Sony a7III Review - The Only Thing Entry Level Is the Price

Sony a7III Review

This camera really redefines what it means to offer an entry-level full frame camera. With the a7III, Sony even seems willing to risk sales of their higher end models. Packed inside is a redesigned 24MP sensor, using the newer backside illuminated design for improved lowlight performance. Capable of 10 frames per second (silent or mechanical shutter) with In Body Image Stabilization (IBIS). Sony borrowed from the a9 with 693 autofocus points using Eye-AF and tracking better than the Sony a7RIII. Videographers should also be happy shooting 4K with HLG(HDR) and S-Log2 and S-Log3 - feature serious videographers will appreciate. And the addition of a touchscreen for touch to focus improves the usability of the camera and makes shooting video easier too. As an entry-level full frame camera, the Sony a7III doesn't pull any punches.

• Redesigned 24MP Sensor

• 693 AF Points with A9s Eye-AF system (Better than a7Riii)

• 15 stop Dynamic Range

• 5 axis IBIS

• 10fps with 14 bit raw (also 14 bit raw while silent)

• 4k HDR, 6k full readout, Slog 2 & 3 and HLG

• Uses Z Battery Rated at 710 shots longest battery life of any mirrorless camera ever (We got a ton more photos than that in real-world use, 4,000!)

• Dual SDcard slots, joystick, touchscreen, USB-C

Short answer? Buy this now, seriously here's the link to Amazon.As it stands the a7III is the entry-level full frame to beat. 

Sony a7III ISO

Sony a7iii s-log

As a big point for this series, the body and user interface have been redesigned with a joystick, touchscreen, and dual card slots. At 710 shots per charge with a newly redesigned battery, it has the highest shot count of any mirrorless camera to date. After taking 2,000 photos and using the camera all day at 20 percent left the a7III still got another 2,000 shots from a timelapse... on a single battery!The a7III can go up 204,800 ISO in Extended Mode, and in testing, this camera is pretty good. At 51,200 ISO we found that images are still usable at least for social media purposes. Versus the a7RIII results are similar but the a7RIII does have a slight advantage at higher ISO. Versus the Canon 6d MarkII up to 12,800 ISO, the Canon compares quite well, then the a7III starts to have much better photos.The Eye-AF system is BETTER than the a7RIII! And it’s REALLY good in the A7RIII! For cases where that's not an option, the focus point joystick can change points on the go. In darker scenes focus is good, Eye-AF does struggle in lower light if it can't recognize an eye. Otherwise set to medium spot it grabs focus well in those situations, as well as some of the other automated focus modes. Lock on tracking is nice but in testing, it does miss on occasion in our experience but overall it still works great.Buffering was an issue with previous Sony cameras, filling up, and locking you out of some options. The a7III is improved. Also, the a7III does not have apps, just like the a7RIII and a9. No timelapse or reflection app but there's always other options such as the Miops mobile or dropping S&Q to one frame a second. [Timelapse options on Sony a9, a7Riii, a7iii]For video, you get 1080p at 30/60/120 fps up to 100 Mbits a second, it also has 4k at 30 and 24 fps at 8 bit.  Super 35 and full frame (both work in 4k and 1080p) are equally sharp and give you more options for shooting as the crop ratio can help you get closer or wider when needed. 4k at 30fps does have a 1.2 crop, 24fps is a full frame readout. ISO up to 6400 is good, 12800 is a pinch, reducing 4k to 1080p does reduce a lot of noise. For editing, you'll be good with access to S-Log 2 and 3 and multiple picture styles. Proxy support is included as well, a second smaller copy recorded alongside the 4K file that allows you edit on a laptop, having the ability to swap it out with the 4K file laterInterested in how the a7III stacks up to the a7RIII? Check out Photorec.tv/a73vs for the full comparison. Really, 42MP plus pixel shift is what you get with the a7RIII. But, for those that don't need the megapixels, this is more than you need and you can spend the extra cash on a new lens.For $2,000? The Sony a7III is just worth it, as an entry level full frame Sony wants to dominate the space. This camera lives up to the hype with a 24mp sensor, great autofocus, and 10 fps for any professional shoot. The redesigned body and UI is great and much better to use than previous generations. Then there's a battery that can shoot up to 4,000 shots, 4K with video options, and IBIS... This is the entry-level full frame to beat.

