Sony A7SIII a7s3 A7 Mark III Official Specs/Pics

[Hangs4Fun]

So the official lists have been finalized on the production model that will start being sent to PRO Support in a week and other pre-release places.  Mostly for reference if you need it, but I found the movie recording option one to be well laid out with everything I needed in one chart.

Getting excited to get mine.  Fingers crossed, but I had my paid invoice literally in the first 10 seconds on pre-order and was the first to fill out the "prioritized shipping consideration" from Sony PRO Support.  It has been a long wait for this camera release, hope it proves to be worth it.

 

FULL Specifications (which is currently missing from Sony's page for the A7SIII):

 

GREAT Single place for all movie recording options, depth, framerate, codec, bitrate, memory card req.:

 

Breakdown all of the controls, dials, covers, holes, jacks, etc:

[Hangs4Fun]

Dang, I just noticed the "Max Rec. Bitrate" on XAVC S-I 4K is 1,200 Mbps 😮    

Notice how they support V90 or faster for that.  What is weird to me, is that sure if you multiply out the 299 MB/s (Mega Bytes/sec) rating of the Sony Tough G cards you get 299 MB/s x 8 bits/1MB or 2,392 Mbps (Mega Bits/sec), so clearly those Tough G cards are capable of such speeds. 

HOWEVER, the whole point of a V rating is to identify the max sustained write speed of the card and V90 is 90MB/s sustained write or 90MB/s x 8 bits/1MB = 720 Mbps, which is supposedly the max sustained bitrate from a V90 card.  So not, sure if Sony has a typo here or if their TOUGH G cards are more like V150 cards which is the rating that would be needed to sustain writes at 1,200Mbps

[Trek of Joy]

Yes, the 10-bit, all-i, S&Q 4k 120 and the HD240 are the options that require the CFA cards. I'm going to get one because I want the full glory of 10-bit and 240fps without long gop compression. For the rest I'm getting a couple v90 cards.

On the a7s3 FB group people are constantly asking about the cheapest cards to use in this camera or if a v60 card will record XXX framerate in XX resolution. I never understand these questions, if you're spending $3500 on a body for your projects, don't you want reliable recording? The difference between a 128gb v60 and v90 card isn't much. You can get two Kingston or Prograde 128gb v90 cards for about $250, pennies compared to the cost of the camera and none of this nonsense about "will this card work if I'm shooting...."

Anyway. Three more weeks till it ships...

Chris

[Hangs4Fun]

2 hours ago, Trek of Joy said:

Yes, the 10-bit, all-i, S&Q 4k 120 and the HD240 are the options that require the CFA cards. I'm going to get one because I want the full glory of 10-bit and 240fps without long gop compression. For the rest I'm getting a couple v90 cards.

On the a7s3 FB group people are constantly asking about the cheapest cards to use in this camera or if a v60 card will record XXX framerate in XX resolution. I never understand these questions, if you're spending $3500 on a body for your projects, don't you want reliable recording? The difference between a 128gb v60 and v90 card isn't much. You can get two Kingston or Prograde 128gb v90 cards for about $250, pennies compared to the cost of the camera and none of this nonsense about "will this card work if I'm shooting...."

Anyway. Three more weeks till it ships...

Chris

Did you by any chance jump on the "prioritized shipping" that Sony PRO Support offered?  First time I have seen them do that, and can't find much on what it means.  But when I filled out the form (seconds after they sent out the email, lol), I had to provide where I pre-ordered mine from, my order number, etc.

I'm wondering if they are working with each of their vendors to drop ship directly to us?  Which would cut out the need for Sony to ship it to B&H, then have B&H receive it, box it back up and ship it to me.

[Trek of Joy]

2 hours ago, Hangs4Fun said:

Did you by any chance jump on the "prioritized shipping" that Sony PRO Support offered?  First time I have seen them do that, and can't find much on what it means.  But when I filled out the form (seconds after they sent out the email, lol), I had to provide where I pre-ordered mine from, my order number, etc.

