Sony A7 III - still the only camera you need in 2024

Listen up. I've reviewed tons of cameras in my time and there's one big secret the brands don't want you to know — they can all take a world class photo, Sony A7 III included!

Pros

• Still excellent image quality

• Very capable focusing system

• Outstanding lens ecosystem

• Excellent price

Cons

• It won't get new firmware updates

• It doesn't feature Sony's latest AI AF updates

• Low-res rear screen

When I first reviewed this camera for a popular photography magazine, I remember saying that despite being incredible, tech-first cameras with a formidable reputation for innovation, the A7 III was the first Sony mirrorless that I felt connected to. It's a dynamo and one of the most important and best-selling mirrorless cameras of the past decade, but with a veritable lifetime of tech updates and refinements put into the newer models, such as the A7 IV or A7R V, why would you still choose an older model? 

Still A specsy beast

The specs on this thing were bloody drool-inducing back when it released in 2018. We're talking a class-leading 693-point phase detection AF system (as found in the flagship sports shooter A9 model), 5-stop image stabilisation, 4k video and meaty-for-the-time 10fps continuous shooting. It was rated for over 700 shots on a single charge - easily double that in real-world scenarios - dwarfed the still relevant DSLR counterparts with a dainty 650g body weight and helped to make a million lazy photographers (happily guilty here) with its robust focus tracking. Needless to say, it was a bloody beast at launch!

Sure, in 2024 its dropped behind the curve in terms of features and ability, even with some impressive firmware updates, but the truth is that this thing still offers more than 90% of the power that photographers, casual or professional, will ever need. 

The 25MP full-frame sensor captures crisp photos and helps to deliver more than enough quality in both 4k and 1080p video (the former limited to a max of 30fps while Full HD can bag you enough slow motion to make a Zack Snyder movie - please, don't - being capped at a max 120fps). At UHD it oversamples, too, recording 6k of details to cram into its 4k output. This alone was enough to make it the camera of choice for indie film makers or wedding videographers (you can throw this thing around all day long on a gimbal without needing Schwarzeneggar arms!). Oh, and it even lets you shoot in HLG and S-log 3, though video is only outputted with a 4:2:0 8-bit readout (4:2:2 8-bit if recording to an external source via HDMI), it's not the greatest machine for extreme colourgrading challenging situations, but for anyone that isn't Hollywood it's great. 

For all those peeps out there that like to keep it stationary - boring! - you'd have a real challenge distinguishing the A7 III files from any other manufacturer. That said, I always found the older Sony files to be a touch too magenta. Nothing you can't fix with 30 seconds of photoshop or pre-setting the white balance before you shoot. Needless to say, it holds up incredibly well against 2024's field of IQ and isn't just relevant, but genuinely competitive.  

Time to get a little handsy!

Historically, one of the biggest claims detractors made about Sony was the button layout and diminutive/awkward size. Then every other sensible manufacturer went smaller and one even added a weird touch bar (less said the better), and Sony themselves increased the size of the hand grip and added a few more features in later models, so it's a bit of a non-issue for me. That said, I do have the dainty hands of a Parisian flower girl, so expeirence may vary. But overall, there's a lot of tactile goodness at play. You've got a large rear screen-adjacent dial for ISO and front and rear dials for shutter speed and aperture - all customiseable. User assigneable function buttons (C1,C2 etc) are litterd around the place to add shotcuts to your fingertips and there's enough weather-sealing to give you unhampered coverage through the notorious British weather, and it has done, many times. 

There are some downsides. The handgrip hasn't benefitted from the previously mentioned enlargement procedure. I personally find it more than enough, but I will acknolwdge there are more secure feeling grips in play right now. Likewise, while the rear screen does tilt, it's only down and a little bit up, so mostly useful for waist-level use and the occasional tippy toes shooting. It's also only 922k dots, which is an underwhelming level of low res by today's standards; consider it more for illustrative purposes though and it more than does the job required. The electornic viewfinder is, likewise, a little behind the curve versus today's models, packing in 2.36m dots. Again, it's more than capable of doing the job and, as with all live view EVFs, the ability to see your actual settings preview as you change them is a bloody godsend! 

Verdict

So, having reviewed the good and the bad - no ugly here - why is this a hill I'm willing to die on when there are so many glistening new models, including in Sony's own camp? Few reasons really. It's pound-for-pound one of the best value cameras availabe right now, lightening your wallet by £1499. It gets all of the basics and a lot of the same quality-of-life features you'd find in the newest crop of cameras. The images from the A7 III are as good as anything released in the past year and, if you know how to use it, will still produce world class output without breaking a sweat. 

Let's also talk about the lens range. Unlike Canon and Nikon, both of which have opted to keep their systems closed to third-party optics (apart from the occasional releases on their crop-frame range), Sony has adopted a free market. Sure, you can invest big money in Sony's proprietary lens system, but you can also go for the excellent Sigma Art optics and save yourself siginficant cash. There's a lot of freedom and you'll save big in the long term without sacrificing noticeable image quality.

Basically, if you can live with a slightly naff rear screen resolution, tech that's (only slightly) behind the latest gear (at double the price) and occaosinally awkward hand placement, this remains an excellent camera in 2024 that will more than meet your needs. 

All images ©kirkschwarz