I shot with a Sony mirrorless camera for the first time and it exceeded expectations – but not for the reasons you might think!

I recently found myself on a photo walk in London with a Sony A7 IV in hand, a camera I hadn’t used before in a genre I rarely shoot. Street photography isn’t my usual lane, and neither is Sony, but I figured it was a good excuse to try something new.

First impressions? The camera did everything you'd expect from a high-end mirrorless camera – it's fast, responsive, and solid in the hand. Autofocus was snappy, image quality sharp. But none of that really surprised me. What stood out wasn’t the performance, but the small touches that made the process feel unusually smooth.

As a black-and-white shooter, the first thing I did was dive into the Creative Looks, Sony’s built-in profiles that enable you to adjust contrast, tone, sharpness and saturation to create custom image styles. It’s Sony’s take on Fujifilm's Film Simulations, and it’s more flexible than I expected.

I set up a black-and-white profile with a bit of grit and bite and was surprised by how satisfying the images looked straight out of the camera. It meant I barely had to touch them in post. I don’t hear enough people talk about Creative Looks, which is odd as it’s a genuinely useful feature – especially if you're used to Film Simulations.

But what really caught my attention was what happened after the shoot. As part of the photowalk, we opened up the Creators’ App on mobile, paired the camera, and had my photos transferred in minutes. No cables, no card readers, no friction.

For anyone shooting and sharing on the go, especially street photographers who thrive on immediacy, this kind of speed matters. Coupled with the near-finished JPEGs from the Creative Look profile, it made for a workflow that was quick, clean, and surprisingly enjoyable.

That said, I’m not racing out to buy one. As polished as the experience was, I didn’t fall in love with the camera on first use. For starters, the battery life seemed to drain quite quickly; after just over an hour of steady shooting, it was nearly flat – not ideal if you like to work for long stretches without interruption.

And while the A7 IV is technically brilliant, it didn’t quite charm me. There's a certain feel, or maybe lack of feel, that kept me at arm’s length.

Still, the experience left me with more appreciation for how thoughtful design can shape the way we shoot. It reminded me that a good camera isn’t just about specs, it’s about whether it helps you stay in the flow – and for that, the Sony did more than I expected.

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