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by E.J. Peiker on Thu Dec 08, 2022 4:32 pm
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E.J. Peiker
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Earier this week, Sony shipped an update to their highest resolution line of cameras - the Alpha 7R V (a7R5).  While many are panning this as a very minor and expensive upgrade to the a7R4, there are some things to get excited about.  The reason for the disappointment is understandable since the Sony a7r series has always been the high resolution flagship and many were expecting a resolution upgrade from 61 megapixels to 100 megapixels.  Sony clearly has the technology to do this since Sony’s 40 megapixel APS-C sensor used on the Fujifilm X-H2 and X-T5 scaled to full frame would be 100 megapixels.  They chose to not go this route relying on the tried and true and still highest resolution full frame 61 megapixel sensor.  Instead, they chose to upgrade a number of other areas while keeping the same sensor as the a7R4.  Let’s take a quick look at what has changed:

Autofocus – the a7R5 gets Sony’s most sophisticated AF algorithms to date while upgrading the number of phase detect AF points from 567 to 693 and also increasing the AF point frame coverage by 5%.  The new algorithms significantly improve the subject detection algorithms.  Not only can the camera now determine whether it is focused on a ground based animal’s eye or a bird’s eye automatically, it now recognizes insects, airplanes, cars, and trains.  This exceeds the subject recognition capabilities of even the flagship action camera, the Alpha 1 (a1) but due to the slower readout of this sensor, it does not have the same mind-blowing tracking capabilities of the a1 but they should be more than good enough for all but the fastest action scenarios.  A new feature on the a7R5 is what Sony calls Full-time DMF (Direct Manual Focus).  This allows the user to override AF with the lens focus ring on any lens including focus by wire lenses.  Where this is useful is in macro or super telephoto shooting where the lens is so far out of focus that the AF system can’t figure out what to do so it doesn’t do anything.  This happens occasionally on my 200-600 and has led me to using the focus limit switch a lot more than I’d like to limit the range of focus.  With Direct DMF, you can quickly turn the focus ring to get the lens closer to being in focus so that the AF system can take over and find the subject.  Previously only a couple of very high end lenses had this capability via a switch on the lens.

Raw Format – finally Sony’s highest resolution camera get a losslessly compressed RAW file format.  Gone are the days of having to store 85MB RAW uncompressed files in order to retain everything the camera’s sensor is capable of capturing.  The new files are often as low as 50MB meaning you can get a lot more shots on each memory card and your home computer or laptop’s storage capacity won’t be taxed as much.  Additionally, the medium sized and small sized RAW formats that the a1 recently got via firmware update are now available.  These are 26 megapixel and 15 megapixel files respectively.

Focus bracketing/stacking – I have often complained that the single biggest thing I hate about the Sony a7R series, as a landscape photographer, is that these cameras do not have focus stacking built in meaning the photographer has to intervene between each shot of a focus stack to refocus the camera.  Not only does this take time, it introduces the possibility of slight camera movement and things like clouds can move a significant distance in the time it takes to do a focus stack.  Finally, Sony joins the rest of the camera industry in offering focus stacking in their landscape photography oriented camera.  Set-up is very easy – you simply tell it a step size width and a maximum number of shots.  You can make this a high number since the camera automatically stops when the lens focus is racked out as far as possible and won’t keep shooting out to your set high limit of shots.  I find, at least initially, that a width setting of 7 works well for landscape photography.  Macro shooters may want to make this number a bit smaller.

Buffer Size – while the maximum frames per second remains 10 FPS, the buffer size has been increased substantially, to the point that it should never get in the way, even if shooting birds in flight since it can record several hundred losslessly compressed RAW files before slowing down.

Image Stabilization – The in-body image stabilization (IBIS) system has been upgraded substantially from being able to compensate for image shake by 5.5 stops all the way up to 8 stops.  

