Page 26 - Photography_Week

CSC TEST SONY ALPHA 7R III

When you’re being attacked by a sword-wielding each AF zone had its pros and cons.
LFOTIJ ZPV XBOU BOçBVUPGPDVT TZTUFN ZPV DBO SFMZ PO The Flexible Spot mode was best for
ĩååŞĜĹč ƋĘå ĵ±Ÿĩ ĜĹ üŅÏƚŸØ ŞųŅƴĜÚåÚ Ƶå
ĩåŞƋ ƋĘå e8 ŞŅĜĹƋ ĜĹƤƋĘå ųĜčĘƋ ŞĬ±Ïå ô ÆƚƋ
ƋʱƋ Ƶ±ŸĹűƋƤ屟Ƽ ƵĜƋĘ ŸƚÚÚåĹ Ĭ±Ƌåų±Ĭ
ĵŅƴåĵåĹƋŸ ±ĹÚ ŸƵŅųÚ ŸƋųŅĩåŸ ĜĹ üųŅĹƋ
Ņü ƋĘå ĵ±Ÿĩţ ŽŸĜĹč ± ƵĜÚåų üŅÏƚŸ DŽŅĹå
±ĹÚ üŅÏƚŸ Ƌų±ÏĩĜĹč ƋŅŅĩ ƋĘå Şų域ƚųå
off accurate focus point positioning and
allowed a steadier camera position,
ÆƚƋ Ĝü ƋĘå ŸƚÆģåÏƋ ĬåüƋ ƋĘåƤDŽŅĹå ƋĘå e8
Úåü±ƚĬƋåÚ ƋŅ ƋĘåƤƱÏĩčųŅƚĹÚØ ±ĹÚ ĜĹ
some instances the camera lost focus
ÏŅĵŞĬåƋåĬƼ üŅų ± üų±ĵå Ņų ƋƵŅ üŅųƤĹŅ
obvious reason.
Photographing moving subjects
ĬĜĩå ƋĘĜŸ Úåĵ±ĹÚŸ ± čŅŅÚ Úå±Ĭ Ņü ŸĩĜĬĬØ
anticipation and practice on the part
of the photographer. The A7R III’s AF
system responded well with a really
tough subject, with a good hit rate of
in-focus shots, but our tests confirmed
ƋʱƋ ŸĩĜĬĬØ Şų±ÏƋĜÏå ±ĹÚ ĬƚÏĩ ±ųå Ş±ųƋ Ņü
the equation too.

