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Cameras

The Sony a7V Review: Fix the Autofocusing System Now

Alberto Lima
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Last updated on 12/12/2025
12/11/2025
13 Mins read
Sony Alpha camera with a large lens resting on a light blue surface, viewed from above.
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Last Updated on 12/12/2025 by Alberto Lima

Sony’s a7V is here, and like other cameras in the a7 line, the a7V is primarily positioned to be the do-it-all camera without going too deep into any kind of specialty. The camera has introduced some of the company’s flagship features, such as Real-Time Subject Detection and Pre-Capture, while striving for a low barrier to entry. However, after testing and living with this camera for the past few weeks, it’s apparent that Sony has some work to do if they plan on replicating the success of previous models in the line. 

The Big Picture: Sony a7 V Review Conclusions

A person in a hooded jacket uses a camera with a large lens outdoors, aiming at the sky.
Real-world use: Birding with the Sony a7V and Sony 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS

I’ve had the Sony a7V in for review since the day it was announced. Sony has billed this as the ultimate entry-level full-frame camera for “high-end enthusiasts and hobbyists who primarily shoot stills,” and while I don’t think that it’s an inaccurate representation of who might be most interested in this camera, I do feel that if that is their target audience, Sony has made some choices that will alienate this photographer.

While some omissions, such as Open-Gate Recording in video, have received the most criticism from other outlets, the fact that Sony’s autofocusing system is largely ineffective when paired with Chinese-made third-party lens manufacturers is far more troubling. I used the Sony a7V with lenses from Sony, Tamron, Viltrox, as well as an M to E autofocusing adapter by TechArt, and it’s been both enlightening and frightening to see what Sony’s E-mount system looks like without collaborative support across their licensed manufacturers. Sony has, up to now, been very open with the E-mount system, allowing interested manufacturers to develop autofocus lenses for the system. However, with the Sony a7V, it feels like an about-face. It’s not entirely Sony’s fault, but unless you’re only interested in shooting with Sony lenses, I cannot recommend this camera to a hobbyist until either Sony or their licensees make the necessary updates to their products.

To us, it seems like Sony has turned into Canon.

I’ve mulled over this review for several days now. For their part, Sony has a history of collaborating with industry partners to ensure that their mount offers a wide range of lens and accessory options. However, as of this writing, Sony has remained officially silent on the issue affecting several Chinese-made third-party lenses. Ultimately, your experience with the Sony a7V will largely depend on where within the Sony ecosystem you’re coming from: If you’re new to the system or haven’t upgraded in a while (note: I still use my a7III for actual paid gigs), the Sony a7V will seem snappier and have a lot of new features. However, unless you really need to shoot at 30fps or more, with blackout-free performance (no one buying this camera needs this), and plan on doing tons of HDR on Sony’s app, you’re probably better off buying an older model, or even a camera from another brand.

Rating: 2 out of 5.

We’re giving the Sony a7V two out of five stars. Want to try one for yourself, check it out at Amazon.

  • Pro: Improved ergonomics
  • Pro: Pre-Capture and image processor-assisted tasks sing on the camera
  • Con: AF doesn’t work with some third-party lenses
  • Con: Limited features aimed specifically for photographers, many improvements seem tailored to videography
  • Con: Similar AF performance as the a7IV, may not be worth the upgrade except for very specific types of photography
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Experience

Three Sony cameras are placed side by side on a green cutting mat, viewed from above.
Size comparison (left to right): Sony a9III, Sony a7V, and Sony a7III.

Note: For our initial review, we tested the Sony a7V with the following lens and accessories: Sony FE24-105 F4 G OSS (owned), Sony Sonnar T* 55mm F1.8 ZA (owned), Sony 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS (loan via Sony), Viltrox 35mm F1.2 LAB (owned), Viltrox 135mm F1.2 LAB (owned), Viltrox AF 28mm F4.5 (owned), Tamron 35-150mm F2-2.8 D III VXD (owned), Tamron 150-500mm F5-6.3 D III VC VXD (loan via LensRentals), TECHART Pro Autofocus Adapter (Leica M to Sony E, owned), Lomography Jupiter-3 50mm (M-Mount, owned), and the Profoto B20 (on loan from Profoto).

