Amateur Photographer - UK (2020-09-19)

49

FEATURES 8/10

BUILD & HANDLING 9/10

METERING 9/10

AUTOFOCUS 9/10

AWB & COLOUR 8/10

DYNAMIC RANGE 9/10

IMAGE QUALITY 8/10

VIEWFINDER/LCD 10/10

designwithsevencolour-coded

sections,thatgroupsrelated

functionstogetherfarmore

logicallyintonestedsub-menus

andis nowfullyoperableby

touch.However,thisdoesmean

allof theoptionshavebeen

re-arrangedacrossthe 51 tabs,

soexistingSonyuserswillneed

to rediscoverwheretheyallare.

TheonscreenFnmenuis also

nallytouch-sensitive,which

transformstheeasewithwhich

youcanchangesecondary

settings.HoweverI foundtheC4

buttonfartooeasyto hitby

accident,switchingoffthetouch

responseandleavingmejabbing

fruitlesslyat thescreen.I’d

reallocatethisbuttonto

somethingusefulinstead.

Viewnderandscreen

PossiblytheA7SIII’smost

spectacularfeatureis theworld’s

highestresolutionelectronic

view nder, which provides a

breathtakingly large and detailed

view. At 0.9x magni cation, it’s as

large, bright and sharp as the

optical view nder of my Olympus

OM-1, which was arguably the

 nest ever used on a 35mm SLR.

It’s a real statement of capability

and intent from Sony.

In another excellent update, the

A7S III  nally gains a side-hinged

vari-angle screen. While some

see this as a video feature, it’s

also great for shooting portrait-

format still images at awkward

angles. When recording video

with the screen facing forwards, a

new ‘Emphasise display during

recording’ settings outlines the

displaywitha thickredbox,which

is a farbettervisualcuethana

smallreddot.

Videofeatures

Ultimately,Sonyhasreally

concentratedontheA7SIII’s

videocapabilities.It’scapableof

recordingin 4Kat upto 120fps,

with10-bit4:2:2colour,All-I

compressionat 600Mbps,anda

claimed15-stopdynamicrange.

In FullHDit’llshootat 240fps,

while16-bitrawvideocanbe

recordedto anexternalrecorder

overHDMI.Its5-axisin-body

stabilisationnowclaims5.5

stopsbenet, andcanbe

boostedby additionalelectronic

stabilisationforsuper-steady

handheldfootageat thecostof a

1.1xcrop.Meanwhilerolling-

shutterdistortionhasbeen

reducedby a factorof three.

TheA7SIII maynotmatchthe

eye-catching8Kresolutionof the

Canon EOS R5, but it’ll probably

be more practical in real-world

use because it’s far less prone to

overheating. Sony says the

camera’s internal structure is  ve

times more effective at

dissipating heat than before,

which means it can shoot 4K 60p

video for over an hour, in contrast

to the EOS R5’s maximum of 35

minutes. In indoor tests, I found

the A7S III was perfectly happy

shooting 4K at 60fps for 86

minutes and ultimately was limited

by the dual 140GB CFexpress

cards running out of space. The

camera body did get noticeably

warm, but cooled down

again quickly afterwards.

The A7S III’s 12MP files

have enough detail to print

to 14.3 x9.4 inches, at a

critically-sharp 300 ppi

Sony A7S III, Sony FE 24-70mm F4 at 70mm,

1/125sec at f/11, ISO 400

THERE’S no doubt that the

Alpha 7S III is a seriously

impressive piece of kit. Sony

has long been adept at making

advanced sensors and image

processors, but it’s now also

building camera bodies that

can meet the expectations of

demanding users. The A7S III

is clearly mainly for video, as

few photographers will be

prepared to accept its low

resolution just for the ability to

shoot at super-high ISOs. But it

could be an interesting option

for shooting sports or wildlife

in extremely low light.

With any luck, Sony will retain

the Alpha 7S III’s main design

improvements in the A7 III’s

eventual successor. Sadly the

astonishing view nder is

unlikely to  nd its way onto a

much cheaper model, but I

really hope Sony isn’t misled by

the idea that fully articulated

screens are for video rather

than stills. Overall this is the

best camera body that Sony

has made, which augurs well

forthefutureof theA7line.

Ve r d i c t

top-plate, and the memory card

door now requires a sliding latch

to be released before it can be

slid back and opened, for extra

security. The connector ports

have thick, hinged, rubberised

covers, and the microphone

socket is positioned up on the

shoulder of the camera where it

won’t interfere with the rotation of

the screen. Unfortunately the

headphone socket door is larger

than necessary, and obstructs

the screen more than it should.

One of the camera’s biggest

improvements lies with its user

interface. We’ve been

complaining for years about

Sony’s obtuse menus and lack of

any touch interface, and at a

stroke it’s  xed both. The A7S III

employs a brand new menu

+Incrediblylargeanddetailed

viewfinder

+ Fully articulated screen

+ Much-improved menus and

interface

+ Excellent video capability

-^ Low sensor resolution
-^ Needs pricey CFexpress Type A
cards for best performance

For and against

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