SONY A7 III
Good, better, best – that’s how we’d describe the three generations of Sony’s evolving A7 camera
Rightly or wrongly, the first two editions of the Sony a7 have been seen by some as the least desirable. They lacked the a7R’s more generous megapixel count, or the a7S’s more exotic video capture finery. The thirdgeneration a7 III answers all criticisms, simply by being a brilliant all-rounder.
A new back-illuminated full-frame sensor, with a modest 24.2 megapixel count, ensures squeaky-clean image quality even under very low lighting at ultra-high ISO settings. That’s a big box ticked for wedding and event photographers. Low-light shooting is also helped by five-axis IBIS, inherited from the Mk II series of cameras.
The Sony a7 III works every bit as well for action sports and wildlife photography, with its fast and deadly accurate hybrid autofocus system and fast 10fps continuous drive rate. That’s twice as fast as in the previous generation of the camera. There’s also a big step up in video capture credentials, the Mk
III going from pretty average 1080p HD to sumptuous ‘oversampled’ 4K UHD footage of supreme quality, complete with high dynamic range options.
Handling is good with an intuitive and logical layout of controls, coupled with a highresolution OLED viewfinder and tilting rear touchscreen. Like most high-end cameras (but not the new Nikon or Canon mirrorless full-frame bodies) the Sony has dual card slots which can be useful for creating instant backups for important shoots. Since its launch earlier this year, the a7 III has been our favourite ‘affordable’ full-frame camera. However, the Nikon Z 6 might topple it from its throne.