Top view of a Sony α7 II camera on a grey surface with a blurry horse figurine in the background.

If you’re already familiar with the Sony a7 line of cameras, then you’ll know that it has the smallest of grips among Sony’s full-frame bodies (notable exception being the a7C series). Upon first picking up the a7V, I was pleased to find a chassis that was more akin to the Sony a7RIV or a7RV – it’s chunkier without adding too much heft to the camera and feels far more secure when holding it, even with gloves. This isn’t to say that I’ve ever had a problem with the camera line’s ergonomics; it was a welcome surprise to see a more substantial grip on the body. While most long-time Sony photographers might’ve wanted a redesign that borrowed more from the Sony a9 or a1 series, I’m not holding it against Sony, as it makes sense both as a means to distinguish across the product line, and I’m sure it keeps costs down when producing the a7 and a7R, respectively.

A camera’s flip-out screen displays a photo of a decorated Christmas tree with presents underneath.

Another notable hardware change is the four-axis, fully articulating LCD monitor. If you feel as if you’ve seen this before, it’s not you – this is basically Sony’s interpretation of the LUMIX display from the S-Line of cameras. I’m not a photographer who relies heavily on the rear screen, but I’m not mad at this new addition. There were times shooting on the street where it came in handy – allowing me to get low and shoot from lower angles. While a neat add-on, I don’t think it will ultimately color your decision on whether or not the a7V is for you.

Sony camera and three lenses arranged on a blue surface, with lens caps nearby and a red logo in the corner.
Sony a7V and three Viltrox Lenses

On the software side of things, Sony is doing everything short of saying this is a baby a9 III or a1 II. It’s a big promise if you’ve used either of the two cameras – lightning quick autofocusing, Pre-Capture for fast-moving action, real-time subject detection, and so on. Sony claims their new BIONZ XR2 processor was designed specifically to do the computational heavy-lifting in the Sony a7V and likely a glimpse into the future of what Sony refers to as “AI-powered” subject detection. We’ve asked Sony in the past what about their autofocusing system uses AI without an answer, so we’ll just assume that they mean a very large dataset that the autofocusing algorithm can pull up in real-time (like autofocusing systems, just more data to pull from). I’m not writing this as dismissively as it sounds; larger datasets to parse through in real-time require more processing power, and it seems like Sony’s been able to pull it off in the a7V, but in real-world use, it’s not that big of a difference between it and its predecessor.

Two photos of an angel figurine with wings, one clear (left) and one grainy (right) with a red logo.
Screenshot at 100%: Left 16-shot composite compiled in Sony’s IEDT software; right shows a single RAW file also on Sony’s IEDT app.

One such feature is Sony’s Composite RAW support for HDR and NR Shooting modes. Depending on the desired effect, the camera shoots up to 16 images at 30fps and then composites them using Sony’s Imaging Edge Desktop app to stack the final images. Ultimately, it’ll help you save details in the blacks/shadows with NR Shooting and up to 16 stops of dynamic range for HDR. That said, this will only be compatible using their desktop app, which, after trying it myself, the juice just ain’t worth the squeeze.

A Sony camera with a zoom lens rests on a table; a toy horse and blurred objects are in the background.
Ironically enough, this lens makes great images when paired with the Sony a7V.