Pixel Shift – In conjunction with the a7R5 release, Sony has also released a new version of its Imaging Edge software which puts the images shot in pixel shift mode together.  This is a mode where the camera takes multiple images shifting the sensor by one pixel width internally using the IBIS system and then allows you to put those images together into a very high resolution file – over 240 megapixels for the a7R4/a7R5 and without the need for Bayer interpolation (you can look that up if you need to).  The problem in the past with this mode is that even the slightest motion, measured in microns, would render the files useless when put together into a high resolution image making it completely useless on anything but a solid concrete slab with ultra heavy tripod in a basement with no air moving whatsoever.
The new software is able to compensate for some movement on the a7R5 and the a1 when taking these types of photographs. While this is a major improvement, some systems are actually able to build the ultra high resolution file in camera.  Testing this out, it certainly works much better than before but if clouds are moving significantly through the exposure sequence, you still get some artifacts; therefore, I still believe this to be a much better tool for still life or shooting interiors where nothing moves.

Video – maximum video resolution has been drastically upgraded from 8 bit 4K 4:2:0 video to 10 bit 8K 4:2:2 bit video.  While I am not a video shooter, this is a massive upgrade in video specs although it can only do this in a cinema like 25FPS with a small 1.2x crop.  It can also do 4K 60P 10 bit video in 4:2:2.

Viewfinder – the viewfinder has been upgraded from the very good 5.76 megadot 0.78x magnification viewfinder to an impressive 9.44 megadot, 0.9x magnification viewfinder.  While the increase in resolution is nice, what will be most noticeable to photographers is the much larger image in the viewfinder.  The downside of this as an eyeglasses wearer is that I need to move my head around a bit to see the entire image.  It would be nice to be able to downsize the image just a tiny bit in the viewfinder to see the entire image – a capability that the Fuji medium format cameras have specifically to accommodate those that require glasses to see.  This is not a big deal as most cameras have this problem and most eyeglasses wearers are used to it.

LCD screen – One of the biggest upgrades to the a7r5 is the rear LCD.  The a7R4 had an underwhelming 3 inch 1.44 megadot display that articulated up and down.  The a7R5 gets a 3.2 inch 2.1 megadot display that is fully articulating.

Image Storage – the a7R4 accepted SD cards only in its two slots.  The a7R5 get the same storage capabilities as the a1 with two slots capable of accepting either SD cards or CFexpress Type A cards.

Menus – the a7R5 gets the much more user friendly third generation of Sony menu style (similar to the a1) up from the much more arcane and hard to use 2nd generation menu system found on the a7r4.  Unfortunately, however, there are still nonsensical menu choices.  For example the Shutter When Power Off menu selection is either Off or Not Target – what the heck does that even mean?  Similarly Auto Pixel Mapping has options of Off and Not Target…???

Image Processor – the a7R5 gets the latest Bionz image processor – the computer inside the camera.  The new processor offers a dramatic increase in speed making the camera feel snappier and allowing some of the new functions, especially the dramatically increased video capability, as well as being able to drive the higher resolution screens (LCD and viewfinder) without any loss of performance.

Price – not surprisingly the launch price for the a7R5 has gone up by $400 USD from $3500 for the a7R4 to $3900 for the a7R5

