Sony Upgrades Alpha 7 to 5th Generation

2025.12.02

This morning Sony Imaging unveiled the 5th generation Alpha 7 continuation of a long line of highly-acclaimed Full-Frame Mirrorless Digital Cameras. The Alpha 7 family is divided into 3 lines. The A7, which offers a balance of resolution and speed, the A7S series for high-sensitivity and finally the A7R line of high-resolution models. There is already a 5th-Generation A7R V, while the A7S III is the latest in its series and overdue for an update.

The new Sony Alpha A7 V takes over from the four year old A7 IV with the same design surrounding upgraded internals that significantly level-up its performance. The 5th generation model is built around an all-new Partially Stacked 33 Megapixels Full-Frame Exmor RS sensor, mounted on an 5-axis image-stabilization system that can provide 7½-stops of correction, two whole stops above the previous generation A7. That new Partially Stacked design makes the A7 V substantially faster than with a standard CMOS sensor. The only downgrade from the A7 IV is that there is now an Anti-Alias Filter in front of the sensor, which lowers peak resolution to minimize moiré.

Even though the resolution of this mirrorless is unchanged from the 4th-generation A7, it is paired with a modern Bionz XR2 processor that can make AI computations and handle data at a much faster rate. Another data point that remains unchanged is the sensitivity range of the sensor. It spans ISO 100-51,200 normally and expands to ISO 50-204,800. A newly introduced feature is Composite RAW Output which allows Multi-Frame Noise-Reduction to be computed from perfectly aligned RAW files produced in-camera.

The speed of the new sensor and processor combination, triples the maximum continuous drive speed of the A7 V compared to its predecessor. It is now possible to capture full-resolution images at 30 FPS with zero blackout. Focus and, specifically subject tracking, is expected to be extremely fast on this camera. There is a pre-buffering feature now that stores the previous one second of images.

An equally impressive jump in capability takes video to the next level. While the A7 series so far was capable of 4K Ultra-HD capture, the new Sony Alpha A7 V can record 7K video at 30 FPS, while its maximum frame-rate for 4K video doubled to 120 FPS. This is also the first Sony mirrorless than can live-stream 4K video. It can do so at 30 FPS. The 33 MP resolution of this camera is just shy of the 36 MP required for 8K video. This camera record stereo audio internally via its builtin stereo microphone or a standard 3.5mm audio line input. There is also a Multi-Interface Hot-Shoe that accepts 4-channel digital audio.

The A7 V is packed with features and has a large number of controls to access them. This includes quadruple control-dials, a dedicated Mode-Dial plus 4 customizable buttons. The rear of the camera reveals a huge 3.2" LCD with 2.1 megapixels of resolution plus a large 0.5" EVF that has 3.7 megapixels and shows 100% coverage at 0.78X magnification. The EVF is paired with an essential Eye-Start Sensor. There is a joystick to control focus which includes 759 Phase-Detection points and plenty of adjustable zones.

All professional features are included in this camera. Its body is weatherproof and incorporates dual memory-card slots. One slot accepts either a CFExpress Type A card or an SDXC card. The second slow accepts SDXC only, just like the A7 IV did. The camera comes with Bluetooth 5.3, WiFi 6A and dual USB Type-C ports. One is a USB 3.2 port which can be used to charge the camera, while the other adheres to the USB 2.0 standard. There is also a 4K HDMI output port.

Sony plans to ship their new 5th-generation mirrorless later this month for $2900 USD or $3700 CAD. Around this price range, it going to be one of the most competitive cameras on the market. Our reputable affiliates are already accepting preorders. You can place a pre-order from Adorama or B&H Photo to be among the fist to get the new Sony Alpha A7 V.

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