Sony α7 IV · Cloud storage

Sony α7 IV to Google Drive: auto-upload as you shoot

Tether your Sony α7 IV to your phone over USB or Wi-Fi and deliver every shot straight to Google Drive the instant you press the shutter — no laptop, no SD-card import. Shared Drives for teams already on Google Workspace.

Download on theApp Store Get it onGoogle Play

Coming soon tomacOS

Sony α7 IV setup About Google Drive

By the CloudTether team · Updated 9 Nov 2026

A press pack of photographers shooting side by side — the kind of shoot where Sony α7 IV photos go live to Google Drive — Photo: Luiz Milczwski / Pexels

How it works for Sony α7 IV → Google Drive

Your phone sits between the camera and Google Drive: no laptop, no card reader.

Step 1
Sony α7 IV
Connect it to your phone with a USB-C data cable or over Wi-Fi, then shoot as normal.
Step 2
Your phone
CloudTether copies each full-resolution photo off the camera seconds after the shutter and uploads it once.
Step 3
Google Drive
Every shot lands in Google Drive while you keep shooting — and in any other destination on the shoot.

How to live-upload Sony α7 IV photos to Google Drive

Connect your Sony α7 IV to your phone and every shot lands in Google Drive live as you shoot. Here's the full setup, start to finish:

1
Connect your Sony α7 IV
Connect over USB with the camera in PC Remote mode for a stable, high-speed tether. Newer bodies (α1, α9 III, α7 IV, α7R V, α7C II) can also tether over Wi-Fi with wireless PC Remote — not yet tested by us, so USB is the dependable path. In PC Remote, set Still Img. Save Dest. to PC+Camera to keep a copy on the card.
2
Connect Google Drive
Connects via Google OAuth — scoped to a folder you choose. Pick where photos should land — route per-session folders into a Shared Drive so the whole team has instant access.
3
Shoot as normal
Every frame your Sony α7 IV captures is detected and downloaded at full resolution while you keep shooting — JPEG, or RAW.
4
Photos deliver to Google Drive
Each photo uploads from your phone once and lands in Google Drive live, seconds after the shutter — and fans out to any other destinations on the session too.

Google Drive in the CloudTether app

Connect Google Drive once, then every shoot from your Sony α7 IV can deliver to it.

CloudTether Deliver tab with Google Drive among the connected services — Connect Google Drive once in the Deliver tab.

CloudTether delivery receipt: 1,228 photos delivered to Google Drive in a folder named after the shoot, with an Open link — Each shoot gets its own folder in Google Drive; the receipt links straight to it.

Connecting the Sony α7 IV

The α7 IV tethers over its USB-C port, and it needs two settings first: MENU → Setup → USB → USB Connection Mode → Remote Shooting, then MENU → Network → Cnct./Remote Sht. → Remote Shoot Function → Remote Shooting → On. Disconnect any smartphone connection before you plug in, or the camera keeps the USB port for that instead.

Set Still Img. Save Dest. to PC+Camera in the remote shooting settings so every frame is written to the card as well as sent to the phone. Sony's wireless remote shooting through an access point is available on this body (Wi-Fi Connect, then the Wi-Fi Access Point connection method), but we haven't tested it — every Sony runs the same CloudTether USB code we've verified on a ZV-E10, so USB is the dependable path.

Rated send isn't available over Sony tethering — in PC Remote the phone can't read ratings from the card — so every shot is sent. The α7 IV's compressed and lossless-compressed RAW options keep ARW files smaller; for galleries, JPEG only is quickest.

It's a common all-round wedding and portrait body, often paired with an older α7 III. One phone can tether two cameras at once — we've run a Sony and a Canon together — so both bodies can feed the same shoot and the same destinations.

Getting the most out of Google Drive

Google Drive stores every file untouched — CR3, NEF, ARW, RAF and JPEG — in a folder you choose, with a folder per shoot inside it, and CloudTether's Google access is scoped to that folder. Teams on Google Workspace can route shoots into a Shared Drive, so editors, producers and the client's comms team all see each frame without being invited file by file.

Drive previews JPEGs instantly in a browser or the Drive app; RAW files are there to download into Lightroom or Capture One later. If people will look at photos on their phones during the event, send JPEGs or 2048 px copies to that folder and keep the RAW in a separate backup.

For a press office or agency, a Drive folder is often the hand-off the client already uses: editors open it in a browser, search by name or date and download what they need. Because each shoot gets its own folder inside the one you picked, a multi-day conference stays organised by day without sorting afterwards. If the organisation restricts third-party apps, a Workspace admin may need to allow CloudTether before you can pick a Shared Drive.

Share the parent folder once — shoot folders created inside it inherit its sharing.
Uploads count against the Google account's or Shared Drive's storage.
Drive works over mobile data, so no venue Wi-Fi is needed.

A typical Sony α7 IV to Google Drive workflow

Switch the α7 IV to Remote Shooting over USB and disconnect any smartphone pairing; choose the client's Google Drive folder or Shared Drive in CloudTether.
Shoot RAW+JPEG and send JPEGs to Drive for the team, with a second destination for the ARW files.
Check Still Img. Save Dest. is PC+Camera so the card holds the full set if a cable is knocked out mid-session.

Sony α7 IV to Google Drive: what to know

The Sony α7 IV is a full-frame body — all-round wedding, portrait and content shooters. CloudTether pulls each frame off it the moment you shoot and delivers it to Google Drive: the JPEG, the ARW RAW, or both, exactly as the camera wrote them.

ARW files are far larger than JPEGs, so if your Google Drive recipients only need to view or pick images, deliver JPEG for the fastest turnaround and keep the ARW originals on the card or in a second destination.

How photos route to Google Drive

Route per-session folders into a Shared Drive so the whole team has instant access.

How it connects

Connects via Google OAuth — scoped to a folder you choose.

Sony α7 IV to Google Drive — FAQ

Can I upload Sony α7 IV photos to Google Drive automatically?

Yes. Tether your Sony α7 IV to your phone with CloudTether over USB or Wi-Fi, and every shot uploads to Google Drive live as you shoot — no card offload and no card import.

Can I send Sony α7 IV photos to Google Drive live while I'm shooting?

Yes — each frame lands in Google Drive seconds after the shutter, live, while you keep shooting. There's no SD-card step in the middle.

How does CloudTether connect my Sony α7 IV to Google Drive?

Your Sony α7 IV tethers to your phone over USB or its own Wi-Fi; connects via Google OAuth — scoped to a folder you choose.

Do I need a laptop to send Sony photos to Google Drive?

No. CloudTether runs on your phone — your Sony α7 IV connects to the phone and uploads straight to Google Drive over mobile data or Wi-Fi, anywhere you have signal.

Can I send RAW files from my Sony α7 IV to Google Drive?

Yes. Google Drive receives the files exactly as your Sony α7 IV wrote them — RAW, JPEG or both. To save mobile data, turn on JPEG only and leave RAW files on the camera.

Can an α7 IV deliver to a Google Workspace Shared Drive?

Yes. Choose the Shared Drive folder as the destination and each shoot gets its own folder inside it, visible to everyone with access.

Why does my α7 IV keep a copy on the card when tethered?

Because Still Img. Save Dest. is set to PC+Camera. Leave it that way: Drive gets the shots and the card is your backup.

Can the α7 IV send to Google Drive over Wi-Fi?

The α7 IV supports Sony's wireless remote shooting through an access point, but we haven't tested it with CloudTether. USB in Remote Shooting mode is the dependable path; the phone then uploads to Drive over mobile data or Wi-Fi.