The New Sony a7rV - A Golf Photography Dream
forwarded by Jack Ribeiro
The Sony a7R V is the fifth generation of the company's high-resolution full-frame mirrorless series.
Key specifications
The Sony a7R V is the fifth generation of the company's high-resolution full-frame mirrorless series.
Key specifications
- 60MP BSI CMOS sensor
- Improved AF with subject recognition
- In-body stabilization rated at up to 8.0EV
- Continuous shooting at up to 10fps with flash (JPEG or Lossy compressed Raw)
- 8K/24p or 4K/60p video (both with 1.24x crop)
- Full-width 4K up to 30p
- 10-bit 4:2:2 video options, including S-Log3, S-Cinetone and HLG
- Fully-articulated rear screen on tilt-out cradle
- Reduced-size Raw files (26MP/15MP)
- Focus bracketing mode (with stacking via computer)
- Multi-shot pixel shift high-res mode with motion compensation (via computer)
- Sensor-shift dust removal and close shutter with power off option
- 2x2 MIMO Wi-Fi
- UVC/UAC USB-standard video for use as webcam
The Sony a7R V is built around the same 60MP BSI CMOS full-frame sensor as the Mark IV was, but Sony says the new processor allows it to use the full extent of the sensor's capabilities in a way the previous generation camera couldn't. The company wouldn't be any more specific in its claim, making it difficult to assess.
Whatever's being done, the a7R V is able to offer a wider range of capabilities than the existing camera.
Bionz XR processorsMuch of what the a7R V offers over its predecessor stems from the more powerful processors in the new camera. They bring a series of functions, as well as a much improved menu system. Sony also talks of a processor dedicated to crunching the complex AI-trained algorithms used for focus, exposure and white balance.
Enhanced AFThe power of the new processor significantly enhances the camera's subject recognition capabilities. The a7R IV had the ability to recognize and prioritize people, their faces and eyes, but the V takes this much further. It gains a system designed to better recognize human subjects but also trained to recognize a wide range of non-human subject types.
The human recognition system has been trained to recognize a wide selection of body parts so that it can identify bodies in a complex variety of poses, to make the tracking of your chosen individual more robust. In this instance the camera has found the subject's eye, even though it's not really visible.
Sony FE 24-70mm F2.8 GM II @ 70mm | F2.8 | 1/60 sec | ISO 2000
Besides Humans, the camera's AF system will now recognize Animals, Birds, Insects, Cars & Trains and Aircraft. Interestingly, there are separate modes for Animals and Birds as well as a combined Animal/Bird option. Your subject type can be selected from the main menu, the Fn menu or a custom button. The list of subjects accessed via a custom button can be tailored to include only the modes you use.
Each individual recognition mode has a series of parameters that can be modified, with control over how far from your chosen AF point the camera will search for a subject, how willing it is to refocus to other subjects, and how sensitive or tolerant the actual recognition will be. On top of this is a choice of whether the camera focuses on Eye/Head/Body, just Eye/Head or just Eyes, for humans, animals or birds.
It's a frankly dizzying number of options, but presumably most photographers will only depend on one or two of the recognition modes and hence will only need to spend the time fine-tuning the way the camera reacts to their chosen subject(s). All detection subjects are available in both stills and video modes.
More processing power and more sophisticated algorithms offer a significant boost to the camera's in-body stabilization system, helping it deliver a rating of 8.0EV in industry standard tests. This has been achieved without combining in-body and in-lens stabilization, as many other brands do (Sony's system uses either in-body or in-lens movement for each axis of correction, never both together). This should mean that the higher performance is maintained with non-IS lenses.
As always, IS tests conducted using the CIPA methodology are somewhat simplistic and can significantly overstate the real-world effect, but such a high rating is only likely to be achieved in a system that works well in practice, even if you don't necessarily experience a full eight stops of benefit.
