Sony a9 III Review: A COSTLY Revolution!

Summary

Chris Nichols reviews the Sony a9 III mirrorless camera, praising its handling, EVF, 120fps burst rate, and autofocus performance. However, he notes compromises due to the global shutter like poorer low light and dynamic range performance akin to APS-C cameras. He demonstrates flash sync and timing challenges at ultra high shutter speeds. For video, Jordan Drake used the a9 III finding the global shutter look professional but again limited dynamic range. Overall, they consider it best for specific sports/wildlife photographers and videographers needing a global shutter.

Takeaways

• 😀 The Sony a9 III has excellent autofocus and high burst shooting speeds thanks to its global shutter.
• 📷 The global shutter unlocks shutter speeds up to 1/32,000s and burst rates up to 120fps.
• 🌄 Dynamic range and low light performance are compromised compared to standard sensors.
• 🎥 The a9 III produces professional, cinematic-looking video with global shutter.
• 🔦 High speed sync with flash requires trial and error to align flash timing.
• 🏋️‍♂️ The a9 III excels at capturing fast action like sports and wildlife.
• 🤳 The EVF maintains full resolution even during continuous shooting.
• 📐 Ergonomics and handling are much improved with a deeper grip.
• 💡 Low light performance is on par with modern APS-C cameras, not contemporary full frame.
• 💰 At $5,499, it's expensive but a bargain compared to cinema cameras.

Q & A

What compromises come with using a global shutter sensor?

Global shutters tend to have worse low light performance, less dynamic range, and a higher base ISO compared to conventional sensors. The Sony a9 III specifically has low light performance comparable to modern APS-C cameras.

How fast can the Sony a9 III shoot in bursts?

The Sony a9 III can shoot at up to 120 frames per second in bursts, with no slowdown or loss of autofocus performance.

What memory cards work best for high burst shooting?

CFexpress Type A cards provide the fastest write speeds and are recommended for high burst rate shooting on the a9 III.

How does the EVF on the a9 III compare to previous models?

The over 9 million dot EVF maintains full resolution even during continuous autofocus and high burst shooting, finally delivering on the potential of such a high resolution viewfinder.

How does flash sync work on the global shutter?

The global shutter removes the normal flash sync speed limit, but very fast shutter speeds can cut off part of the flash duration, requiring tweaks to flash power and timing for optimal exposure.

How does video quality compare to full frame cameras without a global shutter?

Dynamic range and low light performance are reduced compared to conventional full frame sensors, now similar to modern APS-C cameras. But the global shutter provides a more professional, cinematic look.

What's the advantage of a fully articulating screen for video?

The fully articulating screen, borrowed from the A7R V, allows comfortable framing from high and low angles in both landscape and portrait orientation.

What new stabilization modes help with handheld video?

Dynamic Active mode provides very effective stabilization for handheld video including walking shots, without needing additional stabilization in post production.

Who is the target user for the Sony a9 III?

While useful for a small group of high speed sports photographers, the global shutter and video features make this camera most attractive to videographers and filmmakers.

How does the a9 III autofocus perform for action photography?

With excellent subject tracking at up to 120 fps bursts, the a9 III provides the highest hit rate and most confidence inspiring autofocus from any mirrorless camera.

Outlines

00:00

📽️ Introducing video topic and conditions during filming

The host Chris introduces the video topic which is providing compromises and caveats of the Sony a9 III camera with global sensor. He mentions they are filming in very cold temperatures in Canada but will continue filming despite the weather.

05:01

📷 Global shutter benefits and drawbacks

Chris explains benefits of the global shutter for sports/action photography including fast shutter speeds and high burst shooting modes. However, it comes with drawbacks like higher base ISO, poorer low light and dynamic range performance comparable to modern APS-C cameras.

10:02

⚡️ Using flash at high shutter speeds

Chris tests using flash at very fast shutter speeds exceeding limits of mechanical shutters. Benefits include syncing flash easily and avoiding ND filters. Drawbacks are reduced flash output at very high speeds and needing to tweak flash timing for optimum exposure.

15:04

🎥 Global shutter benefits for video

Jordan discusses using the a9 III for video. Benefits include great handling, AF and stabilization modes. The global shutter provides a cinematic professional look. Drawbacks are reduced dynamic range and low light performance comparable to modern crop sensor cameras.

