Sony's new high-end Alpha and Sony's firmware problem – Photo News of Week

Let's keep it short this week too, because almost everything has already been said about the new Sony Alpha 7 V – but only almost. We were able to try out the camera briefly, albeit without lab measurements and not with third-party lenses, which will be important shortly. The columnist's preliminary conclusion is: Sony has turned exactly the right screws.

The new Alpha is not only almost as fast as some sports cars (30 fps with electronic shutter, 10 with mechanical), which the new partially stacked sensor with 33 megapixel resolution enables. Such image sensors with logic and RAM on them can be read out faster, and also mitigate rolling shutter effects. Only a sensor with a global shutter is completely free of these – Sony continues to reserve that for its "tempomonster" A9 III.

But that also plays in a different price class; for the A7 V, "only" 3000 Euros are requested. This is the new high-end class; Sony has also made the camera “only” 200 Euros pricier than its predecessor four years ago. Our detailed report reveals more, including what's missing in terms of video functions. Others, like Canon with the R6 III, manage this better in this price class.

Sony withdraws firmware for A7 IV

The aforementioned predecessor, the A7 IV from the end of 2021, received a major firmware update to version 6.00 shortly before the new model was introduced. Self-definable focus fields, permanent display of audio levels when filming, and other functions were enticing. But now one has to wait longer, because Sony has withdrawn the update, as a current note on the download page explains. Previously, there were reports, among others, on Reddit about "bricks" after the update, i.e., non-functional cameras that need to go to the workshop.

This once again confirms that one should not install every new version of firmware updates for cameras immediately. The sometimes serious bugs have been piling up too much recently; here's just a selection: Sony with the A1 a year and a half ago, Canon and Nikon with several cameras in mid-2025. Likewise, one can no longer expect old accessories to work immediately with a brand-new camera.

New Alpha not for third-party lenses for now

This leads back to the new A7 V, as it is not necessarily compatible with every third-party lens, as a YouTube video including a statement from Sony shows. This is then also our recommendation for a long watch on Sunday evening or the start of the new week. And, despite all the annoyances in this issue of Photo News: firmware can be fixed. One can only hope that Sony does this thoroughly as well.

(nie)