Small RawsThe a7R V offers a broader range of Raw file sizes, for circumstances in which large numbers of 60MP full-detail Raws would be overwhelming. In addition to the full, Uncompressed option, the camera can shoot Large, Medium or Small Lossless Compressed files. There's also the option of Sony's (slightly) damagingly lossy 'Compressed' Raw.
Whatever's being done, the a7R V is able to offer a wider range of capabilities than the existing camera.
Bionz XR processorsMuch of what the a7R V offers over its predecessor stems from the more powerful processors in the new camera. They bring a series of functions, as well as a much improved menu system. Sony also talks of a processor dedicated to crunching the complex AI-trained algorithms used for focus, exposure and white balance.
Enhanced AFThe power of the new processor significantly enhances the camera's subject recognition capabilities. The a7R IV had the ability to recognize and prioritize people, their faces and eyes, but the V takes this much further. It gains a system designed to better recognize human subjects but also trained to recognize a wide range of non-human subject types.
The human recognition system has been trained to recognize a wide selection of body parts so that it can identify bodies in a complex variety of poses, to make the tracking of your chosen individual more robust. In this instance the camera has found the subject's eye, even though it's not really visible.
Sony FE 24-70mm F2.8 GM II @ 70mm | F2.8 | 1/60 sec | ISO 2000
Besides Humans, the camera's AF system will now recognize Animals, Birds, Insects, Cars & Trains and Aircraft. Interestingly, there are separate modes for Animals and Birds as well as a combined Animal/Bird option. Your subject type can be selected from the main menu, the Fn menu or a custom button. The list of subjects accessed via a custom button can be tailored to include only the modes you use.
Each individual recognition mode has a series of parameters that can be modified, with control over how far from your chosen AF point the camera will search for a subject, how willing it is to refocus to other subjects, and how sensitive or tolerant the actual recognition will be. On top of this is a choice of whether the camera focuses on Eye/Head/Body, just Eye/Head or just Eyes, for humans, animals or birds.
It's a frankly dizzying number of options, but presumably most photographers will only depend on one or two of the recognition modes and hence will only need to spend the time fine-tuning the way the camera reacts to their chosen subject(s). All detection subjects are available in both stills and video modes.
More processing power and more sophisticated algorithms offer a significant boost to the camera's in-body stabilization system, helping it deliver a rating of 8.0EV in industry standard tests. This has been achieved without combining in-body and in-lens stabilization, as many other brands do (Sony's system uses either in-body or in-lens movement for each axis of correction, never both together). This should mean that the higher performance is maintained with non-IS lenses.
As always, IS tests conducted using the CIPA methodology are somewhat simplistic and can significantly overstate the real-world effect, but such a high rating is only likely to be achieved in a system that works well in practice, even if you don't necessarily experience a full eight stops of benefit.
Small RawsThe a7R V offers a broader range of Raw file sizes, for circumstances in which large numbers of 60MP full-detail Raws would be overwhelming. In addition to the full, Uncompressed option, the camera can shoot Large, Medium or Small Lossless Compressed files. There's also the option of Sony's (slightly) damagingly lossy 'Compressed' Raw.
Multi-shot high resolution mode
16-shot Pixel Shift high-res image, combined using a beta of Sony's Imaging Edge suite of software. The motion correction option has done a good job of correcting the foliage blowing around at the top of the image. Slight camera movement means this image doesn't show the mode's full potential.
As the 'R' is the company's high-resolution model, it offers a tripod-based multi-shot pixel-shift high-resolution mode. It in fact offers two options. There's a four-shot mode that captures red, green and blue information for every output pixel location, giving greater chroma resolution and avoiding the softening effects of demosaicing Bayer images. There's also a 16-shot mode that shoots four Bayer-cancelling quartets of images at slight offsets, relative to one another, to boost the overall capture resolution to 240MP.
Both these modes require that the images be combined in Sony's Imaging Edge Desktop software, the latest version of which detects subject movement between images and corrects for this motion. It's performed well with the less-than-perfectly-steady examples we've tested it with.
