It’s been roughly four years since Sony released the A7IV. The Sony A7 series has always been their midrange body, and it was desperately in need of an update. At the time, with cameras like the Canon R6 or, later, the Nikon Z6 III, the Sony A7IV just felt outdated even at launch.
Now, Sony has really caught up and pretty much leapfrogged everyone with this new A7V.
It’s really exciting. Personally, I’ve always loved the Sony A7R series, and I’ve owned three of them. I never really loved the standard A7 series, but this camera is the first one that has really captured my attention.
Sony A7V – Amazon
What’s new? What Makes The Sony A7V so good?
The main new feature of the Sony A7V is the partially stacked sensor. We saw this in the Nikon Z6 III and the Panasonic S1 II, but now we get it with a higher-resolution 33MP sensor.
Partially Stacked Sensor
The main advantage of a partially stacked sensor is improved rolling shutter during video recording, as well as a more usable electronic shutter at faster shutter speeds. Sensor readout is about 4.5x faster than the A7IV, and the electronic shutter now goes up to 1/16,000s. It’s a really nice upgrade for a midrange hybrid “do-it-all” camera like this.
I was worried the faster readout might cost some dynamic range, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. Sony rates the A7V at 16+ stops, a stop more than the A7IV.
Pre-Capture, New IBIS, New Screen
They’ve also added pre-capture, which records up to one second before you fully press the shutter. That’s a very nice feature for sports and wildlife shooters. IBIS jumped from 5.5 to 7.5 stops, which finally puts it on par with the competition, and they added the 4-axis multi-angle screen we saw on the Sony A7rV, now at 3.2″ and 2.1m-dot instead of the A7IV’s 3″ 1.03m-dot screen. Very cool.
New Processor for Better Colors & AF
Another nice and welcome update is the new BIONZ XR2 processor, which has an AI processing unit built in. Sony uses it for a deep-learning auto white balance that identifies the light source, so you should see better-balanced, more consistent white balance between shots. When Nikon updated its processor with the Z8, it made a huge difference in color consistency compared to older camera bodies. Even the jump from my Sony A7rII to the A7rIII was a huge difference. So I’d expect some really nice improvements here, especially if you’re shooting a lot in difficult lighting.
The AI unit also drives the autofocus. On top of humans, animals, and birds, the A7V now recognizes insects, cars and trains, and airplanes, and it uses pose estimation to track people. There’s also an Auto mode that picks the subject type for you.
I also want to point out that the whole “Sony has bad color science” argument has been dead for a while now. All these cameras have phenomenal color compared to 10 years ago.
30fps Continuous Burst
The A7V now shoots at 30fps with the electronic shutter, blackout-free, whereas the A7IV was limited to 10fps. It can even shoot 14-bit RAW during electronic shutter bursts, which the A7IV couldn’t do.
The memory card configuration is identical to the A7IV: Slot 1 takes CFexpress Type A or SD cards, and Slot 2 is SD only. Both cameras write to CFexpress Type A cards at roughly the same speed. In my tests, every CFxA card hit about 310 MB/s in the A7V, versus about 325 MB/s in the A7IV. The fastest SD card topped out at 225 MB/s.
What changes is how much that matters. At 30fps, you fill the buffer about three times faster, so a CFexpress Type A card matters a lot more on the A7V. CFxA cleared a full buffer in about 3 seconds in my tests, versus about 5 seconds for the best V90 SD card and 13 to 14 seconds for slower V60 cards. Since every CFxA card hits the same ceiling, though, there’s no reason to pay extra for a premium one.
The Smaller Upgrades
- Better heat management. Photography Blog reports about 60 minutes of recording at 40°C, versus about 10 minutes on the A7IV.
- 4K 120p (with an APS-C crop) and Full HD up to 240p.
- Two USB-C ports, one of them 10Gbps for faster transfers, plus Wi-Fi 6E.
- 4K 30p webcam streaming over USB, up from 4K 15p on the A7IV.
- Better battery life from the same NP-FZ100 battery: Sony rates it at 630 shots with the viewfinder, up from 520.