Keywords

💡Global shutter

A type of camera sensor that captures the entire frame at once, rather than scanning it line-by-line. This helps avoid distortion with fast moving subjects. The Sony a9 III uses a global shutter, which allows high burst rates up to 120 fps with no compromise in autofocus or resolution.

💡Flash sync

The coordination of flash firing with the camera's shutter speed. At high shutter speeds, the short duration can miss the flash entirely. The a9 III's global shutter removes the sync limit, allowing flashes at speeds up to 1/64,000s, but manual tweaking of timing is still needed.

💡Low light performance

A camera's ability to produce clean, low-noise images in dim lighting. The video explains global shutters have worse low light capabilities than standard sensors. So the a9 III performs on par with modern APS-C sensors for high ISO noise levels and dynamic range.

💡Burst rate

The maximum frames per second a camera can continuously capture. The a9 III hits 120 fps bursts with no compromise thanks to its global shutter, great for decisive moment wildlife, sports, and action work.

💡Dynamic range

The range of light intensities a camera can capture, from shadows to highlights. Like low light performance, dynamic range is reduced on the a9 III compared to standard full frame cameras because of the global shutter's light compromises.

💡Autofocus

The camera's ability to automatically track and maintain focus on subjects, especially during continuous shooting. The video praises the a9 III for class-leading autofocus hit rates that stay reliable even at maximum 120 fps bursts.

💡Flash duration

The length of time a flash emits light. This must sync across the shutter speed's duration. If faster than the shutter, flash output drops because the full duration isn't captured. The a9 III lets photographers adjust sync timing.

💡Rolling shutter

The standard way sensors scan a scene, line-by-line. This causes distortion with fast movement. Global shutters capture everything at once, avoiding distortion. But have downsides like worse low light and dynamic range capabilities.

💡Wireless triggers

External devices used to wirelessly fire off-camera flashes. Their output power and durations influence the fine-tuning needed to sync flashes properly at excessively high shutter speeds with the a9 III.

💡Flash banding

Dark bands that can appear in footage or images shot with LED lights or strobes due to sensor scanning. The a9 III's global shutter avoids flash banding issues that could mar video shoots with continuous lights or strobes.

Highlights

The Sony a9 III has the best autofocus performance of any Sony mirrorless camera to date.

The a9 III can shoot at up to 120 frames per second with no slowdown or compromise in autofocus performance.

The a9 III has excellent low light and high ISO performance for a global shutter camera, but it doesn't match contemporary full frame cameras.

The a9 III has a base ISO of 250 compared to 100 or lower on other full frame cameras, impacting dynamic range.

Flash sync works at any shutter speed on the a9 III thanks to the global shutter, but tuning flash timing can be tricky.

The a9 III produces cleaner, more cinematic-looking footage thanks to the global shutter.

The a9 III has 5-axis stabilization with a new Dynamic Active mode for extremely stable handheld video.

The a9 III has the best autofocus, stabilization, handling and viewfinder of any global shutter camera.

The a9 III is ideal for filmmakers and videographers who want a global shutter look and cinematic features.

The a9 III's global shutter unlocks fast burst rates up to 120 fps without blackout or slowdown.

The a9 III's EVF maintains full resolution even at burst speeds up to 120 fps.

The a9 III has a customizable boost button to quickly enable high burst rates when needed.

The a9 III's dual card slots support CFexpress Type A and SD cards.

The a9 III has the best handling of any Sony full frame mirrorless camera to date.

The a9 III is ideal for sports, action and wildlife photographers who need blackout-free bursts.