Focus bracketing
The a7R V becomes the first Sony to have a focus bracketing function built-in. It's selected as a Drive mode and you can select the 'step-width' between the different focus distances and the number of shots it takes (up to 299). In the menus you can choose whether the camera continues to focus further beyond the current point or whether it focuses both nearer and farther than the current point. Exposure smoothing, exposure delay to allow flash recycling and the option to save bracketed images to a separate folder are also options.
As with the pixel-shift mode, if you wish to stack and combine a set of focus bracketed images, you'll need to use Imaging Edge Desktop or other off-camera software.
Faster Wi-Fi
The a7R V's Wi-Fi now offers 2 x 2 MIMO (multiple in, multiple out) compatibility. This means it should be able to use parallel channels of communication to other MIMO devices. This helps the camera deliver wireless tethering despite its large file sizes. The Wi-Fi can still be used for sending and receiving files to smartphones and it worked well for us using the current version of the Imaging Edge Android app.
Continuous shooting with flash
The a7R V can shoot at up to 10fps in JPEG or lossy Compressed Raw modes, with the rate dropping to around 7fps in the higher quality Raw modes. The buffer allows for up to 583 Compressed Raw files. With compatible flashes it can use its P-TTL flash metering at this highest burst rate. Flash users will appreciate the camera's ability to record separate ISO and shutter speed settings when a strobe is in use, making it easy to switch back and forth from natural light shooting.
The shutter is rated to last for 500,000 actuations, but a maximum sync speed of 1/250 sec suggests it's not the same mechanism as the one used in the a1.
In addition there are anti-flicker modes that sync the shutter to the bright point in conventional lighting, and a mode that allows tiny factional shutter speed adjustments for use with high-frequency flicker that you might experience with LED lighting.
10-bit video
As with the other cameras built around the Bionz XR processors, the a7R V is able to capture 10-bit video, which helps deliver much more flexible Log footage or high dynamic range 'HLG' footage.
The a7R V can capture UHD 8K video at up to 25p from a 1.24x cropped region of its sensor, capturing native 7860 x 4320 pixel footage. Alternatively it can record UHD 4K footage at up to 30p from its full sensor width. There's also the option to capture 4K at up to 60p from the 8K region of the sensor or 6.2K oversampled 4K from the APS-C / Super35 region of the sensor.
There's significant rolling shutter in 8K mode and in the oversampled APS-C 4K modes. It's better in the camera's full-width 4K modes but it's only really in the cropped 4K/60p setting that we'd consider it well controlled.
The camera has the same heat-dissipation technology as the a7S III, in this case allowing it to record 30 minutes of 8K if the temperature limits are relaxed.
Downsized Raws
The a7R V offers Medium and Small sized Raw files taken from the full area of the sensor. Sony doesn't specify how the size is reduced but the test scene suggests that the camera is using the full 61MP image as its starting point, not line-skipping or pixel binning (false color is occurring at the same frequencies on smaller-res shots as on the full-res shot).
This results in images that are much more detailed than a camera natively shooting those smaller resolutions would produce (the A7R V's 26MP Raw vs 26 and 24MP cameras in this instance). There's no inherent noise benefit to shooting downsized Raws, though: high ISO shots in challenging light fall a little behind the performance of lower pixel-count rivals. The results are essentially the same as downsizing the 61MP images yourself; if anything they look slightly worse in our test scene as they were sharpened at 61MP, then downsized, whereas the Medium Raws were sharpened at 26MP res.
Overall we'd say the reduced Raw option is mostly valuable in terms of saving output time and card/storage space when you know your output doesn't require full resolution. Just consider the prospect of missing a full-res version of a great shot when you engage the mode: your 26MP Raws will look better than those from a 26 or 24MP camera, but you'll never fully recover all 61MP of detail.
Pixel Shift mode
As with the last few a7R cameras, the V offers a Pixel Shift high-resolution mode. There are two options: four shots that just cancel out the effect of the Bayer filter pattern, sampling every color at every position, or a 16-shot mode that does the same thing four times with slight offsets to capture the detail between the original pixel positions. In both instances the Raws have to be combined using desktop software.
