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Sony's latest camera has gone full beast mode. The FX5 is the newest camera in the company's Cinema Line series, and it offers some impressive specs, starting with its newly developed full-stack CMOS sensor.
The sensor delivers more than 15 stops of dynamic range, meaning it can capture detail in both bright highlights and deep shadows without blowing out or crushing the image.
Sony's also included three base ISO settings and a new Dual Gain Shooting mode, letting cinematographers get clean, low-noise footage across a much wider range of lighting conditions than before.
For the first time in the FX line, the FX5 supports Open Gate shooting, which captures the full width of the sensor rather than cropping to a fixed aspect ratio.
That gives editors more flexibility to reframe footage in post, whether that's a widescreen cinema cut or a vertical crop for social.
It also adds in-camera recording in X-OCN, Sony's proprietary 16-bit RAW format, which preserves far more image data for colour grading than standard compressed video, without needing an external recorder.
On the frame rate front, the FX5 shoots 5K at up to 60fps, 4K at up to 120fps and Full HD at up to 240fps for slow motion, all in a compact, flat-top body designed for handheld and gimbal work.
Sony's also added a beefed-up 5-axis stabilisation system with double the roll correction range of its predecessor, along with AI-powered autofocus that tracks a subject's eyes, head and body position, even in low light.
Two optional accessories launch alongside the camera: a detachable OLED viewfinder for eye-level shooting, and an XLR handle unit that adds professional audio inputs with in-camera recording up to 96kHz, 32-bit float, giving audio plenty of headroom to fix levels without introducing distortion.
Director Gareth Edwards (The Creator, Rogue One, Jurassic World: Rebirth) put the FX5 through its paces on a shoot spanning Cambodia, Thailand and Nepal. "
Guerrilla filmmaking just went to the next level, the FX5 is the run-and-gun cinema camera to beat," he said.
It's a solid follow-up to the Alpha 7R VI and Alpha 7 V, and continues Sony's push to put professional-grade video tools into smaller, more affordable bodies.
Key specs
| Feature | Detail |
|---|---|
| Sensor | Full-frame, fully stacked Exmor RS CMOS |
| Processor | BIONZ XR2 with dedicated AI processing unit |
| Dynamic range | 15+ stops (S-Log3) |
| Base ISO | ISO 800, ISO 4000, ISO 12800 |
| Internal RAW | X-OCN LT, C1 and C2 (16-bit) |
| Max resolution/frame rates | 5K up to 60fps, 4K up to 120fps, FHD up to 240fps |
| Recording formats | Open Gate (3:2), 17:9, 16:9, Super 35mm |
| Stabilisation | 5-axis optical IBIS, Active Mode, Dynamic Active Mode |
| Autofocus | AI subject recognition (eye, head, body), Real-time Tracking |
| Monitor | 3.5-inch, 2.76-million-dot 4-axis multi-angle touchscreen |
| Battery | NP-SA100 (2670mAh), compatible with NP-FZ100 |
| Connectivity | 2x USB-C, wired LAN, optional timecode input |
Pricing and availability
The Cinema Line FX5 lands in Australia from early August 2026, priced at $7,849 for the body only or $8,849 bundled with the XLR handle.
The optional Detachable Viewfinder DVF-EL1 arrives at the same time for $999, while the XLR Handle Unit XLR-H2 follows in early September for $1,099.
A Timecode Adapter Cable VMC-BNCU1 rounds out the accessory range at $129 from mid-August.
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