FixThePhoto Verdict: ★★★★☆ (4.5/5)
Sony A7 III is a fantastic camera for travel photographers, as it offers a compact build, great picture quality, and a highly responsive AF system. It’s equipped with a full-frame sensor that ensures your photos are highly-detailed even in suboptimal lighting conditions. The camera also has a long-lasting battery packed into a lightweight body, making it simple to carry even during hiking trips.
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✔️ Terrific low-light results |
❌ Doesn’t have integrated flash |
Key Specifications:
Ever since the Sony A7III release date was announced, I was looking forward to get it and recently I finally managed to test it. If you’ve been wondering when did the Sony A7III come out, you might be surprised to learn that it’s been on the market since March 2018 and it still remains a powerhouse in its category and price range.
This camera is packed with a 24.2MP full-frame sensor and offers an incredible dynamic range. It’s also supplied with 5-axis integrated stabilization, which is an essential feature for any travel photographer or vlogger who’s always on the go. The 693 AF points are also very impressive, ensuring this Sony camera keeps the subject in focus whether I’m shooting in a bustling city street or out in the woods. Moreover, this model supports 4K video recording, which has become increasingly popular across video hosting platforms.
The package I received looks stylish and sports Sony’s trademark orange and black colors. It contained the camera body securely protected by foam, a battery, a charging cable, and the manual, which I will definitely read later (I promise). Additionally, I got a 50mm prime lens, which would allow me to take beautiful, bokeh-rich photos.
Being a travel blogger, I’ve had experience with a large number of cameras during my career, but the A7 III is one of my favorites. It’s highly portable, offers terrific image quality, and can be used in a wide range of scenarios, representing the perfect tool for any trip.
When it comes to sharpness and level of detail, the camera’s 24.2MP full-frame sensor has stunned me with its rich photos and immense dynamic range. Whether I’m taking photos a rolling field at sunset, a towering cityscape at sunrise, or snapping a quick portrait on the street, this camera captures all the intricate details I need.
I also love the provided AF system. It comes with 693 phase-detection points, which cover 93% of the shot and provides terrific accuracy and speed when locking onto subjects, even in challenging lighting conditions. The Eye autofocus is fantastic for taking candid photos of people and wildlife while always keeping them in focus.
Sony Alpha 7 III is also great at tackling difficult lighting conditions. I’ve used it for taking photos of dimly-lit alleyways in the evenings and city squares at night, and the results surpassed my expectations. You can set ISO as high as 204,800, which is rarely needed but such a broad range is still very impressive.
This camera is a great fit for video recording as well, particularly since it’s capable of 4K capture with intricate details and reduced rolling shutter. Add the 5-axis in-body stabilization, and you receive brilliant handheld footage even when strolling down a mountain pass or making your way through a busy street.
I have found the included battery to be satisfyingly durable, allowing me to spend most of the day snapping pictures and recording clips without recharging, which is very important when work takes me outdoors, especially in the wild.
Lastly, the camera’s compact, lightweight build makes it very simple to pack and carry without sacrificing sturdiness. I’ve used it on the beach, in humid forests, and stormy mountains and it’s still working perfectly.
Since I rarely stay long in one place, I need to have a camera for photography that’s suitable for my travels. Sony A7III specs satisfy all my needs, allowing me to handle busy towns and tranquil mountain ranges with equal success. Despite being a bit bigger and heavier than its previous model, this camera still offers the portability and functionality needed for travel photography.
The moment I first took this camera into my hands, I noticed its enhanced grip. It has more depth and is more convenient to hold, which is just what I need for a day-long photoshoot outdoors.
This camera also has pleasantly intuitive controls, including the front, rear, and job dial, which feel tactile and user-friendly, allowing me to instantly adjust different settings on the fly. The availability of two card slots makes it easy to always have free space for more photos. The fact that only one of those slots is compatible with high-speed UHS-II cards is a small sacrifice I’m ready to make to reap all the other benefits of this camera.
Even though the included electronic viewfinder lacks the higher resolution of premium Sony models, it does offer enhanced magnification to ensure you get a better view of the shot. However, this can sometimes be to your detriment, as the shot can look more pixelated and suffer from edge distortions. Thankfully, the Sony A7 III makes up for it with its ergonomic design and inclusion of buttons like AF-On and AEL, although they lack the tactile feel I was looking for.