I don’t mean to sound alarmist, but hear me out for a second. For several years, many outlets, including this one, have applauded Sony for making its camera platform accessible to third parties interested in developing autofocusing lenses for the system. It’s an openness to their platform that helped them grow by leaps and bounds, especially in the early years of the a7 and a7II. That same openness and accessibility to quality glass from companies other than Sony made my second run at event photography possible. I’m extremely saddened to write that this no longer appears to be the case with the Sony a7V. While focusing worked just fine with Sony’s own glass and both the Tamron 35-150mm F2-2.8 Di III VXD and 150-500mm F5-6.7 Di III VC VXD, none of the Viltrox lenses I had available to test and a TechArt M-mount to E-mount with AF adapter all wouldn’t work reliably enough for me to even continue testing the camera’s autofocusing in real-world scenarios. It’s worth mentioning that Sony holds a partial ownership stake in Tamron; we’ve even noted that many Tamron lenses perform better on Sony cameras. So, while we fully expected Tamron lenses to work without issue, it doesn’t excuse the cherry-picking that’s going on. Sony, if you read this, work more closely with all manufacturers for the sake of your users.

To clarify this more, the lenses worked fine initially until we swapped them out. We also updated the lens firmware on each and did cleaning on the lens contacts to ensure this problem didn’t happen.

People cross a busy city street; one person wears pink Hello Kitty pajamas, cars wait at the crosswalk.A brightly lit halal food cart at night on a rainy city street.
Image on the left taken before cleaning lens contacts. Image on the right showing improved performance even in low light.

On the very limited range of first-party and lenses available at the time of this review, the a7V was able to obtain focus on most subjects without issue. However, we did notice that things were slower and slightly more hit-or-miss on older lenses, such as the Sony Zeiss Sonnar T* 55mm F1.8 ZA and the FE 24-105 F4 G OSS. Realistically, the noticeable difference in autofocusing times was negligible in real-world testing – even at night. In the case of the Sonnar T* 55mm, this was largely corrected after cleaning the contacts at the rear of the lens; it did nearly give me a heart attack as it would’ve been a damned crime to lose this very specific lens from the FE-mount lineup.

A decorated Christmas tree with ornaments near a sunlit window.
An unedited sample image taken with the Sony a7V and the Viltrox 35mm f1.2 LAB – autofocusing completely inoperable, even after a lens firmware update.

While it works when it works, if it doesn’t work with the very kind of lens that the “high-level enthusiast” or “hobbyist” might buy, then this camera’s autofocusing doesn’t work. The fact remains that if Sony is truthful about catering to this type of photographer, then they must know that the more budget-conscious among this group will seek out Chinese-made lenses for their system.

Image Quality

The images are right about where you’d expect a nearly $3,000 USD camera to be. Currently, we are primarily making our assessment based on the JPEG files from this camera. Capture One and Lightroom do not yet support the RAW files from the a7V, and while they are technically good, they aren’t exactly jaw-dropping. Improvements like improved auto white balance and improved subject tracking are nice to have, but may not be a compelling enough reason to upgrade from its predecessor. At 33 megapixels, you do get some more resolution to crop in on, which was helpful in making me a better bird photographer (admittedly, not my strongest skill set), but again, it feels like more of the same.

A man in a hoodie and cap sits on the floor indoors, packing camera gear, with sunlight streaming in.
An unedited sample image taken with the Sony a7V and the Viltrox AF 28mm F4.5

Ironically and notably, some of the biggest impacts from these changes to the camera’s color rendering are often most prominent when used with our Viltrox lenses. It’s an absolute shame that some of the tools that would make this camera shine may be unusable on it. I hope that this changes in the future, but for now, make of that what you will.

Here are some straight-out-of-camera JPEG samples:

