The Hot Rod Sony A7R MKIII. Everything you want to know is HERE!

57 Comments

1. I like the clear look, with less useless functions.

2. Steve, as you know, the Olympus EM-1 Mark II has pixel shift technology, focus stacking and focus bracketing. Since the new A7rIII has pixel shift technology, I was wondering, if at sometime in the future, Sony could add the focus stacking technology via a firmware upgrade.

   • No idea but Sony’s pixel shift works in a much different way than the Olympus version. We have to wait for the Sony software to test the pixel shift feature. As of now it is not out yet, but should launch with the camera.

3. Hi Steve,
   I am a big fan – thanks for all of the dedicated great work. I have been researching which camera to get for 2yrs now … lol … yes I am a lil OCD …. and now I am finally ready to pull the trigger … been waiting for the A7R3 for a long long time … it will be my 1st real deal camera. Not sure where else to ask this question but I am limiting myself to 2 lenses (at least for the first 2 yrs otherwise my wife will probably leave me). I will be primarily shooting street/landscape in the Seattle area as well as our small cat. Given my OCDness, I am looking for the perfect 2 lens set-up that does it all. I like the following lenses but cannot decide which ones would make a great pair for my purposes. I don’t want to drag around an anchor (hiking/street and I am not caring a bag), need something for low light because Seattle is dark, and not sure if I require a manual or AF for the cat? Is it a waste getting a manual focus with such an impressive autofocus camera?
   Voigtlander 40/1.2
   Loxia 35/2
   Batis 25/2
   GM 85/1.4
   Batis 85/1.8
   Sony 55/1.8
   Loxia 50/2
   I definitely plan to use whatever links you will have running to get all these toys.
   Thanks,
   Peter

   • Id go for the A7RII with

     40 f/1.2 Voigtlander
     GM 85 1.4 or Batis 25

     You would not be disappointed with those lenses.

4. Is the sensor really the same? I’m glad to see it hasn’t gone up to some crazy high pixel count as 42 seems pretty high already, but I’m surprised they haven’t updated that given how long it’s been since the RII came out. Certainly, I don’t have any complaints about the IQ from my RII, but this seems like a bit of a change from the relentless progress we’ve seen in sensor tech over the last however many years. Are we starting to hit some walls, technologically?

   I guess we’ve seen a similar situation in the RX100 line for a few years now — where the camera improves with each iteration, but there is relatively little change to the sensor.

   • It doesn’t need more than 42 and yes, same sensor but enhanced IQ, DR, noise, etx. It’s truly phenomenal. My 1st hands-on report is coming in 10 minutes.

5. Keep pressure on Sony to fix their firmware bugs as well as releasing new hardware: https://www.change.org/p/sony-remove-the-star-eater-on-sony-a7-a7s-r-mk-i-ii-and-a9-cameras

6. I have finally decided to let go of my Nikon full frame DSLR in favour of a mirrorless system. Was waiting for this Sony upgrade ! Keen to read your review, can’t come soon enough. But, now I am also wondering if I should hold out for the Nikon full frame mirrorless that’s been heavily rumoured ….

7. You’re in New York right now?! How about a last minute Beers and Cameras, NYC edition?

8. Other than some firmware tweaks, it looks to me like Sony have just fitted A7Rii electronics into an A9 body (and removed the left dial).

9. Is there a technological (vs. business/marketing) reason why the A9 went with a 24MP, rather than a 42MP sensor the A7rii?

   • Pretty sure Sony wanted to maximize SPEED in the A9, and the more pixels you have to push, the more time it takes. Sports photographers want one thing — faster, please! — and they’re a high-profile professional audience, so this was a case of technology and marketing converging. By the time they release the a9r, a faster processor may be available, or a faster algorithm, or both, so it may be possible to give us 60MP with the speed of the a7RIII, or faster.

     • Yes indeed, I feel an A9R will be coming in about a year. $5500-$6k though.

       As for the A9, I do not shoot sports and it is one hell of a camera. I own it and paid $4500 for it, full price. NO regrets. It’s so much more than a sports camera. Love it.

10. Now this camera with all it Specs is something worthy of switching from my Olympus Gear, which i bought into after getting inspired by your fantastic review of the 1st EM1 and the reviews related to m4/3.
    I’ve had shot with Sony before tho, with an A77Mk2 which was really great. But Olympus was more fun since i started to shot with it. The Sony E-Mount was never interesting enough for me but with all these new lenses from Sony and also from 3rd partys like the Voigtländer 65mm f2 Apo (have a 17,5mm Nokton for my m4/3 system), it has becoming quite tempting to go FF for me, since i want to make more out of my photography, steadily having more and more fun and increasing my skills, i want to make a new step.
    Also want to thank you btw. for all your Inspiration and positive Energy in your Reviews and videos.
    Cheers and have fun with the new A7r3

11. Steve, do you think Sony could add focus stacking with a firmware upgrade at some time?

    • Not sure.

