Two A7R V spec sheets “leak” but they’re a bit difficult to believe

Two rumours have started spreading out of Chinese forums and social media, purportedly detailing specs of an upcoming Sony A7R V. I have to admit, they seem unbelievable without even having looked at them. Even though Sony has had an often… aggressive refresh cycle, this seems way to soon, even for them. The A7R IV was only released in September 2019.

If the specs are to be believed, the rumours seem to be more of an incremental change rather than a revolutionary one, in order to bring the A7R product line more in line with other recent bodies we’ve seen from Sony recently (higher resolution EVF, new menus, etc) and features the competition is pushing – like 8K video. Still… It’s a bit soon.

Rumour #1 comes from Weibo, and reports the same 61-megapixel resolution, 10fps continuous shooting, but features an increased ISO range, and massively expanded video capabilities over the Sony A7R IV.

• BIONZ XR processor
• ISO 40-81920 (native 80-32000)
• 61 million pixels Exmor R sensor
• 759 points PDAF
• Real-time tracking eye focus for birds/animals/humans
• 26 million pixels APS-C Mode
• 10fps continuous shooting
• 5.5-stop five-axis image stabilization
• 9.44 million pixels EVF
• 2.36 million pixels flip LCD screen
• New menu
• Dual CFE-A/SD compatible card slot
• 10Bit HEIF photos support
• Lossless compression RAW photos support
• Shake music mode is updated to four (2 photos/4 photos/8 photos/16 photos) (not yet determined)
• 16Bit RAW photos in Shaking music support (not yet determined)
• Full-frame over-sampling 8K/24p, 4K/24p video,
• Super35 over-sampling 4K/30p video
• 1.24 times crop mode 4K/60p video
• XAVC HS/S/SI encoding video color depth up to 10Bit 4:2:2
• Supports multiple creative modes including S-CineTone
• Flash sync interface, no full-size HDMI

I’m not sure what the “Shake music mode” is all about. Sony does have a range of home audio equipment with “Shake” naming, but I don’t see how that’s relevant to mirrorless cameras. The other rumoured spec list comes via Creaders.net and it shows essentially the same set of capabilities, although it provides more insight into the video modes.

Scanning performance:

• FF 9.504K Oversampling: 8K,4K/24p
• FF 4.752K Binning: 4K/30p
• FF 3.168K Binning: HD/24,30,60p
• 1.24x Crop 3.84K Binning: 4K/60p
• 1.24x Crop 1.92K Binning: HD/120p
• S35 6.336K Oversampling: 4K/24,30p
• S35 3.168K Binning: HD/24,30,60p

Encoding format:

• XAVC HS:
  • 8K: 24p 10Bit 4:2:0
  • 4K: 24/60p 10Bit 4:2:2/4:2:0
• XAVC S:
  • 4K: 24/30/60p 10Bit 4:2:2 / 8Bit 4:2:0
  • HD: 24/30/60p 10Bit 4:2:2 / 8Bit 4:2:0
  • HD: 120p 8Bit 4:2:0
• XAVC SI:
  • 4K: 24/30/60p 10Bit 4:2:2
  • HD: 24/30/60p 10Bit 4:2:2

It does seem very strange for A7R V rumours to be popping up now when Sony only recently refreshed the A7R III and A7R IV with updated A7R IIIa and A7R IVa models. Ok, the only change in the refresh was to swap out for the new higher resolution 2.36m-dot LCD instead of the 1.44m-dot released with the original models, but it just makes no sense for Sony to even bother refreshing the A7R IV (and certainly not the A7R III) if the A7R V is just around the corner.

That being said, the Sony A7R III and Sony A7R IV are both heavily discounted on Amazon and B&H (A7R III/A7R IV) right now. Chances are, though, this is most likely to clear the shelves of remaining non-“a” stock in order to make room for the refreshed units. Not because there’s an A7R V on the way any time soon.

So, I probably wouldn’t put too much stock into these just yet…

[via SAR]