As before the 16-shot mode can deliver very impressive levels of detail if your tripod and subject are static. The noise-averaging effect of combining so many exposures also boosts image quality. As seen further up the page, the a7R V gains an option to correct for some camera and subject movement. This tends to mean less high levels of detail in areas where there's been some movement, but avoids the crosshatched glitches that the mode was formerly prone to in much real-world shooting, making it a far more useful tool outside the studio.
Dynamic Range
Digging in the shadows of the files to look for the limits of the camera's dynamic range shows a slight increase in noise compared with its predecessor. The difference is so small that we can't completely rule out differences in Raw converter profiling or some tiny impact from using the lossless compressed Raw mode. Either way, it's a difference in the extreme deep shadows that you'll only notice in side-by-side comparison.
There's plenty of scope for pulling up base ISO shadows if you've had to reduce exposure to capture highlights (with much of the noise stemming from the reduction in exposure).
As usual for a modern Sony Semiconductor sensor, it's a dual conversion gain design, so the lower ISOs (below ISO 320) are slightly noisier than the higher ones. In low light situations where there are bright details such as neon signs that you want to capture, there'll be little noise cost to shooting at ISO 320 with the same exposure as you'd use for a higher ISO, then lightening the results. In such circumstances you'll retain around one stop of additional highlight information for every stop of additional ISO you decided not to use. It's an awkward way to work, though, so is only worth using if your creative vision demands it.
16-shot Pixel Shift high-res image, combined using a beta of Sony's Imaging Edge suite of software. The motion correction option has done a good job of correcting the foliage blowing around at the top of the image. Slight camera movement means this image doesn't show the mode's full potential.
As the 'R' is the company's high-resolution model, it offers a tripod-based multi-shot pixel-shift high-resolution mode. It in fact offers two options. There's a four-shot mode that captures red, green and blue information for every output pixel location, giving greater chroma resolution and avoiding the softening effects of demosaicing Bayer images. There's also a 16-shot mode that shoots four Bayer-cancelling quartets of images at slight offsets, relative to one another, to boost the overall capture resolution to 240MP.
Both these modes require that the images be combined in Sony's Imaging Edge Desktop software, the latest version of which detects subject movement between images and corrects for this motion. It's performed well with the less-than-perfectly-steady examples we've tested it with.
Focus bracketing
The a7R V becomes the first Sony to have a focus bracketing function built-in. It's selected as a Drive mode and you can select the 'step-width' between the different focus distances and the number of shots it takes (up to 299). In the menus you can choose whether the camera continues to focus further beyond the current point or whether it focuses both nearer and farther than the current point. Exposure smoothing, exposure delay to allow flash recycling and the option to save bracketed images to a separate folder are also options.
As with the pixel-shift mode, if you wish to stack and combine a set of focus bracketed images, you'll need to use Imaging Edge Desktop or other off-camera software.
Faster Wi-Fi
The a7R V's Wi-Fi now offers 2 x 2 MIMO (multiple in, multiple out) compatibility. This means it should be able to use parallel channels of communication to other MIMO devices. This helps the camera deliver wireless tethering despite its large file sizes. The Wi-Fi can still be used for sending and receiving files to smartphones and it worked well for us using the current version of the Imaging Edge Android app.
Continuous shooting with flash
The a7R V can shoot at up to 10fps in JPEG or lossy Compressed Raw modes, with the rate dropping to around 7fps in the higher quality Raw modes. The buffer allows for up to 583 Compressed Raw files. With compatible flashes it can use its P-TTL flash metering at this highest burst rate. Flash users will appreciate the camera's ability to record separate ISO and shutter speed settings when a strobe is in use, making it easy to switch back and forth from natural light shooting.
The shutter is rated to last for 500,000 actuations, but a maximum sync speed of 1/250 sec suggests it's not the same mechanism as the one used in the a1.