    • I would bet they’re working on it, but that’s no guarantee of results. I’ve been doing it with Macros on the Olympus EM1MK2, and when it works, the results are VERY satisfying, but even on the Olympus, it can be pretty touchy-feely getting there.

12. First of all, I am very interested in a direct IQ comparison between the MKiii and the MKii.
    When I consider that I shoot my A7Rii in a basic (MF) way, comparable to a Leica M (but with EVF and tilt LCD), I find many of the improvements not relevant for my use. My main concern is how much better my pictures would be with the MKiii compared to the ii.
    Of course at this price, it’s probably a good idea to upgrade anyway. I’m in doubt. I guess it’ll depend on how much money I can get from my MKii.

    • MkIII is ahead of the MKII in DR, noise levels, color depth and then you add the A9 EVF, battery system, AF Architecture and new processing for a very fast high res camera.

13. I love the Fuji colours, is there any chance Fuji will bring out a camera with similar specks soon?

14. Great upgrades from the A7RII. I sold my A7RII, in large part because I just did not find it a fun and intuitive camera to shoot with. Now I shoot with the Leica SL (and a Fuji GFX), and even though the A7RIII solves some of the frustrations I had with the A7RII (especially the battery capacity), and even though the Sony kills the Leica when it comes to features and resolution, I don’t think the changes are enough to turn the Sony into a camera that I would be inspired to use, and to me that’s a deal breaker. So I think I will stick with the SL and the fantastic SL lenses, and hopefully the SL version 2 will have increased resolution and DR – that’s all I would need to dump the GFX as well. Nevertheless the A7RIII looks like a pretty incredible camera.

15. Hi, will this also have the same “no black out” feature as the A9?

    • Sony did say last night there is no blackout. I will be shooting with it in about an hour, for a few hours, so will check it out.

16. All very interesting, but I have been waiting 3 years to upgrade, and in the end it’s a 3 year old sensor. Sony seems to be selling their best sensors to the competition.

    Note: landscape photographer here, so I don’t much care about autofocus, frames/sec, touchscreens, dual anything… although better battery is ALWAYS welcome, especially when shooting in extreme cold.

    I am interested to see what the 4-shot composite feature actually does. That could be a game-changer, but only if it keeps it in RAW. If it produces a JPG, it’s not really helpful.

    Perhaps I should just sell the Camaro and get the Hasselblad?

    • I have yet to see a better sensor in 35mm full frame beat what I have seen from the A7RIII. The prints are jaw dropping and the DR is huge. Everything with IQ is improved, and a new sensor was not needed. IN fact, sometimes new sensors are worse than their predecessors. Sony did not need a new sensor for this camera.

      • Thanks, Steve. Although a bump to 50MP would have made this a no-brainer for me, if they have squeezed more life out of the existing sensor, that is something. But how much of this could just have been a firmware update for the A7rII?

        • None of this could have been a firmware update as the entire architecture has changed. Also has. the A9 EVF, A9 Af Tech. A9 Battery System, A9 Dual SD Slots. BUT the processes has changed and the camera is a different beast altogether. 50MP is not needed with 35mm though I am sure they will release a 60MP A9R in a year at $5500..well, not sure but I bet they do.

17. Thanks for the preview, Steve! You are the Sony guru!
    I’ve been waiting for this camera for over a year. There are so many improvements under the hood, it’s a no-brainer upgrade for any A7RII shooter, IMO.

    The hugely improved EVF alone is reason enough to upgrade, but the incremental improvements to DR and the lower vibration shutter are also very welcome. I’ll be pre-ordering mine through your B&H link tomorrow.

18. Thanks Steve! Is it 10 FPS electronic shutter or mechanical shutter too!?

    • From Sony….”The sensor and processor combination also avails fast continuous shooting at up to 10 fps at full resolution, for up to 76 consecutive frames, and with full-time AF/AE when working with either a mechanical shutter or an electronic shutter. If shooting in live view mode, a continuous shooting rate of up to 8 fps is also possible.”

19. They really nailed it with this release. A hefty number of a9 improvements – battery, dual cards, joystick, etc. – plus more D/R, AF speed and IBIS improvements and kept the price at the same launch point of the a7RII! Ordering mine asap.

20. Please try it with a Leica lens.

    • So, if you were primarily a wildlife photographer, Steve, would you spring for this camera or the a9, or wait for the a9r? Right now I’m primarily shooting wildlife on my Olympus EM1 Mark2, primarily for the speed and Pro Capture capabilities. My beloved a7rII is for landscapes, portraits and macros. The a7rIII specs tempt me, but if an a9r comes out, I’ll kick myself.

      • Well, my guess is an A9R with 60MP would come out in about a year or so, maybe 9 months. JUST A GUESS, I have no idea. If it does, my guess is it would cost $5500. The A7RII is priced amazingly well for what it is. It’s fast, so much faster than the RII. The battery life, artisans have been saying 2000 shots, way more than Sony claims. I shot with it today, and am doing more with it tonight but it feels very fast. If I was a wildlife guy, this would be my choice over the A9. All an A9R would bring is more MP and the all out speed but as is, this camera is blazing fast.

        • Many thanks for taking the time to give a complete answer, Steve. Very helpful.

        • Just pulled the trigger. What really sold me is your observation that it feels faster than the Olympus EM1 MK2 — if it even approaches same, I’ll be one happy bird shooter. Now my only question is whether to sell the a7RII or keep it as a second body, and the battery life for the a7rIII persuades me that I’ll be kissing my beloved a7RII goodbye.

          • I think you will be very pleased with it.

21. Thanks, Steve, for the up-to-the-minute update from Sony! I, for one, will be buying this camera to add to my Sony collection (I have the A7R and the A7Rii)!!

    Besides the 400mm lens, were there any other new lenses announced?? New GM’s ??

    • No new GM’s. Just the 24-120 G lens which will be an all rounder. Sony is up to 27 full frame E Mount lenses in just 4 years time which is crazy!

22. That’s exciting news. I’m in the market for a second body to compliment my workhorse A7ii, and the A7riii could be my body number two. I really look forward to your review. I’m quite happy with my A7ii, but there’s one thing that’s really bothering me. When I take pictures the moon or streetlights at night, I often get ugly sensor reflections (i.e. green dots next to the light source). The further the light is away from the center of the picture, the more the problem is likely to appear. The problem is known and well documented. I hope the A7riii won’t be affected by this problem. I’d be happy if you could consider this in your test. Thank you!

23. But is it a star-eater?!

24. Hi Steve, Can you recommend small size, fast aperture, auto focus, prime lensesin the 35 to 90mm range that would be well suited with this camera? Or perhaps a link if this has been covered before. Thanks.

    • Well, tough to get “fast” aperture in a small size with a full frame camera of any make (besides Leica) – The 28 f/2 comes to mind, I use mine all the time. It’s small, inexpensive (in the grand scheme of things) and a great lens. The 50 1.8 is cheap, small and light. The 55 1.8 is better yet, more expensive but small and light.

      • Ah, the beauty of small leica lenses. Sony did it with the fixed 35mm/f2 on the RX1R II. Speaking of which, I was expecting an announcement of the RX1R III.
        OK, so the 55/1.8 is about it in the 35mm to 90mm range, as far as small, fast (aperture), af, & with no compromise IQ.

        • The RX1 lens is actually large as it extends all the way into the body, almost to the back. It’s much larger than it appears. I doubt they will do a RX1 III as the II did not sell so well, even though it is a phenomenal camera. The Q stole its thunder. So I feel they will not follow it up. But who knows, maybe they will.

    • 55mm f/1.8. Amazing optical performance, super fast AF, light as a feather while still offering great build quality. And all that for very reasonable and pretty affordable price. I am yet to find a better overall lens for the system.

      • Sounds like The one to get. To start with. Thanks.
        And if I could add a 35mm and an 85mm later …if there are any that are small, fast, af, & with great IQ

25. Too bad–no knob on the top left for the AF/MF settings like the A9’s got. That’s almost the only thing I’m missing on my 7II.

26. Is the menu better organized?

27. You already have a cool twenty five grand ++ in gear sit’n around the house, whats another three thousand three hundred among friends? 😉 I say go for it! You only live once!

28. Thanks for sharing the great news… Hopefully, you’ll be able to test the Eye Focus… The A9’s is so much better than past Sonys and as I’m getting older, comes in really handy. Hopefully, it is equivalent to the A9’s eye focus.

29. The Price!!! So happy they kept it the same cost as a7rII, not putting a $5k sticker on it. at this price point, it’s hard to argue against this being the Best camera for 99% of pros and enthusiasts. I feel bad for those who spent a whooping $4.5k on the a9.

    • …or those of whom must try to see focus peaking on their LCD on a sunny day and who didn’t get IBIS 🙁 The A7RIII is a D850 buzz-kill that’s fo-shizzle…

30. Wow, the price. Crazy high…

    • Well, the A9 is $4500. This is the same price as the A7rII when it launched.

31. Steve , this is my hope of new A7RIII with reasonable price range.

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