Sony A7R V Review - How did it handle -20°F in Alaska?

[@photorectoby]

Two features I would love to see added to all of these Sony cameras - exposures longer than 30 seconds - it is so arbitrary - why not 1, 2, or several minutes OR the ability to set a timer for bulb mode. Let me specify a 1 or 2 minute bulb exposure. Such a simple little feature that I would love to see for most of my astro work.

[@TheTimmyscott]

this seems like such a simple software fix and would be great opportunity to simplify long exposure photography!

[@marvinspates924]

The Sony a7rv will give an exposure up to 999 seconds!👍

[@TobiasGelston]

@@marvinspates924 How?

[@marvinspates924]

It's a bulb timer! As explained by Mark Galer's video! It can be set to what ever you need beyond 30 seconds! He explains it in his video called "Sony a7r5 review" time stamp 20:58! I will find out more on Friday when I get my a7r5.👍

[@joits]

Great video! I just bought this camera a few months ago and am about to head to London and Paris for my first major trip with this camera. I'm coming from an A7III so I'm used to Sony's ergonomics and it doesn't bother me at all so I obviously love the bigger grip. I am waiting for Really Right Stuff's L-Bracket as I had one for my previous camera and love it. I also attended the Travel & Adventure Show this past weekend and stopped by the Mckay Photography Tour booth.

[@photorectoby]

Awesome. Great upgrade and loved that you got a chance to say hi to David at the booth! Hope to see you on a future workshop!

[@gordonnorman8259]

Nice review, Toby, and quite relevant as I've been lusting for the improved AF and stabilization of the A7RV vs the A1 for an upcoming Pantanal trip. But you and others are beginning to convince me the A7RV's lower quality video and possibly less sticky tracking suggest the A1 remains the champ for combined stills and video in demanding wildlife settings. Now if Sony would finally provide an A1 firmware update for animal/bird eye AF in video, I would be a very happy camper. Cheers!

[@photorectoby]

Yes - it would be nice to see those updates that you mention, a little frustrating for sure.

[@jLutraveling]

I really enjoyed this video almost gives me gas. Love seeing Archer and of course the others.

[@stevearita3267]

Great review and thank you for doing these videos, I know it is a lot of work and time, but I for one really appreciate it. I own a A7R5 and you are spot on with all of the features and good things the camera does (I graduated from the A7R4, and above all...love the flippy screen on the R5). I use it primarily for landscape photography, but your video reminded me that I need to play around with some of the additional features, such as the focus stacking function. You are right about it being somewhat limited for fast action (wildlife, sports...) photography, when I am out taking pics of birds, I use the 70-350 mm G lens, which gets me to 525 mm, it's cropped, but with the R5, still get a healthy 26 megapixel pic. Thanks again for doing this video, very much appreciate it!

[@stevenwaldstein2249]

Thank you for your review and the comparison to the Alpha 1. Two missing items from the new A7R V that the A1 does offer ( I own an A1 as well ) is the synthesized sound for the Electronic Shutter and a good way to optically tell in the viewfinder when it’s going off and the ability to use ES for flash photography. Still both great cameras but the A1 would benefit from some obvious firmware updates.

[@photorectoby]

Totally Agree! Thanks!

[@felixlechat1780]

Dream on for a new firmware

[@TobiasGelston]

@@felixlechat1780 I am starting to believe this won't happen :/

[@stkuj]

I wish Sony memory recall would remember WB. That being said, I love the improvements they made to the a7rv... but I do think that the A1 is a better overall camera for both video and stills. I do feel that most people should remember that their computer will need to process huge files and the a7iv is probably a better fit for 80% of the buyers.

[@TobiasGelston]

That is a warning/recommendation I made when I reviewed the a7Riv - it does still apply to the V too! Good point on the WB!

[@AT1754]

I am still working with the Nikon D5300. I remember watching as many videos of yours as I could on it. Reviews, comps to the Canon options. I know you were a Canon guy back then, but you seem to have an open mind about whatever you’re reviewing. I was planning on Canon but the Nikon was at a very good price so I jumped on it while I could. I am just now getting back into photos and I’ll keep using the Nikon, but looking at upgrade options. Everyone these days seems obsessed with the Sonys and I keep seeing everyone using the a7r III. What are your recommendations for a non professional that just wants something that’s upgraded from the Nikon I have? So far I’m looking into the A7R but I also don’t want to get something that’s essentially already outdated. I have heard the menus on that one are pretty complicated

[@robertdoyle8972]

I have this camera here in Alaska and love it but wish they had some of the features that my old Sony a77 had like when doing bracketing it does it in the camera and also when shooting black-and-white, you can pick what color that you want to not be in black and white love that about the 77 also it had a setting in the camera that when you took a picture, it made everything look like it was miniature or like a toy

[@TheTimmyscott]

Thanks for the review, Toby! Looks like an incredible all around camera, loved seeing the autofocus esp compared to the a1, and awesome bulk timer (Sony Product Manager please bring this to other cameras via firmware!). The one thing I noted was the blank exp comp dial as I do use that especially with auto iso. Like you I'm drooling over this as an amazing companion to the a1!

[@photorectoby]

Thanks Tim! I found that I got used to that exposure compensation dial pretty quickly and really just checked the digital display in the viewfinder but it takes a while. Overall a great camera.