I'm wondering if they are working with each of their vendors to drop ship directly to us?  Which would cut out the need for Sony to ship it to B&H, then have B&H receive it, box it back up and ship it to me.

No, I'm just getting it from B&H. As it stands I only have one Sony body and two lenses, the 12-24/4 and the 24 GM, I'll need the s3 and I think another Sony lens to get pro support - but I'm probably getting the 35/85 1.8's so that should get me there unless I go Batis 40/85 instead. My order was processed just a few seconds after it went live and this is such a niche camera its not going to be in short supply with almost 2-months of lead time from announcement to ship date. IMO if it had 24mp or so it would be far more appealing to more photo-centric users because of the EVF and AF advancements. But that just means we'll get it faster LOL!

Chris

[Hangs4Fun]

4 hours ago, Trek of Joy said:

No, I'm just getting it from B&H. As it stands I only have one Sony body and two lenses, the 12-24/4 and the 24 GM, I'll need the s3 and I think another Sony lens to get pro support - but I'm probably getting the 35/85 1.8's so that should get me there unless I go Batis 40/85 instead. My order was processed just a few seconds after it went live and this is such a niche camera its not going to be in short supply with almost 2-months of lead time from announcement to ship date. IMO if it had 24mp or so it would be far more appealing to more photo-centric users because of the EVF and AF advancements. But that just means we'll get it faster LOL!

Chris

nice, yeah me too.  I was on B&H at 9am, hitting refresh every 5 mins or so, just in case they had an oopsie early opening (kind of like their "oopsie" release of that A7SIII video in the early AM).  Then when it was about 10minutes till 10am, I started hitting refresh every couple of seconds.  They were spot on though, and exactly at 10am, I saw the page, added to card, checked out, and had my conf email all in the first 10 secs, lol (sad, really if you think about it, I mean, it's a dang camera; hahaha).  Any way, HIGHLY recommend PRO Support, I've been a member since they started it and just the 3 cleanings per year alone is worth it (they pay shipping both directions), plus I have gotten "loaners" during, as well as you can request 2 week test usage of any camera or lens as long as they have it, and again they pay shipping in both directions.  You also get to work directly with support staff that I can't say enough good things about (night and day compared to normal support).  And those guys know their stuff, yet when they don't, they don't pretend they do and I really appreciate that. Plus they have brought Engineering in on some discussions and become your champion on enhancement requests.  One area I haven't used of PRO Support is the professional events support, things like the Olympics, major events, they (Canon and Nikon) have a setup to support the pro's working the event to make sure their gear is working tip top and if not quickly get you a loaner to get back at it while they figure out a solution.  Some day, hopefully 😉 I will get to use that.

[PannySVHS]

@Hangs4Fun are you a brand ambassador or tech tester for Sony? Great infos about the A7siii. Thank you. Any caveheats with it like battery life or noise reduction artefacts in low light?

[Geoff CB]

Absolutely fantastic to see the 1080p 10-bit 4:2:2 is at a very high bitrate!

[Hangs4Fun]

52 minutes ago, PannySVHS said:

@Hangs4Fun are you a brand ambassador or tech tester for Sony? Great infos about the A7siii. Thank you. Any caveheats with it like battery life or noise reduction artefacts in low light?

Not yet, some day hopefully.  That process takes time, just gotta stick with it.

Power Consumption is rated at 3.3W for stills and 4.3W for Movies: but depending on the video mode you shoot on, and also considering the CFExpress cards and also if powering 4 mics via the XLR-K3M, which I plan to do for Docs/Talking head/Corp work)

In comparison to some of the other FF Sony cameras (and 1 APSC):

• A7S Mark III - consumes 3.3W for stills and 4.3W for movies
• A7R Mark IV - consumes 2.9W for stills and 5.8W for movies
• A7 Mark III - consumes 2.8W for stills and 4.7W for movies
• A9 Mark II - consumes 2.9W for stills and 4.9W for movies
• A6600 - consumes 2.4W for stills and 3.9W for movies

Interesting that the A7SIII consumes the most for stills, but consumes the least for movies and almost as little power as the A6600.  I'll be honest, I did not expect to see this, thanks for the question.  They have really worked some magic into the video on this camera 🙂

Now, as to noise reduction.  Early reports from Phillip Bloom, who has spent the most time with the A7SIII from any other NDA'ed tester and was the only one with early access to the Ninja V with RAW, there some noise reduction that you can't turn off when using the internal codecs.  For most people that will be fine, but I would prefer to turn it off personally and manage noise myself in post.  Baking in noise reduction into your media file is just not a good idea IMHO.  However, the good news is that we are getting 16bit RAW with the A7SIII (into Ninja V at 12bit ProRes RAW log) and that should be straight from the sensor without any noise reduction.

