In summary
The α7R III was recently announced as the winner of this year’s Technical Image Press Association (TIPA) award for the Best Professional High Resolution Mirrorless camera so it should be no surprise that we’ve nominated it for an Editor’s Choice award.
The fact that Sony’s latest α7 cameras commandeered the top awards in all three Mirrorless CSC categories (Full-Frame, Resolution and High Speed) speaks volumes for how well Sony has catered to serious photographers with differing needs when shooting different photographic genres.
Our nomination came as a result of the superior performance of the review camera with the supplied lens. It also recognises the increased buffer capacity for continuous shooting and the simplification of the video options, which has been achieved without compromising recording quality or versatility.
Full review
The third-generation model in Sony’s α7R series provides improvements to existing features, while retaining those aspects of the α7R II that attracted many serious photographers to the camera. The sensor is the same 42.2-megapixel chip but gains some new additions. New processing algorithms have been used in the BIONZ X and AF processing systems and the capabilities of the in-body image stabilisation systems have been enhanced.
Angled view of the α7R Mark III with the FE 24-105mm f/4 G OSS lens. (Source: Sony.
The review camera was supplied with the FE 24-70mm f/2.8 G-Master lens (SEL2470GM) which we reviewed in June 2016. The fast maximum aperture provided by this lens allowed us to explore the α7R III’s low light capabilities, while the focal length range covered a popular range of focal lengths from moderate wide-angle and short telephoto, making it an excellent general-purpose ‘walk-around’ lens.
What’s New?
Superficially, the body is much the same as the α7R II’s, with minor, largely cosmetic adjustments to the front and top panels, shown below.
Front and top comparison views of the α7R Mark II and Mark II cameras, with the Mark II at the top.(Source: Sony.)
There’s been a fair bit of button shuffling on the rear panel and the α7R III gains some of the ergonomic features of the α9, which we reviewed in August 2017 ““ although it misses out on that camera’s stacked drive and focus mode selection dials on the left side of the EVF housing. They would have made a welcome addition and saved a bit of menu diving and function button programming.
Rear views of the α7R Mark II and Mark III cameras, with the Mark II at the top.(Source: Sony.)
Sony has largely duplicated the control layout of the α9 for the α7R Mark III, which also gains the joystick control that enables users to select individual points or groups of points from the expanded phase-detection and contrast detection arrays (see below). It’s usable when shooting in the Zone, Flexible Spot or Expanded Flexible Spot focus area modes.
Focus points can also be selected and shifted by touching and dragging a selected point on the monitor when touch control is activated. In the continuous AF mode, tracking AF engages automatically but users can also use the touchscreen for racking focus while recording movie clips.
The α7R III also gains the sophisticated button customisation capabilities of the α9, along with three Custom memory settings that enable users to set up combinations of camera functions and settings for one-touch recall.
The tilting 3-inch monitor screen has slightly higher resolution (1,440,000 dots vs 1,228,800 dots in the α7R II) and benefits from WhiteMagic technology. Developed by Sony, WhiteMagic adds one more white sub-pixel to conventional RGB pixel array, making the screen retain a high brightness level while saving energy.
Also ported across from the α9 is the EVF, which is a high-resolution OLED Tru-Finder with approximately 3,686,000 dots and 0.78x magnification. It has double the brightness of the EVF in the α7R II, has an adjustable frame rate and Sony claims it ‘functions with absolutely no blackout’ providing a live view of the scene at all times.
Dioptre adjustments for the EVF are made via a semi-embedded wheel on the right side of the EVF, just above the movie button, which has been moved from the right side panel on the α7R II. Atop the EVF is a Multi-Interface Shoe, which accepts accessory flashguns and other compatible accessories.
The sliding lock on the memory card cover is also derived from the α9 and the α7R III has the same dual card slots, one of which is UHS-II compatible. The other can accommodate UHS-I cards of Memory Stick Pro Duo media.
According to Sony, Class 10 or higher SDHC/SDXC memory cards are required for the XAVC S format used for 4K and high-bit rate FHD movie recording. UHS Speed Class U3 is necessary for 100Mbps or higher recording. This tends to limit your options for configuring which files are sent to which card, although JPEG images should be happy to go to slower cards.
