SONY A7R V GEAR
SONY PASSES THE SCREEN TEST MEGAPIXEL MONSTER A brand-new LCD design and super-speedy processor make the A7R V a worthwhile upgrade
WORDS ADAM DUCKWORTH AND ROGER PAYNE
T here was a time when every new generation of camera seemed to boast more megapixels, especially when it came to the high-resolution models in the range. Sony had the ‘R’ models – which started with the A7R boasting 36 megapixels when 24 was the norm, and shooting video in HD. The next versions both had 42 megapixels for 4K video, then the Mark IV saw a hike to 61 for 8K. The new Mark V uses the same sensor as the model it replaces, though, so if you’re an existing IV owner, you’ll need to justify the switch elsewhere on the spec list. Don’t worry, there are plenty of new features, including a body based on the A7 IV design but with a brand-new screen that’s simply the best on any Sony camera. One frustration of a vari-angle LCD is that you can’t simply tilt the screen without folding it out to the side of the camera. Here, you can. The four-axis
screen tilts up and down, can be pulled away from the camera body and also folds out, giving you a full gamut of compositional options. Folding it away from the body also helps with heat dissipation. The screen itself is bright, contrasty and – with 2.09m dots – detailed. The same also applies to the viewfinder, which now boasts 9.44m dots. This is a major increase on the A7R IV’s 5.76m and puts it on par with the A1. The viewfinder is also huge – ideal for glasses wearers. Like the Sony FX30, when shooting video, all the essential information is around the outside of the image on the LCD rather than on top of it. This makes it far less cluttered and easy to see. It doesn’t sound like much, but it makes a big difference to usability. Away from body design, one major change comes in the imaging engine, which for the first time is Sony’s Bionz XR unit, claimed to be up to eight times more powerful than its predecessor. This has a number of advantages for movie and still image processing, but also improves autofocus performance, particularly in the area of subject recognition and tracking. Much of this improvement is attributed to the use of AI and deep learning. This means the AF system is fed with information about how humans move to help estimate poses and focus accordingly. In short, the camera claims to know someone’s next move before they make it. This tech has been expanded to other subjects as well – animals, birds, vehicles and insects. There’s also a remarkable amount of customisation available with this particular AF feature, all accessed through the subject recognition menu option. Choose animal, for example, and you can fine-tune tracking shift range, tracking persistence level, recognition sensitivity and even which part of the animal’s anatomy you focus on: eye, head and body, eye and head, or eye only. We didn’t delve too deep into these sub-menus, but when a helicopter flew overhead while out testing, changing to airplane saw it followed perfectly. In fairness, the AF system has a huge amount of modifiable functionality on offer – maybe so far as
NEW SCHOOL Despite using the same sensor as the older model, the A7R V has improved AF technology and a tilt-swivel-flip screen that’s fantastic
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