixed lens macro capability tops out at a minimal 3cm focusing realm - not entirely satisfying for macro enthusiasts.

Night and Astro

Sony’s low-light ISO performance, paired with a sensor free from anti-aliasing filters, renders superior starry skies and low-noise night scenes. Olympus’s sensor and optic combo severely limits night photography quality.

Video

As detailed, Sony’s 4K, high bitrate, and pro audio inputs make it a video powerhouse. Olympus’s VGA video is merely a bonus for snapshots.

Travel

Olympus’s small size and simple operation suit travel light shooting, though image quality is modest. Sony’s weight and bulk represent a compromise for professionals demanding quality while traveling.

Professional Workflows

Sony supports RAW capture, robust color profiles, tethering, and dual card redundancy, fitting into complex post-processing and client delivery systems. Olympus only offers JPEG, limiting post-editing latitude.

Performance Summaries and Scores

Let’s crystallize the performance into quantifiable areas.

The Sony A7R IV scores near-perfect marks for image quality, autofocus, handling, and features. The Olympus FE-47 is rated lower due to its basic sensor, limited zoom, and lack of advanced controls, perfectly understandable given its class.

And a deeper look by genre:

The Practical Verdict - Who Should Choose Which?

I’ve walked through extensive, real-world contrasts between these cameras, so here’s my take based on typical user profiles.

Choose Olympus FE-47 if:

• You need an ultra-cheap, simple, lightweight camera for casual snaps
• Portability and ease of use outweigh image quality concerns
• You’re a beginner or want a quick backup camera
• Video and advanced controls are non-priorities

Its simplicity is its charm but expect modest photos with limited creative flexibility.

Choose Sony A7R IV if:

• You’re a serious enthusiast or professional demanding best-in-class image quality
• Your work spans demanding genres like wildlife, sports, fashion, or studio portraiture
• You require sophisticated autofocus and reliable high-speed shooting
• Video capabilities and advanced workflow integration matter
• You value a versatile lens ecosystem and rugged build for fieldwork

Priced over $3000, it’s an investment, but one that rewards by delivering excellence and future-proof performance.

Final Thoughts: From Snapshot to Pro-Grade - The Evolution of Camera Craft

The Olympus FE-47 serves as a reminder of a humble era - a pocketable tool designed for simple memories. The Sony A7R IV stands as a technological marvel pushing the boundaries of imaging and professional versatility in 2019 and beyond.

Choosing between these two is less about absolute superiority and more about matching your photographic ambitions to a tool capable of delivering them. I hope this deep dive arms you with clarity and insight as you consider your next camera companion.

Happy shooting!

As always, I recommend testing cameras physically if possible and considering lenses you plan to use, particularly for mirrorless systems like Sony’s.

If you want more tailored advice for specific genres or budgets, feel free to reach out or explore my other detailed comparisons.

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