Sony announces a7R III with faster AF, more fps and longer battery life

Sony's new high-res full frame mirrorless camera is here. The a7R III brings the same 42.4MP backside-illuminated sensor with no aliasing filter as its predecessor, but adds a focus point selection joystick, AF-On button, twin SD card slots. We also get flash sync socket as well as the higher-capacity battery and the higher resolution electronic viewfinder of the flagship Sony α9.

The Sony a7R III gets a faster Bionz X processor, which combined with a redesigned low-vibration shutter allows for 10 frames per second shooting with full autofocus in both mechanical or electronic shutter mode. The a7R III can capture a total of 87 compressed or 28 uncompressed RAW files in a sequence.

Sony α7R III

The in-body 5-axis stabilization has been updated to receive a 5.5 steop rating, by CIPA standards.

The new battery is the NP-FZ100 unit from the a9, which doubles the longevity of the previous a7R II - it has a CIPA rating of 650 shots with the LCD and 530 shots with EVF.

Sony α7R III

The new Sony a7R III can still capture 3840 x 2160 UHD 4K video in either full frame or Super 35 mode - which uses essentially an APS-C crop of the sensor.

Like last year's a7R II there is a difference in quality. Full frame mode produced the noisier footage and had noticeably less sharpness and dynamic range. Super 35 mode will produce the sharper video but Sony promises quality improvement to both modes.

One feature landscape photographers will particularly like is the new Multi-shot resolution mode. Similar to the full frame Pentax K-1's Pixel Shift it captures multiple shots while moving the sensor between each shot so that each pixel position has one red, one blue and two green pixels. The end result is a much sharper image with the lowest noise possible.

Unlike the Pentax though, the Sony a7R III can't combine the images in camera and provides a free software that will stack the images in post-processing.

Sony also had a few lens announcements. The new FE 24-105mm F4 G OSS is a lens that many enthusiasts were waiting for. It's one the lightest full frame 24-105 f/4 lenses around and Sony claims is sharper than the equivalent Canon and Nikon competitors.

The FE 24-105mm F4 G OSS is not a G Master lens but is dust and moisture resistant.

Sony FE 24-105mm F4 G OSS

Finally, Sony announced that it's developing a 400mm F2.8 G Master lens but that won't be available until next summer.

The Sony a7R III will go on sale the last day of November at a recommended price of $3,199 body only.

The Sony FE 24-105mm F4 G OSS lens will ship the last week of November at a price of $1,299.

Source | Via