Transcripts

welcome back Peta pixel viewers it is

Chris Nichols here and we are in the

middle of Antarctic freeze western

Canada has been getting hit byus 40- 45

I mean really bad temperatures it's a

beautiful day today the Sun's shining

but it is still incredibly cold but the

show must go on and we need to talk

about the Sony

[Music]

a93 wooho okay well so we've already

covered the Sony a93 intro that we did

that in New York City you should

definitely check out that video cuz

that's where talk about handling and

features and stuff what we really want

to focus on today God it's cold is we

want to focus on uh the compromises and

the caveats to having this camera with a

global sensor because yes Global sensors

can unleash a lot of interesting

features but they do come with a lot of

issues and that's what we want to cover

for you guys today and it's freezing

cold medical professionals say we should

not be outside right now so let's get

inside the calary farmers market now in

our previous video we talked a lot about

the handling on the a93 I don't want to

go too far into that but having now used

it more had more time with the camera

there's some point points that I really

am enjoying that I want to mention this

really is the best handling Sony

fullframe mirrorless camera to date I

mean I really like the new grip all the

extra controls I love that we have this

customizable button under the grip

that's been really handy my only

complaint is still that we don't have

the same locking mechanism on the mode

dial and this command dial but otherwise

the camera handles beautifully and the

grip is much improved we also get that

excellent screen with the full

articulation that we really like from

the Sony A7 R5 now while we're on the

topic of displays I love the over 9

million. evf but especially on this

camera because in previous cameras we've

seen this evf before but you get a

resolution drop when you started

focusing shooting fast action in sports

so you weren't really getting the

benefits of all of those dots only in

playback did you really see the enhanced

resolution of that evf but on this

camera there's now really no compromise

I mean I can shoot up to 120 frames per

second no resolution drop and so now

we're really finally seeing the actual

potential benefits of having such a high

resolution evf like this I could go up

to 240 frames per second then I have a

bit of a resolution drop but I'm not

playing Call of Duty on this thing now

what the Sony a93 can do very well is

perform as a sports and action camera

because the global shutter unlocks not

only insanely fast shutter speeds but

also more importantly very high burst

rates so right now currently the camera

is capped at 16,000 of a second if

you're shooting continuous bursts you

can go up to 80,000 of a second if you

want to do single shots but I mean

16,000 is still plenty and that will be

unlocked in the future but more

importantly this camera can shoot 120

frames per second burst rates and that's

without any slowdown there's no lack of

autofocus nothing like that the camera

functions exactly the same and so for

Sports in action Wildlife if you're

trying to capture that decisive moment

this is going to be the one to go to I

know a lot of you are going to say oh I

don't need 120 frames per second to

capture the Majesty that I get I'm the

greatest photographer ever but what's

beautiful here is I can use that boost

function dedicate one of these custom

buttons to the Boost function mode that

way I can shoot at far more moderate

frames per second rates and then when I

need that 120 Fram per second touch the

Boost button keep shooting and I just

get that for a short period of time so I

don't have a whole bunch of photos to

Wade through now the Sony 93 does use a

very similar card setup to what we've

seen on other Sony cameras you get dual

CF Express type A cards or dual SD and

it is a nice flexible Port system

although CF Express a so far it's really

just Sony that's using it now if you are

going to shoot High burst rates I do

recommend investing in those CF Express

type A cards they will give you faster

throughput but what is quite odd on this

camera is to date so far it doesn't

support the latest CF Express protocols

it doesn't support 4.0 and that does

seem very strange given how fast this

camera is and what it's aimed at

Shooting Sports Action and Wildlife so

hopefully we'll see this update in

future firmware updates now it might be

bright and sunny outside but while we're

indoors here where it's warm it is of

course a little bit darker so we want to

talk about low light performance next on

the sensor now when we were in New York

City Testing the pre-production a93 we

were absolutely impressed by how good

the jpegs were as far as noise goes

especially at high ISO but it turns out

that's because we could only look at the

jpegs we couldn't edit the raw and

Sony's actually applying quite a bit of

noise reduction to those JPEG files that

makes sense when you look at the raw

files it's a different story I mean this

camera does have some compromises

because of this Global shutter so now

that we can all look at the raw files

and really evaluate them what we and

pretty much everybody else are finding

is this camera's low light performance

ISO performance just isn't as good as a

contemporary full-frame camera from

today despite the fact this has a very