A gingerbread chef ornament holding a whisk and cookie hangs on a Christmas tree.
An unedited sample image taken with the Sony a7V
A man with a beard and closed eyes stands in front of a curtain with abstract patterns.
An unedited sample image taken with the Sony a7V and the Viltrox 85mm EVO
A man in a hoodie and cap sits on the floor indoors, packing camera gear, with sunlight streaming in.
An unedited sample image taken with the Sony a7V and the Viltrox AF28mm F4.5
A red mug ornament reading merry & bright hangs on a lit Christmas tree with colorful lights.
An unedited sample image taken with the Sony a7V and the Viltrox AF 14mm Air
A red toy train ornament hangs on a Christmas tree with colorful lights in the background.
An unedited sample image taken with the Sony a7V and the Viltrox AF 14mm Air
Urban street with brick buildings, cars, a truck, and leafless trees on a cloudy day.
Sample image taken with the Sony a7V and the Viltrox 35mm F1.2 LAB.
A decorated Christmas tree with lights, red ornaments, and a small Baby Yoda ornament.
An unedited sample image taken with the Sony a7V with the Viltrox 35mm LAB F1.2
A decorated Christmas tree with ornaments near a sunlit window.
An unedited sample image taken with the Sony a7V with the Viltrox 35mm LAB F1.2
People cross a busy city street; one person wears pink Hello Kitty pajamas, cars wait at the crosswalk.
An unedited sample image taken with the Sony a7V and Sony Sonnar T* 55mm F1.8
A Christmas tree decorated with ornaments and a red mug that says Be Merry Be Bright, topped with whipped cream.
An unedited sample image taken with the Sony a7V and the Viltrox 135 LAB F1.2
Green plant in a brown pot behind vertical black bars, sunlight shining on the leaves.
An unedited sample image taken with the Sony a7V and the Tamron 150-500mm F5-6.3 Diii VC VXD
A blue van is parked on a city street at night near graffiti and a blurred pedestrian.
An unedited sample image taken with the Sony a7V and Sony Sonnar T* 55mm F1.8
People walk past a brightly lit clothing store window at night, with cars visible in the foreground.
An unedited sample image taken with the Sony a7V
A cracked seashell on rocky sand with scattered shell fragments, featuring a red circular logo in the corner.
An unedited sample image taken with the Sony a7V and Sony 200-600mm f5.6-6.3 G OSS
A black and white bird flying over tall grass with bare trees in the background on a cloudy day.
An unedited sample image taken with the Sony a7V and Sony 200-600mm f5.6-6.3 G OSS
Flock of ducks standing on a frozen lake with reeds and city buildings in the background.
An unedited sample image taken with the Sony a7V and Sony 200-600mm f5.6-6.3 G OSS
An unedited sample image taken with the Sony a7V and Sony 200-600mm f5.6-6.3 G OSS
Tall feathery grasses against a clear blue sky, with sunlight highlighting their textures.
An unedited sample image taken with the Sony a7V and Sony 200-600mm f5.6-6.3 G OSS
A single bird flying in a cloudy sky with an orange circular logo at the bottom right corner.
An unedited sample image taken with the Sony a7V and Sony 200-600mm f5.6-6.3 G OSS
An unedited sample image taken with the Sony a7V and Sony 200-600mm f5.6-6.3 G OSS
A flock of birds flying in a V-formation against a pale sky with a red logo in the bottom right corner.
An unedited sample image taken with the Sony a7V and Sony 200-600mm f5.6-6.3 G OSS
A flock of birds flying in formation across a pale sky, with an orange circular logo in the bottom right corner.
An unedited sample image taken with the Sony a7V and Sony 200-600mm f5.6-6.3 G OSS
Five birds flying in formation against a white sky, with an orange logo in the bottom right corner.
An unedited sample An unedited sample image taken with the Sony a7V and Sony 200-600mm f5.6-6.3 G OSS taken with the Sony a7V
A flock of geese stands on a partially frozen lake with dry reeds and distant trees in the background.
An unedited sample image taken with the Sony a7V and Sony 200-600mm f5.6-6.3 G OSS
Flock of waterfowl resting on a calm lake with tall grasses and city buildings in the background.
An unedited sample image taken with the Sony a7V and Sony 200-600mm f5.6-6.3 G OSS
An unedited sample image taken with the Sony a7V and Sony 200-600mm f5.6-6.3 G OSS
Six birds perched on the bare branches of a tree against a pale sky, with a red logo in the corner.
An unedited sample image taken with the Sony a7V and Sony 200-600mm f5.6-6.3 G OSS
Four birds perched on the branches of a leafless tree against a pale sky.
An unedited sample image taken with the Sony a7V and Sony 200-600mm f5.6-6.3 G OSS
Many small black birds perch on the bare branches of a tree, with shrubs below and a pale sky behind.
An unedited sample image taken with the Sony a7V and Sony 200-600mm f5.6-6.3 G OSS
A small bird perched on leafless tree branches against a pale sky.
An unedited sample image taken with the Sony a7V and Sony 200-600mm f5.6-6.3 G OSS
A bird perched on the branches of a leafless tree against a pale sky.
An unedited sample image taken with the Sony a7V and Sony 200-600mm f5.6-6.3 G OSS
A group of geese stand on a frozen lake with tall brown grass in the background.
An unedited sample image taken with the Sony a7V and Sony 200-600mm f5.6-6.3 G OSS
An unedited sample image taken with the Sony a7V and Sony 200-600mm f5.6-6.3 G OSS
An unedited sample image taken with the Sony a7V and Sony 200-600mm f5.6-6.3 G OSS
A small bird perched on the branch of a leafless tree against a pale sky.
An unedited sample image taken with the Sony a7V and Sony 200-600mm f5.6-6.3 G OSS
A brightly lit halal food cart at night on a rainy city street.
An unedited sample image taken with the Sony a7V and Sony Sonnar T* 55mm F1.8

