I gifted my 18 yr old grandson my Z50 a couple years ago and he was doing very well with it but that camera has met its demise. He decided to go with Sony for a replacement and settled on the a7 lll which he ordered from MPB. He had limited funds to work with so I suggested he go with the Tamron 28-200 as an all in one to get him started. He's leaving next month on a monumental 7,000 mile road trip through the US and BC with three buddies so I thought that would be a decent one lens, affordable solution to document his trip. He does a lot of camping, skiing, bouldering, climbing, and hiking. His primary output at this point is sharing on Instagram. He doesn't really print much.
The 28-200 seems to get pretty good reviews for what it is, but I'm finding very little info on the a7 lll here on the forum. I do realize it's an older body now. Was this just not a very popular camera or have people just moved on ? Anything I should tell him to be aware of with issues or problems ?
Gary
Jun 19, 2025 at 07:29 AM
Steve Spencer Offline • • • • • • • Upload & Sell: On
sum1sgrampa wrote:
I gifted my 18 yr old grandson my Z50 a couple years ago and he was doing very well with it but that camera has met its demise. He decided to go with Sony for a replacement and settled on the a7 lll which he ordered from MPB. He had limited funds to work with so I suggested he go with the Tamron 28-200 as an all in one to get him started. He's leaving next month on a monumental 7,000 mile road trip through the US and BC with three buddies so I thought that would be a decent one lens, affordable solution to document his trip. He does a lot of camping, skiing, bouldering, climbing, and hiking. His primary output at this point is sharing on Instagram. He doesn't really print much.
The 28-200 seems to get pretty good reviews for what it is, but I'm finding very little info on the a7 lll here on the forum. I do realize it's an older body now. Was this just not a very popular camera or have people just moved on ? Anything I should tell him to be aware of with issues or problems ?
Gary ...Show more →
The A7 III has a very good 24 MP sensor with good balance between base ISO and high ISO performance, and it has decent AF. It has slow sensor scan speed, so it is best to use the mechanical shutter for anything moving. It also has the old menu system that I found opaque and clunky--I like the new menu system a lot better. It is a solid camera and I think a good choice on a budget for an all around camera.
Thank you Steve. Regarding the menu system, since this is his first Sony, I guess what he doesn't know won't hurt him Thanks for the reminder on the mechanical shutter. He's not into wildlife or sports aside from the skiing so hopefully that won't be too big an issue. He likes street scenes and landscapes primarily.
Appreciate the input.
I just recently upgraded from the A7III and it was my main camera for 5 or 6 years. I'd say it's an excellent general use camera, from my understanding it's still used quite a bit by professionals for it's performance to value ratio.
While there have obviously been advancements in technology, it was very uncommon for me to miss a shot because of the camera itself. I often used it with the Tamron 28-200 and they make a good pair when you have enough light. It wouldn't be my first choice of lens for shooting indoors, but it was great for outdoor activities.
Good selection and it will provide him with everything he needs to make strong images. Mark Galer has a lot of resources to help make sense of the menus and can provide suggested settings to begin with for the various types of photography.
I would say the a7iii was one of the defining cameras that created Sony leadership in mirrorless cameras. It was maybe not as revolutionary as the release of the a9. It has a lot of strengths, I believe it was the first 24mp FF BSI sensor. The Riii released a 42mp BSI sensor a few months earlier. It basically checked all the boxes for $2000 and made a very competitive value proposition. It is still a very good value proposition on the used, I'm sure one of the main reasons your grandson selected it. It was immensely popular and really ate Canon and Nikon's lunch taking huge market share. I switched from Canon to Sony because of this camera. I owned this camera for several years.
As far as weaknesses, I would say the main one is color science. I was never really happy with the look of jpg straight out of camera. For me Capturing Raw and then processing with capture one solved the color issues. It could have largely been a auto white balance issue, I never thought the AWB on Sony was particularly good until the A7Rv with the AI chip and AWB sensor.
The focus accuracy at the time was amazing. That has since been surpassed by more modern cameras. Even now I'm not sure you can find a focus system that beats it at a comparable price.
Some cameras had defective shutters, this lead to premature failure of the shutter. I did not see that in mine. Not something I would be worried about, use the shutter, use the camera. If something happens replace the shutter.
I've seen many pro's operating with lesser cameras.
