Sony
Alpha a7 III Body + FE 100mm f/2.8 STF GM OSS Lens
24MP Full Frame Mirrorless Format Camera Kit
The Alpha a7 III from Sony is a Mirrorless Digital Camera that is suited for both photo and video in a variety of working situations. The full-frame 24.2MP Exmor R BSI CMOS sensor and BIONZ X Image processor pair to offer an impressive 10 fps continuous shooting rate. Refined for improved speed, low-light performance and autofocus performance for faster, more reliable subject tracking along with wide frame coverage.
An updated Fast Hybrid AF System employs a combination of 693 phase detection points and 425 contrast detection areas for quicker focus on subjects in testing lighting conditions. There have been further processor improvements with reduced noise - ISO 100-51200, expandible through to ISO 50-204800. Video recording capabilities have also improved significantly when recording UHD 4K video, utilising the full width of the full frame sensor.
Additionally, benefitting both stills and video operation, the a7 III utilizes a 5-axis SteadyShot INSIDE sensor-shift image stabilization, which is now effective to minimize the appearance of camera shake by up to 5 stops. The a7 III's body design has also been developed to include a rear 3.0", 922k dot touchscreen tilt LCD. A 2.36m-dot Tru-Finder OLED EVF is also added for bright and clear eye-level monitoring. For greater shooting flexibility, dual SD memory card slots are now featured, and a larger NP-FZ100 battery is also employed to achieve up to approximately 710 shots per charge.
The magnesium-alloy chassis and weather-sealing also render the a7 III dust and moisture resistant. This sensor structure works with gapless on-chip lens design and an anti-reflection coating, as well as eliminating the optical low-pass filter, to improve light collection and enhance detail. The sensor and processor combination also avails fast continuous shooting at up to 10 fps at full resolution, for up to 177 consecutive frames, and with full-time AF/AE when working with either a mechanical shutter or an electronic shutter. If shooting in live view mode, a continuous shooting rate of up to 8 fps is also possible.
Here the a7 III is kitted with the FE 100mm f/2.8 STF GM OSS from Sony, a sharp short-telephoto lens designed to deliver stunning bokeh in a portrait-length lens. Created for use with full-frame Sony E-mount mirrorless cameras, it can also be used on APS-C models where it will provide a 150mm equivalent focal length.
It features Smooth Trans Focus technology which uses an apodization filter to produce smooth, rounded out-of-focus bokeh. This element, which resembles a radially graduated ND filter that tapers from clear in the centre to more dense around the edges, produces more circular out-of-focus highlights for more pleasing selective focus and shallow depth of field effects. A rounded 11-blade diaphragm further contributes to an attractive bokeh quality.
This is combined with an optical design that uses one aspherical element and one extra-low dispersion element to control both spherical and chromatic aberrations. A Nano AR coating has also been applied to the lens elements to reduce lens flare and ghosting and produce contrast-rich images with true colour, even when working in bright lighting conditions.
A Direct Drive SSM system and internal focus mechanism ensures fast, quiet and smooth autofocus performance. A ring-switch permits selecting between two focusing ranges, including a dedicated close-up range for working with subjects as close as 57 cm away with a 0.25x maximum magnification. Optical SteadyShot image stabilisation is also included and helps to capture sharp handheld images by minimising the appearance of camera shake. This stabilisation system can also be combined with select camera's sensor-shift type image stabilisation for more effective control of camera blur.
The lens is completed with a durable physical construction that is dust- and moisture-sealed for peace of mind when working in difficult environments. The manual aperture ring can also be de-clicked for smooth, silent aperture switching to benefit video applications.