01—Sony is bringing a wider cinema workflow to IBC 2026
Sony announced its IBC 2026 showcase on September 9 with a lineup that stretches from compact Cinema Line production to a developing 65mm sensor system.
The company will show the FX5 Cinema Line camera and the current development of RIALTO 65, the image-sensor block designed to expand VENICE 2 into a 65mm-format digital cinema platform.
That combination makes the cinema part of Sony’s IBC story interesting.
It is not one new camera replacing another.
It is a range of production options built around different sizes, sensor formats and shooting configurations.
02—FX5 brings a new fully stacked sensor into a compact Cinema Line body
Sony launched the FX5 in July 2026.
The camera uses a newly developed full-frame fully stacked CMOS image sensor and is designed around compact professional production.
Sony lists more than 15 stops of dynamic range, Dual Gain Shooting and three base ISO settings.
The FX5 also supports Open Gate recording, internal X-OCN RAW recording, 5K up to 60 frames per second, 4K up to 120 frames per second and Full HD up to 240 frames per second.
At IBC, the FX5 gives Sony a portable end of the cinema workflow to place beside its larger VENICE platform.
03—RIALTO 65 changes the sensor format without replacing the VENICE 2 body
RIALTO 65 approaches the high end differently.
Sony announced the development project in June 2026 and is targeting availability in the first half of 2027.
The system is a new 65mm-format-capable image sensor block designed for VENICE 2.
Sony says the block can mount directly to a VENICE 2 camera body or operate separately through a cable in a configuration similar to the VENICE Extension System.
The important architectural idea is modularity.
The existing VENICE 2 platform remains part of the system while the image-capture block changes the format.
04—A 65mm sensor block creates a different kind of camera expansion
Traditional camera upgrades often mean replacing the camera body.
RIALTO 65 is designed as an extension of the VENICE 2 ecosystem instead.
That allows Sony to treat the sensor block as a major creative component while preserving the broader camera platform around it.
Mounted directly, it behaves as part of the camera body.
Separated by cable, it can move into shooting positions where a full camera package would be harder to place.
For cinematographers, sensor format and camera placement become separate design choices rather than one fixed package.
05—Sony is also expanding monitoring and control around the cameras
The IBC 2026 lineup includes the new DP7 and DP5 controllers.
Sony also highlights an update to Monitor & Control that adds EL Zone exposure monitoring and multi-camera control for vertical video.
Those additions sit around the camera rather than inside the sensor, but they matter to the same workflow.
Modern cinema production is increasingly a connected system of capture, monitoring, metadata and remote control.
Sony’s IBC presentation is showing those layers together instead of treating the camera body as the entire production tool.
06—Catalyst Prepare 3.0 extends the workflow after capture
Sony is also showing Catalyst Prepare 3.0.
The company says the update supports X-OCN C1 and C2 footage, metadata-based clip selection and image stabilization.
That connects the capture side of the cinema system to preparation and post-production.
A camera workflow is not finished when the sensor records the image.
The file format, metadata, stabilization data and clip-selection tools influence how quickly the material can move into the next stage of production.
07—Sony's first fisheye zoom adds another production path
The IBC lineup also includes Sony’s FE 8–14mm F3.5 Fisheye G.
Sony describes it as the company’s first fisheye zoom lens.
When paired with the VENICE Extension System Mini, the lens can support a 64mm optical-axis distance for stereoscopic imaging.
That gives the showcase another kind of flexibility.
FX5 focuses on compact cinema capture. VENICE 2 and RIALTO 65 push toward modular large-format production. The fisheye zoom and extension system create options for specialized immersive and stereoscopic setups.
08—IBC shows Sony treating cinema as an ecosystem
The most useful way to read Sony’s IBC 2026 announcement is as an ecosystem update.
FX5 is the compact camera.
VENICE 2 remains the established cinema platform.
RIALTO 65 is the developing 65mm expansion.
DP7 and DP5 add control.
Monitor & Control expands software monitoring.
Catalyst Prepare extends the path into media preparation.
The products are different, but the workflow is increasingly connected around them.
09—The Upgrade Feeling
Sony’s IBC 2026 cinema story is not about one specification.
It is about range.
A production can start with a compact full-frame FX5.
A VENICE 2 system can move into larger-format territory through RIALTO 65.
The sensor block can sit on the body or separate from it.
Monitoring and control can extend across cameras.
Metadata and X-OCN workflows continue into Catalyst Prepare.
The upgrade is modularity: more of the cinema system can change around the creative job without forcing every production into one fixed camera configuration.