Sony Alpha A7 Iii Mirrorless Digital Camera Review

Information technology didn't take long for Sony to reuse the body blueprint information technology introduced with last year's high-resolution, pro-grade a7R III in an entry-level model. But despite a friendly (for full-frame) price, the a7 Three ($1,999.99, body only) is anything but entry-level when it comes to its feature ready. Its BSI CMOS sensor excels in all types of calorie-free, and offers incredible dynamic range. Information technology tin can shoot at 10fps, with an autofocus system that covers almost the entirety of the image sensor. And it has serious video chops too, recording smooth, precipitous footage at 4K, and slow-motion at 1080p. It run circles around competing models in this cost range, and is our Editors' Selection for entry-level full-frame shoppers.

Note: This review has been updated to reflect changes in the a7 III added by its Firmware iii.0 release.

Design

The a7 Three feels a lot like the a7 II and a7R III in the hand. It measures iii.9 by v.0 by two.five inches (HWD) without a lens, and weighs virtually 1.4 pounds. Its grip and torso design are the same as yous get with the a7R III. I find it quite comfy to hold, even with a larger zoom like the Atomic number 26 100-400mm. The body is protected against grit and splashes, as are all Sony Atomic number 26 lenses.

In add-on to the trunk-only choice, Sony is offering the a7 III in a $two,199.99 kit arranged with the Iron 28-70mm F3.5-v.six lens. The 28-70mm is one of oldest lenses in the serial. I would have liked to come across another bundle with the newer, more useful FE 24-105mm F4. The 24-105mm is a $1,300 lens, even so, so I imagine the pricing of a kit would be prohibitive for many buyers.

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Treatment isn't that much different from the a7 II. You notwithstanding go the EV dial on top, along with programmable C1 and C2 buttons, and a Mode dial—it'south non a locking punch like the one on the a7R Three. The shutter release is on acme of the handgrip, slightly lower than the rest of the top plate, and prepare at an angle. The On/Off switch surrounds it. The grip has a command punch, accessible using your right index finger. Its rear counterpart is slightly offset from the EV dial and is easily turned with your right thumb.

Rear controls lucifer the a7R III and a9. The programmable C3 push button and Carte button are higher up the rear LCD, just to the left of the EVF eyecup. To the right, still running along the top, yous find Record, AF-ON, and AEL. Below them, nestled betwixt the rear thumb residuum and LCD are the focus point selector joystick and Fn button.

The apartment rear command dial is next down in the cavalcade; it has a button at its heart and directional presses to adjust Display, ISO, and the Drive style—there's no dedicated Drive dial like you become on the a9, that's something Sony has decided to leave out of the a7 serial. The dial itself has deep ridges then y'all can turn information technology comfortably, and the turning motion feels much better than the similar dial on the a7 II—there's more resistance, and the dial is physically larger then the button presses offering meliorate tactile feedback.

Rounding out the rear controls are the Play and Delete buttons. The latter doubles equally the programmable C4 push button when in shooting mode. Past default it toggles the bear on sensitivity of the rear brandish. The touch functions are a flake limited. Y'all tin can't navigate through menus via touch. But you lot can tap on the screen to prepare a focus point. Fifty-fifty if the camera is fix to a wide area, tapping on a spot volition override and change to a flexible spot, which tin can be moved via touch or the joystick; returning to wide surface area is washed using the push button at the center of the rear control dial. This method of adjusting the focus point works in both however and video capture.

The camera likewise supports focus adjustment using the LCD when framing shots with the EVF. Just slide your finger on the display and the focus surface area will motion. Y'all can override the wide area setting with this method merely as you can when shooting using the rear LCD to frame shots.

Speaking of menus, Sony has long been criticized for its rather lengthy, complex menu organisation. The a7 III includes some tools to help reduce the stress of trying to observe the setting you want to accommodate when flipping through dozens of pages of options. My Carte du jour is fully customizable, so a setting you often adjust can be added to it for quick admission. Information technology's a step in the right direction, though I wish Sony would go further and meliorate organize and categorize carte du jour options.

The bill of fare breaks up camera capture settings into two tabs, each with multiple pages, but mixes things up a bit. There are settings for both movies and still capture bookending a few dedicated pages for video capture squeezed in the middle. Some cleaner system could assistance brand finding the right setting easier.

