Orders for the Sony a7 V Are Strong Despite Negative Online Discourse

It did not take long for online discourse surrounding the a7 V to turn negative, even toxic. I am not sure exactly what the reason is for the loud, unhappy response to this camera, but I can report that demand for it is in stark contrast to the online conversation.

First, The Discourse

Within minutes of the a7 V’s announcement, the conversation around the camera turned from disappointment to straight-up toxic. It’s gone so far that there are multiple Threads and a highly engaged-with Reddit thread that claim anyone who has anything positive to say about the camera are either willfully ignorant or straight up paid to be positive.

There are seemingly endless iterations of these and that last one is especially confusing. Sony is catching flack for not including the ability to record higher than 4K video, not including Open Gate, and not providing any way to record RAW video. But one element Sony did succeed at was the photo-taking capability of the new 33-megapixel sensor. To claim it’s not a camera for photographers but only includes upgrades for video is in direct contrast with reality.

The aforementioned Reddit thread is particularly rough.

“What really threw me off is how the a7v was received; crazy glazing going around on youtube where it’s actually a minor upgrade, underwhelming compared to the competition’s hybrid offering. Seen more negative feedback than positive anywhere else than youtube,” the thread starts (spelling and punctuation are direct quotes throughout).

“I feel like there some real discourse misalignment between users, reviewers and people critiquing the reviewers in general,” one response reads.

This contains responses that explain why the Sony a7 V is being well received by media by claiming reviewers won’t get access to gear if they don’t always act positive (this is false), that they are paid for these reviews (also false),

Comments on YouTube are no better.

“My conclusion is this camera is not the camera to buy. The competition has better cameras with more features at more competitive prices,” says one. “I want to like it, but it kinda doesn’t excite me that much,” says another.

“Sony: adds the bare minimum. Review Slop channels: “BEST CAMERA EVER????”

There are usually comments like these with every new product, but it feels particularly strong and loud with this launch.

Sales Are Strong

It should be noted that camera brands and retailers in North America do not discuss hard order numbers on the record. This has pretty much always been the case, but no manufacturer wants that kind of information out there, and retailers respect that. That said, I have spoken to multiple sources across North America, all on the condition of anonymity and on background, and all of them are echoing the same sentiments: pre-orders for the a7 V are strong.

It is my understanding that the numbers are especially good considering the timing of Sony’s launch. Sony waited until after Black Friday and Cyber Monday to launch the camera, which means many folks who may have been interested had a high chance of spending their budgets on discounted photo gear already — considering how good some of those discounts actually were, this isn’t a crazy theory. The sales are so good that it appears demand for the a7 V is outpacing demand for the Canon R6 Mark III, which is the main foil to the a7 V in that aforementioned online discourse. That, frankly, shocks even me.

I want to dip back to that Reddit thread I mentioned, because one comment nails it, in my opinion:

“Minor upgrade? The hell camera are you comparing it to because it sure as hell ain’t the A7IV. The A7V is like 90% of an A1ii for half the price. Depending on your use case of course but as someone who shoots mostly faster subjects and is photo focused it is an incredible upgrade on all fronts,” the comment reads. “I don’t know how anyone can look at this camera and not see it as a massive upgrade. Okay maybe you shoot portraits and landscape then it’s not? But you were not looking for an upgrade anyway as for those genres the body matters a lot less.”

Based on pre-orders, a lot of people feel the same way but are just not being as vocal about it online. Those complaining about this camera might be loud, but from what we can see, Sony has a certified hit on its hands.