high price tag so basically how this is

going to turn out an easy way to think

about this is this is going to give you

low light performance very similar to a

modern apsc camera like a son a6700 for

example so that's not to say that that's

bad I'm perfectly comfortable shooting

in a lowlight situation like this but if

I want the absolute best performance

when it comes to low light shooting and

ISO noise quality this is not the camera

to get so we found this particularly

contrasting situation I.E Jordan says

ugly situation because we want to talk

about dynamic range next on the Sony A9

3 the fact of the matter is global

shutters do have a serious downside in

that they don't just collect or absorb

as much light as a conventional sensor

would this is reflected on the a93

having a base ISO of 250 when other

cameras would have 100 or even 64 if you

were to shoot this and a contemporary

full-frame camera both at ISO 250 yeah

you would get a similar looking file but

when those other cameras can then go

down to lower base isos the shadow floor

is going to be much cleaner you can push

them much further and the a93 is just

not capable of doing that so not only do

we have poor low light performance but

also the ability to push and pull

shadows and highlights is also

diminished and again just to give you

guys more context here it's going to be

very similar roughly to if you were

shooting an apsc camera as far as

dynamic range goes so you just got to

feel like the global shutter is one step

forward in some places and one step back

in others now when it comes to autofocus

you know that we love Sony's realtime

autofocus I still think it's probably

one of the highest hit rates that you'll

get on any mirrorless camera today when

we were in New York City we got to shoot

professional athletes that was really

fun the hit rate was excellent always on

the eyes I mean it did a great job but

we didn't do any full 120 Fram per

second Burse for extended times because

we wanted to save that not only for

production camera but the greatest

athlete of all that's Jordan Drake

running outside in the winter cold so

here you can see again beautifully done

captures his eye the hit rate is

excellent I mean if I was going to shoot

any sort of fast demanding photography I

think the Sony a93 would be the most

confidence inspiring as far as getting

the best hit rate but we also didn't get

a chance to shoot any Wildlife so one of

our editors Jeremy Gray he's got a

beautiful adorable dog named Eevee and

he took her out and shot here 120 Fram

per second in Wildlife detect mode and

again you can see the hit rate is

excellent beautiful shots does a great

job and dogs can be very difficult to

shoot and very unpredictable and so it

just brings me to the conclusion that if

you're looking for a great autofocusing

experience a camera's going to give you

the best hit rate Sony's have already

been the highest on our list and this is

the best Sony I've used to date so I

would really say one of the big

advantages of getting a Sony a93 is

you're going to get pretty much the best

autofocusing mirorless camera right now

on the market okay let's talk about

Flash next on the Sony a93 because there

are some interesting benefits but

there's also some quirks to keep in mind

we went to the event in New York City we

were shooting sports and action indoors

with high powerered strobes now here's a

situation where you can shoot faster

shutter speeds to freeze any sort of

movement that the flash isn't reaching

maybe other movement in the background

stuff like that now when we were in New

York City shooting of course there was

technicians there the flashes were

already set up they knew what Wireless

triggers they were using and so we could

absolutely match our cameras to those

flash scenarios but here's the trick as

you get into faster and faster shutter

speeds you start to run into an issue

the flash durations can be quite fast

and then the shutter speeds themselves

are very short periods of time and if

the two don't line up where the flash

fires but the shutter is not recording

light you're going to get ambient

exposure but you're not going to get any

flash showing up so there's a fix for

this you can go into the menu and adjust

the flash timing basically adjust the

latency until the Flash and the shutter

speed line up at the same time but this

is a variable thing it's going to depend

on what flashes you're using what power

output do you have soft boxes or not

what Wireless triggers using what are

the brands I mean you really do have to

tweak it every single time but what

about when we want to go outside on a

bright sunny day shoot very highpe speed

shutter speeds but also try to get the

flash to sink properly well it's

freezing cold but we're going to do this

for you let's go try it okay so we got

to get this portrait out here with flash

it's bitterly cold but I mean Jordan's

miserable uh but you know the sun's out

it's actually warmed up to about- 32 C

that's not bad right Jordan yeah that's

before the wind and there's a bit of a

blowing wind here but I wanted to go

with the Westcott fj400 because if I'm

going to you know fool around with the

settings here on the a93 and really try

to dial it in plus I compete with that

sun right behind them I want the most

output possible especially with the

softbox so it always does a good job

