The Sony a7S sequence is the oft-forgotten member of the Alpha lineup, languishing within the shadows of its siblings and by no means fairly discovering a spot to shine. Nevertheless, whereas some assume the sequence ought to — or not less than will — be left prior to now, maybe the Sony a9 III reveals that there’s as a substitute a path to a vivid future for a hypothetical a7S IV.
The Historical past of the a7S Sequence
Earlier than charting the place the a7S ought to go subsequent, it’s value seeing the place it has already been. The primary Sony a7S was launched method again in April 2014. Sporting a 12-megapixel CMOS sensor (you’ll quickly sense a theme right here), the unique a7S delivered outstanding 1080p footage and was the primary digicam to report 4K video utilizing all the width of its full-frame picture sensor. The digicam specialised in delivering top-end efficiency in low-light conditions and at excessive ISOs for pictures and movies.
This mixture of high-quality video and pictures in difficult lighting conditions carried over to the a7S II, which was introduced lower than a yr and a half after the unique a7S. Sony, seeing how widespread its unique digicam was with the video crowd, doubled down on the a7S’ hybrid nature by including FHD/120p recording, new log profiles, higher autofocus, and five-axis in-body picture stabilization. It was an incredible digicam and, for a very long time, the perfect low-light digicam interval.
Nevertheless, regardless of its glorious hybrid efficiency, the a7S sequence went with out one other replace for some time. 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019 all got here and went with out an a7S III. Between the a7S II’s launch and the a7S III announcement in July 2020, Sony launched 5 full-frame Alpha mirrorless cameras (and its remaining full-frame DSLR).
However the a7S III did eventually come, and wouldn’t you realize it, it nonetheless sported a 12-megapixel picture sensor. Whereas this decision didn’t maintain the a7S and a7S II again that a lot as picture cameras, instances had modified, and the a7S III leaned rather more into the video facet of issues. The digicam data 4K/120p video with improved processing, autofocus, and bitrate. Mainly, it arrived with the promise of Sony’s best-quality 4K video recording. This declare to fame should maintain true over 4 years later.
The place’s the a7S IV?
Whereas the a7S and a7S II arrived when Sony’s Alpha lineup lacked compelling hybrid choices, that was a lot much less true in 2020 when the a7S III landed. By then — and since — most of Sony’s full-frame cameras delivered not less than acceptable video efficiency and options, and in some instances, actually nice efficiency. All these different cameras additionally sport greater than 12 megapixels, making them significantly higher picture choices.
This altering Alpha panorama is an enormous purpose many assume an a7S IV is rarely coming. The area of interest it occupied was already small however has shrunk to close nonexistence.
Nevertheless, when one appears to be like past the Alpha sequence, the difficult case for an a7S IV within the mould of the a7S III is sort of unimaginable to make. In April 2021, Sony released the FX3, a 12-megapixel compact full-frame video digicam. Just like the a7S III, the FX3 is a video-first E-mount digicam. Nevertheless, the FX3 has improved dealing with for video and contains energetic cooling. For videographers, the FX3 is mostly the higher possibility. For photographers, effectively, neither digicam is smart.
With the introduction of the FX3, Sony kickstarted its Cinema Line, pulling what made the a7S sequence compelling into a special household. Between the Alpha line turning into persistently higher at video with every new mannequin and the FX3 launching, it’s straightforward to see why individuals assume the a7S IV could by no means come. The case in opposition to the digicam is fairly sturdy.
The Case for the Sony a7S IV Begins With the a9 III
Nevertheless, Sony did one thing in late 2023 that I imagine modified the calculus for the a7S IV: Sony launched the a9 III.
The a9 III is Sony’s first digicam to make use of a world shutter sensor, an thrilling revolution within the imaging house. Not like a conventional focal airplane picture sensor, which scans one row of pixels at a time, the a9 III’s international shutter sensor reads out each pixel concurrently. This has appreciable advantages for pictures and movies alike, together with extremely quick capturing speeds, swifter autofocus, and completely no rolling shutter.