Great choice! I think your grandson will create some nice images with that setup. The A7III is still a relevant great camera with a very nice sensor. I might suggest a wide angle option to pair with it, especially if he likes to shoot some of those things you mentioned. Something like the Sony 20mm f/1.8 is a nice complement to the Tamron 28-200 or the new Sony 16mm f/1.8 if he would like wider. Both would work well for some astrophotography which he may want to photograph if he's out adventuring and camping in spectacular dark locations. If a zoom is preferred maybe something like the Sony 16-35 f/4 or Tamron 17-28mm f/2.8 would work too for general wide angle photography.
Hey Gary! I have not used the A7III but I heartily concur on the 28-200, it’s a fantastic one-lens solution. The past few days I have been processing RAW’s from a landscape shoot with it and am very pleased with the sharpness. Also, the f/2.8 aperture at 28mm has made it useful for me for evening travel photography.
ILCE-7RM5E 28-200mm F2.8-5.6 A071 lens159mmf/11.01/60s100 ISO0.0 EV
ILCE-7RM5E 28-200mm F2.8-5.6 A071 lens28mmf/2.81/4s125 ISO-0.7 EV
I still have and use an a7iii that I converted to full spectrum. It is most often used for infrared, but I pop in a hot mirror filter fairly frequently and use it as a second visual spectrum body. Its colors are basically the same as the a1, and I process the files from the two cameras the same way when using both. I have seen no evidence of differences in color science between the two. It is a great camera.
Id try to get something 20mm or wider if I was going to BC and the American West. The Taron 20mm has a lot of distortion only $250 though, might adapt nikkor Tamron etc
A7iii is solid. Older camera body at this point but by no means obsolete!
I have an A7iv and really enjoy it, I've found the extra MP (up to 33 from the 24 on the iii) to be very useful when you need to crop in a bit, but most people are just posting on Instagram anyway where you can have pretty low MP images and it won't matter much.
I can't speak for the lens, unfortunately, as I'm a "mostly primes" guy. But in general folks seem to like that Tamron it seems like.
AmbientMike wrote:
Id try to get something 20mm or wider if I was going to BC and the American West. The Tamron 20mm has a lot of distortion only $250 though, might adapt nikkor Tamron etc
+1 on the 20mm. There’s also Viltrox 20mm 2.8 worth the look.
A big thank you to everyone who took the time to reply. I read through all the posts and I'm going to forward your info to my grandson. A lot of useful information and greatly appreciated. I'm going to look into the Tamron 20 to get him something wider. That was our major concern with the 28-200, that it might not be wide enough. Thanks again for all the input !
Gary
You can spend a little more and get the Tamron 17-28…more versatile, same speed and filter size. Makes a good companion to the 28-200. I use that combo a fair amount.
sum1sgrampa wrote:
A big thank you to everyone who took the time to reply. I read through all the posts and I'm going to forward your info to my grandson. A lot of useful information and greatly appreciated. I'm going to look into the Tamron 20 to get him something wider. That was our major concern with the 28-200, that it might not be wide enough. Thanks again for all the input !
Gary
jwpstl wrote:
You can spend a little more and get the Tamron 17-28…more versatile, same speed and filter size. Makes a good companion to the 28-200. I use that combo a fair amount.
We found a Tamron 20 2.8 at KEH in EX+ condition for $159 so he grabbed that. I'm sure the 17-28 would have been a better choice but he's trying to do this on his own and he's putting $$ towards his trip.
---------------------------------------------
sonofjesse2010 wrote:
A7III is great and really has good EYE AF. I think this is a excellent setup and he will do GREAT!!
Maybe shoot RAW+JPG he can always edit the RAWs 10 years from now even if he don't want too now.
Especially if your shooting landscapes F8, don't forget you can get some older manual glass for STEAL and that might be a budget option for him.
I think often time we focus too much on the gear and NOT the memories photography brings us.
Hopefully you can share some shots after the trip with us.
Appreciate the input. I'll definitely try and post something when he returns.
I recently got the Tamron 20mm and it indeed has a lot of distortion. I’ve also had the Samyang 18mm f/2.8, which is even smaller, still cheap, and pretty darn good. I haven’t tested these side by side, but so far I think I prefer the Samyang, if for no other reason than the extra width. I’m an ultra wide guy, though. sum1sgrampa wrote:
A big thank you to everyone who took the time to reply. I read through all the posts and I'm going to forward your info to my grandson. A lot of useful information and greatly appreciated. I'm going to look into the Tamron 20 to get him something wider. That was our major concern with the 28-200, that it might not be wide enough. Thanks again for all the input !
Gary
Thanks for the reminder on the mechanical shutter. He's not into wildlife or sports aside from the skiing so hopefully that won't be too big an issue. He likes street scenes and landscapes primarily. 