Other – Sony has addressed several other complaints that I have had since the original a7R.  The exposure compensation dial is now programmable to other functions.  This dial has always been a waste for me since it was dedicated only to exposure compensation which is irrelevant when shooting in manual exposure mode which I do 100% of the time.  The new dial also has a push button lock out so this makes it perfect to assign ISO selection to.  This means that all three exposure variables can now be controlled with dials without having to resort to button and dial combinations or menu diving just to change ISO.  I can have shutter speed on the front dial while having aperture as well as ISO on the two rear dials.  Another nonsensical choice that Sony has made in the past is that they offered only 3:2 and 16:9 aspect ratios in camera.  The a7R5 adds 1:1 and 3:4.  While others, especially 4:5 and 6:17 would be nice, it is a major step in the right direction.  Another  feature that I have been calling for for a long time, shutter speeds over 30 seconds without needing a cable release in bulb mode.  Sony has implemented this, although, in a bit of an awkward way.  Rather than just extending the shutter speeds beyond 30 seconds on the shutter speed dial, you can now program Bulb mode with any exposure time that you want from 2 to 900 seconds.  While this is very versatile since you can literally program it to any shutter speed you want in whole second increments, it is a bit awkward to first have to turn on bulb mode, switch over to mechanical shutter as it only works in that mode, program the exposure time, and then shoot. You can use this mode with a 2 second, 5 second or 10 second exposure delay so that a remote release is not needed. Finally, something virtually any photographer that came to Sony from another system has been screaming for… you can now update firmware from a memory card, like virtually every other camera system on the planet, rather than having to connect the camera to a computer via USB cable. On an annoying front, the form factor of the camera’s bottom has changed somewhat to accommodate the new fully articulating rear LCD which means my a7R4 L-bracket does not fit.  The Smallrig L-bracket I have for the a1 does work although it is not optimized for the a7R5.  This means another purchase once a7R5 L-brackets appear on the market.

The fundamental question is if it is worth upgrading?  Despite the a7R5 being a significantly better camera, for many the answer is no and this is reflected by the fact that the camera was available for same day shipping on the day it was released where previous models had a waiting list, sometimes for several months.  The combination of a faltering worldwide economy and the headline specification (61 megapixels) not changing, has left many Sony a7R shooters on the sidelines, at least for now.  For me, the two biggest gripes that I have had for years with the a7R series and all Sony cameras have finally been addressed – the camera now does focus bracketing/stacking and has losslessly compressed RAW files.  The other features that have been upgraded are nice to have but these two are essential to me so I have upgraded to this new camera and have sold my a7R4.
 

by E.J. Peiker on Thu Dec 08, 2022 7:39 pm
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E.J. Peiker
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Posts: 86761
Joined: 16 Aug 2003
Location: Arizona
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Note that if you read this within the first 3-4 hours of the original post, I have added significantly to the text above as I have discovered a few more important changes that went largely unadvertised during the announcement of this new camera.
 

by schlansker on Fri Dec 09, 2022 2:39 pm
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E. J. Thanks for the very helpful review.

I'm looking forward to understanding early impressions about autofocus for action and birds with the 200-600. Will we see a substantial AF improvement over A7R IV in this use case?. I understand that the viewfinder blackout and shooting rate are not better, but with this fancy AI, I hope the AF might track birds and isolate eyes. What can I expect?

I am primarily a landscape shooter but I also Iave many birding opportiunities. After learning A7R IV for over a year, I have become frustrated with its AF for BIF and will be a bit disappointed if this weakness is not addressed at all.

The camera is available now? This is very dangerous. I thought I would have to wait a long time before any money could be spent.

Thanks,
Mike Schlansker
 

by E.J. Peiker on Fri Dec 09, 2022 5:38 pm
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E.J. Peiker
Senior Technical Editor
Posts: 86761
Joined: 16 Aug 2003
Location: Arizona
Member #:00002
schlansker wrote:E. J. Thanks for the very helpful review.

I'm looking forward to understanding early impressions about autofocus for action and birds with the 200-600. Will we see a substantial AF improvement over A7R IV in this use case?.  I understand that the viewfinder blackout and shooting rate are not better, but with this fancy AI, I hope the AF might track birds and isolate eyes.   What can I expect?

I am primarily a landscape shooter but I also Iave many birding opportiunities. After learning A7R IV for over a year, I have become frustrated with its AF for BIF and will be a bit disappointed if this weakness is not addressed at all.

The camera is available now?  This is very dangerous.  I thought I would have to wait a long time before any money could be spent.

Thanks,
Mike Schlansker
Hi Mike, I will eventually test it on BIF but just from my initial impressions in my backyard, the focus system is definitely snappier.  Yup, you can buy the camera today and have it in the amount of time it takes to ship it to you :)
 

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