Sony A7V vs A7IV Specs
| Sony A7V | Sony A7IV | |
|---|---|---|
| Sensor | 33MP partially stacked BSI CMOS | 33MP BSI CMOS |
| Processor | BIONZ XR2 with AI processing unit | BIONZ XR |
| Max burst | 30fps electronic, blackout-free / 10fps mechanical | 10fps (about 6fps in lossless or uncompressed RAW) |
| Pre-capture | Yes, up to 1 second | No |
| IBIS | 7.5 stops (center) | 5.5 stops |
| Rear screen | 3.2″ 2.1m-dot 4-axis multi-angle | 3″ 1.03m-dot vari-angle |
| EVF | 3.68m-dot, 120fps | 3.68m-dot, 120fps |
| 4K 60p | Full width, oversampled from 7K | 1.5x crop |
| 4K 120p | Yes, APS-C crop | No |
| Codecs | 10-bit 4:2:2, Long GOP and All-Intra | 10-bit 4:2:2, Long GOP and All-Intra |
| Card slots | Slot 1 CFexpress Type A or SD, Slot 2 SD | Slot 1 CFexpress Type A or SD, Slot 2 SD |
| In-camera card speed (my tests) | ~310 MB/s CFxA, 225 MB/s fastest SD | ~325 MB/s CFxA, 222 MB/s fastest SD |
| Battery (CIPA, viewfinder) | 630 shots | 520 shots |
| Weight | 695g | 658g |
If you’re deciding between the two, I go deeper into who should still buy the A7IV in my Sony A7IV review.
Will I buy A Sony A7V?
I obviously won’t be getting one. I have the Nikon Z8 and the Fujifilm X-E5, and I’m pretty much in love with those two systems, so that’s where I’ll stay. However, I will admit, the Sony system, to me, is pretty much perfect now. But so is Nikon’s, although I would love to see a higher-resolution ZF with some overall improvements. Fujifilm has absolutely nailed it with the X-E5, and even Canon is great.
It would be cool to see a top display from Sony one day. I don’t know why they keep omitting that from all of their cameras. I really love all the on-camera information you get from Nikon, Canon, and Fujifilm, whether that’s from a top display or physical dials. I even like the film-simulator dial on the Fujifilm X-E5. It would be really, really nice to see Sony get a little more creative with its designs for future camera bodies. The next A7c needs to be more fun and more enthusiast-focused.
Sony A7V: The Competitive Weakness
While everyone will run out and talk about how this is the best hybrid camera, some of the competition still has a little more to offer when it comes to video.
But this is by design.
Sony has such an amazing video and camera system that they can’t just throw the whole kitchen sink into their mid-range hybrid cameras. Understandably, they have to protect the FX line and the A7s line just a little, and especially their more professional bodies.
What are they excluding?
There’s no RAW video at all, internally or over HDMI, and we’re still not seeing any ProRes video codec, which remains a reliable video solution for so many people. However, XAVC S-I, an intra-frame H.264 codec at 600Mbps, should give you results very, very close to standard ProRes 422.
What’s kind of a disappointment is that even though there is a partially stacked sensor, 4K 120p is only offered with an APS-C crop.
Where The Competition Has Them Beat
While many of the features are nice here, especially that 33MP sensor, as a more video-focused hybrid camera, the Nikon Z6 III really has them beat in video.
The Nikon Z6 III records RAW video internally, in both N-RAW and ProRes RAW. However, like the Sony A7V, it is also limited to a 1.5x crop with 4K 120p.
If RAW video isn’t important to you, then you would probably still want to lean more towards the Sony for two reasons. Their H.265 is 10-bit 4:2:2, while Nikon’s is only 4:2:0. You would have to record ProRes to get 4:2:2 with the Nikon Z6 III, which is overkill for most people.
Sony’s digital hotshoe, which works with their various mic systems, is unbeatable. However, the Nikon ZR is getting into this now as well, with the new Nikon ME-D10 shotgun mic and 32-bit internal audio recording.
What’s Next For Sony?
This will likely be the last A7 series camera for at least another 4 years, maybe even 5 years. Sony can’t really improve on this in any meaningful way. Aside from a few nitpicks, Sony’s whole lineup is pretty much perfect now; all that’s left to do is the sort of Nikon or Fujifilm thing and offer more bodies styled differently.
We can obviously expect a new A7cIII with the more classic rangefinder body. I’d love to see them push it even more classic, like a Nikon Zf, but that’s all that’s really left to do.
If you’re setting one up, see my Sony A7V memory card tests and my list of Sony A7V accessories.
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