Reasons (not) to get the Sony A7R III

Sony A7r3 Rode Videomic Pro

The A7R III is Sony’s flagship mirrorless camera that isn’t just made to take great photos but can also record crisp 4K video. Watch the video below to find out what we like and what we think should be changed!

Here are some reasons why we think the A7R III is one of the best hybrid full-frame cameras right now:

Battery life

The first thing you will notice when using this camera is the amount of time you can shoot without needing to change batteries. Depending on if you’re capturing photos or videos you can easily shoot all day with just two batteries.

Lenses

Even though Sony is known for making great E-mount lenses they are not exactly cheap but you can still get some proper glass that won’t cost you a fortune. There are a lot of great third party lenses available that are not just affordable but also sharp and have reliable auto focus.

Sony A7r Iii 16 35 F2.8 Lens
Sony FE lenses aren’t cheap. Third party lenses can be a good option!

Film picture profiles

To get the highest dynamic range when filming the A7R III can record with different log profiles that can be color corrected and graded in post. S-Log2 and S-Log3 are good if you have time to grade but the HLG profiles can also record in HDR without looking too flat or desatured. Even though the 8-bit XAVC codec only has a bitrate of 100Mbps in 4K 30p the footage holds up very well when grading.

Sony A7r Iii Video Picture Profile S Log3
A variety of film picture styles make it easy to get a specific film look.

IBIS

While in-body image stabilization has been around for a few years it’s a must have when taking pictures in low light or when filming hand-held with prime lenses or third-party lenses that don’t have image stabilization.

Sony A7r Iii 16 35 F2.8
In-body image stabilization means your lenses don’t need to have IS to get shake-free footage.

The Sony A7R III seems like the perfect tool but there are some things that could be improved:

4K 60p

The lack of 60 frames per second when recording Ultra HD can certainly be a deal breaker especially because other camera manufacturers are already offering cameras that can record 4K 60p for just half the price.

10-bit codec

Even though Sony offers different flat picture profiles when capturing video the low bitrate 8-bit codec can be a problem in post, so it would be good to see a high bitrate 10-bit codec in the next camera.

Focus peaking

When manually focusing the focus peaking is too pixelated and it’s almost impossible to properly judge whether something is in or out of focus and blurry.

Sony A7r Iii Atomos Shinobi 01
The A7R III connected to the Atomos Shinobi monitor

Video menu

When accessing the menu in video mode only video settings should be displayed to make the big menu less confusing and to simplify the view of the features.

Sony A7r Iii Screen Video Mode
The video recording display is simple, unlike Sony’s menu.

Timelapse mode

A feature that has long been missing is an internal timelapse mode that can save a video as well as a raw or JPEG sequence. But it seems like Sony will soon be adding this feature to several Alpha cameras.

Nontheless is the A7R III a great combination of photo and video camera that is certainly not cheap or meant for beginners but a great tool for professionals.

You can buy the camera by clicking HERE from B&H Photo!

Written by filmmaker Moritz Janisch, March 1, 2019

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