Sony a9III – first thoughts after real life tests

Five days after getting my hands on the new Sony a9III, some initial thoughts on the camera – and please take these just as my own observations, I only tell how the camera works for me. And also – this is a fun way to keep track of how my own thoughts on the camera change over the years … sometimes the first outings with new cameras are almost like going on a first date. Everything is new and exciting, and things have a special tinge to it.

That last phrase might show that I have been a photographer for way too long when my relationship with cameras is compared to first dates 🙂

But – let’s get to my thoughts then :

Size : The body does feel slightly bigger than a9II – buttons feel different, some work different, the flip screen flips into more directions (which I like!). The viewfinder has a different feel to it – the image looks great, but the focus point ‘thingy’ has bit of a 8-bit feel to it. I kinda like it – but might not be everyone’s cup of tea – and you probably can change that somewhere if you want. For my hands, I do want the battery grip – which unfortunately had not arrived to the store for the day when I picked the cameras up .. this does fit better into my hand without the grip than the a9II .. but feel like it could have been just a little bigger.. and a grip would not be needed.

120 fps : One of the selling points of the camera, and where as I can see the usefulness of it in CERTAIN situations, it definitely is not one to keep for a full game. I was all excited and set the camera for the HI+ speed and pressed the shutter… and BANG! had about 180 photos of a person standing. After three minutes of pre-game action, I had about 600 images already on the memory card. So – 120fps is good to have programmed on one of the C-buttons and use sparingly … although if a team I cover gets to a major Final.. I might be told to just SHOOT LIKE HECK!! So then perhaps 120fps all through out the game, and charge for a years worth of editing!

Pre capture : Probably my favourite feature so far in the a9III – just done two games as tests so far, and have definitely captured images that I would have been a fraction too slow in real time. I have it set to 0.2sec at the moment, and will test what is the sweet spot for this. Really glad to see this feature on a Sony camera, and can see it becoming something that adds a lot to my line of work. Below a sample image of something I would have missed with my a9ii – but captured with the help or pre capture on the a9III.

AF : This was already really solid on the a9II, and a9 before. But perhaps that has been improved slightly as well for this model – I mean, after two games, it is hard to say for certain .. but the settings I have, it seems to keep the tracking/focus better… Could just be pot luck, or could be an improvement. Time will tell.. in any case, you won’t be disappointed with the AF on this camera.

Image quality : Once again, two games down and in pretty decently lit gyms – so not really much to say about High Iso, variable lighting… and also, there is the honeymoon period with a new camera and how images look. I remember back when I got the 1DX at the London Olympics in 2012 .. and was just blown away by how the images looked.. and then down the line when changing camera bodies .. the next model images were once again initially looking better and the 1DX images looked ‘tired and faded’… But colours are nice, WB looks good, contrast is there where I want it to be.

Battery life : Used to shooting with battery grips – so shooting without is a new one for me. In the first game, I had a 100% battery to start with and after full game of basketball – I had around 48% of battery after two and bit hours of shooting. So when I get the grip – and have two batteries – should then be able to say how it compares to earlier models. I still ‘hate’ how quick the a7IIIs eats batteries when shooting S&Q video!

Menu : really haven’t had the proper time to get used to these and look through them with much thought – so will look at this later. I do like the ‘MAIN’ menu page with the camera settings – so that’s a cool little thing!

Video : Really a test that will determine if this is something that for MY need can replace the a7IIIs – I am trying to cut down on the amount of camera bodies I have – so .. in the next few weeks I hope to test the a9III on its video capabilities as well (I really have not spent time reading about these or watching influencer videos about how this camera shoots video…)

Thoughts after 80 minutes of basketball : It is a great camera, 120fps, pre capture, AF … definitely an upgrade from the a9II, which many did complain that wasn’t ‘much of an upgrade’ from the a9. And I already have gotten messages from players in regards to the images I snap with pre capture.. that now even they get to see the ‘benefits’ of this feature… I am not sure if they were being sarcastic or???

Should you go and buy the a9III ?? Aaah, that is only something you can answer – do I think it’s a great camera for capturing sports?? Yes I do – at least the way I use cameras. Is it an expensive camera – of course, and everything I buy a new camera body.. it takes me back to when I bought my first DSLR ( Canon 400D ) in Stevenage, England .. walking past the local camera store and looking at the camera+kit lens costing something like €480 and thinking what a HUGE investment it is .. and now, buying a camera I spend thousands on a single camera body and have lenses that cost over €10000 …

Back in Stevenage days my dream was to become a landscape photographer .. and took my poor girlfriend to see way too many sunsets and sit there while I said ‘let’s wait for the perfect sunset so I can get a picture of it’ .. Guess I never really made any money from landscape photos – but sports photography became my job (and addiction).

If you have made it this far on the post, congratulations! If there is anything you would like me to test on the camera – or just want to know something … drop me a message on the comments below!