Sony A7 IV RAW Photos Lost After Firmware Was Written to the Same SD Card: What Can Still Be Recovered?
TL;DR:
Immediately remove and isolate the affected 128GB SanDisk SD card to perform data recovery later on a Windows or Mac computer, as many deleted Sony A7 IV ARW photos can still be salvaged because the 757MB BODYDATA.DAT firmware update only partially overwrites the card's available clusters.
● Avoid improvising repeated recovery attempts on the available iPad Pro; store the card separately from identical ones to guarantee zero additional write operations, formatting, or camera tests.
● Create a byte-to-byte backup using a card reader once a computer is available, and run recovery tools like Recoverit or TestDisk strictly on that copy while saving the recovered results to a completely different healthy drive.
● Expect that some surviving ARW files may lose their original names or folder structures, and if files open as partial images due to overwritten file payloads, retain every recovered version but only attempt repairs on secondary copies.
Ask AI for a summary
ChatGPT
Perplexity
Gemini
Claude
Grok
Recovery is still worth trying, but do not assume that a 700MB firmware file means only 700MB of photos were affected. Once new data is written to a card after deletion, some deleted blocks may be reused while others remain untouched. Stop using the card now, because every additional write can reduce what is still recoverable.
That is the situation in this Sony A7 IV recovery case on Reddit. About 1,000 RAW photos from several days in Madeira were lost, the wrong 128GB SanDisk card was used for a camera firmware update, no new photos were taken afterward, and the user only had an iPad Pro available while traveling.
Why The Firmware Write Matters
Sony's current A7 IV firmware package uses a BODYDATA.DAT file of about 757MB, and Sony supports updating the camera from a memory card. That confirms the user's estimate that a substantial new file can be written to the card during this workflow.
The important recovery limit is overwrite, not the ratio between firmware size and card capacity. The TestDisk recovery documentation explains that deleted data can remain until new data overwrites it. Because the firmware write may have reused some of the card's free clusters, some ARW files may still be intact while others may be incomplete or gone. A scan is the only practical way to see which files survived.
While You Only Have An iPad, Preserve The Card
- Step 1
Remove the affected SD card from the camera and do not use it for more photos, video, firmware files, formatting, or camera tests.
- Step 2
Store it separately from the other identical cards so it cannot be selected accidentally again. Do not save recovered files, screenshots, or any other data back to it.
- Step 3
If the only computer-like device available is an iPad, waiting is safer than improvising repeated recovery attempts. The priority is preserving the card's current state until a Windows or Mac computer is available.
Recover From A Copy When You Have A Computer
If the card reports its normal capacity and remains stable through a card reader, create a byte-to-byte backup first and perform recovery work from that copy whenever possible. This protects the original card while you test more than one recovery pass.
Recoverit Memory Card Recovery can scan a readable camera card for deleted RAW photos such as Sony ARW files and save recovered results to a different healthy drive. If file-system records were lost, some recovered files may no longer keep their original names or folder structure.
Set Expectations From The Result
- ARW files preview normally: save them to another drive and verify the important images before doing anything else with the source card.
- Some files appear but will not open or show partial images: the firmware write or earlier deletion state may have overwritten part of the file payload. Keep every recovered version and repair only copies.
- The card shows the wrong capacity, disconnects, or produces read errors: stop repeated scans and preserve it for a professional memory-card recovery evaluation.