Sony a7III Available for Preorder Today

Sony a7III review

Body Only for Just $1999

Amazon

B&H Photo

FE 28-70mm f/3.5-5.6 OSS Lens KitAmazon | B&HVario-Tessar FE 24-70mm f/4ZA OSS Lens KitAmazon | B&HFE 24-105mm f/4 G OSS Lens KitAmazon | B&H

Basic Specs

• 24MP Full-Frame Exmor R BSI CMOS Sensor

• BIONZ X Image Processor & Front-End LSI

• 693-Point Hybrid AF System

• UHD 4K30p Video with HLG & S-Log3 Gammas

• 2.36m-Dot Tru-Finder OLED EVF

• 3.0" 922k-Dot Tilting Touchscreen LCD

• 5-Axis SteadyShot INSIDE Stabilization

• ISO 204800 and 10 fps Shooting

• Built-In Wi-Fi and NFC, Dual SD Slots

• USB Type-C Port, Weather-Sealed Design

Sample Photos

Sony a7iii vs a7Riii

The Sony a7iii is better than the Sony a7Riii but costs $1200 less? It's Sony a7III vs a7rIII, let's talk about the differences and decide which is best for you. Toby's back from Las Vegas at WPPI with Sony and we've got the answers you need.

A7RIII Strengths:

• More megapixels, 42 vs 24

• Better electronic viewfinder and LCD

• Pixel Shift, combined photos for more detail

• Slightly better build time and lifespan

A7III Advantages:

• Better autofocus, 693 vs 399

• Better battery life

• Better low light performance

• $1,200 cheaper

Sony a7Riii: $3200 - BUY AT B&H Photo - https://bhpho.to/2AYk9h0Sony a7iii: $1999 -PREORDER AT B&H Photo - https://bhpho.to/2EZ1h3G

I have owned the a7R iii from the moment it was released - it's come along with me to Yosemite, Yellowstone, Alaska, and Vietnam.  Now I just spent three days with the a7 iii and I think that makes me pretty qualified to help YOU answer the question of why you may or may NOT want to spend an additional $1200 for the a7R iii. Let's start with what the a7R iii offers over the a7 iii -A better EVF - when looking through the viewfinder of the a7R iii, it does not feel like a screen. it's beautiful, crisp and clear. When you put your eye up to the a7iii you can just start to see the pixels. I honestly didn't notice until I saw the spec differences and then held both up to my eye one after the other. It's not a difference that I feel will impact your photography - the LCD is also slightly lower res - not something I noticed. The a7R iii offers pixel shift - a feature where 4 photos are taken and combined in software on the computer for noticeably increased detail - I am blown away but how much more detail is captured when you take the time to use pixel shift but despite that I have used only it a few times- part of that is the way I shoot - I lump myself more into the travel photography category than landscape, typically on the move, often not on a tripod which is required.  For landscape photographers looking to get as much detail as possible in a shot - there is nothing short of carrying around medium format gear that comes close to what the a7R iii and pixel-shift provide.More megapixels The a7R iii offers 42MP, the a7 iii 24mp. It sounds like a big significant difference  - Maybe Enough of a difference that I could say the a7R iii offers FORTY-TWO Megapixels and the a7iii offers JUST 24mp.  JUST 24?! Here is a representation of the difference. Here is an actual shot - here are both at 100% view  I have sent both off to be printed at 16x20 - the won't be back before I leave for the Serengeti but I will revisit this discussion at some point in the future.  We will touch back on this MP discussion in a minute - There are a few other differences  - the a7R iii has more weather sealing though until a tear down we don’t know the real differences, The use of metal screws when the a7iii uses plastic  and the a7R iii shutter is rated for a longer life span - These are not factors that would sway my decision one way or the other but I want you to have as much info as possible. let's now look at what the a7 iii offers over the a7R iiibetter AF system - borrowing from the a9 we have 693 points, greater coverage and because we have more points the Eye-af system is even more accurate, even more responsive.  Honestly, I didn't see a huge difference but it feels very responsive and accurate.Better battery life - The official CIPA rating of the new camera is 710 shots - I know that on one full day of shooting I was able to capture just under 4,000 photos on one battery.  The a7R iii is rated just at 610 shots but I have had similar experiences and rarely needed more than one photo for a day and that includes shooting in Alaska and Yellowstone with below freezing temps.Better Low light performance on the photo side of things it is similar and when you downsize the A7Riii pics they look a little better  but in video the a7iii is better, noticeably and in ways that videographers who don't care about the improvements that the a7Siii  will bring will likely take notice - at this price point the a7iii is extremely impressive for the video quality provided.Let's recap the differences that matter. - a7R iii offers those megapixels, The a7 iii improved AF,  better video quality at the higher ISO and saves you $1200.Here's what I say I feel that if you are watching this video, you might be on the fence and if you are on the fence - you don't need 42MP,  24 is more than enough and the savings can be put toward a lens or a trip that is going to put you someplace awesome where you can make beautiful 24mp photos . There are fewer of you that need 42MP but if you do, you should know it.  And if you are a Lightroom user - Lightroom will certainly feel more responsive when browsing 24mp files.and briefly, have heard some people say why buy the a9? In my opinion, The a9 is a different beast offering 20 fps silently without worry about distortion due to rolling shutter.I know some of you also wonder about the 7Rii vs the a7iii since they are similar in price  - I think this is an easy choice for most of you. The improvements in the newer a7 series really make the a7 iii much more user-friendly and capable of handling a greater number of photography tasks - for that reason, I think most people would be better off going a7ii to a7iii even though you don't get an increase in MP.