You can record JPEGs to one card and raw files to the other or stills to one and movies to the other. But you can’t record movies in different formats or at different resolutions and frame rates to separate cards. Simultaneous recording to both cards is supported.
Like previous α7 cameras, the α7R III’s battery is normally charged in the camera via the supplied USB cable. Users can also shoot and playback images while the camera is connected to a mains power supply via the supplied AC adaptor and micro USB cable.
The larger NP-FZ100 battery has a CIPA rated capacity of approx. 530 shots/charge with EVF, 650 shots/charge with monitor, which is almost double that of the α7R II. The optional VG-C3EM battery grip, which is also used in the α9, doubles battery life supporting up to 1300 shots.
Finally, the Mark III gains a USB-C (USB 3.1 Gen 1) port in addition to the previous model’s multi/micro USB interface. It also sports a Type-D HDMI micro connector, along with 3.5 mm Stereo mini-jacks for microphone and headphones and a PC remote terminal.
Under the Hood
Internally, the α7R III has undergone some substantial changes, starting with the sensor, which is the same 42.2-megapixel BSI CMOS chip as Sony used in the α7R II but benefits from a series of hardware and data-handling adjustments that improve processing speeds. A redesigned array of gapless microlenses is being used on the sensor chip, while an anti-flare coating on the surface of the sensor’s glass sealing layer improves light transmission, delivering an increase in sensitivity plus better low-noise performance as well as increasing dynamic range from 14 stops to 15 stops.
A new front-end LSI almost doubles the readout speed from the image sensor, while an updated BIONZ X processor boosts processing speed by approximately 1.8 times compared to the α7R II. Together, these improvements allow the camera to shoot at faster speeds and increase the sensitivity range from ISO 100 to ISO 32000 with further expansion to ISO 50 and ISO 102400 available.
Image sizes are the same as in the α7R II but the Sweep Panorama function has been eliminated from the recording options. On a camera like this, it’s unlikely to be required since there are easy and more effective work-arounds for obtaining panorama shots.
Like its precursors, the sensor in the α7R III is built without an optical low pass filter to maximise resolution and Sony includes moirø© suppression in its JPEG processing. These features should ensure superior ability to capture subject details.
The α7R III also gains the improvements to colour and noise processing introduced in the α9. It can now output 14-bit RAW format even when shooting in silent or continuous mode, a step up from the previous model.
Improved processing speeds have enabled continuous shooting speeds to be doubled from 5 fps in the α7R II to 10 fps in the new camera when using either the mechanical shutter or with the electronic shutter for completely silent shooting. The 10 fps frame rate also applies when flash is used, provided the cycle time of the attached flash can match it.
The buffer capacity has been increased to 76 when capturing Extra fine Large JPEGs or compressed raw frames or RAW+JPEG pairs or 28 frames for uncompressed raw capture. The α7R III can also shoot continuously at up to 8 fps in live view mode with minimal lag on the monitor screen. Unusually, for a modern camera, many of the camera’s key functions remain operable while bursts of images are being written to the memory card.
Bracketing options include exposure, white balance and D-Range Optimiser bracketing, with the latter two limited to three exposures per shot. Sony has added a new pixel-shift multi-shot resolution mode, similar to the modes in Pentax and Olympus cameras, which records four ARW.RAW frames in quick succession, moving the sensor slightly between shots. Each pixel position in the resulting image is recorded with one red, one blue and two green pixels.
The diagram above shows how the Sony Pixel Shift Multi Shooting mode works. (Source: Sony.)
The recording method enables the full colour information to be captured for every pixel, as shown in the diagram above. This eliminates the softness and noise associated with the demosaicing process. However, unlike the Pentax and Olympus systems, the α7R III can’t combine the frames in-camera.
