Love the feel not too bulky or heavy easy to install but be careful with screws their very small.

I’ve wanted a product like this forever.  I appreciate a full on cage and its necessity while shooting video.  But more often for me, I’m just waltzing around snapping pics.  For pictures I want everything as compact and light as can be—the opposite of what cages are.  For years your only real other option was to get a cheap silicone skin thing to protect your fancy camera.  They look cheap and they trap heat.  I own SmallRig cages for my A6700 and ZVE1 so I’m familiar with their quality.  When I came across this it was an instant buy for me.  I got it home, ripped the package open, and straight on to my A7IV it went.  It’s perfect.  It protects my WHOLE camera body.  It doesn’t interfere with my strap anchors or ports or the battery door.  It has arca mounting built in.  Best of all, it has subtle styling that sets your camera apart without making it look cheap or super gauche.  If there was ANY remote gripe I’d have, it’s that I’ve been spoiled by SmallRig integrating a tool to take their cages off and on right into the bottom plate.  This, unfortunately, does not come with one.  But I’ll rarely be removing this so it is well worth the price to pay for everything else that I adore about this case.  It’s weird being this jazzed up over a case but it’s legit super cool.

I'm a huge fan of SmallRig's products. I own so many SmallRig accessories for my work that I've lost count and I've purchased at least one SmallRig cage for every camera that I've owned since 2018. That's why I was so surprised that I didn't particularly like this cage for the Sony A7IV.Let's start with the good: It's a "modular" cage that can be broken down into multiple components. You can use just the base plate which is compatible with most Arca Swiss tripod mounts. You can add the front grip extension that enlarges the grip of the A7IV so that it fills your hand a bit more. You can go on to add the plastic top plate that provides added protection for the camera body in case you drop it.Now for the bad: This cage is the least useful cage that I've used ... at least for now. There is no side Arca Swiss plate to mount the camera vertically. There are no additional cold shoe mounts ... or 1/4-20 mounting threads ... or ARRI locking pin holes ... or NATO rails for mounting video accessories like microphones, side handles, or a top handle. In short, this cage lacks almost all of the typical benefits of a camera cage. It basically just adds protection for a camera body that is already pretty rugged.If SmallRig wants to make this a must-have product then they need to double-down on the idea that this is a "modular" cage. SmallRig needs to sell modular add-ons that you can screw to this cage to add things like a side Arca Swiss plate for vertical shooting, modular pieces to add NATO rails (or SmallRig's own HawkLock rails), a modular top support bar made of aluminum instead of plastic so you can attach top handles and monitors ... basically any "modular" add-on that SmallRig can think of.As it is now, there is no good reason to buy this particular SmallRig cage unless you just really want the grip extension or you are paranoid about damaging your camera. On the other hand, this could quickly become the MUST-HAVE cage for the A7IV ... if SmallRig starts offering add-on modular accessories that expand the options for this cage.

Smallrig is sort of all over the place lately, I swear.Look, I love this company. I do. I've picked up a lot of things from them over the years, but this one absolutely baffles me.So the point of camera shells is to either Protect the camera, to add functionality to the camera, or to be entirely an aesthetic thing. And I think this one falls entirely in category 3. Which... I mean, it's confusing. Because there's not much else going on.From the top down...You get a plastic shell on top. Plastic is.... not good. Sure, it's light, but it doesn't need to exist here. As far as functionality, it goes even worse, because not only are the button passthroughs prone to popping under their own frame, but the plastic shell makes accessing the shutter button a bit of a mess. Don't love that. Also it's a partially clear plastic that for some reason has cutouts for the Sony logo and the camera model, which itself is funny because Sony has a bad habit of not including the iteration of the camera on the front. Again, don't love that, but that one's Sony's very, very confusing fault.We move on to the handle, which is a BIT on the oversized side and makes gripping the camera a mess, which is where the aluminum transition happens by way of tiny machine screws. All the way down, it keeps the aluminum, as well as a rubber "foot" for the camera body, but it falls hard on the fact that the 1/4 20 screw meant to hold the camera to the shell? Is not a captive screw. Which would only involve a very small recessing in the aluminum plate, and a 2 cent part. Come on guys, this is basic stuff. Captive screws are Always better than whatever nonsense this is. Losing the screw is not good.The bottom finishes off with an ARCA rail and two slots for straps... which annoys me, because they're flat straps, whereas Smallrig's own strap(which you should get by the way, it's amazing) involves Corded connectors.There are no mounting points around the camera for accessories or additional kit. There are two 1/4 20 mounts on the bottom for a tripod plate, which seems redundant with the arca rail, but that's okay, I'm sure people still use some older stuff, so the option is nice.Honestly, I do not think I will use this at all. I have a cage for my camera(also from smallrig), which gives me much more in terms of functionality, though it still has some features missing too(but I digress).However, if I WERE to use this... for some reason... Some Things I would fix if I were in charge.1: Recess the top of the slot for the mount screw and make it a captive screw.2: Fix the entire top plate. Just... tear it apart and start over.3: Instead of gapping over the A7 port, since this is specific for the A74, have a monogram spot there so that A: Smallrig can designate it clearly, and B: you can correct Sony's failure to do so.4: Recess a round cutout in the bottom plate the size of an Airtag. Yes, you can get an accessory plate with an airtag slot, but having it permanently inside the shell would be VERY useful. This should become standard across All shells and cages. Discreet equipment tracking is paramount for addressing the possibility of theft or tracking down missing items.