a7III

a7RIII

Sony a7III

a7RIII

• 24MP Full-Frame Exmor R BSI CMOS Sensor

• BIONZ X Image Processor & Front-End LSI

• 693-Point Hybrid AF System

• UHD 4K30p Video with HLG & S-Log3 Gammas

• 2.36m-Dot Tru-Finder OLED EVF

• 3.0" 922k-Dot Tilting Touchscreen LCD

• 5-Axis SteadyShot INSIDE Stabilization

• ISO 204800 and 10 fps Shooting

• Built-In Wi-Fi and NFC, Dual SD Slots

• USB Type-C Port, Weather-Sealed Design

• 42MP Full-Frame Exmor R BSI CMOS Sensor

• BIONZ X Image Processor & Front-End LSI

• 399-Point AF System & 10 fps Shooting

• UHD 4K30p Video with HLG & S-Log3 Gammas

• 3.69m-Dot Tru-Finder OLED EVF

• 3.0" 1.44m-Dot Tilting Touchscreen LCD

• 5-Axis SteadyShot INSIDE Stabilization

• ISO 102400 & Pixel Shift Multi Shooting

• Built-In Wi-Fi/Bluetooth, Dual SD Slots

• USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-C Port & PC Sync Port

Amazon

B&H Photo

Amazon

B&H Photo

The Sony a7III - Sony's 4k Update to Entry Level Full Frame

https://youtu.be/rdZaqXd6hMsSony has just announced the a7iii. A followup to their entry level full frame mirrorless a7ii.The Sony a7iii Specs:

• Redesigned 24MP Sensor

• 693 AF Points with A9s Eye-AF system (Better than a7Riii)

• 15 stop Dynamic Range

• 5 axis IBIS

• 10fps with 14 bit raw (also 14 bit raw while silent)

• 4k HDR, 6k full readout, Slog 2 & 3 and HLG

• Uses Z Battery Rated at 710 shots longest battery life of any mirrorless camera ever

• Dual SDcard slots, joystick, touchscreen, USB-C,

• Available in April for $2,000 - Preorders start Wed

Sony a7III Video

At $2,000 for the a7III you get a NEW BSI 24.2 MP sensor offering- 10 FPS (silent or mechanical shutter), 15 stops of range and 4k Video. Combine that with 425 contrast Autofocus points, 693 phase detection autofocus points, eye AF,  5-axis in-body stabilization and a redesigned body that offers a bigger grip, a focus point joystick and a touchscreen. Not to mention the longest battery life of any mirrorless camera.With a lot of tech being brought in from the a7RIII and a9 it's fast. You can capture up to 177 JPEG images, 89 compressed RAW, or 40 uncompressed RAW images before filling the buffer. As with the other models, there is a partial lockout of camera functions while the data saves to the memory card. AF is about twice as fast as the A7II and significantly improved low light capabilities. The Eye-AF system is BETTER than the a7RIII! And it's REALLY good in the A7RIII!Offering 4K video with HLG(HDR) and S-Log2 and S-Log3. The 4k file is downsampled from 6k which when working off a 24mp sensor should give excellent low light results.  Full HD at 120fps to round it out.The design mirrors the a9, a7Riii batteries with dual SD card slots, slot one is SDXC II compatible. Same battery as a9/a7riii, the NP-FZ100 battery provides 710 shots per charge, that is actually the highest rating of any mirrorless on the market battery, the a7RIII is rated at 650 shots. USB-C for fast transfer of photos and video, tethered shooting and doubling as a power supply. There is also a micro USB port.My full review from Vegas will be released soon, don't forget to follow on Instagram at @photorectoby or subscribe to Youtube to be notified of the Sony a7iii review release