Instead, the camera must be connected to a computer via a USB cable and mounted on a tripod. Images are recorded to the computer via the downloadable Imaging Edge (Remote) software. The four raw frames are captured with the same settings and combined using Imaging Edge (Viewer). Users can sidestep the Sony applications and record the sequence of raw frames via a Wireless Remote Commander (optional) or the camera’s self-timer. In this mode. recordings can pause for between one and 30 seconds between shots, which means any movement in subjects will be blurred.
Another sensor-related improvement relates to the in-body image stabilisation system, which gains a stop in shake correction taking it from 4.5 stops to 5.5 stops. The full capabilities of the system remain available when shooting video, which is handy as no digital stabilisation is provided.
The AF point arrays in the α7R III showing the relative coverage of each.
While the α7R III keeps the 399-point, on-sensor phase-detect AF system of its predecessor, it also provides 425 contrast AF points, up from 25 points in the α7R II. The 4D FOCUS system introduced at Photokina 2014 and used in the α9, α99 II, α6500 and α7 III cameras as well as the α7R III claims to be able to focus in about half the time taken by the previous camera in low-light conditions, with double the tracking accuracy.
The system combines a wide area detection array that expands to almost the edges of the frame with the ability to detect the direction in which subjects are moving and predict the direction and speed of motion to provide stable and reliable tracking. The latter enables the camera to maintain focus when obstacles intervene between the camera and the subject.
We found the review camera was able to achieve most of these objectives when shooting still pictures and movie clips. However, because the box defining the area is grey and doesn’t show up against a background with similar hue and tone, it was often difficult to re-position the focus area precisely with the joystick.
The best work-around was to swap to touch AF and select the focus area by touching the screen. This method also works well for focus pulls when recording movie clips.
Additional improvements to the system include AF availability in Focus Magnifier mode, an AF On button and more flexible touch focus functionality. Focal-plane phase-detection AF support is also now available when using A-mount lenses.
Video
On the video front, the α7R III has similar video recording capabilities to the α7S II, which we reviewed in January 2016. However, unlike the α7R Mark II, the Mark III can only record movies in the proprietary XAVC S and AVCHD formats (MP4 has been dropped).
4K footage is restricted to XAVC S and only two settings are available, both at 25 fps. PAL format users can select from the following formats, frame sizes and frame rates:
- XAVC S 4K (3840 x 2160p) at 25p, 100 Mbps or 60 Mbps
- XAVC S HD (1920 x 1080p) at 50p, 50 Mbps or 25 Mbps
- XAVC S HD (1920 x 1080p) at 25p, 50 Mbps or 16 Mbps
- XAVC S HD (1920 x 1080p) at 100p, 100 Mbps
- AVCHD FHD (1920 x 1080i) at 50i (24 Mbps or 17 Mbps)
Like the α7R II, the α7R III supports full pixel readout without pixel binning when recording in Super 35mm crop format (roughly equivalent to APS-C size). This format can collect 5K of data, which is oversampled to maintain the highest quality 4K footage.
The AF algorithms in video have also been improved and are more resistant to re-focusing off to the background, which means more stable focusing on objects in the centre of the frame. The α7R III also supports a slightly wider range of Picture Profile settings than its predecessor.
As well as the normal Movie and Still gamma settings, users can choose between natural and faithful colour tones with the ITU709 gamma and two Cine gamma settings. While the α7R II provided the S-Log2 profile, the Mark III adds S-Log 3 and S-Gamut 3, which offer flatter profiles to make use of camera’s full dynamic range.
Also new is support for Hybrid Log Gamma (HLG), which captures with the Log profile but displays a corrected version on the camera. This lets users see the extent of the dynamic range recorded when clips are viewed on HDR displays, without any post-processing required.
The Slow & Quick Motion modes, which were introduced in the α6500, let users choose from eight frame rates between one and 100 frames/second (fps) to create speeded-up motion or slow-motion movies in the camera. The table below shows the options available in the α7R III for PAL system recordings
|
Frame Rate |
Recording setting |
|
|
25p |
50p |
|
|
100 fps |
4x slower |
n.a. |
|
50 fps |
2x slower |
Normal playback speed |
|
25 fps |
Normal playback speed |
2x faster |
|
12 fps |
2.08x faster |
4.16x faster |
|
6 fps |
4.16x faster |
8.3x faster |
|
3 fps |
8.3x faster |
16.6x faster |
|
2 fps |
12.5x faster |
25x faster |
|
1 fps |
25x faster |
50x faster |
All clips recorded in these modes are captured using the XAVC S HD format (1920 x 1080 pixels). The maximum clip length is a playback time of 29 minutes, which means recording will stop after 15 minutes when the recording is set to 50p and the frame rate is 25 fps.
