I've had both the A7RIV and A7RIII. In short, the A7R III is an excellent value. The biggest differences will be in the ergonomics and specifically for portraits, AF tracking w/Eye AF. Ergonomic-wise, the A7RIV is better. The rear dial is easier to use. The shutter button is larger and flat, not concave like the A7R III. The whole body just feels more refined. Weather sealing is improved, though I never removed the bottom plate to confirm they finally sealed it.
AF-wise, what I missed the most from the IV is the Real-time AF Tracking w/ Eye AF. The III only has the real-time eye-af. When you are in the AF-Tracking mode and the III finds a face, it will track sometimes the whole body. So you have to juggle between realtime eye or tracking, but you can't do both at the same time. See this DP Review Thread for more info on the AF part: https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4366091
Tschanrm wrote:
I've had both the A7RIV and A7RIII. In short, the A7R III is an excellent value. The biggest differences will be in the ergonomics and specifically for portraits, AF tracking w/Eye AF. Ergonomic-wise, the A7RIV is better. The rear dial is easier to use. The shutter button is larger and flat, not concave like the A7R III. The whole body just feels more refined. Weather sealing is improved, though I never removed the bottom plate to confirm they finally sealed it.
AF-wise, what I missed the most from the IV is the Real-time AF Tracking w/ Eye AF. The III only has the real-time eye-af. When you are in the AF-Tracking mode and the III finds a face, it will track sometimes the whole body. So you have to juggle between realtime eye or tracking, but you can't do both at the same time. See this DP Review Thread for more info on the AF part: https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4366091...Show more →
I have an A7RIII and A7IV. The 4th gen body is soo good. Sony really put a lot of thoughts into redesigning the buttons and dials. The outer shell materials feel great and the camera is perfectly chunky.
The A7RIII has always been a bit awkward to hold and use. Sony really upgraded the ergonomics in the gen after. YMMV of course.
My a7Riii is my 4th Sony and likely will be my last, which will be used until its life or mine ends. I first bought a Sony RXi00ii mostly for a taste of what the Sony system was all about. For me, it remains a fine in-jean pocket camera that I will likely have just as long. Next came the a7ii. It image quality quickly convinced me to sell my Canon 6D. Sony sensors, for me, punch a ticket that Canon sensors, up to the 5D iv and still mostly today, can't match. Then I also sold my Olympus OMD E-M1 because having it and the a7ii, two cameras with the world's most complicated menus, were too much for me. After a time with the a7ii, I grew unhappy with its focus misses. Perhaps it was me or the camera, I'm still not clear on why. It was replaced with the a7Rii. Photos from its 42 MP sensor sometimes just blew me away. But its menu still sucked big time and worse that camera just sucked down the battery sitting on the shelf. So, an a7Riii replaced it. Its menu is much improved, somewhat similarly organized to Canon's. The battery drain problem is gone, in fact I find its real-time battery life reasonable. The sensor is great, one of the rare sensors that DXO scores 100. The back right corner of the a7Rii had a way of digging into my hand as I held it. That "pain" was gone with the a7Riii, but in comparing the the cameras I could not see a reason for that difference. Perhaps the a7Riii is a tad thicker. Also, its IS is a great asset to have. All and all, I have become very fond of that camera. I don't actually need 42 MPs, but I also find its 18-MP jpgs with my routine LRc edits produce some pretty satisfying photos. So, of the 33 cameras have gone though my hands, I think the a7Riii is a keeper. Some may think they need more MPs of the later Rs, I don't. FYI, I still have a Panasonic GX8 with its 14-140 for light-weight air travel, a Panasonic G9 with its 100-400 for birds and other lens for hiking, and I recently picked up a 10-year old Canon 7Dii mostly to try with my 20-year old EF70-200 f/4.0 L IS. As I approach 77 and 65 years with a camera in my hands, I find I set up cameras and use them mostly the same way that I have for the last 50 or so years. Older used cameras are still very good today. BTW, my most published photo and the one requested for use on a book cover came from my first 2-MP Nikon digital. Yes, from my experience, the a7Riii is worth buying today.
One advantage also to the 42mp sensor is that it has some less noise compared to the 61mp. I had the r3 for a couple years and upgraded to the r4 and then r5 especially due to the tilt screen, better af, menus and file compression. Plus the r5 was just a much refined r4 that i already loved! My god that tilt screen was an absolute game changer for my landscape photos. So much easier to compose.
If sony would remake the r3 with some of the improved af and tilt screen now that would be cool. But i guess it would eat away the r5 sales so doubt sony would do. They prefer to release newer cameras. 😁
I love the A7R series. I have two Sony A7RIII's, a Sony A7RIV and a Sony A7RV. One of my Sony A7RIII's has had the sensor converted to 850nm infrared. I love using it to capture some unique B&W landscapes.
sismailian wrote:
If sony would remake the r3 with some of the improved af and tilt screen now that would be cool. But i guess it would eat away the r5 sales so doubt sony would do. They prefer to release newer cameras. 😁
I love my a7r iii and may buy another before they discontinue them. I agree here in that I wish they would upgrade the body with a tilt lens. Its the one thing I really feel we were shorted on. Otherwise a wonderful body!
I certainly think so. I had the RII; gave it to my son to start him out. Picked up a gently used RIII and love it. My interests don't necessarily involve action, sports or wildlife so speed is not imperative.
i miss mine. sold it and an A9 for a Z8. money wise, I wish I had kept my four camera sony kit, but if I had to pick just one camera for photo starting over, it would be the A7r3. I still think it's the best sensor sony has ever made.
3catsinky wrote:
i miss mine. sold it and an A9 for a Z8. money wise, I wish I had kept my four camera sony kit, but if I had to pick just one camera for photo starting over, it would be the A7r3. I still think it's the best sensor sony has ever made.
The A7Riii was a fantastic camera for limited subjects, but I don't miss mine at all. The Z8 is very, very, very close to the Sony's IQ for landscape applications, and can do everything else magnitudes better!
RoamingScott wrote:
The A7Riii was a fantastic camera for limited subjects, but I don't miss mine at all. The Z8 is very, very, very close to the Sony's IQ for landscape applications, and can do everything else magnitudes better!
Scott, I watched this video the other day, the video is 9 months old, he complained about the AF needed improvement.
Has there been a FW update since then, that improved the AF on the Z8. He did rave about how good the Ibis was on the Z8
RoamingScott wrote:
The A7Riii was a fantastic camera for limited subjects, but I don't miss mine at all. The Z8 is very, very, very close to the Sony's IQ for landscape applications, and can do everything else magnitudes better!
I agree.
I always loved the sensor in the A7RIII (more than the 61MP one) but I like the Z8 even more.
There's just something about how Nikon renders the greens in a landscape.
so if this is something you have in mind… 