Preorders start 11 am ET, Feb 28th at B&H

Sony a7III Body Only

Sony Alpha a7 III Mirrorless Digital Camera (Body Only)

Sony Alpha a7 III Mirrorless Digital Camera with 28-70mm Lens

Sony Alpha a7 III Mirrorless Digital Camera with 28-70mm Lens

My Sony a7III Photos from Sony Launch Event

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Sample Images from Sony

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Specs

Sony a7 III

Sony a7 II

Lens Mount

Sony E-Mount

Sony E-Mount

Camera Format

Full-Frame

Full-Frame

Pixels

24 MP: 6000 x 4000 (new BSI Sensor)

24 MP: 6000 x 4000

File Formats

Still Images: JPEG, RAWMovies: AVCHD Ver. 2.0, MPEG-4 AVC/H.264, XAVC SAudio: AC3, Dolby Digital 2ch, Linear PCM (Stereo)

Still Images: JPEG, RAWMovies: AVCHD Ver. 2.0, MPEG-4, XAVC SAudio: AAC LC, Dolby Digital 2ch, Linear PCM (Stereo)

Bit Depth

14-Bit

14-Bit

Memory Card Type

SDSDHCSDXCMemory Stick Pro DuoMemory Stick PRO HG-Duo

SDXCSDHCSDMemory Stick PRO Duo (High Speed)Memory Stick PRO HG-DuoMemory Stick XC-HG Duo

Image Stabilization

Sensor-Shift, 5-Way

Sensor-Shift, 5-Way

Video Format

3840 x 2160p at 23.98, 25, 29.97 fps (100 Mb/s XAVC S via H.264)3840 x 2160p at 23.98, 25, 29.97 fps (60 Mb/s XAVC S via H.264)1920 x 1080p at 100, 120 fps (100 Mb/s XAVC S via H.264)1920 x 1080p at 100, 120 fps (60 Mb/s XAVC S via H.264)1920 x 1080p at 23.98, 25, 29.97, 50, 59.94 fps (50 Mb/s XAVC S via H.264)1920 x 1080p at 50, 59.94 fps (25 Mb/s XAVC S via H.264)1920 x 1080p at 25, 29.97 fps (16 Mb/s XAVC S via H.264)1920 x 1080i at 50, 59.94 fps (24 Mb/s AVCHD via H.264)1920 x 1080i at 50, 59.94 fps (17 Mb/s AVCHD via H.264)

1920 x 1080p at 24, 30, 60 fps (50 Mb/s XAVC S)1920 x 1080p at 60 fps (28 Mb/s AVCHD)1920 x 1080i at 60 fps (24 Mb/s AVCHD)1920 x 1080i at 60 fps (17 Mb/s AVCHD)1920 x 1080p at 24 fps (24 Mb/s AVCHD)1920 x 1080p at 24 fps (17 Mb/s AVCHD)1440 x 1080 at 30 fps (12 Mb/s MP4)640 x 480 at 30 fps (3 Mb/s MP4)

Video Clip Length

Up to 29 Minutes

Up to 29 Minutes

Autofocus

Phase Detection: 693Contrast Detection: 425Automatic (A), Continuous-Servo AF (C), Direct Manual Focus (DMF), Manual Focus (M), Single-servo AF (S)

Phase Detection: 117Contrast Detection: 25Continuous-Servo AF (C), Direct Manual Focus (DMF), Manual Focus (M), Single-servo AF (S)

Viewfinder Type

Electronic, 100% Coverage

Electronic, 100% Coverage

Buffer/Continuous Shooting

Up to 10 fps at 24.2 MP for up to 89 Frames in Raw FormatUp to 10 fps at 24.2 MP for up to 177 Frames in JPEG FormatUp to 8 fps at 24.2 MP

Up to 5 fps at 24 MP for up to 50 Frames

Built-in Flash

No

No

Connectivity

HDMI D (Micro), USB 2.0 Micro-B, USB 3.0, USB Type-C, Wi-Fi

1/8″ Headphone, 1/8″ Microphone, HDMI D (Micro), Micro-USB, Multi Interface Terminal, Wi-Fi

Dimensions (W x H x D)

5.0 x 3.9 x 3.0" / 127.0 x 99.1 x 76.2 mm

5.0 x 3.8 x 2.4″ / 126.9 x 95.7 x 59.7 mm

Weight

1.4375 lb / 652 g

1.223 lb / 556 g