I absolutely love my Sony A7III. Most of our production is done on this camera and it is a significant upgrade from the previous A7II. Now, don’t get me wrong, I would buy this camera again, but some of Sony’s decisions about this camera just make me go WHY?
1. No built-in Intervalometer – This is actually a downgrade from the A7II. Well, the A7II did not have an intervalometer, but it had apps, and you were able to download an intervalometer app into the camera. (Well, assuming you were in a country with the Sony apps, or knew how to hack the system, but still, better than nothing)
2. The touchscreen is infuriating – It’s a touchscreen and it will respond to some of your touches, say when you want to focus, but menu control is totally not available via the touchscreen, even when a big red button just begs to be pressed. On the other hands, some of the focus controls are hiding the screen so its hard to set focus to those points.
3. Only one UHS-II memory card slot – That means that you default to the lower speed slot even if you are using two UHS-II cards. We tested with a set of UHS-II Prograde V90 memory cards and got around 110 compressed RAWs when the UHS-II slot was used and about 80 compressed RAWs when both slots were used.
4. Default settings are good for no one – I wish the default settings were for Stills Shooter, or for Videographer, but they are good for none. You have to grab a good tutorial and sit down and configure your own settings. I vote for Sony to deliver Settings Presets to help they users quickly start shooting.
5. There is no battery charger – You can charge your camera with a USB charger and a USB cable, but that turns your $2,000 into a stupid $20 charger. Honestly, this simply feels like Sony is trying to get a few more Dollars out of their users.
6. Confusing Menus – Here is one spot where Sony is consistent, their menus are horribly arranged. See how long it takes you to find the “Format Card” menu item. Probably the most useful items of all, and its buried deep inside the menu system.
7. Monitor Lag – OK, this one may be a bit picky, but I wish the lag going between the back-monitor and the viewfinder was a bit shorter. Chimping is ok, but returning to the viewfinder is annoying.
Bonus: The cost of the 24-70mm f2.8 – Sony lenses are expensive, but why is getting a 24-70mm f2.8 had to cost $500* more than the next system? (Sony: $2,200; Nikon: $1,800; Canon $1,600)
*it was $500 at the time we shot the video, looks like it’s only $400 now.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I love this camera, I just wonder about some of Sony’s design choices. I hope they don’t go “Canon” on they users. Holding featured back for market segmentation.