In addition there are anti-flicker modes that sync the shutter to the bright point in conventional lighting, and a mode that allows tiny factional shutter speed adjustments for use with high-frequency flicker that you might experience with LED lighting.
10-bit video
As with the other cameras built around the Bionz XR processors, the a7R V is able to capture 10-bit video, which helps deliver much more flexible Log footage or high dynamic range 'HLG' footage.
The a7R V can capture UHD 8K video at up to 25p from a 1.24x cropped region of its sensor, capturing native 7860 x 4320 pixel footage. Alternatively it can record UHD 4K footage at up to 30p from its full sensor width. There's also the option to capture 4K at up to 60p from the 8K region of the sensor or 6.2K oversampled 4K from the APS-C / Super35 region of the sensor.
There's significant rolling shutter in 8K mode and in the oversampled APS-C 4K modes. It's better in the camera's full-width 4K modes but it's only really in the cropped 4K/60p setting that we'd consider it well controlled.
The camera has the same heat-dissipation technology as the a7S III, in this case allowing it to record 30 minutes of 8K if the temperature limits are relaxed.
Downsized Raws
The a7R V offers Medium and Small sized Raw files taken from the full area of the sensor. Sony doesn't specify how the size is reduced but the test scene suggests that the camera is using the full 61MP image as its starting point, not line-skipping or pixel binning (false color is occurring at the same frequencies on smaller-res shots as on the full-res shot).
This results in images that are much more detailed than a camera natively shooting those smaller resolutions would produce (the A7R V's 26MP Raw vs 26 and 24MP cameras in this instance). There's no inherent noise benefit to shooting downsized Raws, though: high ISO shots in challenging light fall a little behind the performance of lower pixel-count rivals. The results are essentially the same as downsizing the 61MP images yourself; if anything they look slightly worse in our test scene as they were sharpened at 61MP, then downsized, whereas the Medium Raws were sharpened at 26MP res.
Overall we'd say the reduced Raw option is mostly valuable in terms of saving output time and card/storage space when you know your output doesn't require full resolution. Just consider the prospect of missing a full-res version of a great shot when you engage the mode: your 26MP Raws will look better than those from a 26 or 24MP camera, but you'll never fully recover all 61MP of detail.
Pixel Shift mode
As with the last few a7R cameras, the V offers a Pixel Shift high-resolution mode. There are two options: four shots that just cancel out the effect of the Bayer filter pattern, sampling every color at every position, or a 16-shot mode that does the same thing four times with slight offsets to capture the detail between the original pixel positions. In both instances the Raws have to be combined using desktop software.
As before the 16-shot mode can deliver very impressive levels of detail if your tripod and subject are static. The noise-averaging effect of combining so many exposures also boosts image quality. As seen further up the page, the a7R V gains an option to correct for some camera and subject movement. This tends to mean less high levels of detail in areas where there's been some movement, but avoids the crosshatched glitches that the mode was formerly prone to in much real-world shooting, making it a far more useful tool outside the studio.
Dynamic Range
Digging in the shadows of the files to look for the limits of the camera's dynamic range shows a slight increase in noise compared with its predecessor. The difference is so small that we can't completely rule out differences in Raw converter profiling or some tiny impact from using the lossless compressed Raw mode. Either way, it's a difference in the extreme deep shadows that you'll only notice in side-by-side comparison.
There's plenty of scope for pulling up base ISO shadows if you've had to reduce exposure to capture highlights (with much of the noise stemming from the reduction in exposure).
As usual for a modern Sony Semiconductor sensor, it's a dual conversion gain design, so the lower ISOs (below ISO 320) are slightly noisier than the higher ones. In low light situations where there are bright details such as neon signs that you want to capture, there'll be little noise cost to shooting at ISO 320 with the same exposure as you'd use for a higher ISO, then lightening the results. In such circumstances you'll retain around one stop of additional highlight information for every stop of additional ISO you decided not to use. It's an awkward way to work, though, so is only worth using if your creative vision demands it.
The Sony A7rV will go down as possibly the best landscape photography camera through 2024.