Upgrading owners of the a7 and a7 II will detect that the apps section is gone. The a7 Iii doesn't support PlayMemories Mobile camera apps. That in and of itself is not a peachy loss—downloading apps to extend the camera'southward capabilities was a flawed concept, particularly without support for tertiary-party developers. But some functions that were available in PlayMemories, like the ability to burn the shutter using the EVF eye sensor, haven't been integrated into the a7 III's firmware. Time-lapse was added with Firmware 3.0 and, while the a7 Three can't output a finished video, information technology volition automatically burn images at fix intervals and then you tin can combine them into a video afterward. The camera delivers enough resolution for 6K time-lapse.

The rear display is a three-inch LCD with touch on input back up. It's a step back from the one used on the a7 II, which is a ane,228k-dot design with "white pixels" to cut through sun glare on bright days. This 1 is a more than pedestrian 921k-dot design. Yet, I shot with information technology under the harsh sun in the Nevada desert and had no bug seeing the screen.

The screen tilts upward and down, merely it doesn't swing out from the body to face forward like a true vari-bending display. It'due south a shame, equally information technology limits the ability of vloggers to gear up upwardly shots and record video while keeping an eye on framing, and the a7 III otherwise has such solid video chops. There are also some touch controls when reviewing images; notably y'all tin can swipe around a magnified shot with your finger when playing photos dorsum.

The EVF is the same 0.78x magnification OLED with 2,359k dots as you go with the a7 2. The higher end models in the series, the a7R 3 and a9, friction match the a7 3 in magnification, but pack more pixels into the frame, 3,686k dots. I didn't notice the driblet in resolution when picking up the a7 III for the start time—the EVF looks nifty and I'm able to tell if a subject is in focus when shooting. Simply if you use the pricier models on a regular basis, you may appreciate the departure.

Power and Connectivity

The a7 3 uses the Z battery, introduced in the a9 and also used by the a7R Three. It's practiced for 710 shots per CIPA ratings with the a7 Iii, as its power requirements are less than the a9 or a7R Iii, both rated for 650 images per accuse. The bigger bombardment is a boon to enthusiasts who don't want to buy a ton of spares, and pros akin. A grip is bachelor; it allows the camera to apply 2 batteries, effectively doubling its life. You won't have to worry about running out of ability when shooting a wedding ceremony, for instance.

Sony doesn't include an external charger with the a7 3. If you desire to charge the battery outside the camera, you lot'll need to buy 1. But you can recharge via USB and an included USB-to-AC adapter in-photographic camera. I recommend a wall charger for travelers and pros, specially those who accept multiple Z batteries to recharge at the finish of a long 24-hour interval of shooting.

The photographic camera has two USB ports (one USB-C and one micro USB), as well as micro HDMI, a 3.5mm microphone input, and a iii.5mm headphone jack. Information technology doesn't include the PC Sync wink socket you become with the a7R 3 and a9. There is a standard hot shoe, with the extra electrical contacts for accessories like Sony's XLR audio adapter.

And there are ii retention card slots. Slot 1, toward the bottom of the camera, supports SD, SDHC, and SDXC memory at UHS-II speeds. Slot 2, above information technology, works with all SD formats at slower UHS-I speeds, simply also supports Sony Memory Stick media. I knocked the decision to only support UHS-II in one slot when I reviewed the a9 and a7R 3, and do the aforementioned here—both slots should support the latest, fastest memory format. I'd be surprised if anyone outside of Sony cares well-nigh Retention Stick at this signal.

In addition to wired connectivity, the a7 III includes Bluetooth, NFC, and Wi-Fi. This allows the photographic camera to connect to an Android or iOS device running the free Sony PlayMemories Mobile app to transfer images and video to your phone for social sharing. Yous tin can as well use your phone as a wireless remote control.

Performance and Autofocus

The a7 III starts, focuses, and fires in well-nigh two.ii seconds. That's one expanse where it's slower than competing SLRs, like the Catechism EOS 6D Marker II (0.iv-2d) and Nikon D750 (0.4-second). Its autofocus system is quite speedy, locking on in 0.05-2nd in brilliant lite and an boilerplate of 0.4-2d in very dim conditions.

