It’s finally here! The Sony A7S III is announced and I’ve been shooting with it for 7 weeks!

DISCLAIMER: I was hired by Sony to make two videos for launch day and I am very proud of them both. They have not paid for my opinion though, that is always my own. You will see in my HUGE review that will be released shortly, where I discuss the good and the bad of the camera. Of course, you don’t have to believe me as there are countless other reviews out there to check out. After all, you should never buy a camera, or any product really, based on one review. Watch loads, read loads and if you can try before you buy!

Sony A7S III and 200-600mm F5.6-6.3

My main post about the camera will be posted alongside my epic and super in-depth when it is finished and uploaded, for now, I just want to share my initial thoughts about the camera as well as those two shorts I made for Sony.

Yes, it really has been 5 years since the A7S II came out and considering there was a one year gap between that and the original model this wait has been so unlike Sony! Why they have taken so long I do not know but thankfully it was worth the wait.

I had a shortlist of essentials the camera needed to have:

  • 10 bit internal either 4:2:2 or 4:2:0 and at least at 60p with NO CROP
  • The same or better autofocus system as the A7RIV with its marvellous face and eye-tracking
  • For the HDMI issues to finally be sorted so face tracking autofocus isn’t disabled like the other mirrorless cameras from Sony and to be able to have OSD on a monitor in 4K

See? Not a long list. Sure, there are many other things I wanted. A flip-out screen, new menus with touch navigation, 240fps in HD, perhaps a 6K sensor for supersampling and being able to take higher resolution stills, 4K is fine. 10 bit uncompressed 4:2:2 output from the HDMI, reduced rolling shutter artefacts and no time limit for recording were some.

Well, we have all of those except the 6K sensor, that is the same 12.1 MP resolution but much improved. It has a super-fast readout for massively reduced rolling shutter and because it doesn’t have to do complicated supersampling/ downsampling it can do high frame rates in 4K up to 120p and barely bat an eyelid. It can shoot HD 24p to 240p in 10 bit 4:2:2, and 4K 24p to 120p also in 10 bit 4:2:2. There is a slight 1.1x crop in 4K 100 and 120p though.



Autofocus IS better than the A7RIV, we now touch tracking although there is a caveat that I will talk about in my review. Still no animal eye AF in video, when you see what the Canon R5 and R6 are capable of in this regards it is a real shame and I hope they can fix it. But, it does work in all shooting modes including the high frame rates and also when you have a monitor connected.

We have a new massively improved menu design which can be operated by touch screen, again there are caveats I will discuss in my review.

This is a FANTASTIC camera, the image is stunning, it is a joy to use and I have done very extensive overheating tests (again in my review) that will impress the crap out of you!

Anyway, more about the camera when I post the review, I have to get back to editing it so I can share it with you. Please enjoy the two videos, I have embedded the Vimeo versions first as you can download an H.265 10-bit version there. They are of course on YouTube too below them.

Now I See Part 2: Sony A7S III from Philip Bloom on Vimeo.

When Sony Europe hired me to make a video for the launch of the long-anticipated A7S III, a camera that we thought would never come out,it made sense to me to make a follow up to my video “Now I See” that I made with the first A7S. It was the video that showed people the amazing low light ability of the camera.

Apart from being filmed on the same beach and on the same exact day of the year, just 6 years later, this isn’t a copy of the original video. It expands greatly on it with a strong emphasis on the daylight filming due to the camera’s incredible 4K high frame rate abilities. Also, the use of match cuts of the same shot at different times of the day is a nod to the making nighttime look like daytime in the original video. There is also a strong sound design so listen with headphones or some nice stereo speakers!

Many lenses were used and are listed below. A large percentage of the day filming was with the Sony 200-600mm F5.6-6.3.

Graded with Film Convert Nitrate, get 10% off at http://bit.ly/fcnitrate

Music “Luminescence” By Bob Bradley & Christopher Wonfor from Audio Network

BTS and photographer: Sarah Seal
Additional BTS and man who walks up and down the beach at night: Julian Wakefield

Shot in 25p, 50p, 60p, 100p, 120p in 4K. Full details and BTS are in the review.

Sony A7S III https://gopb.co/a7siii
Sony 200-600mm F5.6-6.3: https://gopb.co/sony200600
Sony 1000-400mm F4.5-5.6: https://gopb.co/sony100400
Sony 70-200mm F2.8 GM: https://gopb.co/sony70200
Sony 135mm F1.8 GM: https://gopb.co/sony135
Sony 85mm F1.4 GM: https://gopb.co/sony85
Sony 24-70mm F2.8 GM: https://gopb.co/sony2470
Sony Zeiss Planar 50mm: F1.4: https://gopb.co/sonyzeiss50
Sony 35mm F1.8: https://gopb.co/sony35
Sony 24mm F1.4 GM: https://gopb.co/sony24

Revoring: http://gopb.co/revoring

Sony ECM-B1M microphone: https://gopb.co/sonyecmb1m
PolarPro Variable ND: https://gopb.co/polarprond
Sony CFexpress A card: https://gopb.co/160gbcfea
Prograde 128gb V90 SD Card: https://gopb.co/progradev90128gb
Atomos Ninja V: http://gopb.co/atomosninjav17

The Paddleboarder: Sony A7S III in ProRes RAW w/ Atomos Ninja V from Philip Bloom on Vimeo.

Super in-depth independent review coming very shortly!

This is the second of two videos I made for Sony for the launch of the LONG awaited A7S III, this one was made in conjunction with Atomos to show the ProRes RAW from the camera with the Ninja V.

You can watch the first video, “Now I See: Part 2” here: https://vimeo.com/philipbloom/a7siii

This video is quite different, it follows Julian Wakefiled as he heads up the River Thames on a standup paddleboard (my one in fact!) It is a very relaxing journey with only natural sound used, no music.

It was filmed from the riverbank using a tripod and on a boat resting on a bag which was very challenging when at the end of the Sony 100-400 F4.5-5.6 lens! The other lenses used are listed below.

Thanks to Julian and to Sarah Seal who once again took photos and shot BTS video for the review.

Sony A7S III: gopb.co/a7siii
Sony 1000-400mm F4.5-5.6: https://gopb.co/sony100400
Sony 70-200mm F2.8 GM: https://gopb.co/sony70200
Sony 24-70mm F2.8 GM: https://gopb.co/sony2470

Atomos Ninja V: http://gopb.co/atomosninjav17

Revoring: http://gopb.co/revoring

Sony ECM-B1M microphone: https://gopb.co/sonyecmb1m
PolarPro Variable ND: https://gopb.co/polarprond
Sony CFexpress A card: https://gopb.co/160gbcfea
Prograde 128gb V90 SD Card: https://gopb.co/progradev90128gb

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