As Jordan Drake explains in our Sony a9 III Review, the a9 III is a unbelievable full-frame video digicam. Whereas the worldwide shutter has some downsides concerning image quality and dynamic range, the digicam’s advantages for video functions far outweigh the negatives for practically each use case.
Nevertheless, the a9 III might nonetheless be extra compelling for videographers. The digicam doesn’t permit customers to manage the shutter angle, a standard technique of adjusting publicity throughout video recording. The digicam additionally lacks waveform shows, vectorscopes, anamorphic desqueeze, and open-gate recording. A digicam just like the Panasonic S5II(X) affords a few of these options, albeit with no international shutter sensor.
If Sony needs — and “needs” is doing a whole lot of heavy lifting right here — to proceed the a7S line with an a7S IV, I believe placing the a9 III’s 24-megapixel international shutter sensor in an Alpha-series physique and including the video options the a9 III is lacking into the combo would make for a really compelling hybrid digicam in a conventional SLR-style physique — one thing I imagine individuals nonetheless need.
Counterpoint: Why the a7S IV Is In all probability By no means Coming
Not everyone seems to be on board with the concept that the a7S IV will exist, although, together with PetaPixel‘s YouTube Director Jordan Drake.
“Right here’s why I don’t assume the a7S IV will ever be launched, however why I believe the 24MP international shutter shall be crucial in future Sony video merchandise,” he says.
“First, the Sony a9 III, which debuted this new sensor, is a unbelievable video digicam. Excessive body fee recording is oversampled, video has a fantastically pure cadence due to the dearth of rolling shutter, and the video dynamic vary was nonetheless very aggressive with its friends in video mode — not like when capturing stills. I completely loved utilizing the a9 III as a video digicam and most of that’s as a result of new sensor.”
So dropping that sensor into an a7S physique would make for an incredible mixture, proper?
“Nicely, you’ll assume so, however it could make no sense in Sony’s present lineup. The a7S III launched the beautiful 9.44M dot (2,048 x 1,536) EVF and lots of the dealing with designs shared by the a9 III. I don’t assume a7S III customers would settle for a step backward in these regards. Using a completely digital shutter means a lot of the a9 III’s nonetheless capabilities are already inherent to the sensor, and eradicating options would simply artificially restrict this imaginary a7S IV. So what might Sony take away from the a9 III to make a cheaper, extra video-centric hybrid digicam? The ethernet port? Some burst capturing choices? None of that may permit a major sufficient low cost for the a7S IV to make sense,” Drake says.
“However what should you put that sensor in an FX sequence video physique? The FX9 is woefully outdated at this level, with a sluggish 24MP sensor and dated recording modes. Merely add the a9 III’s international shutter and report modes to that physique, and it’s instantly a compelling selection for high-end work. And equally, this sensor could possibly be added to the fan-cooled, simply rigged FX3/30 physique. The dearth of an EVF and basically totally different design would differentiate this hypothetical digicam from the a9 III and will most likely be considerably cheaper,” he provides.
It could be a disgrace to lose the a7S sequence, as I completely love utilizing a compact mirrorless physique with an incredible EVF to shoot video. Nevertheless, I believe the a9 III would be the solely possibility in Sony’s lineup for individuals like me, and different cameras utilizing this sensor shall be extra video-styled FX-series our bodies.”
There’s Demand for an a7S IV, However Is That Sufficient?
Per normal, Jordan Drake makes a whole lot of sense. We agree on many issues, together with that the worldwide shutter sensor within the a9 III ought to type the spine of future video-oriented Sony cameras and that it’d be unlucky if Sony by no means updates its a7S sequence once more.
Nevertheless, whereas he lands within the camp the place the a7S sequence is finished, I nonetheless imagine within the prospect of an a7S IV. Maybe I’m naïve — I’ve been referred to as worse — however the a9 III makes me assume there’s a path ahead for the a7S. The demand for it’s there. Whether or not Sony will reply the decision stays an open query.
