Hands-on with the Sony a7R III & Sample Images

Sony announced the Sony a7R III early yesterday morning and it’s quite the camera. The Sony a7R II has been my personal choice for photography for the past two years and the a7R III improves on an already solid camera.  You can watch my preview video below for a detailed look- since recording that video I have spent hands-on time with the camera and can tell you -
  • The AF improvements are huge - from having a dedicated joystick for selecting the focus point to touch AF on the LCD to a noticeably faster and more capable AF tracking and a mind-blowing Eye-AF system(the camera locks onto your subject's eye).
  • Battery life has more than doubled from the Sony a7R II. The Sony a7R III uses the new A9 battery the Sony NP-FZ100 which truly more than doubles battery life. I shot 1845 photos with the a7R III and 20 minutes of video - that used less than 50% of the battery!
  • 10 FPS with mechanical shutter or electronic (Rolling shutter does make an appearance with moving objects in electronic mode)

via GIPHY

  • Sony listens - the AF improvements, battery life, fps and now DUAL CARD slots along with a host of additional features means Sony truly listens to the photography community and has provided a camera that nicely takes this mirrorless camera to a level that can replace your DSLR.
  • The ergonomics and usability of this camera is much improved over the A7RII - it feels better in the hand and the placement of AF-on, the focus selector and the record button are all excellent
  • The viewfinder is so bright and beautiful.

Bummers - No access to the play memories store - so timelapse fans will need to buy an intervalometer BUT with the additional USB-C port you can charge the camera while running longer time-lapses.

Image quality doesn't look drastically different from the already excellent a7R II but if you have been waiting for a Sony camera that can truly replace your DSLR or you are an a7r or a7ii shooter - this is an upgrade I can happily recommend.  I love answering your questions and will be back with more hands-on and answers to your questions in the next couple of weeks. Be sure to watch the linked video and leave your question in the comments.

Preorder the a7R III from B&H Photo 

SAMPLE IMAGES