And here are some edited JPEGs:

Three men in dark hats stand outside a brightly lit convenience store at night, under an orange sign.
An edited sample image taken with the Sony a7V and Sony Sonnar T* 55mm F1.8
A city street at night with parked cars, streetlights, and people walking on the sidewalk.
An edited sample image taken with the Sony a7V and Sony Sonnar T* 55mm F1.8
A single brown bird flying in a pale blue sky, with an orange circular logo in the bottom right corner.
An edited sample image taken with the Sony a7V and Sony 200-600mm f5.6-6.3 G OSS
A bird flies low over a calm body of water with tall, dry reeds in the background.
An edited sample image taken with the Sony a7V and Sony 200-600mm f5.6-6.3 G OSS
Many small, dark birds perched on the bare branches of a tree against a pale sky.
An edited sample image taken with the Sony a7V and Sony 200-600mm f5.6-6.3 G OSS
Dozens of birds perch on the bare branches of a tree against a pale sky.
An edited sample image taken with the Sony a7V and Sony 200-600mm f5.6-6.3 G OSS
A seagull flies low over a calm, reflective body of water with tall reeds in the background.
An edited sample image taken with the Sony a7V and Sony 200-600mm f5.6-6.3 G OSS
Man with glasses smiling, touching his chin, with decorative branches and a red ornament in the background.
An edited sample image taken with the Sony a7V and Viltrox 85mm F2 EVO
Man with glasses and facial hair looking at camera, hand on chin, dried plants in background, red logo at bottom.
An edited sample image taken with the Sony a7V and Viltrox 85mm F2 EVO

Since we’re unable to test the RAW files at this time, we will post additional edited samples in a future update.

Tech Specs

  • Number of Pixels (total): Approx. 35.7 megapixels
  • Number of Pixels (Effective): Still images: Approx. 33.0 megapixels max.*, Movies: Approx. 27.6 megapixels max.*
  • *Number of effective pixels varies depending on attached lenses and camera settings.
  • Image Processor: BIONZ XR2
    Senor Type: 35mm full frame (35.9 x 23.9 mm), Exmor RS CMOS sensor
  • Focus type: Fast Hybrid AF (phase-detection AF / contrast-detection AF)
  • AF Points: Still images: Max. 759 points (phase-detection AF), Movies: Max. 759 points (phase-detection AF)
  • Recognition Target (Still images): Auto, Human, Animal, Bird, Insect, Car, Train, Airplane

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The Sony a7V Review: Fix the Autofocusing System Now
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