With Tobi Shonibares in Dubai - first impressions of the A7R III
Tobi talks about his impressions of the A7R III on his architectural shoot in Dubai. I want to say up front that this is not an in-depth review - that's not my area. I photograph and film - I know what I like and what I need for it. I work very quickly and spontaneously on the go, but I value precision and top quality. That's why in this review I'm focusing on how hard or easy the A7R III makes my work. If you are looking for tables or detailed comparisons, you will find them elsewhere. It should also be mentioned that this camera is a pre-production model. You can find even more photos from the series and other exciting projects by Tobi "Tobishinobi" Shonibares on his website www.tobishinobi.com
Intro
I've been waiting a long time for this camera. When I heard about the earthquake that hit Sony's sensor manufacturing plant, I thought, "Oh dear, I hope no one got hurt." - and then: "Oh no, this will definitely delay the launch dates." And that's exactly what happened. But the A7R II is a workhorse and has been with me reliably for two years. And as in any good relationship, I learned a lot about the old lady during this time. Still, I did wish for a few changes to the Mark 2. I have to admit that when it was announced that the 42 megapixel sensor had been retained, I was a little disappointed at first, but when you think about it, it makes sense. 10 frames per second at 42 megapixels is a lot more than I've ever had available, and probably more than I'll need given my current and projected workflow. Plus, that's a lot of footage to sift through when selecting later. My notebook works slower with these file sizes anyway, so I'm pretty happy with this middle ground...
Functions
There are many feature and function lists, so I will limit myself here to the features and functions that interest me the most.
- faster, quieter image processing
- 10 frames per second with full AF, 8 frames per second with "live" refresh between shots
- OLED viewfinder with 3.69 MP (1280 x 960 pixels)
- optimized autofocus including better AF with eye detection
- 5-axis image stabilization at 5.5 steps (CIPA) with 50 mm lens
- 4K content from "Super 35" cropping range with oversampling from 5K content
- Video AF refocuses less on background
- SD card dual slot (1 UHS-I and 1 UHS-II compatible)
- true uncompressed 14-bit RAW format even in continuous shooting mode
- Phase detection (including AF with eye detection) at 3 frames per second with lenses attached via adapter
Improved autofocus
I've been waiting for the autofocus improvements for a while. The ability to capture fast movement, shoot in difficult lighting conditions, or shoot bursts while recording video is very important to my future photography and filmmaking goals, and I'll cover these points one by one.
In short, the autofocus hits the mark. As with any camera, a wrong button press can result in the usual one or two blurry shots, but it's definitely not noticeably many. When shooting moving subjects at 10 frames per second, the autofocus was 95% accurate.
Performance in difficult lighting conditions
Unfortunately, I didn't really get to test the performance in difficult lighting conditions as fully as I would have liked. I did use the Mark 3 with an adapter and third party lens on a few occasions and was able to shoot at very low ISO - and got some great shots at sunrise and sunset. The adapter worked very well with the A7R III - the autofocus also works very quickly and accurately with the third-party lens
Continuous shooting
This function is pretty good, although not always quite as good as I would have liked. However, you have to bear in mind that this is a pre-production model. The camera follows the change between two subjects smoothly. Panning from left to right from subjects in the foreground to subjects in the background is effortless.
Ergonomics
It feels better - the surface texture of the camera is different and the camera is balanced in the hand. The battery life is significantly longer, so you no longer need to carry 9 batteries. The viewfinder is very clear and the differences between the viewfinder and the display seemed small to me. In the past, I often had to ask others to look at the viewfinder because the lights on the display didn't come out. This seems to me to be both improved.
The button layout has been improved. The new position for the movie recording button was necessary and is welcome. My only problem is that you have to press really hard to start and stop recording at the right time. But the camera can also be adjusted so that movie recordings are started with the shutter release.
Picture quality
Usability
Concluding remarks
Directly to the range of mirrorless cameras, with high-resolution full-frame sensor and wide dynamic range Sony Alpha full-frame series
JJ | 2018
