Why I’m Excited About the Sony A7 III
I’m excited to announce that I have purchased the brand new Sony a7 III and I am patiently waiting for it to be delivered as I type this!
Since I’ve started doing photography, I’ve mostly been using the Sony a7 II, which has been more than sufficient for what I do. But the time has come for me to upgrade.
Here are my reasons why I am upgrading and what I am most excited about in the Sony a7 III.
Why I am Upgrading to the Sony a7 III
First and foremost, with all of the sessions (particularly weddings) that I do, I’ve been needing to get a backup camera.
Yes, I have my old Samsung NX500 crop sensor camera, and a dinosaur Canon Rebel t1i crop sensor camera, but I would rather not have to rely on those cameras, especially for weddings.
Why I’m excited about the Sony a7 III
In a nutshell:
Low light
Dual card slots
Fast autofocus and eye autofocus
Silent shooting
Dynamic range
Fast shooting
Image stabilization
Long battery life
Let’s start from the top.
Low Light
If you have been following my work, you know that I find myself shooting in a lot of extremely low light situations.
Even though the Sony a7 II can handle low light pretty well (as I have proven in the past) The Sony a7 III eats low light photos for dinner!
I typically don’t like to go above ISO 800 on my a7 II, but from what I’ve seen from the Sony a7 III, I believe I wouldn’t have any problems with shooting up to ISO 10,000 or possibly higher!
Dual Card Slots
I have been so very fortunate that I have never had a card go corrupt losing someone’s precious memories. But I do know a lot of fellow photographers who have had this unfortunate situation occur.
Even though I am extremely thankful that it has never happened, I’m not trusting that it never will. It’s one thing to lose my own photos, but to lose someone’s photos would crush me.
With the dual card slots on the Sony a7 III, you can record the same photos on two separate cards at the same time virtually guaranteeing that you will never lose someone’s photos to a corrupt card.
Having this simple feature may not only save my butt but will ease my mind and remove the stress of living on the edge of possibly losing someone’s photos and possibly having a lawsuit on my hands.
Fast Auto Focus and Eye Auto Focus
Ok, I know what you're thinking. I’m the guy that only shoots with manual focus lenses. What’s up with this?
So just because I use manual focus lenses doesn’t mean I have anything against autofocus lenses. In the past, I used some cheap autofocus lenses on a cheap camera. So the focus was crazy slow and always missed.
I discovered that not only could I focus faster manually, but manual focus lenses were WAY cheaper!
Now that I’m getting a camera (the Sony a7 III) with the latest autofocus and eye autofocus technology, I believe it’s time to give autofocus another chance.
Along with the Sony a7 III, I ordered a Sigma 135mm f1.8 art lens which I am also extremely excited about! It’s not the 200mm f2, so it won’t have the same creamy bokeh, but the sharpness will be out of this world!
Silent Shooting
One of the worst feelings in the world is when I’m right up there close to the bride and groom during a wedding while they’re saying their vows or in a silent prayer and I am clicking away sounding like a freaking machine gun!
The Sony a7 III has a silent shooting mode now where there is no sound what so ever when you push the shutter button. Or though this will probably be very strange and weird at first, I’m really going to like this feature!
I can also see where this feature would come in handy when shooting animals and newborns.
Dynamic Range
The Sony a7 III has an all-new sensor in it that gives you 15 stops of dynamic range. This means the colors will be WAY more vivid and clear. I can tell from a lot of the test photos that the colors are also a lot more accurate compared to the a7 II.
Fast Shooting
The Sony a7 III can shoot up to 10 frames per second in burst mode. This feature was very handy on my a7 II when shooting fast moving subjects, but I couldn’t shoot that way very long (just a couple of seconds) because the buffer would fill up and it would stop shooting. The Sony a7 III will shoot for way longer.
Image Stabilization
Like the a7 II, the Sony a7 III has built-in image stabilization which is great for shooting with manual focus lenses. But with autofocus lenses, this feature will help stabilize the image even more.
, is great because I always shoot hand help. I can’t be restricted to a tripod, I have to constantly be on the move.
I would imagine that this feature will be very helpful with video as well. Or though I don’t shoot very much video, who knows? I might start shooting some video. ;)
Longer Battery Life
A lot of people have complained about the battery life in the a7 II. I never had that issue. I always carry two extra fully charged batteries with me to all of my sessions but I rarely ever have to switch them out.
With the Sony a7 III, they have an all-new battery that holds a charge for way longer. I predict that I will never have to change a battery again. But just in case, I still order two extras.
Conclusion
So these are the features I’m most excited about in the Sony a7 III. If you want to see the photos I capture with it, follow me on social media. Every photo I take from here on out will likely be captured using the Sony a7 III.
Well, I literally got the notification that my package has arrived at its destination as I am finishing this up. What great timing! :D
I’m off to pick up my new toy... I mean tool! ;)
Have a fantastic day!