A7r V camera with no PAL option

[Spiketrain]

Hi community team of knowledge!

I bought a Sony A7r V in Hong Kong (NTSC region) and I live in the UK (PAL region). 

My previous A7r iii has the option to switch between both standards so I can shoot 25p or 30p etc no problem. But the R5 simply doesn’t have the option in the menus anywhere. 

I want to shoot 25p and I can’t. 

I have installed the latest firmware (V2).

If there is a fix in an option somewhere, it’s very well hidden and there are no other discussions online on this that I can find. Please help! 

Otherwise I think I’ve hit a dead end - Sony in HK won’t reply to me…. But I just wanted to check here… is this true? It seems strange to have a high end camera like this that can only shoot in NTSC regions. 
 

 

[Pieter]

Did you try this?

https://helpguide.sony.net/ilc/2230/v1/en/contents/TP0002888270.html

[Spiketrain]

Yes. First place I went. It's just gone from everywhere... not just the camera.... it's gone from the internet too. No one seems to be talking about this except me! - Which does feel a little strange! - I'm pretty sure I'm not stupid.... then other times.... not so sure.

[Pieter]

Apparently some cameras are sold without PAL / NTSC selection, only allowing the option native to the market the item was intended for:

https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4260949

[Spiketrain]

@Pieter thanks - though the dude with the Sony cam in the link you sent ultimately found he had an NTSC / PAL option in his menus..... which I haven't found. 

So the internet doesn't seem ready to announce that this is a thing,..... it actually seems like I'm the only Sony camera owner who can't switch out of NTSC. At least the only one to share such data online. This is an A7r V - it's a flagship model! - So I'm pretty miffed currently.

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

[Oliver in New Zealand]

Hi

Oddly, Hong Kong IS a PAL area. SO if your camera is native NTSC then maybe it was grey market?

From memory I think the type is on the box.

Oliver

 

Edited June 27, 2023 by Oliver in New Zealand

[LeandroBarbos]

Hello. I also bought an a7iv in Hong Kong and wanted to change to the (PAL) system but I don't have that option on the camera...

[Spiketrain]

Well new firmware update in Nov 2023 - and still no solution.

My camera is I'm pretty sure a 'grey market' model or whatever you want to call it.... 

But this doesn't really explain how this oversight can happen.

I understand that cameras need to be 'tuned' to a region... but they also need to have the option to 're-tune' to another region since people travel!

Sony know this, which is why you used to be able to do it.... but now.... not so much!

Is this political? - Is it an oversight?

I was shooting video screens for a client in London last month... and I had to use my old A7r iii since it has the option to switch region.

My very expensive A7r v remained in its flightcase because of the mismatch with screen flicker when shooting at 30p.

In the UK, we all shoot at 25p as an industry standard....  except for me!

[VTC]

There was an Open Memories Tweak app hack 5 years ago that worked on my A7Sii that allowed disabling the NTSC / PAL warning (and also allowed removing the 30 minute limit on video recording) but that was only possible because the camera had the dual system capability already built into the camera itself.

If you can't find the option to switch settings then your camera is locked into the region from the get go and there's no possibility of throwing a switch. I believe the inherent option to switch appears only after you reset camera to factory defaults.

This odd region thing also happened when people bought a camcorder overseas not realizing they were in a PAL region and that those Hi8 PAL tapes wouldn't play if they replaced their Hi8 camera with one living in a NTSC world. Tape's the same but wrong video signal.

[sekcy]

Hi.

I just bought a Sony Alpha 7r V as well. Shipped from Hong Kong (Most likely grey market), however mine seems to be stuck in Pal mode. I don't have that Pal/NTSC selector in the menu either, and I would like to switch to ntsc.

I have yet to try factory reset it and try to see if the option pops up. I updated to the newest firmware (2.01 something ?) shortly after it was unboxed.

[FunWithCameras]

Sony cameras sold for the Japanese market often have certain options simply not present (like switching out of Japanese!) because Sony wants to offer cameras at a lower price to their home market without encouraging massive grey marketing of the cheaper bodies. If you want to buy a camera in Japan you have to ensure you buy it at one of the stores catering to the overseas market.

I don't know what region your camera was intended for, but it seems to me that you have hit this kind of problem - the camera was deliberately restricted for some reason. I don't think there's a way around it any more.

You can rail against it, saying "this is an oversight" and that it must "have the option to 're-tune' it", but if Sony deliberately restricted the options to sell the camera at a lower price to a select market, then you got the lower price because you bought it with the restrictions, or at least that's how Sony sees it. If you were not warned about the restrictions when you bought the camera, maybe you can take action against the people who sold it to you for not warning you that it was a restricted version.

Sony does offer unrestricted cameras (the non-grey market cameras will be unrestricted), but they do so at the full price of the camera. People who hunt around for the lowest price sometimes stumble into these problems. If you have the option of returning the camera and getting an unrestricted version, that may be your only solution.

 

[guggikko]

Hey! 

Have the same problem and  I've heard that version 4 on FX3 does not support it, and version 3 includes this feature. Is this true? Does anyone have an older version of FX3, specifically version 3.0?

[guggikko]

Hello everyone,

I wanted to share a recent experience I had with solving a software problem, as it might be useful to others here on the forum.

I was struggling with a persistent issue in my software that I couldn't figure out how to fix. It was quite frustrating, and I wasn't sure what to do. Fortunately, I got in touch with someone from Russia who was incredibly knowledgeable and helpful. They walked me through the process of reinstalling my software.

I'm happy to report that this approach worked perfectly! Not only is my software running smoothly now, but I also learned how to modify it for future needs. This experience was a great reminder of how reaching out for help can lead to effective solutions, especially in the tech world where things can get complex.