Wi-Fi and NFC
Both functions are similar to those on the α7R II and both require the free PlayMemories Mobile app to be installed on the smart device to which the camera will be connected. As with the α7R II, the camera can transfer JPEG images but not AVCHD and XAVC S movie clips.
JPEGs can be transferred at their original sizes or downsampled to two megapixels or VGA size. ARW.RAW files can’t be transferred. The original 42-megapixel files are too large for online use and take about 10 seconds to copy via Wi-Fi so it makes sense to select one of the smaller file sizes.
The Quick Viewer function on PlayMemories Mobile ver.4.0 offers seamless switching between shooting and viewing modes without the need to open up another app. The Smart Remote app provides remote control from a mobile device for key camera functions, such as releasing the shutter, starting/stopping the recording and zooming.
The NFC One-touch function only works with Android devices but many photographers will find it useful. Once it’s been set up, tapping the phone against the camera will transfer the last image recorded across for quick and easy sharing.
Bluetooth provides another way to connect the camera to a smart device for transferring images and controlling the camera remotely. While older versions of Bluetooth and 4G can be incompatible and interfering signals can drain battery capacity, interference is significantly reduced in the version (V. 4.1) found in the α7R III. But devices must still be within 10 metres of each other to make a reliable connection.
Playback and Software
Like other Sony cameras, the α7R III creates an image database file on the memory card, which is used for both recording and playing back files. The camera supports the normal single and index playback settings as well as protect, rotate and delete functions.
Users can apply star ratings, specify images to be printed and copy files from one card to another. Resolution-dependent playback zoom is also supported (up to 19.9x with Large JPEGs) as well as slideshow playback with selectable intervals between one and 30 seconds. Video clips can be played back with forward and rewind playback supported.
As is common in the latest crop of digital cameras, all software for the α7R III must be downloaded. So must the basic user’s manual, which is available in PDF format. It’s not as comprehensive as the Help guide, which can only be viewed online.
Sony’s proprietary software application, PlayMemories, appears to be the main software offering, along with the new Imaging Edge, which supports remote capture, viewing and editing. Movie editing applications include Action Cam Movie Creator and MVR studio, neither of which is much use with movie files from the α7R III.
Sony provides a link to a list of applications that can be used for editing 4K and HD video clips from the α7R III. But not all of them support XAVC S files.
Performance
Images captured with the review camera were highly detailed with a natural colour balance when shooting in the default Standard Creative Style mode. Straight from the camera images also appeared relatively sharp.
As in the α7R II, most shots maintained a good balance between highlights and shadows, which meant even JPEGs recorded in contrasty lighting had a good chance of containing a relatively wide tonal range. Imatest showed saturation in JPEGs to be slightly higher than the α7R II’s but overall colour accuracy was a little better.
Our Imatest testing showed the camera-plus-lens combination was not quite capable of meeting expectations for JPEG files. However, ARW.RAW files converted into 16-bit TIFF files with Adobe Camera Raw, our preferred raw file converter, delivered the high resolution we expected from this camera. Note: this is no mean feat for a camera with 42.2-megapixel resolution.
Resolution declined gradually for both file types as sensitivity was increased, with the steepest declines occurring from ISO 6400 on. Converted raw files retained significantly higher resolution across the sensitivity range as shown in the graph of our Imatest test results below.
Low light performance was as good as (or slightly better than) we found with the α7R II. Plenty of detail was captured in 30-second exposures at ISO 50 and ISO 100 and colours were natural-looking right up to ISO 102400. Noise was barely visible at ISO 6400 and only just discernible at ISO 12800. From that point, images became progressively more granular although softening remained quite modest right up to the highest sensitivity setting of ISO 102400.