I tested the burst speed using a Lexar 300MBps memory carte in the UHS-2 slot. The photographic camera manages 10fps in its fastest flare-up way. The amount of shots you tin take before the camera stalls varies based on the file format yous apply. I tested Uncompressed Raw and Actress Fine JPG (34 shots), Compressed Raw and Extra Fine JPG (78 shots), Uncompressed Raw (37 shots), Compressed Raw (103 shots), and Extra Fine JPG (164 shots). Recovery fourth dimension, the duration it takes for the buffer to fully clear to the retention bill of fare, varies based on file format. If you're shooting Raw+JPG (either format) expect to look almost 24 seconds, but only about 14 seconds for Raw alone. Because you can capture and then many more JPG images at a time, the write time to clear them to the card is about 54 seconds.

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Continuous autofocus is also bachelor at 10fps. Our standard focus exam, in which I shoot a target that moves directly toward or abroad from the lens, netted almost all shots in focus at 10fps. There were a few slight misses here and there, but nothing worth getting worked up about.

The autofocus organization is like to that in the high-end a9, but it'south not quite equally uncannily intelligent. The a9's sensor design allows for instant readout (and 20fps capture), so fifty-fifty though the a7 III has the same number of focus points and area of focus coverage, information technology doesn't deliver the same level of functioning.

Just it's not that far off. A total of 693 stage detection points cover 93 percent of the sensor, all simply its extreme edges, and are joined by 425 contrast points, more densely located in the central surface area of the frame. The two focus point types work together to recognize and track subjects.

The focus organisation not merely supports face detection, but goes further with Sony's Centre AF system. Information technology can lock on to a human center, prioritizing the 1 closest to the active focus point. Information technology's a great tool for portraits, and it works when focusing continuously, so your model can experience gratuitous to adjust a pose and you won't take to worry almost losing well-baked focus on their optics.

The Firmware three.0 updated improved the operability of Eye AF, allowing it to piece of work at all times—previously information technology had to be engaged manually. Information technology also adds support for animals, specifically cats and dogs. We tested the new focus organization using an a7R Three, which works the exact same way, and you can encounter it at work in the video prune in a higher place.

In field testing the autofocus system performed superbly. Shot after shot was sharp and well-baked, even when tracking moving targets at 10fps. Of course in that location were occasional misses, but even the best autofocus systems miss from fourth dimension to time. For instance, when shooting a scene with heavy, simulated pelting in the studio, with continuous lighting rather than strobes, using the broad focus surface area resulted in some shots that were wildly misfocused. Changing the focus area to a flexible spot, or engaging EyeAF using the rear centre button righted the transport.

Few other full-frame cameras at this cost point can hit 10fps, allow alone with such a broad coverage of autofocus. The closest SLR competitors in terms of price, the Nikon D750 ($1,704.99 at Amazon Canada) and Canon EOS 6D Mark Two ($1,704.99 at Amazon Canada) , top out at six.5fps and accept focus systems that comprehend a much smaller expanse of the frame.

Paradigm Quality

The a7 3 uses a new sensor, one that is like in design to the 24MP sensor used by the a9, but not identical. The a9's sensor is a stacked design, which puts memory right on the chip in order to deliver instant readout and its 20fps capture capability. The a7 III doesn't do that. Information technology is a BSI—Back Side Illumination—design, like the a9 and loftier-resolution a7R 3. This type of sensor cuts the distance between its surface and lite-sensitive surface area. The practical effect is that you get superior loftier ISO quality compared with sensors that put put circuitry in front of the light-gathering area rather than behind it.

Our lab tests bear witness that the a7 3's image sensor performs very similarly to the a9. When shooting in JPG format Imatest tells us that noise is less than ane.5 percent through ISO 25600, a stop better than the a9 and Nikon D5. There's certainly some in-camera noise reduction going on to go there, resulting in some smudging of fine details at ISO 25600. Images are stronger at ISO 12800, but there's still some muddiness. At ISO 6400 photos are make clean and rife with detail. Results at ISO 3200 are simply every bit crisp as those shot at ISO 100.

