Earlier today, Sony unveiled its newest and updated jack-of-all-trades, entry-level full-frame camera, the A7 V. Like previous Sony cameras, the A7 V benefits from the innovative technology from its higher-end cameras and brings it to an affordable solution. Let’s dive into all that’s new.
The A7 V has a partially stacked version of its 33MP Exmor RS sensor, which offers silent shooting and 30 fps continuous bursts without blackouts and 16 stops of dynamic range. It’s also powered by Sony’s new BIONZ XR2 chip, which includes an AI chip dedicated to tracking autofocus and subject detection, utilizes a new multi-articulating tilt screen (both borrowed from the A7R V), has improved 5-axis image stabilization, has a speed boost button for faster shooting on the fly, and has a faster 120fps OLED for its 3.68-million-dot electronic viewfinder.
The A7 V captures 7K video and shrinks it to detail-rich, bright, and colorful 4K 10-bit S-Log3 full-frame footage—all without the dreaded 1.5x crop its predecessor relied on. However, the A7 V will still apply the same crop when recording 4K at 120 fps. It also doesn’t support internal or external RAW capture, despite its 3 similarly priced rivals from Canon, Nikon, and Panasonic doing so. Sony also quotes its newest shooter as being capable of recording up to 90 minutes of 4K 60fps without overheating, thanks to its new graphite heatsink.
Sony packed its latest Alpha camera with enough ports and connectivity, as it has a dual card slot consisting of a CFexpress Type A and an SD UHS II, a 3.5mm mic and headphone port, a full-sized HDMI port, 2 USB-C ports, and Wi-Fi 6 support. And lastly, it retains the same NP-FZ100 battery as the A7 IV, but Sony estimates over 100 more shots than its predecessor.
The A7 V is set to arrive later this month for $2,900 body-only, and a $3,100 kit including a new f/3.5-5.6 28-70mm lens is coming in February. Despite the climbing price point due to tariffs, this looks like an amazing upgrade—especially with the lack of cropping and that new tilting screen.