The camera’s AF system performed flawlessly after dark and we experienced no hunting, even when shooting in very low light levels with very little to lock onto. The new camera is probably better than its predecessor in this respect.
AF performance when shooting movie clips wasn’t quite as stellar, although it was better than average. We noticed some slight hesitations when focusing shifted between moving subjects, particularly in busy scenes with people entering from different directions. However, once the focus locked onto a subject, it remained there until the subject exited the frame and moved quickly to the next nearest subject in the centre of the frame. Focus pulling was usually successful when touch control was used, although less successful with the joystick.
Exposure metering was reasonably competent with all three patterns, providing usable levels both in bright sunshine and after dark as well as handling most scenes containing a wide brightness range. The multi-zone setting would occasionally produce shots in which the sky was a little too bright but the centre-weighted and spot settings provided good precision for measuring selected areas. The auto DRO (dynamic range optimiser), which is engaged by default, did a decent job of balancing highlights and shadows with multi-zone metering and delivered acceptable results in most types of lighting.
White balance performance was similar to the α7R II’s and average for a camera at this level. The auto setting delivered almost neutral colour rendition under fluorescent lighting and removed much of the warm cast imparted by incandescent lights. Switching in the white priority setting made a small improvement in colour rendition but failed to eliminate the prevailing warm cast.
Both the incandescent and fluorescent presets over-corrected slightly, the various fluorescent lighting settings imparting slightly different colour casts. Manual measurement produced neutral colour rendition with all three types of lighting.
Using Lexar Professional SDXC UHS-II cards with a speed rating of 2000x (300 MB/second) enabled us to shoot 4K movies and explore the camera’s full capabilities. As we found previously, the camera became quite warm after a couple of minutes while movies were being recorded, which is something to watch out for on hot, sunny days.
Movie clips were similar to those we recorded with the α7R II and captured plenty of detail plus natural-looking colours. There was a slight tendency towards blown-out highlights in lower-resolution clips, although blocked up shadows were seldom encountered and neither was as obvious as we’ve seen from some other cameras we’ve reviewed.
Autofocusing while recording movie clips was usually fast and accurate, except for the occasional re-focusing lags noted above. Similar lags could also occur after panning or zooming, particularly with slower frame rates for FHD movie clips. Soundtrack quality was similar to the previous camera.
Our timing tests were carried out with the same 64GB Lexar Professional SDXC UHS-II card as we used for recording 4K movies, which was used in Slot 1 to record ARW.RAW files. In the Slot 2, which was used for JPEGs, we used a 32GB Lexar Professional SDXC UHS-II card. Both cards claim transfer speeds of 300 MB/second. The review camera took roughly one second to power-up ready for the first shot.
Capture lag ranged from around 0.1 seconds when the lens was seriously out-of-focus to less than 0.1 second when little re-focusing was required. No lag was measurable when shots were pre-focused. Shot-to-shot times averaged 0.4 seconds, which is as fast as we could keep pressing the shutter button.
Processing times were faster than those we measured for the α7R II. On average, it took 1.9 seconds to process each Large/Super Fine JPEG and also for each compressed ARW.RAW file and RAW+JPEG pair. With uncompressed ARW.RAW files, processing times were 2.1 seconds for single raw files and 2.2 seconds for each RAW+JPEG pair.
In the Continuous High shooting mode, the camera record a burst of 101 Large/Super Fine JPEGs in 10.2 seconds without showing any sign of slowing, which represents a rate of 9.9 frames/second. It took 55.2 seconds to process this burst. With compressed ARW.RAW files, the buffer filled at 98 frames, which were recorded in 11.2 seconds. Processing them took 15.5 seconds from the last frame captured. Swapping to uncompressed ARW.RAW files reduced the buffer capacity to 32 frames, which were recorded in 3.7 seconds. It took 13.2 seconds to clear the memory.
With RAW+JPEG pairs, the buffer memory filled after 31 frames regardless of whether the raw files were compressed. In each case, the burst was recorded in 3.8 seconds and the burst containing the compressed raw files took 23.7 seconds to process, while the one with uncompressed raw files took 24.2 seconds.
