Earlier this morning, I had a chance to test drive the soon-to-be-released Sony a7III. I walked around Downtown Fresno before sunrise looking to create some portraits, but unfortunately, there aren’t that many people awake at 5:30 on a Saturday morning. So I started with some pictures of still life — and they don’t get more still than parking meters.
A Brilliant Idea
Not having any caffeine in my system didn’t help. I was walking around the empty downtown streets without any inspiration. Then, I had a brilliant idea — I realized there was a train station nearby. Surely there would be a ton of subjects available there for a portrait. When I arrived at the train station, there were only three people there, and two of them looked like they were half asleep. That’s when I met Phillip. He was nice enough (and awake enough) to let me snap a few quick photos of him while he waited for his ride.
The a7III compared to the a9 & a7RIII
Since I only had a few moments with the camera, I’m only writing about my first impression. I barely had a chance to set the custom functions to match the way I laid out the buttons on my a9 before heading downtown that morning. It’s been said by others many times that the a7III is a “baby a9”. With only a few minutes actually using the camera, it felt like the a7III behaved just like the a7RIII and the focusing performance was close to my a9. This is pretty incredible for a camera that costs a fraction of those two cameras. The only negative thing that sticks out to me is the lack of a blackout-free viewfinder. But, it’s crazy to think that this feature (which is a ground-breaking feature at that) was first implemented less than a year ago on the a9, which is Sony’s flagship camera. The lack of a blackout-free viewfinder is a small nit-pick though, since the a7III inherited a ton of other features from its more expensive siblings.
A First Impression
My initial thoughts on the a7III is this — Sony had this crazy idea for a camera: compile a ton features only found in their high-end cameras then cram them into its entry-level full-frame mirrorless camera and price it so low that even the most stubborn mirrorless detractor will take notice. And I think it’s a brilliant idea.
Special Thanks
I just wanted to express my appreciation to Dave Rhodes at Sony for letting me test out the Sony a7III.
Thank you for taking the time to read my blog. If you are anywhere near Central California, I definitely recommend getting your gear at Horn Photo, they’re the best — and make sure to tell them your buddy, Mariano from Move to Mirrorless sent you 🙂 Thank you and happy shooting!
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