Sony has announced the Alpha 7R V, a 61MP powerhouse capable of capturing 8K 24p/4K 60p video footage and featuring a new deep learning AI processing unit as well as advanced connectivity and workflow options.
The big news is the new, state-of-the-art AI processing unit with deep learning that Sony says uses detailed information about human forms and poses that will “dramatically improve the cameras subject recognition accuracy, making full use of its potential resolution.”
AI subject recognition has also been expanded adding new subject types beyond humans and animals, to include vehicles and even insects.
Deep learning is also utilized for the a7R V’s Real-time Recognition AF and Real-time Tracking, offering higher Fast Hybrid AF performance over a wider area, detecting not only eyes, heads, and body parts, but now also noses, necks, shoulder, elbows, wrists, hips, knees, and ankles.
View Sony a7R V Pricing and Availability at Vistek
The 61MP, back-illuminated Exmor R CMOS image sensor is paired with Sony’s latest dual BIONZ XR image processors.
Sony says the new processor offers up to eight times the processing power over the previous version offering minimal latency, faster still and movie image processing speeds, as well as greater exposure control and colour reproduction accuracy.
Thanks to the new processor, the camera can capture up to 583 compressed RAW, 547 uncompressed RAW and more that 1000 JPEG still images in 10 frame per second bursts.
Those still images can be captured in multiple formats including JPEG, HEIF and three selectable (lossless) RAW sizes, 61MP, 26MP and 15MP.
The a7R V also features a new auto-exposure (AE) algorithm that offers improved facial skin tone detection, adjusting exposure levels accordingly, even in challenging lighting conditions.
There are up to 15-stops of dynamic range available and images can be captured from ISO 100 to 32,000 (expandable to 102,400 for stills).
The camera uses an upgraded 5-Axis In-body image stabilization (IBIS) system, offering up to 8 steps of stabilization (when paired with a compatible lens) and a new stabilization algorithm that is capable of precise detection and control down to the single-pixel level.
For movie-shooting, Active Mode coordinates the camera’s in-body stabilization with compatible lenses that have built-in image stabilisation to offer greater stability when shooting handheld.
The a7R V uses XAVC HS format to enable in-camera recording of high-resolution, high-quality 8K 24p/25p movies with efficient HEVC/H.265 compression to take full advantage of the resolution provided by the sensor and full-pixel readout.
Thanks to the camera’s wide-heat dissipation body design, the a7R V can record 8K video for up to 30 minutes without overheating,
Full frame and Super 35mm formats can also be selected for 4K recording offering full pixel readout in the Super 35mm mode without the need for pixel binning allowing for 6.2x oversampling for 4K movies.
Video can be recorded in 10-bit 4:2:2 as well as XAVC S-I (All-Intra) or XAVC HS Codecs.
Footage is captured to a pair of CFexpress Type A slots or externally to a compatible recorder via HDMI.
4K web streaming is also possible over USB using UVC/UAC, that is designed to work with a wider range of smartphones, tablets, and desktop systems. While streaming, the camera can also record internally capture footage in 4K 15p, HD 60p, HD 30p, and 720 30p resolutions.
Physically, the camera features a multi-tilt 4-axis LCD screen that can also be rotated 180 degrees to be forward facing when needed.
A new anti-dust system oscillates the shutter more than 70,000 times per second to keep it dust free, and the shutter can be set to close on power-off.
On the side of the camera there is a full-size HDMI port, PC flash sync terminal, microphone jack, headphone jack, USB-Type C connector, and USB Micro connector.
A cable lock is also included with the camera to keep the HDMI cable in place when shooting video to an external recorder.