[@markshirley01]

Im hoping to pick up a A7R5 soon, Ive been waiting for the price to drop on the grey market here in the UK. Its now at £3000, so that just at the top of my budget. Im getting the Tamron 20 40 with it, I will mainly shoot in the medium raw tho, using the full mega pixels for crop mode to get me 60mm at 30mp. Its a bit like getting an extra lens in on the price, helps soften the cost a bit.

[@photorectoby]

That is a great way to think about it - more reach with less lens!

[@andymiles5156]

I’m enjoying the A7R5, so many small improvements over the R4 outside of the big obvious ones such the AI autofocus. One area I feel Sony lacks in is the number of memory positions. Some of the Fujis have 6 or 7 positions. It’s important because there are so many settings now that can be tweaked according to the subject matter you are photographing. I’d love one of the memory positions to enable you to rotate a dial and change between a larger number of memories you have saved, with you being able to save a name to the memory that appears on the displays as you rotate.

[@photorectoby]

Andy, Have you tried the memory recall to a button. I love that and that is another 3 options for savings settings... though you do need to then assign those buttons.

[@andymiles5156]

@@photorectoby thanks for the heads up. Yes I did try them, but unfortunately they only have a subset of options available. I currently have one set to quickly change to fast action settings. I did also try using the option of saving the memory settings to an SD card, but then after reloading you forget what setting you have modified a memory to be, and there’s the fact I routinely format my memory cards when I put them back in the camera.

[@DA-yd2ny]

Thanks for sharing.

[@PallJokullPetursson]

Great review Toby! I have the A7R3 now and A7R2 previously, so it seems a logical upgrade to jump over the A7R4 and go straight to the five. The upgraded focusing and focus bracketing is definitely something that would be useful for me as a landscape photographer. The screen on the back, OMG, combine the A7S3 + A7R3 = A7R5 ;-)

[@photorectoby]

Thanks Pall! The screen and viewfinder are so nice! I do hope we see some firmware updates for the other models soon to bring these features to all of us :)

[@theresarice7289]

Okay - on my wish list

[@Fotogoscar]

What about on those occasions when you don't need 61MP. I've read that Medium raw impacts the dynamic range/highlights. Is that true?

[@paololarocca7684]

awesome camera, but they are becoming larger at each generation, most reviewers and pros seem to be happy but street and travel photographers maybe not so much, I like Sony also because of the small form factor of their cameras...feature requests? in camera raw processor (after the photo is taken), in camera timelapse video and focus stacking...

[@TobiasGelston]

I really don't feel like the cameras have gotten noticeably larger. I too would love to see those features. Thanks!

[@EH-pm1ke]

What gloves do you use at -20F? That's cold on my fingers

[@andychapman9687]

Sony needs to add a in camera Pre shot function - definitely

[@photorectoby]

That would be a nice feature!

[@molitor76]

Thanks for the great video! I have a a7 iv which to me is the perfect camera - BUT I would like to see the focus bracketing to be added to it, as well - after all, it is a mere incremental software update....hope it will come with the next firmware update...

[@photorectoby]

Rumors of a FW update coming later this month for your camera. It should have focus bracketing!

[@molitor76]

@@photorectoby yay, thanks for the hint!

[@Somemjf]

At 13:15 what do you mean by track? Are you talking about setting the auto to continuous focus and bird autofocus it will track the Birds Eye continuously? Is this what you mean? Seen a lot do KZbin video say the auto is spot on and tracks well.. but trying to figure out if I’m doing it correctly.. and what it means?

[@photorectoby]

In this case I just mean that the camera, when using AF-C, continues to focus on the correct subject and does so quickly and reliably as it moves through the scene. If I was using a specific eye focus I do see the A1 track that VERY well. Hope that helps.

[@GregThurtle]

Great review toby. Ive just decided on a1 instead of a7r5 as it seems a1 is a better hybrid camera and as i dont own an a7s3 it seemw to give me all those things plus the best autofocus in stills (even if its lacking some of the subject recognition of the new r5). Of course doesnt hurt that the a1 is available woth huge discount over new price. Its hard to see what they woll add to a1 successor to make it that much better. I have an r4a and agree compared to my a7iv ots very sluggish and the af is noticeably worse in low light

[@ravenfallsphotography6254]

Great review, but REALLY misleading title and thumbnail - I watched this to learn about the a7Rv's abilities for low-light/night winter photography, and found barely a mention of it.

[@gurugamer8632]

Is the Leica m11 better than Sony a7r v?

[@mangoldm]

I own both and the lack of image stabilization on the Leica is holding it back IMHO.

[@JohnDrummondPhoto]

You left out one more feature that the A7R V has that the Alpha 1, A7S III, A9 II, and FX-3 all lack: animal eye AF in video. Really, Sony? The much cheaper A7 IV has that. I'm sure Sony could add it to their older high-end bodies via firmware; but they'd rather you buy a new, upgraded body instead.

[@photorectoby]

I try not to be too cynical - it did seem that Sony was great with these firmware updates in the past and lately.. not as much.

[@frankfurter7260]

Kunta Kinte not Toby!

[@pawelmod3292]

That dog eye autofocus example was brutal…

[@photorectoby]

Why?

[@pawelmod3292]

@@photorectoby it was good shot and everything, good example of eye af, etc. But, there was just one single eye, right? I hope the doggo is good! All the best!