Viltrox Confirms Sony Did Not Intentionally Brick Third-Party Lenses on the a7 V

Sony A7V preorders:
In USA at at BHphoto, Amazon, Adorama, Henrys.
In EU at  Fotokoch, FotoErhardt, Calumet, Foto Köster, WexUK, Clifton, Park UK, Fnac FR.
In Australia at: Camera Pro, Sony Australia.

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At the A7 V launch, Kai discovered a few of his third-party Chinese lenses weren’t behaving correctly on the new body. That sparked instant speculation that Sony was deliberately hobbling third-party glass. Nope. As I said right away, this wasn’t a targeted lockout.

Petapixel reports a message from Viltrox:

Nothing we’ve seen so far suggests any intentional behavior on the camera side. This appears to be part of the normal post-release optimization that often occurs as new camera systems are introduced, It’s fairly common across the industry for lens firmware to be fine-tuned after new camera bodies are released, as manufacturers validate performance across a wide range of real-world scenarios.

Bottom line: the “conspiracy” a few were pushing was exactly that—baseless.

PetaPixel: The Sony A7V 33MP partially stacked sensor is the innovation of the year

Petapixel writes:

We routinely knock the lack of meaningful innovation in the camera industry, so when a company does something new and impressive, they deserve kudos. In the rare cases when an image sensor does something altogether new, it is typically reserved for professional shooters with big budgets. The Sony a7 V is decidedly not that type of camera. The Sony a7 V’s impressive new 33-megapixel partially stacked sensor breaks new ground, reaches new heights of performance, and does so in a product squarely aimed at enthusiasts rather than pros.

Here are all the awards:

Sony A7V preorders:
In USA at at BHphoto, Amazon, Adorama, Henrys.
In EU at  Fotokoch, FotoErhardt, Calumet, Foto Köster, WexUK, Clifton, Park UK, Fnac FR.
In Australia at: Camera Pro, Sony Australia.

New Dynamic Range: Canon R6 III Trails Sony A7V by Nearly 2 Stops in Dynamic Range! 😱📉

Sony A7V preorders:
In USA at at BHphoto, Amazon, Adorama, Henrys.
In EU at  Fotokoch, FotoErhardt, Calumet, Foto Köster, WexUK, Clifton, Park UK, Fnac FR.
In Australia at: Camera Pro, Sony Australia.

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Bill Claff from PhotonsToPhotos published the Canon R6III dynamic range measurement and the results are clear: The Sony A7V is clearly superior to the Canon with up to nearly 2 stops more dynamic range at around 400 ISO.

  • ISO 50: Sony A7V is nearly 1 stop ahead
  • ISO 100: A7V is nearly 1 stop ahead
  • ISO 200: A7V increases the gap with a little over 1 stop
  • Up to ISO 600: A7V keep increasing the advantage with nearly 2 stops advantage
  • From ISO 800 to ISO 51200: A7V keeps a small 1/4 of a stop advantage across the range.

Basically from ISO 50 to 600 the Sony is way ahead of the Canon. 1-2 stops advantage is a big visible difference.

Now let’s compare the Dynamic Range with electronic shutter:

The Sony A7V overall has the better performance:

  • ISO 50 to ISO 600 the Sony is ahead by 1/4 up to 1/2 of a stop
  • At ISO 800 The Canon is ahead by nearly 1 stop
  • But right after the Sony keeps slightly over performing the Canon again.

Sony really has managed to squeeze out an impressive performance! The Sony A7V is from a pure dynamic range point of view the technical superior camera.

Sony A7V preorders:
In USA at at BHphoto, Amazon, Adorama, Henrys.
In EU at  Fotokoch, FotoErhardt, Calumet, Foto Köster, WexUK, Clifton, Park UK, Fnac FR.
In Australia at: Camera Pro, Sony Australia.