ORIGINAL STORY (29 JULY 2020, 9:00AM): After five years of waiting, Sony has officially unveiled the latest entry to its A7S full-frame mirrorless camera line with the brand new Sony A7S III. True to what was promised by company vice president Kenji Tanaka previously in an interview with DPReview, the device offers improved features and 4K recording at high frame rates. The Sony A7S III comes equipped with a 12MP BSI CMOS sensor paired with a new BIONZ XR processor, and has a native ISO range of 80 – 102,400. Being a video-focused camera, it is capable of capturing 4K video at 120p and 60p at 10-bit 4:2:2, with no pixel binning or line skipping. Thanks to its fast redout speeds, the camera can also record 16-bit ProRes RAW video over HDMI at up to 4K at 60p. Unfortunately, it isn’t capable of recording 8K videos – unlike its Canon rival.
Other than that, the A7S III features in-body image stabilisation (IBIS) system which offers gimbal-like stabilisation for photo and video capture. The camera is the first in the series that comes with phase-detect autofocus that is capable of 759 phase-detection and 425 contrast-detection points, with 92-percent coverage of the image sensor. According to Sony, it also boasts a maximum continuous shooting speed of 10fps for over 1,000 consecutive uncompressed RAW images with full AF/AE tracking.
Sony’s new full-frame mirrorless camera sports a thicker design, which accommodates a new internal-heat dissipating mechanism. With this, the company claims that the A7S III will be able to record 4K/60p continuously for up to an hour without overheating. Additionally, it also features a 9.44M-dot OLED Electronic Viewfinder (EVF), dual hybrid card slots that supports UHS-II SD cards or CFExpress Type A, and a rechargeable 2280mAh battery. Connectivity-wise, the camera includes a micro and Type-C USB support with Power Delivery capability, a HDMI port, headphone jack, and built-in WiFi 802.11ac.
Another first for the A7S series found on this model is a new fully articulating flip-out LCD touchscreen that can be swiveled to the side and rotated 360-degrees. Sony said that the menu system has been redesigned to be easier navigation by touch, and its screens and settings can be customised for further personalisation. The Sony A7S III is slated to go on sale in the US and other regions sometime in September 2020, and is priced at US$3,499.99 (~RM14,873) for body only. Sony Malaysia has confirmed that the camera will arrive locally in October, but its pricing has yet to be announced. (Source: Sony [YouTube] [Official website])