Moving to the farthermost ranges of the ISO range—the camera can shoot every bit high as ISO 204800—is a bit much for JPG shooters. You can get useable, albeit soft, results at ISO 51200. At that place's quite a bit of blur at ISO 102400, though I tin still make out some detail in our test images. The ISO 204800 setting delivers blurry results, merely that's to be expected when shooting at such an extreme.

If you opt to shoot Raw you tin squeeze more detail out of loftier ISO images. Our test images, converted using Adobe Lightroom Classic CC with default develop settings applied, look just as skilful at ISO 6400 as they exercise at ISO 100—only with a chip more grain. At that place's a little more racket at ISO 12800 and 25600, but information technology'south non overwhelming. At ISO 51200 I'd phone call grain heavy, but there's much more detail visible than its JPG counterpart. I'd not hesitate to utilize ISO 102400 for shots where a grainy look is desired—or for conversion to blackness-and-white—but crude noise overwhelms your images at ISO 204800. Crops, from both JPG and Raw files, are included in the slideshow that accompanies this review and then you can judge for yourself.

It's not all almost high ISO photography. At lower ISOs the a7 III delivers the image quality y'all await from a 24MP, full-frame image sensor. You have extreme control over depth of field when working with a fast lens, and while y'all don't get equally much resolution or detail as you do from the a7R 3 (which uses a 42MP sensor without an optical low-pass filter), you won't have whatever complaints when making prints or viewing photos at a pixel level. Sony promises that Raw images volition deliver 15 stops of dynamic range at lower ISO settings, so you can reign in highlights and shadows to get an image looking just similar y'all want it to. And it does it without adding unwanted color noise, like we saw when pulling up shadow detail from Raw images shot with the Canon EOS 6D Mark Two.

There is an result that some reviewers accept noted in regards to flare. Nether certain weather, odd banding can show in subjects that are strongly backlit. Information technology's typically only visible when shooting at f/2 or wider, with a very strong low-cal source entering the lens directly, and only appears toward the edge of the frame. The banding shows up every bit single pixel straight lines, matching the position of the on-sensor stage detection pixels. Information technology'due south not an issue that is exclusive to the a7 Iii—photographers have observed the consequence in other cameras with on-sensor phase detection.

I shot several dozen images with strong backlight and flare using the a7 III, like the one above, and didn't see the lines in any of them. Simply I was using the 24-105mm lens, which has a maximum f/iv aperture, and I wasn't deliberately trying to induce the effect.

I've shot with a number of cameras with on-sensor phase detection points over the years and take non constitute this to exist an event in my images, simply I tend to stop a lens downwardly a chip when incorporating the sun or other vivid source in the groundwork in order to become a starburst flare effect. If you're more of a wide-open shooter and dearest the backlit portrait await, you may encounter information technology from time to fourth dimension. But near photographers will shoot thousands of images without ever seeing the upshot.

Video

Catechism SLRs with Dual Pixel AF have defenseless upwardly to mirrorless in terms of focus speed, but in that location are nevertheless large advantages to using a mirrorless system with on-sensor autofocus to capture video. The entire Sony a7 series has solid video chops—particularly the specialized a7S II. Despite entry-level positioning, the a7 III doesn't skimp on features.

Information technology supports 4K capture at sixty or 100Mbps using the XAVC S 4K codec at your choice of 24 or 30fps. The 24fps video uses the full width of the frame (with the sensor cropped to the 16:9 ratio), but there is a modest crop applied when shooting at 30fps. Dropping down to 1080p gives yous 50 or 100Mbs options at 24, xxx, or 60p, and there is an in-camera slow-motion pick at lx or 100Mbps and 120fps.

I shot our 4K test video at 24fps and 100Mbps using the Standard video profile. It was cutting together in Premiere Pro, but no grading was done. I did remove audio from some clips, equally copyrighted music was playing at our location, merely clips with audio use the in-camera microphone.

If you lot practice want to class footage, at that place are other profiles bachelor, including several cinema looks, S-Log2, and S-Log3. Like the a7R Iii, the camera also supports HDR capture using Sony's HybridLogGamma profile.

