So Sony's finally doing it. The 65mm thing. In a way that actually makes sense for people who don't have a Nolan-sized budget.
I'll be honest, when I saw the press release from Sony this morning I had to read it twice. Rialto 65. A 65mm image sensor block that turns your existing CineAltaV 2 (you know it as the VENICE 2) into a large-format cinema camera. Not a whole new body. Not a $70K leap. A modular sensor block you bolt onto what you already have.
Okay but what does 65mm actually mean for someone who shoots on smaller cameras?
I shoot hybrid on a GH7 and a 12-40mm f/2.8 PRO II. My sensor is MFT. Full frame already feels like a luxury. So when people say "65mm" my honest first reaction is – who is this for? Then I remembered: I've been on set with a VENICE 2, and the difference between that and my GH7 in the same lighting isn't just resolution. It's how the image falls off. How the bokeh looks. How faces have presence instead of just being on a screen. 65mm is that effect turned up to eleven.
Sony is saying the Rialto 65 sensor is about 2.2x the area of a full-frame sensor. Diagonal 64.6mm, width 53.75mm, height 35.83mm, 3:2 aspect. 9.6K open gate recording, with multiple readout modes for various 65mm-format lenses. Per Sony, it's one of the largest sensors in any commercially available cinema camera right now.
Why this matters more than just 'Sony made a big sensor'
Because of the form factor. The whole Rialto system – the original Rialto, the VENICE Extension System 2, the VENICE Extension System Mini – is about detaching the sensor from the body via a cable so you can put the sensor in tiny places and keep the rest of the rig elsewhere. Now scale that idea up to 65mm and you've got something ARRI hasn't really offered at this price point.
ARRI's ALEXA 65 is the gold standard here, but it's a separate camera, weighs about 10.5kg, and rental is expensive. ARRI's newer ALEXA 265 addresses some of that bulk, but it's still a complete system. Sony's bet is: if you already own a VENICE 2 (and a lot of rental houses do), the upgrade path is a sensor swap, not a new camera fleet. That's a different kind of math.
CineD's Johnnie Behiri had a good take
I read Johnnie Behiri over at CineD this morning – he does the deep technical coverage on this stuff. Worth a read:
• What codecs does it support? Internal X-OCN recording like the VENICE 2, or does it need an external path?
• What resolution and frame rates? (Sony said 9.6K open gate, but at what fps?)
• What lens mounts? PL? LPL? The ZEISS Panoptes 65 series uses LPL with a 59.9mm image circle, which lines up.
• What does it cost? Not announced. But "modular upgrade for an existing body" is a meaningfully different price story than "new flagship cinema camera."
Where I'd actually use this
Most of my work is corporate video, family events, the occasional wedding gig, and documentary stuff. I will not be buying a Rialto 65. But I will absolutely rent it the next time a client wants a "cinematic feel" that my GH7 just can't deliver. And that's the play Sony is making – they want this in every rental house in LA, London, Mumbai, and Beijing by mid-2027.
The other angle is indie features. A 65mm digital cinema rig that bolts onto the camera body your AC already knows how to operate? That's a real workflow improvement. You keep your VENICE 2 menu, your X-OCN workflow, your LUTs, your monitor, your cables, your matte box setup – and you just swap the front of the camera for a bigger sensor when the project calls for it.
What I want to know after seeing the announcement
Sony says they'll show it at Cine Gear Expo in LA, starting June 5, 2026. So in theory, by the time you read this, there should be a working engineering sample on a show floor somewhere. I want to see real footage. Not pretty demo footage – real low-light, real handheld, real dynamic range tests. Sony's marketing will be Sony's marketing. The third-party testers are what I trust.
If the Rialto 65 delivers on dynamic range close to the ALEXA 65 (which is the benchmark), and if the codec path keeps X-OCN internal recording working, and if the price is anywhere near the rumored $30-40K range for the sensor block (not the body, just the block) – then this is going to be the most disruptive large-format cinema release in a decade.
If it's $60K+ and only works with one weird lens mount, it's a niche. But Sony usually prices to win the rental market, not to gouge the early adopters. We'll see.
Bottom line
I'm not in the market for a 65mm cinema camera. Most of you reading this probably aren't either. But if you're a working DP or a rental house, the Rialto 65 is the announcement you've been waiting for – large-format digital cinema that doesn't require selling a kidney. Shipping first half of 2027, shown at Cine Gear starting today.
Sony just opened the door that ARRI's been guarding. Now we wait to see how wide it swings.