Continuous shooting speeds and buffer depths are influenced by the speed of the card used for recording the image files. For our tests, we chose very fast cards so it’s unsurprising to find the buffer depths exceeded Sony’s specifications. Unfortunately, it took quite a long time to complete burst processing, even with fast cards. However, unlike the previous models, users of the α7R III can access the menu and change settings while the buffer is clearing, which provides some compensation.
Conclusion
The α7R III was recently announced as the winner of this year’s Technical Image Press Association (TIPA) award for the Best Professional High Resolution Mirrorless camera so it should be no surprise that we’ve nominated it for an Editor’s Choice award. The fact that Sony’s latest α7 cameras commandeered the top awards in all three Mirrorless CSC categories (Full-Frame, Resolution and High Speed) speaks volumes for how well Sony has catered to serious photographers with differing needs when shooting different photographic genres.
Our nomination came as a result of the superior performance of the review camera with the supplied lens. It also recognises the increased buffer capacity for continuous shooting and the simplification of the video options, which has been achieved without compromising recording quality or versatility.
The use of a larger NP-FZ100 battery has also increased the camera’s recording capacity. An optional VG-C3EM vertical grip that accommodates two batteries is available for AU$549 RRP to double battery life.
Sony’s Australian website only lists 23 full frame lenses designed for α7 cameras, and most are relatively expensive, with price tags above AU$1000. Fortunately, a number of other manufacturers (among them Carl Zeiss, Laowa, Samyang and Tamron) are catering for photographers who use these cameras and adapters are available for fitting Canon EF, Leica, Nikon and Sigma lenses to the α7 camera bodies.
One of the problems associated with the α7R III is its very high price tag. Its list price of almost AU$5000 will be an insurmountable barrier for many. The α7R III will also be too complex for novice users. Its menu system is very intricate and will take time for newcomers to master and few beginning photographers will be able to utilise many of the functions to their full capabilities.
Another barrier is that its high resolution will be much more than many potential buyers require. We’d recommend these photographers look at the latest α7 and α7S cameras, which have lower resolution sensors and are also somewhat cheaper.
Don’t expect much in the way of discounting in the current Australian market, even though the α7R III has been available for a couple of months. Some local online stores don’t have it listed while a few don’t have stock. A couple of stores are listing it close to the Sony price of AU$4999, while most have it for between $100 and $250 less.
The α7R III is not listed on Amazon’s Australian website. B&H and Adorama have it listed at US$3198, which converted to AU$4227.44 when this review was published. But only Adorama would ship to Australia and that added more than AU$100 to the price tag. Once you added the 10% GST to the total price, there wouldn’t be much saving on the average local price.
Meanwhile, the α7R II is still available, with prices ranging from Sony’s listed price of AU$3599 to between $150 and $1000 less. If you’re interested in this model, it obviously pays to shop around. At the prevailing exchange rate you’re unlikely to find it cheaper by shopping off-shore. Camera plus lens kits are also available at competitive prices for photographers starting out with a new system.
