Supposed leaked spec sheet suggests Sony will announce a 61MP a7R V with 8K/30p video and more

A photograph of Sony’s a7R IV full-frame mirrorless camera, the latest a7R model to be released.

Photo Rumors has published what appears to be a pretty plausible specifications list for an upcoming full-frame camera from Sony. According to the leaked details, the camera’s model identifier will be ILCE-7RM5, a naming scheme that suggests a Sony a7R V is around the corner.

Whereas most leaked specifications from rumor sites tend to be short on, well, specifics, this list is exhaustive and very detailed, with what appears to be every major feature and capture mode covered. Based on this leaked information, the hypothetical a7R V would feature a ‘redesigned’ 61MP image sensor with readout speeds twice as fast as the a7R IV. The leaked specs suggests this new camera will be powered by Sony’s BIONZ XR image processor and add an array of features we’ve seen appear in Sony’s recent BIONZ XR cameras (a7S III, a1 and a7 IV).

The suggestion is of a camera that can shoot at up to 10fps when shooting uncompressed Raw (the a7R IV could only deliver 10fps in compressed mode, with uncompressed topping-out at 6fps). The quoted 9.44M dot viewfinder spec matches that of the a7S III along with the 2.36M dot LCD added to the a7R IVA.

For stills, the leaked spec sheet suggests we’ll see a system with 759 phase detection points that cover ‘about 92%’ of the frame (425 contrast detection points), as well as ‘real-time tracking,’ Eye AF for animals/people and and real-time pupil AF. What the leak suggests is new would be real-time Eye AF for animals and birds, as well as the ability to focus at EV-4, a one-stop improvement over the a7R IV. These features would be consistent with what Sony added to the a7 IV over is predecessor.

That said, the number of phase detection points quoted exactly matches that of the a7 IV (whereas it usually varies a little depending on the camera’s pixel count), which is one of the few details that raises some doubts.

A photograph of Sony’s a7R IV full-frame mirrorless camera, the latest a7R model to be released. Whereas the a7R IV uses dual UHS-II SD card slots, this leaked spec list suggests its successor will offer a pair of CFexpress Type A card slots, as we saw on the a7S III.

Image stabilization for the a7R V appears to remain largely unchanged compared to the a7R IV, with the leaked specifications noting up to 5.5 stops of compensation using its five-axis design. What will be new, based on Photo Rumors’ reporting, is the addition of a 10-bit HEIF capture mode, an accompanying ‘HLG still image mode,’ giving the same true HDR stills options as the a7 IV.

As for the video capabilities, the rumored spec sheet claims we’ll see 8K/30p video recording with all-pixel readout (oversampled from 9.6K), as well as 4K/60p capture with oversampling for both full-sensor and Super 35mm capture modes. Other rumored capture modes include internal 4:2:2 10-bit recording, All-I recording (via XAVC S-I) and MPEG-H HEVC / H.265 recording (via XAVC HS). If all of this sounds like it could build up quite a bit of heat, it appears as though Sony has developed a new ‘heat dissipation structure that enables continuous recording for a long time,’ according to the leak.

These video specs would fit with the idea of a faster sensor and processor and all the compression options are those we’ve seen arrive on the a7S III and models since then. Though the a7R IV’s ’61MP’ sensor is only 9504 pixels wide, making the ‘9.6K oversampling’ claim seem a touch questionable.

A photograph of Sony’s a7R IV full-frame mirrorless camera, the latest a7R model to be released.

The leaked list also mentions the ‘breathing correction’ feature for digitally suppressing focus breathing that first appeared in the a7 IV, along with the ‘focus map’ feature. Other new features noted in the leak include a new USB-C port (SuperSpeed USB 10Gbps [USB 3.2 Gen 2]) and a pair of CFexpress Type A card slots: again the kind of upgrades we’ve seen on other recent Sony models.

As with all rumors and leaked information, this information should all be considered alongside a healthy dose of salt. That said, this leak is unusually detailed and all the additional features are ones we’ve seen appear in the Bionz XR cameras launched since the a7R IV was released. This makes the list look pretty plausible or exactly what you’d come up with if you were planning on making up a rumor. You can see the full list at Photo Rumors and draw your own conclusions.