Since its announcement at WPPI recently, the Sony A7III has been the hot topic around the camera body water cooler. A lot of people had a something to say in the day or two that followed after having tried it for a little while. But now we’re starting to see some proper hands-on reviews with tests to see just how it performs in the real world.
In this in-depth video review, Jay P Morgan takes the Sony A7III for a spin around Vegas. He gives it a pretty thorough workout to test the limits of Sony’s new “basic” mirrorless camera. Looking at it on paper, it certainly seems to set the bar rather high now for entry level full frame cameras. With high ISO, video, burst mode and autofocus tests we get to see if it stands up to those specs.
The first test takes Jay P and the gang into the studio to test out the autofocus system with the subject walking toward the camera. Sure, it’s not quite the same as trying to follow a runner on the track with a 300mm lens, but it serves its purpose to demonstrate the how it performs in a common use scenario. Let’s face it, serious Sony sports shooters will just get the Sony A9.
It appears to hit almost all of the shots, gunning away at 10 frames per second without issue. The focus keeps up just fine, with only one or two slightly questionable shots. But in situations like this, you’re unlikely to be shooting that fast anyway.
ISO performance on the newly developed 24MP sensor seems equally as impressive. They couldn’t get a good exposure below ISO400, so that was the lowest they tested, but ramping it all the way up to ISO51200, it held its own just fine.
It does seem to lose a little in dynamic range when you take it as high as ISO51,200, but it still looks rather impressive. Video, too, is equally as impressive when it comes to ISO performance. And speaking of video, not much of a quality difference between full frame resized video and crop video, either.
The new “high plus” burst mode, too, looks to be particularly useful for those times when you need to shoot short rapid-fire bursts. Quick short bursts aren’t something I find myself needing all that often when photographing people. But sometimes I do it when shooting on location around rivers and waterfalls and I’m having my subject perform an action. It’s also very useful if you photograph animals or children when combined with the A7III’s powerful autofocus system.
Overall, the Sony A7III looks to be every bit as good as one would expect it to be, given the hype surrounding its release. You can read more of Jay P’s thoughts on the Sony A7III over on The Slanted Lens.
With Sigma’s Art series of lenses now for native Sony E mount now available to pre-order, it’s going to be an attractive combination for those looking to replace their existing camera or buy into their first serious interchangeable lens system. Nikon and Canon are going to have to both really step up their game to compete with this “basic” model.
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