SPECS
Image sensor: 35.9 x 24.0mm Exmor R CMOS sensor with 43.6 million photosites (42.4 megapixels effective)
Image processor: Bionz X
A/D processing: 14-bit RAW
Lens mount: Sony FE-mount
Focal length crop factor: 1x
Image formats: Stills: JPEG, ARW.RAW, RAW+JPEG; Movies: XAVC S, AVCHD format Ver. 2.0 compliant; Audio: XAVC S – LPCM 2ch; AVCHD – Dolby Digital (AC-3) 2ch
Image Sizes: Stills ““ 3:2 aspect: 7952 x 5304, 5168 x 3448, 3984 x 2656; APS-C crop: 5168 x 3448, 3984 x 2656, 2592 x 1728; 16:9 aspect: 7952 x 4472, 5168 x 2912, 3984 x 2240; APS-C crop: 5168 x 2912, 3984 x 2240, 2592 x 1456; Movies: XAVC S 4K: 3840 x 2160 (25p, 100M), 3840 x 2160 (25p, 60M), XAVC S HD: 1920 x 1080 (100p, 100M), 1920 x 1080 (100p, 60M), 1920 x 1080 (50p, 50M), 1920 x 1080 (25p, 50M), 1920 x 1080 (50p, 25M), 1920 x 1080 (25p, 16M), AVCHD: 1920 x 1080 (50i, 24M, FX), 1920 x 1080 (50i, 17M, FH)
Image Stabilisation: Image Sensor-Shift mechanism with 5-axis compensation; max. 5.5 stops with Planar T* FE 50mm f/1.4 ZA lens
Dust removal: Charge protection coating on optical filter and image sensor shift mechanism
Shutter (speed range): Electronically-controlled, vertical-traverse, focal-plane type shutter (1/8000 to 30 sec. plus Bulb for stills; movies – 1/8000 to 1/4), flash synch at 1/250 sec.; electronic front curtain shutter and silent shooting available
Exposure Compensation: +/- EV in 1/3EV or 1/2EV steps (+/-EV for movies)
Exposure bracketing: 3 frames across +/-3EV
Other bracketing options: WB – 3 frames, H/L selectable; DRO – 3 frames, H/L selectable
Self-timer: 2 or 10 seconds delay
Intervalometer: No
Focus system: Fast Hybrid AF (phase-detection AF/contrast-detection AF)
Focus modes: AF-S, AF-A (Automatic), AF-C, DMF, MF
Focus area selection: Wide, Zone, Centre, Flexible Spot, Expand Flexible Spot, Lock-on AF
Exposure metering: Multi-zone, Centre-weighted and Spot metering patterns
Shooting modes: P, A, S, M
Picture Effect modes: Posterisation (Colour), Posterisation (B/W), Pop Colour, Retro Photo, Partial Colour (R/G/B/Y), High Contrast Monochrome, Toy Camera (Normal/Cool/Warm/Green/Magenta), Soft High-key, Rich-tone Monochrome
Creative Style modes: Standard, Vivid, Neutral, Clear, Deep, Light, Portrait, Landscape, Sunset, Night Scene, Autumn leaves, Black & White, Sepia, Style Box (1-6), (Contrast (-3 to +3 steps), Saturation (-3 to +3 steps), Sharpness (-3 to +3 steps))
Picture Profiles: Black level, Gamma (Movie, Still, Cine1-4, ITU709, ITU709 [800%], S-Log2, S-Log3, HLG, HLG1-3), Black Gamma, Knee, Colour Mode, Saturation, Colour Phase, Colour Depth, Detail, Copy, Reset
Colour space options: sRGB standard (with sYCC gamut) and Adobe RGB standard compatible with TRILUMINOS Colour
ISO range: Still images: ISO 100-32000 (Expandable to ISO 50 to 102400), Movies: ISO 100-32000 (both with selectable lower and upper limits)
White balance: Auto, Daylight, Shade, Cloudy, Incandescent, Fluorescent, (Warm White / Cool White / Day White / Daylight), Flash, Underwater, Colour Temperature (2500 to 9900K); AWB Micro Adjustment – G7 to M7(57-step), A7 to B7(29-step), Custom
Flash: Hot shoes for external flash only
Flash modes: Flash off, Autoflash, Fill-flash, Slow Sync., Rear Sync., Red-eye reduction (on/off selectable), Wireless, Hi-speed sync.
Flash exposure adjustment: +/- 3.0 EV (switchable between 1/3 and 1/2 EV steps)
Sequence shooting: Max. 10 frames/sec.
