Sony A7III: IS

Ken Tanaka said the other day, "The Sony A7III is already one of the most 'reviewed' cameras in amateur photo history," and Dan Bracaglia at DPReview rather famously declared that it might become his new-go-to recommendation for enthusiasts and semi-professionals, taking over from the excellent Nikon D750 (currently on sale).

The first thing I wanted to try was the image stabilization (IS), so I wandered around the house snapping this 'n' that with the ISO set to 800 and the aperture set to ƒ/8, which gave me exposures between 1/4th sec. and 1/8th sec.

And...wow. No complaints so far. Time after time I got solid-as-a-rock images with no sign of camera shake. I took dozens of trials, naturally. Here's one example at 1/5th of a second:

Deathless art photograph of my kitchen, as good as Walker Evans (uh, not).
Lens is the FE 55mm ƒ/1.8 Zeiss.

Detail (should render at 100% for you after you double-click on it).
Note that those are grains of salt on the stove. And
that the blog software softens images somewhat.
I can live with that kind of quality at 1/5th sec.

B'cause, y'see, I gotta see for myself. And since IS is the only reason I'd switch away from the X-T1/X-T2, I needed to find out about that first. Because if it wasn't what I wanted, back into the box and back to B&H Photo it would go.

So now, with that out of the way, I can start learning the menus and how to set up the camera. Otherwise I wouldn't bother.

I have to admit that whenever I go around making "test" exposures, I feel like a geek/dweeb/propellerhead/dork/dope. Always have, as long as I've been doing it. But y'know, ya gotta do what ya gotta do.

And after I realized how well the system worked, then I had to go around and do it some more, just because it was making me happy. And that really made me feel like a dork.

Own it, Mike!

Mike

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(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

Rob de Loe: "Ah, the kitchen stove shot. I confess to having a bunch of those in my 'test' catalogue too. There isn't another place in the house where I get that much shine, bright light and colour. It's my go-to location for comparing lenses if I'm trying to decide one over the other!"

Stephen Scharf: "I've been obtaining similar results with the Fujifilm X-H1. Here is a photograph of my EAR 324 phono stage taken at 1/10 second with the Fuji 18–55mm racked out to 55mm (83mm in 35mm-e).

"The image above is small due to TypePad's image posting size limitations, so here's a link to the original-size photo.

"As can be seen, it's tack.

"The UK-based YouTube video review guys, The Photography Team, have photographs using the Fuji 90mm (135mm-equivalent) taken at 1/4 of a second.

"So, be mindful, Mike, that you have also have a choice in the Fuji ecosystem, and you wouldn't have to sell off those sweet Fuji lenses."

Mike replies: You have an EAR 324? Do you mind if I, um, hate you?

kirk tuck: "The writer at DPReview did not give his final approval on the Sony versus Nikon recommendation. He stated that he'd wait for the tests to decide if the Sony was truly the camera that he would recommend going forward. Let's not jump the gun...."

Mike replies: Granted. Fixed now.

Moose: "It seems your standards may be low for this. Robin Wong reports, 'I can confidently hand-hold the Panasonic G9 with the 12–60mm ƒ/2.8–4 IS lens down to about 5 seconds, with a 50% hit rate. Yes, you heard that right—5 seconds! I thought I could only do that with the Olympus E-M1 Mark II.' He shows examples.

"I don't recall at the moment who, but others testing the E-M1 II reported similar 4–5 sec. results. Your example @ 55mm-e and Stephen Scharf's @ 82mm-e are fine, but already with the E-M5 II's older IBIS, here's an example from me of 1/20 sec. @ 600mm-e.

"This example also points out why multi-second IBIS doesn't mean much to me. Pretty much everything I shoot handheld (other than tests) moves; people, flowers, critters, trees, clouds, water all move. In my practical experience, subject motion is much more of a problem than insufficient IBIS, even on the last generation of Micro 4/3 IBIS. So, the IBIS you report is indeed very useful, although possibly not quite enough for me, with my interest in macro and telephoto, but far from the best available. It makes sense, really. The distance the sensor has to move is twice as great for FF, and the weight to be moved goes up with volume. Making some assumptions with insufficient hard data, it seems an A7III sensor is something over twice as large in volume as a Micro 4/3 sensor. To move over twice the weight over twice the distance and stop it to half the precision in the same amount of time is a considerable challenge."

Mike replies: My ulterior motive in trying out the Sony is that I'm giving it a chance to pull me away from my attraction to Micro 4/3. If it doesn't, there's probably a Panasonic in my future. Maybe the G9, but I just can't help but keep holding out hope for a GX8 II, even though I know full well the futility of waiting for imaginary cameras...as I've been doing it for decades.... :-)

Comments

[K4kafka]

First obvious question...what lens are you using?

[Added now...thanks for the reminder --Mike]

[Arg]

I'm more of a fridge man, Mike. But I do live in a much hotter climate.

[Stephen Scharf]

"You have an EAR 324? Do you mind if I, um, hate you?"

As with camera gear, I have two words of advice when it comes to purchasing high-end audio gear:

"Buy used."

Cheers.

[Eric Brody]

When looking at learning the menus of the Sony, consider Mark Galer's You Tube videos for set up of landscape and portrait shooting. I reviewed them when I got my Sony A7RIII and found them to be invaluable. I've changed a few things from his recommendations but overall his discussion and the settings are quite useful. I am a former Fuji XT-2 user and am quite pleased with the Sony's IBIS though I've not tried out the X-HI. I agree with Stephen Scharf that the Fuji lenses are sweet but when I look at eye focus, 42MP files, to say nothing of the 168MP equivalent pixel shift files, I am in love. I'm, still a lousy photographer but I've got great files!

[Clayton]

A great idea to sprinkle the salt on the stove instead of on your food. Guess that was on doctor`s orders.

[James]

Art. That's why "You'll Always Find Me in the Kitchen at Parties"

[John Wilson]

The 750 is four years old not valid comparison !

[Dave Pawson]

I wonder when Fuji will get the message about IS? I'm looking at Panasonic for just that reason. My X100T is perfect for my use, but I'm getting too many blurred images, hence looking at OIS as an answer.

[hugh crawford]

Oh look it's the Porsche 550 Spyder #55 driven by Hans Herrmann to win the 1954 Carrera Pan Americana.

https://barchetta.mediacenter.pro/Automobiles/-/Porsche/550-550A/550-0004/?pg=0&l=fr&v=a&dir=1983182&rd=1964532

[hugh crawford]

For what it is worth last summer I was trying out the a7II at B&H with a Vivitar 600mm Solid Cat that a friend sold me. It was as sharp as can be at 1/4 second handheld. I need 1/2000 to shoot handheld without IBIS with that lens, and it's hard to even see what you are doing.

[Steve Higgins]

My camera/lens tests always include this...

Nice texture and plenty of fine detail.

It's for the best - trust me, you don't want to see the state of my kitchen!

[Kenneth Brayton]

I have Sony A mount camera's and a NEX6 E mount camera with the pancake lens. All is good with them. However I recently looked at the new A7 camera's with the new E mount lens and found the weight on the E mount to be quite heavy. Causing concern for how long the mount will last. Any feedback available on that issue? I do like the raw files from my camera's, but not sure about moving to an overworked E mount.

[Thom Hogan]

Actually, Bracaglia declined to make a recommendation yet. And his headline said "could be" not "is." This is the way misinformation gets strewn across the Internet, so you really need to fix that statement.

As for the "chasing cameras" part, I understand the reasons we all get into that mode. But what I've found is that chasing lenses is more important.

[Andrew]

The D750 certainly wouldn't be a valid comparison if Nikon had a D760 on the market to replace it. But as it stands...

[Jim]

Please take some shots where the subject is strongly (and perhaps not so strongly) back lit. There's quite a discussion around banding or striping that occurs with this camera under these conditions. Apparently it happens with some lenses more than with others. Your experience would be valuable.

[Bob Rosinsky]

Combining Sony and Zeiss OIS lenses with the A7rII and most certainly the latest iteration of Sony cameras is amazing. I recently took some photos with the Batis 135mm f/2.8 at 1/10" and got excellent results. Admittedly, I braced myself against a wall to steady my posture.

[Stephen Scharf]

@hugh crawford: It is indeed; really beautiful 1:16 die-cast by Autoart and quite affordable at about $130.

@Moose: Moose, it's great to see you posting here again. You raise some very good points that always seem to be forgotten in discussing IBIS: it only works on *stationary subjects*. A lot of the subjects I shoot, as most of the gang here likely knows, moves. So, I didn't buy the X-H1 for its IBIS.

I bought it for the stiffness & tolerances of its lens mount; the forthcoming Fuji 200mm f/2.0 will weigh at least 4.4 lbs. I also bought it for the strength of the camera body: I need a camera that can take an occasional smack against the K-wall at the track & not get cracked through the frame.

Robustness, reliability, and durability are way more important to me than "eye control" or 693 AF points.

Finally....

"But what I've found is that chasing lenses is more important."-Thom Hogan

What Thom said...

[Moose]

"My ulterior motive in trying out the Sony is that I'm giving it a chance to pull me away from my attraction to Micro 4/3."

I can't figure that one out. You know, of course, that I'm deep into µ4/3.

But I also have an original A7, no IBIS, but perfect for my use. I use it for my Alter ego, working the side of the photography street where super and swirly bokeh, softness of various sorts, selective focus, funk, abstract and their shadowy cohorts hang out.

Almost all the (many) lenses I have for this were designed for FF and are at their worst, i.e. best, on FF. I've been having a lot of fun lately with the fastest standard lens for 35mm SLRs when it was introduced in Feb, 1962, a Canon 58/1.2. Glow wide open, oh yeah!

But for sharp, clear, full of the conventional photographic virtues photos, it's µ4/3.

The Sony and it's shady friends couldn't get VISAs for Bhutan, so I came back with 3,800 mostly wonderful photos and 183 videos from Bhutan and Bangkok.

If I had the best possible A7III kit for me, and were leaving tomorrow for a trip like that, it would stay home and the µ4/3 gear would go again. The quality of the files and resulting photos is wonderful, at least up to some 17x22" prints I've had made of earlier files, and will be great in the coming photo book(s).

The Sony kit would be three times the weight, at least, and do fewer of the photographic things I do. I have so far no native E-mount lenses, although the 100mm STF would be tempting, if not so expensive.