there I don't know I may have mentioned

how bitterly cold it is but we got the

battery powered fj400 the battery

powered FJ X3 transmitter and you know

even though we've been out here for way

too long they've been going strong

they've been really reliable in these

conditions so that's why westcot is our

preferred lighting partner here at

petapixel so I guess I should get the

shot of Jordan before he dies okay so

we're back in the car now because it's

just pure hell out there but we got some

nice shots Jordan and let's talk about

the progression of how that happened and

just really what's kind of going on here

so you know first off I think what a lot

of people misconstrue about flashes is

that when you turn the intensity up that

you're making the flash stronger when

you turn it down you're making the Flash

weaker but what you're actually doing is

making the flash longer when you turn it

up in intensity and making the flash

shorter when you turn it down I mean

it's a matter of length the longer the

time the more light the stronger the

output from The Flash so when we're

using a global shutter the beautiful

thing about this is we don't have any

flash sync issues so I can basically use

whatever shutter speed I want to and

that flash will sync with it properly

however we now run into an issue that we

never run into on on conventional

cameras and that is what happens if the

shutter speed on my camera is shorter

than the duration of The Flash well then

the problem there is The Flash isn't

going to give its full output because

the shutter speed itself is only taking

a portion of that time of that flash so

let's talk about the issues we're going

to have to deal with on this particular

camera when having to use flashes at

these high shutter speeds so first off

we got a beautiful bright sunny day I'm

trying to out compete the Sun but get

that Rim lighting around Jordan's furry

collar there and still get nice exposure

on his face so first thing I've done

here I've got the flash turned up to

maximum a shi F4 the minimum ISO on this

camera is 250th so I'm getting more

ambient exposure that I want to get rid

of but I am also getting more output out

of the flash because that higher ISO and

so what I started at is 4,000th of a

second this is something you would never

be able to shoot on a conventional

mechanical shutter and at 4,000 of a

second it's sinking properly in fact the

flash is a little bit too bright rather

than turn the flash down though I'm

actually going to go up into faster

shutter speed so as I go up to 8,000 of

a second and then up to 16,000 a second

what you're seeing is just that the

output of The Flash is starting to drop

a little bit and that's because my

shutter speeds aren't making use of the

full duration of that flash that's okay

I want the exposure to come down the

ambient lights going down I can go even

further go up to 32,000 of a second go

up to 64,000 of a second and as we go

higher what you see is just the flash

output just starts to drop more and more

but so does the ambient again I've got

this flash cranked to the max I can't go

any further with it one other issue that

you're going to find then is you're also

going to find that the flash delay might

have that flash duration missing some of

the shutter speed exposure I mean I

might be all the way off the end of it

or all the way off the start of it and

so in the Sony a93 I've got a menu where

I can tweak that timing back and forth

honestly this is really going to be a

lot of trial and error and you can see

here what I finally settled on

51,200 of a second was my shutter speed

I like the background I'm getting good

flash output it's weaker than what the

Flash normally give but I can work with

it here and so now what I was Finding is

tweaking my flash timing if I went too

far in One Direction you can see the

exposure drops off eventually just going

completely black then I go back and it

starts to rise up again to a peak where

I'm getting Optimum exposure go too far

the other way it starts to drop again so

you kind of have to just guess and test

go back and forth so you're getting

maximum output out of your flash I did

finally get there so I know this all

sounds complicated but let's just talk

about the advantages that we have here

so if I was using conventional

mechanical rter speed uh normally I'd be

maxed out at about 250 of the second

with flashes you know barring any sort

of highspeed sink which drops your

output in a huge way so El competing the

sun like this I would use a three or

four stop ND filter to cut a lot of that

ambient light and then hope that my

flash output can overcome that indd

filter as well using andd filters it

tends to slow down your camera's

autofocus performance and stuff like

that cuz you're blocking light to the

sensor now on the a93 we do have an

advantage I mean first off I don't have

to use any ND filters at all and I was

able to shoot with my particular Flash

and softbox and Camera combination it'll

depend what brand of flash you use you

might have to tweak this I was getting

up to about 4,000 of a second without

having to do anything fancy I don't have

to trick anything I don't have to time

anything it just works great and that's

no ND filters required very nice as I go

even faster into my shutter speeds yes I

have to now start worrying about losing

maybe too much flash output having to