Switching between different modes and adjusting various settings in this camera is extremely simple and quick. It takes a single button press to go from a high shutter speed for capturing a dynamic city street scene to the aperture-priority mode for snapping a moody portrait. Sony’s UI is very intuitive and allows you to instantly adapt to different shooting scenarios.
That doesn’t mean this camera doesn’t have any flaws. Even though its touchscreen is functional for autofocus control, it’s not as efficient and responsive as the displays included in competing models, and it doesn’t support menu navigation. It also lacks brightness, which makes it difficult to view when shooting outdoors on a sunny day. Thankfully, the functionality of this camera makes it easy to make peace with these minor issues.
When you’re constantly shooting on the road like me, you're used to taking photos long into the night, whether it's the sky above a lake right after sunset, a night market filled with street lights, or an outdoor performance. Sony A7III can tackle all such situations by providing impressive low-light results.
Supplied with a 24.2MP full-frame sensor and cutting-edge backside illumination, this model can pull in lights even in nearly dark environments. It also barely produces any noise even if you set a bigger ISO value. Whereas some models would already capture a grainy, unappealing picture, the A7III still produces a sharp, clean photo at the same ISO setting.
However, the most appealing part of this model is the supported dynamic range, which allows you to easily capture shadows and highlights in the same shot, leveraging the dynamic range camera to restore details during the post-processing stage. This is particularly helpful when taking photos in poorly lit locations that have bright areas, like a street artist illuminated by a spotlight or the lights adorning an old restaurant.
The AF system works equally well in such lighting conditions, as its robust phase-detection mechanism focuses on subjects quickly, surpassing most other cameras in this class. This is very useful when taking spontaneous photos when you only have a few seconds to take the shot.
If you’re a videographer, you’ll appreciate A7III’s ability to record clear footage with barely visible noise in challenging lighting conditions. If you’re filming a late-evening vlog or the city life at night, this low light video camera has the functionality you need to make sure your footage looks professional.
Overall, Sony managed to produce a camera that thrives in suboptimal lighting conditions, allowing travel bloggers like me to avoid compromising on image and video quality regardless of when I need to use it and how limited the lighting is.
When working on this Sony A7 III review, I was impressed by how great this camera is at capturing detailed architectural elements or even tiny sand specs. The photos maintained their clarity even when zoomed in. That said, moiré patterns tend to become visible if you choose repetitive textures like fabric or latticework as your subjects.
Sony’s advances in color technology are also on full display here. The camera captures natural, warm skin tones, which hundreds of my travel portrait photos can strongly attest to. The greens tend to gravitate towards blue a bit and the yellows have a hint of green to them, but such minor issues are quickly fixed during image editing.
If you tend to take a lot of JPG photos, you’ll be impressed by this camera’s functionality as well. It offers highly efficient noise minimization, retaining detail without overly smoothing the image. The sharpening is also strong without becoming overbearing. Whenever I was taking food photos in dimly lit restaurants or tranquil landscape shots, I was always happy with the result.
When dealing with a strong backlight, the camera can produce striping artifacts, especially with some specific Sony lenses. Even though this problem isn’t unique to this model, you still have to account for it if you tend to encounter a lot of high-contrast, backlit environments. You can bypass the issue by picking appropriate lenses or dealing with the artifacts in your image editing software.
I adore this camera’s silent shutter, as it allows me to discreetly take photos at locations like cathedrals or museums. However, artificial lights can cause banding while a slower readout speed of the digital shutter tends to produce distortions. Thankfully, you can fix that by using the mechanical shutter at 10fps instead.
Sony α7 III comes with the NP-FZ100 battery, which is far superior to the one included in its predecessor - the A7II. It’s estimated to last for about 710 photos per charge if you use the LCD screen and about 610 with the electronic viewfinder. Such battery life should be enough for most photographers, but travel bloggers might find it to be inefficient for a daylong trip.
Since I not only take a lot of photos during my travels, but also record plenty of videos, reviewing my creations can drain the camera quite fast. I also tend to use the digital viewfinder in most cases, so I had to get a spare battery to ensure I can keep using my camera throughout the entire day.
During my latest adventure, the photos and videos I took killed my battery a lot quicker than I planned. I had to get out my spare camera battery in the afternoon already. If I didn’t bring one, I would have missed some fantastic scenery and moments, which is why I recommend investing in spare batteries if you tend to shoot on the go a lot.
