Sony's а7 V brings 33MP partially-stacked sensor, AF and video improvements

After more than a year of rumors and immense fan expectations, Sony finally announced the а7 V, the latest in its workhorse lineup of full-frame mirrorless cameras.

The highlight upgrades include a new partially-stacked CMOS sensor with the same 33MP resolution as the a7 IV. The new sensor supports twice the readout speed of the old one, unlocking a heap of improvements while retaining a higher level of detail, compared to the a7 V's competitors, per the company's tests.

Paired with the new BIONZ XR2 image processor with integrated AI processing chip, the а7 V brings 30fps blackout-free shooting with the electronic shutter - that's triple the a7 IV's 10fps. The mechanical shutter speed is unchanged at 10fps.

The new AI-powered autofocus expands the a7 IV's human, animal, and bird subject detection to include airplanes, cars, trains, insects, as well as human pose estimation, face memory, and eye, head, and body tracking for animals.

The new AF system makes calculations 60 times per second and has pre-capture up to 1 second with AF/AE tracking - that means that the camera will capture 30fps full-sized stills up to a second before you press the shutter.

Sony a7 V

What's new with the a7 V body is the 3.2-inch 2.1m dot LCD with 4-axis articulation, meaning it can swivel up to 90 degrees or down to around 45 degrees and fully articulate as before. There's now a second, faster USB 3.2 Gen2 (10Gbps) USB-C port to go along with the existing USB 2.0 (480Mbps) USB-C port. This enables dual-port workflows for simultaneous streaming and charging, or file transfer and charging.

In terms of video, the a7 V supports up to 4k@60fps with 7k oversampling from full pixel readout (no binning). The camera also brings 4k up to 120fps with a 1.5x (APS-C) crop - a first for the base α7 line.

While the a7 V doesn't have a built-in fan like competitors like Panasonic's Lumix S5 II, Sony has improved the thermal performance over the a7 IV. It claims you can record up to 90 minutes of 4k@60fps XAVC S 150mb 4:2:0 8-bit at 25°C. Even at 40°C, the α7 V will do around 60 minutes, up from just 10 minutes on the α7 IV.

Finally, the a7 V uses Sony's NP-FZ100 battery, but ekes out around 20% to 30% more endurance thanks to the upgraded processor.

The Sony a7 V is now on pre-order for $2,899/€2,999 and will go on sale on Demceber 19.