tweak that timing to get everything to

match up but I still feel like if you're

willing to put in the work you get

something unique out of this camera

camera okay so I hope that all made

sense guys now we're going to go to

Jordan cuz you need to talk about video

cuz there's a lot of stuff to talk about

that with the a93 as well but in a very

jarring move we were actually in

California just last week and Jordan got

to do his samples in California the

lucky guy where it's beautiful and warm

so enjoy that respite we did get him

back though because he had to stand out

there while we took those

portraits all right it's Jordan talk

about the video capabilities of the a93

and for a little context it is still an

absolute Frozen hellscape outside so I

am going to be filming this indoors but

I was able to use the a93 as my primary

video camera on a recent trip down to

California now at the Samsung event I

was hoping that there would be all kinds

of strobes going off but unfortunately

everyone's just using their cell phone

so I wasn't able to test Flash banding

for that but I was able to see how it

performs on a practical shoot so there's

a couple overall things that you need to

know about the a93 as a video camera for

starters it has all of the latest

advancements that Sony's made for

recording videos that means you're

things like breathing compensation a

focus map you're getting the amazing

articulating screen that we'd seen

before just on the A7 R5 that is my

favorite articulation for shooting video

this does introduce one new feature we

can record a 48th or 96th of a second if

you're shooting at 24 frames and this

will really duplicate the sense of

motion that we'd get on a proper cinema

camera but there's still no shutter

angle for some weird reason but the

other thing you need to know is that

just like instills this Global shutter

does impact the dynamic range and low

light performance of the sensor now that

doesn't mean that this is terrible it

just means it performs very much like a

modern crop sensor camera you can see

here when I'm comparing the image from

the a93 to the Panasonic S5 2x both 24

megapixel full-frame sensors we are

seeing quite a bit more noise in the a93

image and that is absolutely to be

expected but I really think this all

needs to be put in context I mean

exactly what full-frame Global shutter

cameras are we comparing this to there

aren't any when we're looking at Global

shutter cameras we're looking at Super

35 or smaller for all the competition

and this camera will outperform those so

yes there are some penalties for putting

a global shutter in a camera like this

but especially in terms of low light

performance this is the best you're

going to see out of a global shutter

camera but what I really want to

highlight is my experience when I was

using this camera in California like yes

I knew I wasn't going to get the

absolute widest dynamic range and in

very low light situations I was going to

get some noise in it that is something I

could anticipate going into it but every

other aspect of the camera I absolutely

enjoyed the handling is dramatically

improved the autofocus tracking is

fantastic the new stabilization mode

Dynamic active does incur an absolutely

huge crop but the results are very

stable I mean this is the first time I'd

say you can do a walk and talk shot

comfortably without having to go back

into Catalyst browse software and add

additional stabilization and post and

that disregarding all the advantages

that a global shutter actually brings

even when I was just doing whip pans or

shooting out the car window there is a

look to a global shutter that is just

immediately very professional and very

cinematic so for me the main takeaway of

the a93 is I do absolutely think there

is a small group of photographers that

this camera is going to be absolutely

perfect for but there is a much wider

group of videographers that are going to

be very excited by this camera and I

think it's an extremely versatile tool

for them so if you're looking for the

look of a global shutter if you're a

filmmaker if you're constantly shooting

in areas where strobes are going off if

you're shooting live music then this is

absolutely one of the best video cameras

currently on the market yes it's

expensive but when you compare it to

cinema cameras it is still kind of a

bargain and none of those Cinema cameras

are going to give you that stabilization

or the incredible autofocus or honestly

the very small body the viewfinder I

mean there's so many great advantages to

this camera over a cinema camera and

you're getting the best Global shutter

image quality currently available so

those are our Impressions using the a93

and I've got to be honest I loved using

this camera it is going to be an even

colder and darker day when I have to

send this camera back to Sony but I want

to hear from all of you are there any

questions we didn't answer about the a93

how could you see using a global shutter

in your own work I would love to hear

that and we're going to be talking about

this camera in the future on our podcast

you should definitely check it out you

can watch it right here on the YouTube

channel or you can listen to it on all

your favorite podcasting apps just

search for the petapixel podcast thank

you so much for joining us and we will

see you all again with more on

petapixel