Sony announced the RIALTO 65 today, and it is a different way to buy into large format. Instead of a whole new camera, it is an extension system for the VENICE 2: a separate camera head carrying a 65mm sensor that measures 53.75 by 35.83 millimeters, about 2.2 times the area of full frame. The VENICE 2 body you already own does the recording, the media, and the menus.
The numbers are serious. The head shoots 9.6K in a 3:2 Open Gate mode that uses the whole sensor, plus a wider 2.20:1 mode for broader lens coverage, with more formats promised through firmware. It keeps the VENICE 2 color science, S-Log3 and S-Gamut3, records internal 16-bit X-OCN, and offers dual base ISO at 2500 and 10000 with more than 15 stops of latitude at the lower setting. The head itself weighs about 1.5 kilograms.
“65mm used to be rental-only territory. Sony is betting the VENICE crowd would rather extend the camera on the truck than replace it.”
Moe Train
The working part is the split. In Studio Mode the head mounts straight to the body. In Extension Mode it rides on a cable, 4.5 meters included and 12 meters optional, so the sensor can go into corners, rigs, and tight spaces a full cinema body will not fit. Eleven drop-in ND filters are electronically recognized, a gyro records tilt and roll as metadata for post, and there is no fixed lens mount: third party adapters decide what glass the format wears. Existing VENICE 2 bodies need firmware version 6.00 or later.
Sony has not announced a price, and availability is set for the first half of 2027. For context, 65mm used to be rental-only territory ruled by ARRI, and Blackmagic already sells its own 65mm camera, the URSA Cine 17K 65, for working productions. Sony is betting the VENICE crowd would rather extend the camera on the truck than replace it. On paper, that bet makes sense.