You can also try to prolong your camera’s battery life by:
During my Sony A7 III test, the camera has consistently captured stunning 4K footage, as I particularly appreciated the provided4K/24p mode. It allows recording highly detailed videos since the camera oversamples from 6K footage, preserving its vibrant colors and intricate textures. The 4K/30p mode, which adds a subtle 1.2x crop and oversamples from 5K, captures breathtaking videos, making this camera a fantastic pick for any landscape or travel videographer.
For someone who only records vlogs occasionally, these modes have provided both the quality and versatility I was looking for. That said, if you’ve previously only used premium mirrorless cameras for video recording and worked in RAW and with 10-bit color depth, then this model might feel too restrictive in terms of how much you can edit your footage.
The A7III provides 1080/120p recording for slow-motion videos, which is great for mesmerizing scenery like waves crashing on a beach or passersby walking through a carnival. The built-in S&Q (Slow & Quick) mode makes it very simple to produce slow-motion footage, but I tend to record at 120p and then reduce the video's speed during post-production.
The obvious issue here is that Full-HD videos lack the level of detail present in 4K footage. Even though its quality is high enough for most purposes, the difference between your 4K and Full-HD clips will be instantly visible to everyone.
A7III offers solid autofocus performance when recording videos, as it can track isolated subjects and people, which is ideal for vloggers. Sadly, the tap-to-track function isn’t as useful as I’d hoped, as it tends to lose highly dynamic subjects with unpredictable trajectories. For comparison, Canon’s Dual Pixel autofocus mechanism tends to provide significantly more reliable results in this aspect.
The camera offers a wide range of features for helping me record professional-quality videos. Zebra warnings make it easier to adjust exposure in bright outdoor environments, and focus peaking allows receiving crisp manual focus shots. The availability of headphone and microphone jacks make it easier to improve the sound quality of my videos, which is very important for travel vloggers.
Sony A7 Mark III has issues when used under direct sunlight since its display lacks the brightness necessary to be clearly visible in such environments. When I was shooting on a beach during the day or used this camera for capturing a street fair at noon, I couldn’t see the display properly, meaning I had to rely on the electronic viewfinder.
Even though it works fine, there are many scenarios when it’s inconvenient to use, particularly when dealing with dynamic subjects or taking spontaneous photos.
If you take a lot of photos during your travels, being unable to see the LCD screen will cause you to miss plenty of fantastic moments. Tweaking the settings, framing the scene, and ensuring the subject is in focus can be both time-consuming and irritating. Not only do I miss some great photos, but I also discover a lot of mistakes later during the image editing stage.
Even though you can increase the brightness of the display in the menu menu, even the maximum value still isn’t enough to deal with direct sunlight. I considered attaching a hood to cover the screen, but it’s very inconvenient and increases your Sony A7III’s weight by a notable margin.
Even though Sony A7III is a fantastic versatile camera, there are multiple alternatives that are worth checking out if you’re interested in a mirrorless model for photography or videography.
If you want to get a camera with a cutting-edge AF system and terrific picture quality, then you can’t go wrong with Canon EOS R6. It offers a 20MP full-frame sensor, built-in image stabilization (IBIS), and a superfast Dual Pixel AF mechanism, which is perfect for handling action and low-light scenarios.
If you’d like a more lightweight model with a unique design, then Fujifilm X-T5 definitely deserves your attention. Its 40MP APS-C sensor captures an impeccable level of detail while its trademark film simulation modes ensure your photos look creative and professional the moment you snap them. Even though it’s not a full-frame model like the A7III, it’s still a compact camera that is pleasantly user-friendly and can become a reliable travel companion for any photographer who constantly finds themselves on the road.
The Nikon Z6 II offers an enticing feature set, including a 24.5MP full-frame sensor, two card slots, and impressive 4K video recording capabilities. It has an accurate AF packed into a robust body that can be used for a wide range of photography genres. Even though the list of compatible lenses for this model is shorter than for Sony’s A series, this is still a great camera if you want a versatile model for both photography and videography.
If you want to get an affordable camera that delivers fantastic image quality, the Panasonic Lumix S5 should be at the top of your list. It offers a 24MP full-frame sensor, impeccable color accuracy, and 4K/60p video support, representing a top-tier hybrid camera for a more modest price. Its portable design and durable body make it an attractive choice for travel bloggers like me.
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