Buffer capacity: 76 JPEG Extra fine L or 76 compressed raw frames or RAW+JPEG pairs; 28 frames uncompressed raw
Storage Media: Dual slots for SD, SDHC, SDXC cards (Compatible with UHS-I and UHS-II standards); Slot 2 accepts Memory Stick Duo/SD cards (UHS-I compliant)
Viewfinder: 1.3 cm (0.5-type) colour Quad-VGA OLED electronic viewfinder with 3,686,400 dots, 100% FOV coverage, 0.78x magnification, 23mm eye point, frame rate – Std 50fps, Hi 100fps, dioptre adjustment -4.0 to +3.0 dpt
LCD monitor: Tilting 3-inch TFT LCD touch screen with 1,440,000 dots
Live View modes:
Playback functions: Single (with or without shooting information Y RGB histogram & highlight/shadow warning), 9/25-frame index view, Enlarged display mode (L: 19.9x, M: 12.9x, S: 10.0x), Auto Review (10/5/2 sec, Off), Image orientation (Auto/Manual/Off selectable), Slideshow, Folder selection (Date/ Still/ AVCHD/XAVC S HD/XAVC S 4K), Forward/Rewind (movie), Delete, Protect, Rating, Disp Cont Shoot Grp
Interface terminals: SuperSpeed USB (USB 3.1 Gen 1), HDMI micro connector (Type-D), 3.5 mm Stereo mini-jacks for microphone and headphones, PC remote terminal
Wi-Fi function: IEEE 802.11b/g/n(2.4GHz band) plus Bluetooth Standard Ver. 4.1 (2.4GHz band)
Power supply: NP-FZ100 rechargeable Li-ion Battery Pack; CIPA rated for approx. 530 shots/charge with EVF, 650 shots/charge with monitor
Dimensions (wxhxd): Approx. 126.9 x 95.6 x 73.7 mm
Weight: 657 grams with battery and memory card
Distributor: Sony Australia; 1300 720 071; www.sony.com.au.
TESTS
Based on JPEG files
.
Based on ARW.RAW files processed with Adobe Camera Raw.
SAMPLES
All test shots taken with the FE 24-70mm f/2.8 G-Master lens.
Auto white balance with incandescent lighting.
Auto white balance, white priority setting, with incandescent lighting.
Auto white balance with fluorescent lighting.
Auto white balance with warm toned LED lighting.
Auto white balance, white priority setting, with warm toned LED lighting.
30-second exposure at ISO 50; 56mm focal length, f/2.8.
20-second exposure at ISO 100; 56mm focal length, f/2.8.
10-second exposure at ISO 800; 56mm focal length, f/5.
6-second exposure at ISO 1600;56mm focal length, f/5.6.
3.2-second exposure at ISO 6400; 56mm focal length, f/10.
2-second exposure at ISO 25600; 56mm focal length, f/9.
1.6-second exposure at ISO 51200; 56mm focal length, f/11.
1-second exposure at ISO 102400; 56mm focal length, f/16.
Strong backlighting; ISO 100, 1/200 second at f/9.
24mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/80 second at f/8.
70mm focal length, ISO 200, 1/160 second at f/8.
24mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/500 second at f/5.
70mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/500 second at f/5.6.
62mm focal length, ISO 1600, 1/20 second at f/4.5.
24mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/160 second at f/8.
38mm focal length, ISO 800, 1/60 second at f/5.6.
61mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/200 second at f/5.
30mm focal length, ISO 200, 1/60 second at f/4.5.
70mm focal length, ISO 400, 1/80 second at f/4.
38mm focal length, ISO 800, 1/160 second at f/4.
70mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/160 second at f/3.2.
70mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/1000 second at f/2.8.
Still frame from XAVC S 4K video clip; 25p 100Mbps.
Still frame from XAVC S 4K video clip; 25p 60Mbps.
Still frame from XAVC S FHD video clip; 50p 50Mbps.
Still frame from XAVC S FHD video clip; 25p 50Mbps.
Still frame from XAVC S FHD video clip; 25p 16Mbps.
Still frame from XAVC S FHD video clip; 100p 100Mbps.
Still frame from AVCHD Full HD (1920 x 1080) video clip; 50i at 24Mbps.
Still frame from AVCHD Full HD (1920 x 1080) video clip; 50i at 17Mbps.
Still frame from S&Q recording at 25p 100 fps.
Rating
RRP: AU$4,999; US$3,200
- Build: 9.0
- Ease of use: 8.4
- Autofocusing: 8.9
- Still image quality JPEG: 8.8
- Still image quality RAW: 9.0
- Video quality: 9.0