All of my video was shot handheld as well, so you can see how the in-body stabilization works. I used the Fe 24-105mm ($1,704.99 at Amazon Canada) exclusively. As we've seen with other a7 models, the combination of body and lens stabilization removes jitter from footage. There's some shake visible in shots captured from a helicopter, only it's a lot less bumpy than what I experienced in existent life.

There's certainly some current of air noise in our outdoor shots. Thankfully y'all can use an external microphone with the a7 III. It has a standard iii.5mm input, as well as an output if yous want to monitor audio using headphones. Sony sells an add-on accessory with counterbalanced XLR input for projects that require true pro-course sound.

We've too included a tiresome-motion sample using the S&Q 120fps setting. You're limited to 1080p, merely it's a dainty outcome for those times when y'all want to slow downwards reality. The video is silent, equally the a7 III doesn't tape audio when its Mode dial is fix to the Southward&Q position.

Conclusions

The Sony a7 Three looks a lot like the a7 Two, just the upgrades within are palpable. Its sensor offers the same resolution, but the BSI design improves high ISO operation. The autofocus system is vastly improved, with much wider coverage and 10fps capture. And a high-capacity bombardment keeps the camera shooting for much longer than previous a7 models. All while making few changes to the compact, sturdy body.

I have a few small complaints. I'm not sure why Sony doesn't utilize dual UHS-2 memory slots—if you want to record images to two cards simultaneously, the slower UHS-I slot can slow write times when shooting. The camera menu has a lot of options, but the camera does a lot of stuff. It could be better organized; you'll desire to spend some time customizing the My Menu page before doing any serious piece of work with the a7 III.

Merely whatsoever lilliputian gripes are overshadowed past the a7 Three's all-around performance. It goes well beyond what similarly priced SLRs from Canon and Nikon offer. Y'all don't make it-body stabilization with either competing system, nor do they support 4K video capture, and their autofocus systems don't shoot about as fast or embrace such a big area of the frame.

The a7 3 is a lot more photographic camera than we're used to seeing at this toll indicate. Instead of cutting out features to push buyers to a higher-end model, the a7 III inherits a lot of tech from the a9 and a7R 3. We're used to seeing features from high-end options trickle down to more affordable camera over a menses of years, simply the a9 has only been on the marketplace for about a twelvemonth and the a7R 3 for about half that duration.

We're making the a7 Three our Editors' Pick for full-frame mirrorless cameras, and practise non hesitate in recommending information technology over its closest competition in the SLR world. The Nikon D750 is aging, and while it still delivers strong epitome quality, its video features are dated. The Canon EOS 6D Mark 2 was a bit underwhelming upon its release, and seems fifty-fifty more so at present that the a7 3 is available.

It compares well against pro models, too. The Canon EOS 5D Marker Iv has a bit more than resolution (30MP), simply only shoots 4K video with a crop factor and doesn't friction match the a7 Iii's autofocus system. The Nikon D850, the best SLR on the marketplace today, is in a unlike class every bit terms of resolution—its 45MP image sensor is a marvel—merely does endure from slower autofocus when shooting video. Both sell for more than $3,000.

On the Sony front, you lot tin can still purchase the a7 2, and at it remains a solid bargain for budget shoppers. The original a7 is also still on sale. It doesn't offer in-body stabilization, but it's the least expensive bespeak of entry into any full-frame system. Moving to higher-stop options, the 42MP a7R II delivers a lot more resolution, only isn't a great choice for tracking fast action. The a7R III gives you both resolution and speed, but is a lot more than expensive. On the highest terminate there'due south the a9, a 24MP model, just one that can shoot and rails activeness at 20fps, without whatever sort of blackout.

And there are some very capable cameras out in that location with smaller image sensors. Nosotros just looked at the best APS-C mirrorless camera we've seen, the Fujifilm 10-H1, and the Nikon D500 is our favorite high-end APS-C SLR. In that location are reasons to opt for a smaller sensor, especially if you lot like to use long telephoto lenses to snap shots of sports and wild fauna, but for many photographers at that place is no substitute for a sensor that matches 35mm in size. In this cost range, the a7 III is the best one you tin go.

Sony a7 Iii

The Bottom Line

The Sony a7 Iii is an entry-level full-frame camera that goes well across the nuts in features, with first-class image quality, 10fps bailiwick tracking, and 4K video capture.

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