Like many, I am constantly drawn to new gear. My main system of choice is Sony. As a result my wallet is at risk with every new camera release. Now some automatically exclude themselves on release with astronomic price points to go along with their astronomic, well above my use case, spec sheets. Looking at you A9 II and A1. Great cameras, but they have two issues as far as I am concerned.
- As stated I do not need these sky high specs.
- Once the $3,000 price threshold is passed you have entered, “Hey, will you look at that GFX 50S II over there.” territory.
But two cameras do interest me.
- A whopping 37 more MP.
- Improved ergonomics including proper port doors replacing the flappy doors on the A7III.
- It is really the MP thing.
- 9 more MP.
- Better at everything than the gen before it.
- The new kid on the block.
But I never get close to upgrading. Not because there is anything wrong with the cameras above. It is because the cameras I have are more than capable enough for my needs.
A wedding shoot this last week reinforced this. Here are the contestants with sample shots.
The elder of the pair. Still a solid choice after all of these years. And a solid bargain at that, especially used. If I were to buy new I would likely go for the A7 IV, but I am a keen used camera shopper and cannot ignore the fact that a used A7 III goes for almost $1,000 less than a new A7 IV. The A7 IV is clearly a better camera. But the A7 III is more than competent enough for my purposes.
And 24MP is more than enough for my needs so the MP boost offered by these newer cameras was not missed.
Not once during this wedding shoot did I think, “I wish I had one of those newer Sony cameras.”
AF
Rock solid AF, with Eye AF performing just fine thank you very much. This shot below was taken while walking backwards tracking the bride and her parents. Very nearly every single shot hit the intended target and the few that did not momentarily grabbed a face in the crowd before snapping back to the main subject. This is without using face registration that would have improved AF stickiness further. Why didn’t I use it? Easy. 1) I forget it is there until I am writing blog posts like these later. 2) AF is so good without it that I would likely not bother if I had remembered.
Color
Great colors. Many talk about the superior color science of other brands, but I get along just fine with Sony. Plus I shoot RAW regardless of brand so having used every modern brand, save digital Hasselblad, I have not seen as big of a difference. A long winded way of saying that I am pleased with Sony’s colors in my use case. Colors are rendered accurately based on the scene captured.
AE
Exposure is spot on. Period. Any adjustments needed are slight. Any misstep is typically down to user error like not choosing the next AE mode for the scene or accidentally bumping the exposure dial. Spot on every time for me. Also works flawlessly with Godox TTL.
The only ding I had was slight and easily addressed. Would be nice to have a slightly larger body for larger lenses and for that reason I picked up a used Sony grip. Problem solved.
Have owned it since it came out. Much like the post I wrote about the A7c moving from an objective to a subjective choice the A7 III has earned a seemingly permanent place in my gear lineup. This is largely due to this its unwavering consistency and longevity of service.
Having said that the A7III was the camera at greater risk of a trade. The newbie of my two camera Sony tribe, since I also let go of the ZV-1 (more on this at a later date), is at nearly no risk of departure.
For starters cut and paste everything from the A7III list above.
AF
Color
AE
A keen performer all around.
And on top of that, it adds features to the A7III making an odd and pretty unique offering.
- Compact rangefinder-ish body style interchangeable lens IBIS having full-frame option like no other on the market presently. This makes it a perfect option for an extremely capable everyday camera with the proper lens.
- Makes for a great video option.
- Fully articulating screen like the newer Sony bodies.
- Eye AF in video like newer bodies that the A7III does not have.
- Other newer Sony features like the ability to save motion data for video post edit stabilization.
- A reasonable price new all things considered and since it has been around a minute even better used.
- Along with making a great everyday and video option it also serves as a great second body if you are already invested in Sony.
I recently realized that I like the A7c so much that I have now taken far more photos with it than I have taken with the A7III. And having bought both on release I have owned the A7III two years longer.
That is a long-winded way of saying they are more than good enough for what I need. So much so that loyalty to both has developed.
I actually struggle to come up with a spec or feature that would motivate me to upgrade. With the excellent lenses available for Sony (More on this in a followup post.)I honestly do not see a need to change cameras. For now. I am sure they will get me eventually.
But I am good.
Competency wins out over gadget acquisition for now.
-ELW
Eric L. Woods 
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