Performance
It’s hard to fault the A7R III’s
performance. If sports and action were
your main field, you’d probably choose
the Sony A9 over this model, but if your
position. Alternatively, you can tap on the PROVIDED YOU’RE USING THE ƵŅųĩ ųåĬĜåŸ ŅĹ ŧƚ±ĬĜƋƼ ±ĹÚ ŸŞååÚØ ƋĘåĹ
screen to set the focus point. the A7R III delivers both brilliantly.
ŅƋĘ ĵåƋĘŅÚŸ ƵŅųĩ üĜĹåØ ±ĬƋĘŅƚčĘ ƋĘå BEST LENSES AND SHOOTING The image quality is equally
autofocus options in general are not for TECHNIQUE, IMAGE QUALITY impressive. Provided that you’re using
ƋĘå ü±ĜĹƋěĘå±ųƋåÚţ ‰ĘĜŸ ĜŸ ±ƤŞųŅü域ĜŅűĬ the best lenses and good shooting
camera aimed at professional users, *4ç"4 (00% "4 *5 (&54 '03 technique, this is as good as it gets for
so you might not expect any particular full-frame cameras.
ÆåčĜĹĹåųěüųĜåĹÚĬĜĹ域ſ ÆƚƋ Ęåųå åƴåĹ '6-- '3".& $".&3"4 ‰Ęå eƀ FFFűŸ I{):Ÿ ŸĘŅƵ čŅŅÚ
experienced photographers will need to colours, contrast and definition, but to
spend some time with the manual – and It sounds complicated, but it doesn’t get the best from this camera you’ll
with the camera out in the field – to find Ƌ±ĩå ƋŅŅ ĬŅĹč ƋŅ čų±ŸŞ ƋĘå ŞųĜĹÏĜŞĬåŸ ±ĹÚ want to shoot raw. At the time of going
the autofocus settings that best suit the ƋŅ ŞĜÏĩ ŅƚƋ ƋĘå ĵŅÚåŸ ƋʱƋ ŸŅƚĹÚ ĬĜĩå to press Adobe had yet to update
Ƶ±Ƽ ƋĘåƼ ƵŅųĩţ ƋĘåƼ ĵĜčĘƋ ƵŅųĩ ÆåŸƋ üŅų ƼŅƚØ ±ĬƋĘŅƚčĘ eÚŅÆå ±ĵåų± ±ƵxXĜčĘƋųŅŅĵ ƵĜƋĘ
Apart from the autofocus mode ĜƋ ĵĜčĘƋ Ƌ±ĩå ± čŅŅÚ Úå±Ĭ ĬŅĹčåų ƋŅ support for the Sony’s ARW files,
itself – single shot, continuous AF or ÏĘåÏĩ ±ĹÚ ÏŅĵޱųå ƋĘå ųåŸƚĬƋŸ ƵĜƋĘ ŸŅ Ƶå ƚŸåÚ ±ŞƋƚųå kĹå ĜĹŸƋå±Úţ
automatic selection – there’s a choice real-world subjects which don’t behave This revealed the full dynamic range
of five AF point modes, including Wide in a predictable fashion. available from this sensor, together
Š±ƚƋŅĵ±ƋĜÏ ŸåĬåÏƋĜŅĹ ƵĜƋĘĜĹ ƋĘå ƵĘŅĬå e8 For our tests we recruited the help with extended highlight detail that was
±ų屚ſ ¬ŅĹå Š±ƚƋŅĵ±ƋĜÏ ŸåĬåÏƋĜŅĹ ƵĜƋĘĜĹ Ņü ± ĩåĹŸĘĜ ŠĩåĹÚŅ ŸƵŅųÚŸĵ±Ĺš ųƚĹĹĜĹč ŸŅĵåƋĜĵåŸ ÏĬĜŞŞåÚ ĜĹ I{):Ÿţ FƋ ĵĜčĘƋ
± Ÿĵ±ĬĬåų DŽŅĹåšſ åĹƋåųØ 8ĬåƻĜÆĬå „ŞŅƋ ƋĘųŅƚčĘ ± ŸåųĜåŸ Ņü ĩåĹģƚƋŸƚ ޱƋƋåųĹŸØ deliver very high resolution, but it’s not
ŠƵĘĜÏĘ ƼŅƚ Ï±Ĺ ĵŅƴå ±ųŅƚĹÚ ƋĘå üų±ĵåšſ which combined movement across at the expense of overall image quality.
±ĹÚ )ƻޱĹÚ 8ĬåƻĜÆĬå „ŞŅƋ ŠƚŸåŸ üŅÏƚŸ the frame and towards the camera. The A7R III even proved pretty
ŞŅĜĹƋŸ ±ųŅƚĹÚ ƋĘå ŸåĬåÏƋåÚ ŸŞŅƋšţ We wanted to find out how well the ĜĵŞų域Ĝƴå ±Ƌ ĘĜčĘ F„k ŸåƋƋĜĹčŸØ ƵĘåųå
It doesn’t stop there. All five are e8 ŸƼŸƋåĵ ÏŅƚĬÚ Ƌų±Ïĩ ƋĘå ĵ±Ÿĩ ŅĹ we found the image quality perfectly
±ƴ±ĜĬ±ÆĬå ƚĹÚåų ±Ĺ ±ÚÚĜƋĜŅűĬ XŅÏĩěkĹ ƋĘå ĘåĬĵåƋ ±ĹÚ ĩååŞ ƋʱƋ ŸĘ±ųŞ ±Ÿ ƋĘå ±ÏÏåŞƋ±ÆĬå ųĜčĘƋ ƚŞ ƋŅ F„kŎƖØíLjLjţ ‰Ęåųå
e8 ĵŅÚåØ ƵĘåųå ƋĘå e8 ŸƼŸƋåĵ ƵĜĬĬ Ƌų±Ïĩ ĩåƼ ŞŅĜĹƋ Ņü üŅÏƚŸ ƋĘųŅƚčĘ ƋĘåŸå ü±ŸƋ is visible noise and some loss of fine
ƼŅƚų ĜĹĜƋĜ±Ĭ ĬŅÏĩåÚěŅĹ ŸƚÆģåÏƋ ƵĜƋĘĜĹ ƋĘå and complex movements. In fact the detail at this setting, but from normal
DŽŅĹåx±ųå± ƋʱƋ ƼŅƚűƴå ŸåĬåÏƋåÚţ eƀ FFF ĩåŞƋ ƚŞ ŞųåƋƋƼ ƵåĬĬØ ±ĬƋĘŅƚčĘ viewing distances it hardly shows.