Sony’s new A7 V uses a partially stacked sensor so you can shoot silently

From astir angles, it looks conscionable similar the last-gen A7 IV.

Sony is announcing the A7 V, its archetypal camera with a partially stacked sensor and assorted features borrowed from pricier Alpha models. It volition beryllium disposable body-only successful precocious December for $2,899, and a kit including a caller 28-70mm f/3.5-5.6 OSS II lens is coming successful February. 

The A7 V is 1 of Sony’s astir versatile all-purpose full-frame cameras, for enthusiasts and pros not looking to walk astir $7,000 connected an A1 II. The caller A7 retains a 33-megapixel sensor similar the A7 IV earlier it, but with a partially stacked plan similar Nikon’s Z6 III. Thanks to this tech, the A7 V tin beryllium utilized afloat clip with its physics shutter for wholly soundless shooting and blackout-free 30fps continuous bursts. While the Nikon Z6 III, arsenic large arsenic it is, had some controversies implicit its partially stacked sensor’s reduced dynamic range, Sony claims the A7 V’s sensor has 16 stops of latitude.

Other features of the A7 V see a caller Bionz XR2 processor with a dedicated AI spot for tracking autofocus and taxable detection (like the A7R V), a caller tilt surface (also archetypal introduced connected the A7R V), improved five-axis representation stabilization (rated up to 7.5 stops), up to 1 2nd of pre-capture successful continuous burst shooting, and a velocity boost fastener that allows on-the-fly faster shooting (borrowed from the A9 III). The A7 V’s OLED physics viewfinder is the aforesaid 3.68-million dot solution arsenic its predecessor, but it present supports a faster 120fps, and the unrecorded presumption provender switches much rapidly from the LCD erstwhile you enactment your oculus to it. Sony besides managed to compression a spot much beingness retired of the caller exemplary utilizing the aforesaid NP-FZ100 artillery — rated for an estimated 630 shots utilizing the EVF oregon 750 with the LCD (an summation of 110 and 170 implicit past gen).

The A7 V is designed arsenic a hybrid for some stills and video, and its video chops person a important betterment implicit the A7 IV. The caller exemplary records successful oversampled 7K solution to output 4K 60p full-frame video, fixing 1 of the A7 IV’s biggest issues and oversights. The last-gen exemplary relied connected a 1.5x harvest for its 4K 60p footage, whereas the A7 V present crops lone to deed a high-speed 4K 120p for slow-motion work.

As idiosyncratic who owned and utilized the A7 IV professionally for astir 2 years (before selling it to upgrade to different model), the A7 V has overmuch of what I privation that camera could bash for me. I got to usage 1 for a precise little period, and being capable to sprout silently successful astir situations similar my different cameras is incredibly adjuvant for shooting freely successful a quiescent situation — similar a wedding ceremony. One of my biggest gripes with my A7 IV was the hold portion waiting for the unrecorded presumption to power from the LCD to the EVF. The split-second infinitesimal of impermanent blindness wasn’t egregiously long, but the A7 V’s faster switching brings it person to the super-speedy consciousness of the pro A1 and A9 III cameras. I’m spoiled, I know, but erstwhile you set to it you don’t privation to spell backmost to a slower effect clip each clip you propulsion up your 2nd body.

The A7 V’s caller surface and ergonomic improvements are besides invited changes. I inactive don’t emotion Sony’s grip feel, adjacent though they’re my cameras of choice, but Sony makes the best articulating screens around, offering the champion of some worlds for photograph and video. Up until now, these fantabulous screens person been reserved for pricier models, and I’m excited for much radical to person entree to them.

It’s casual for the Sony A7 V to look similar a spot of a ho-hum update, benignant of similar past year’s A1 II upgrade was for pros. But Sony did a bully occupation focusing connected refining and improving each of the basal A7’s bread-and-butter features. It’s a top hits medium of galore of Sony’s caller caller features. It’s a shame this enactment keeps getting pricier, arsenic it’s launching astatine $500 much than the A7 IV’s archetypal terms and $200 much than the IV’s existent tariff-inflated price, but caller sensor tech is costlier sensor tech. 

Sony was speedy to innovate and iterate connected its Alpha cameras for years, giving it a monolithic caput commencement successful the mirrorless satellite up of Canon, Nikon, and others. But it’s been feeling similar that innovation has stalled a spot successful caller models. Now that Sony has played each its latest cards crossed its existent harvest and fixed its A7 V samples of its latest tech, we’ll person to spot if Sony’s adjacent procreation of cameras tin marque immoderate of the large jumps guardant similar it’s been antecedently known for.

Photography by Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge