My opinion of the Sony A7III after 6 years
Introduction
I started my photography journey with Pentax. I went from Pentax K30 to K50 to K5II to K3. I also had tried out various other cameras along the way, like Canon 70D, Nikon D610, Nikon D7500. The decision to pick Pentax was simply due to providing the best 'bang for buck' and I don't regret starting with Pentax. However there was a huge lingering issue with all Pentax bodies (that is still Pentax's Achille's heel to this day). That of course is the abysmal auto-focus performance.
After 3 years of struggling it all culminated with a paid birthday gig. I had the brightest lenses: Sigma 50/1.4; DA*50-135/2.8 and other lenses... but nothing helped. The AF kept failing to nail focus. After about 3hours of shooting I managed to deliver hardly ~150images from which most were out of focus. The client wasn't happy to say the least. My disappointment and embarrassment were so deep I gave up photography and put my whole gear on sale.
After a few months I was specifically asked to shoot a wedding. So I decided to start again, but this time with a reliable camera.
Meet the Sony A7 III.
Five steps forwards, one step backwards
The simplest way to put it.
I bought my A7III used for about 1200€ in January of 2020. It had less than 5000 shutter actuations. Fast forward to today, my shuttercount sits at 351000. I think after almost 6years of use I have a good understanding of this camera.
Here's the good with the bad:
Sensor, shutter, imaging:
- (+) Very good DR and colors.
- (+) 24MP is still enough for anything and doesn't produce too big files (faster post-processing workflow).
- (+) Very competent full coverage AF system that works sufficiently in most conditions.
- (+) Up to 10fps shooting with full AF.C support.
- (+) Moderately big buffer of ~33 uRAW.
- (+) Fast writing to card.
- (0) All the usual shooting modes are present: single, continuous, interval, bulb.
- (0) IBIS. It works. It helps. But it's average performing.
- (-) Slow readout speed of less than 1/20th means banding and distortions in silent shutter mode. It also limits the AF calculations per second.
- (-) AF will slow down in low light situations and give mixed results.
- (-) PDAF sensor grid will become visible in certain angles - usually high brightness direct light flaring.
- (-) Circular banding is visible in low light shots (astro).
- (-) Shooting with e-curtain will produce an unevenly lit picture when shooting at high shutter speeds.
Menu, body:
- (+) Very detailed menu system with almost full button customization capability.
- (+) Bright viewfinder with enough resolution. More resolution is nice, but not needed for work.
- (+) Tough magnesium body that can take a beating.
- (+) Can send small preview images to phone via Wifi (fast social media post).
- (+) Small body with articulating screen.
- (-) While it's weather sealed, it's certainly not water sealed. Caution in rain.
- (-) Some settings are weirdly placed deep inside the menu.
- (-) AF selector is grey: very hard to notice.
- (-) Cannot change settings while writing to card.
Sony FE-mount:
- (+) The biggest modern lens selection incl. 3rd party.
- (+) Most Sony GM lenses are among the fastest(AF) and sharpest out there.
- (+) While the gap has almost disappeared, Sony is still considered the leader in AF performance.
- (+) Second hand market is huge. Bargains can be found constantly. Even repair parts are abundant.
- (-) Sony limits 3rd party lens performance. (15fps limit; no tele-converter)
So what are the 5 steps forward and 1 backwards compared to Pentax?
Not really 5/1, but... Pentax still has the edge in weather sealing and shooting modes. Pentax K3 offered in-camera RAW stacking. This is crazy... crazy good. I don't know why no other brand is offering this.
Sony on the other hand... everything else is better.
Long term use
- The leather on the camera will get loose and stretch over time.
- The grip isn't the best for long full day events.
- The on/off switch is too small and gets sticky over time.
- There can be a big difference in AF accuracy and behavior depending on what lens you use.
- AF performance can be quite weak in low light and busy party settings.
- Overall menu and AF settings navigation is a tad too slow. This only becomes evident in high stress/speed situations.
- IBIS can be faulty in unexpected ways. My camera's IBIS placed the sensor at an weird angle on the z-axis. This was most evident with Sigma lenses. It was so bad, I even sent one lens to warranty (it came back unchanged, "100% ideal condition" from the manufacturer). Well, after changing my a7iii motherboard the issue disappeared. I like to point out, I changed the motherboard, not the IBIS unit.
What's Next
All-in-all I think the A7III is a perfectly capable camera for most types of photography. If you are looking for a workhorse of a camera on the cheap, look no further. However, if you are into birding, high-speed sports, very low-light events or you just want every shot to be 100% on target, you might want to look at something newer.
If I was shooting only as hobby and I still used my Pentax system... I'd actually still stick with my Pentax. Part of the joy from photography comes from the process. Having almost every shot in perfect focus and Seeing through my EVF how the picture will turn out has made things a lil boring.
Good old DSLRs still have lots of charm that MILCs lack.
As for me right now... I'm patiently waiting for the A7V. Maybe I'll upgrade, maybe not. I already skipped the A7IV due to lackluster upgrades.
My current gear:
Cameras:
Lenses:
Flash: Godox V860III + 2x TT685II
Tripod: Zomei Q555
Phone: Samsung S10
Additional: