Sony a7R Mk III review: Welcome to the great digital mirrorless camera divide

Name: Sony a7R Mk III review: Welcome to the great digital mirrorless camera divide
Item: Sony a7R Mk III review: Welcome to the great digital mirrorless camera divide
Rating: 4.75
Author: Mike Gee

Mike Gee

PC World

13/02/18

Expert Rating

4.75 / 5

Pros

Image quality, image quality, image quality – fabulous!
Flexibility – will suit wedding, events, street and landscape photographers in particular
Impressive autofocus performance
Much improved battery life
A market leader in full-frame, interchangeable lens, mirrorless cameras
Great viewfinder – have a look for yourself
4K video
Much easier to take travelling than bulky, heavy, full-frame DSLR outfits

Cons

Too complicated – the menus, in particular, are very difficult to work out
Very expensive – and as such asks a big question
Very slow in clearing image buffer
The grip could be a little wider (particularly if hefting a large telephoto lens around)
UHS-II cards supported in only one of the two SD slots
No ISO dial
No RAW processing in playback

Bottom Line

A great camera with a few flaws that has really taken it up to the big boys in the top end full-frame DSLR market. Has every right to be considered a major contender by anybody looking to move into high end hardware. Will convert some pro photographers to mirrorless full-frame but I suspect not all.

Would you buy this?

Yes 25
No 17

Price
$ 4,999.00 (AUD)

The Bottom Line

What this all boils down to, I believe, is forcing that choice I talked about at the beginning of the article. Sony wants you to commit to its interchangeable lens, full-frame, mirrorless camera range and everything that goes with it and to do that you are probably going to have sell-out of your preferred DSLR set up whether it be Canon or Nikon – and that is a big call.

In five years time when I’m entering the older age bracket I may well find the weight of a full DSLR too much and by then I believe full-frame mirror-less cameras will be a well-developed, less complicated (I hope) option. Then, I am very likely to consider to changing over. But for now, despite all the pros associated with Sony a7R Mk III, I’m going stick with the cameras – and systems – I love best, at a price I can afford.