Off Brand: Sony Announces the Full-frame a7R III

[LDS]

* USB-C should be Thunderbolt 3 so it can combine video (remove micro HDMI), data and charging (remove micro USB) thus allowing for less weight & space.

How many external monitors for video shooting today support Thunderbolt instead of HDMI?

 

[woodman411]

and Dpreview adds an article too: https://www.dpreview.com/news/3426999280/sony-a7r-iii-promises-faster-bursts-better-focusing-and-longer-battery-life

6D -> 6DII, no meaningful improvement in image quality, DPR cries, "It's a travesty, a massively disappointing failure!"

a7RII -> a7RIII, no meaningful improvement in image quality, what will DPR say about image quality?

DPR will likely heap praise on the a7r3, while they only show trivial Sony cons and gloss over more significant ones. They also seem to have a fetish for dynamic range.

 

[neuroanatomist]

Canon being market leader has become complacent. Going with "what works" for too long is bound to fail against competition trying to get a bigger piece of the pie.

Is there an echo in here? You sound just like lots of posters comparing the D800 and a7R to the 5DIII, when Canon had been the market leader for just 9+ years, instead of the current 14+ years. Canon has gained market share since then.

But hey, I'm sure you'll get it right this time, Charlie...

 

[Mikehit]

Will the a7R III have an 'Astrotracer Mode' like the Pentax K-1? That would get my interest.

Well rumour has it that the Sony firmware update from a couple of years ago made the A series pants for astro because it wiped out stars. I don't know if they corrected it but Sony astro users we not happy.

 

[ahsanford]

A7R III drops: same res as II, but now 10 fps


A7R III:
https://petapixel.com/2017/10/25/sony-unveils-a7r-iii-42mp-10fps-15-stop-dr-5-5-stop-4k/

Same idiotic grip and proximity to the lens mount, so I can recycle TDP's finger squashing picture.

Looks like the A9 in that it is a bit thicker front to back.

- A

 

[ahsanford]

And now there are three high res / peppy framerate FF rigs out there:

A99 II: 42 x 12
A7R III: 42 x 10
D850: 45 x 9

...while Canon asks you to choose between high resolution or high framerate.

I'm not saying Canon is in trouble or YAPODFC or anything, but at the top end of the FF portfolios (dismissing gripped sports bodies) there is an offering of cake and eating it too.

I would love to see the market research that told Nikon and Sony that ultra-detail studio/landscape folks wanted a big fps bump more than (say) modest fps with yet more detail.

- A

 

[krisbell]

Looks like a nice bit of kit and may well tempt me into an upgrade from my a7r, or at the least push the price of the a7r2 down to a more affordable level.

 

[unfocused]

Canon is getting left behind in the dust...
...Canon being market leader has become complacent. Going with "what works" for too long is bound to fail against competition trying to get a bigger piece of the pie.

Thank you for posting this. I was afraid something was wrong that it took more than a page to get to the obligatory "Canon is doomed" posting.

 

[snoke]

a7RII -> a7RIII, no meaningful improvement in image quality, what will DPR say about image quality?

You say this as fact. What data use for making fact?

 

[snoke]

Not moving, and really static:
"The camera must also wait either 0.5, 1, or 2 seconds between shots for the sensor to settle"

Suitable for product work and still life, not for landscapes that have any moving objects (like grass in wind, leaves, water, clouds).

Same condition HDR merge.

 

[traveller]

"...It can also do a6500-style 'live view' continuous shooting at up to 8 fps. It's not the blackout-free shooting of the a9, but the instantaneous 'live' frames at 8 fps can help you keep up with the action despite this being, in practice, simply 8 live frames per second with black frames inserted in between (which we're told is much like the a6500 we tested)." [https://www.dpreview.com/news/3426999280/sony-a7r-iii-promises-faster-bursts-better-focusing-and-longer-battery-life]

Very disappointing. This is the main reason why I have never "made the switch to Fuji" after buying my X-T1 -it's horrendous doing any kind of continuous shooting watching a slideshow of your last photo. I guess they are keeping uninterrupted live view during capture a distinguishing feature of the "higher" A9 line (with a new hi-res A9 to follow next year?).

 

[neuroanatomist]

a7RII -> a7RIII, no meaningful improvement in image quality, what will DPR say about image quality?

You say this as fact. What data use for making fact?

The sensor in the a7RIII is the same as the sensor in the a7RII. Perhaps there will be measurable improvements in the RAW image quality, but claims of a full stop seem unlikely, at best.

Not moving, and really static:
"The camera must also wait either 0.5, 1, or 2 seconds between shots for the sensor to settle"

Suitable for product work and still life, not for landscapes that have any moving objects (like grass in wind, leaves, water, clouds).

Same condition HDR merge.

I shoot bracketed shots for HDR with ~83 milliseconds between frames – the lag with the a7RIII pixel shift is 6- to 25-times longer. So, not the same conditions.

 

[danski0224]

I was really hoping for more megapixels.

I liked the A7RII when I rented one. For my uses, there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of difference to justify the extra thousand bucks for the newest version.

With the rumored A9R, maybe Sony is segregating their product line like a competitor does...

 

[SecureGSM]

what about x2 better battery life? ;D

I was really hoping for more megapixels.

I liked the A7RII when I rented one. For my uses, there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of difference to justify the extra thousand bucks for the newest version.

With the rumored A9R, maybe Sony is segregating their product line like a competitor does...

 

[danski0224]

I could buy one or two extra batteries out of the thousand buck price difference...

 

[Mikehit]

With the rumored A9R, maybe Sony is segregating their product line like a competitor does...

WASH YOUR MOUTH OUT YOU DIRTY BOY!!!

 

[SecureGSM]

exactly.

I could buy one or two extra batteries out of the thousand buck price difference...

 

[ahsanford]

a7RII -> a7RIII, no meaningful improvement in image quality, what will DPR say about image quality?

You say this as fact. What data use for making fact?

I can't believe I'm +1-ing Snoke , but I am.

I would not presume the lack of an MP bump means it has the same sensor. If this thing is one stop better in high ISO, delivers 15 stops base ISO DR, etc. I would that a meaningful improvement in image quality.

- A

 

[tomscott]

Unless im mistaken... No GPS?

One of my absolute favorite features of the new canon cameras is low power GPS.

Looks like a great camera, seems again a play by play what else can we cram into a body that most people outside Asia cant grip properly.

I love the direction and look forward to Canons entry, although im sure it will take time to mature.

 

[ahsanford]

a7RII -> a7RIII, no meaningful improvement in image quality, what will DPR say about image quality?

You say this as fact. What data use for making fact?

The sensor in the a7RIII is the same as the sensor in the a7RII. Perhaps there will be measurable improvements in the RAW image quality, but claims of a full stop seem unlikely, at best.

Was this confirmed in the video, or just presumed by Phoblographer because they saw the same MP count?

- A