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Sony a7 IV .RSV file recovery

Your a7 IV stopped mid-recording and left a .RSV file. Here’s how to get the clip back.

The a7 IV (ILCE-7M4) records XAVC S, XAVC HS and XAVC S-I, 8- or 10-bit, up to 4K 60p, with LPCM sound. While it records, it writes the clip to a temporary .RSV file in PRIVATE/M4ROOT/CLIP/ and turns it into an .MP4 when you press stop. If the battery dies, the card fills up or the camera overheats first, the .RSV is left behind and won’t open.

Overheating during long 4K takes and full cards are common causes of .RSV files on the a7 IV.

How to recover it

  1. Stop using the card and copy everything on it to your computer.
  2. Open rsvrescue.com and drop the .RSV from the copy. It’s read in your browser; nothing is uploaded.
  3. Watch the free 15-second preview with sound.
  4. Pay once for the file and save the repaired .MOV, which opens in Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro, DaVinci Resolve, QuickTime and VLC.

RSV Rescue reads the a7 IV’s own settings from the .RSV itself, so you don’t need a reference clip, and it handles clips where you changed settings partway through. More detail: how to recover a Sony .RSV file.

Why it happened, and how to avoid it next time

See what an .RSV file is and how to avoid .RSV files.

Try the free preview → Drop your .RSV and watch the first 15 seconds of your recovered clip before you pay anything.