Taking that discussion a tad further though and you have that very interesting "dual gain" or sensitivity boost or something going on at 16,000 ISO.  Not only do you see a noticeable drop in noise at 16,000 from 12,800, but the exposure slightly improves, as does the dynamic range slightly (it seems).  Question is, is this some noise reduction and exposure trick that is now baked into the image, or is it more like a "dual gain" design (yes, I know its not true dual gain to your ARRI snobs, lol...   We won't know until we get the production models and start testing.  VERY exciting though 

[Hangs4Fun]

30 minutes ago, Hangs4Fun said:

Not yet, some day hopefully.  That process takes time, just gotta stick with it.

Power Consumption is rated at 3.3W for stills and 4.3W for Movies: but depending on the video mode you shoot on, and also considering the CFExpress cards and also if powering 4 mics via the XLR-K3M, which I plan to do for Docs/Talking head/Corp work)

In comparison to some of the other FF Sony cameras (and 1 APSC):

• A7S Mark III - consumes 3.3W for stills and 4.3W for movies
• A7R Mark IV - consumes 2.9W for stills and 5.8W for movies
• A7 Mark III - consumes 2.8W for stills and 4.7W for movies
• A9 Mark II - consumes 2.9W for stills and 4.9W for movies
• A6600 - consumes 2.4W for stills and 3.9W for movies

Interesting that the A7SIII consumes the most for stills, but consumes the least for movies and almost as little power as the A6600.  I'll be honest, I did not expect to see this, thanks for the question.  They have really worked some magic into the video on this camera 🙂

Now, as to noise reduction.  Early reports from Phillip Bloom, who has spent the most time with the A7SIII from any other NDA'ed tester and was the only one with early access to the Ninja V with RAW, there some noise reduction that you can't turn off when using the internal codecs.  For most people that will be fine, but I would prefer to turn it off personally and manage noise myself in post.  Baking in noise reduction into your media file is just not a good idea IMHO.  However, the good news is that we are getting 16bit RAW with the A7SIII (into Ninja V at 12bit ProRes RAW log) and that should be straight from the sensor without any noise reduction.

Taking that discussion a tad further though and you have that very interesting "dual gain" or sensitivity boost or something going on at 16,000 ISO.  Not only do you see a noticeable drop in noise at 16,000 from 12,800, but the exposure slightly improves, as does the dynamic range slightly (it seems).  Question is, is this some noise reduction and exposure trick that is now baked into the image, or is it more like a "dual gain" design (yes, I know its not true dual gain to your ARRI snobs, lol...   We won't know until we get the production models and start testing.  VERY exciting though 

CRAP TYPO!!!

Just noticed I read the wrong value on the most important movie power consumption for A7SIII

Here is the correction:

• A7S Mark III - consumes 3.3W for stills and 7.3W for movies (and 7.6W thru EVF)
• A7R Mark IV - consumes 2.9W for stills and 5.8W for movies
• A7 Mark III - consumes 2.8W for stills and 4.7W for movies
• A9 Mark II - consumes 2.9W for stills and 4.9W for movies
• A6600 - consumes 2.4W for stills and 3.9W for movies

Well, dang.  I was getting the 4.3W from the second group, because that was how all the other spec pages were, they had still first and movies second, but didn't have 2 groups of numbers (one for evf and one for LCD).  I won't be using the EVF much, and even the EVF will be infrequent (will be using my Ninja V a lot).  Man 7.3 Watts and 7.6 Watts with EVF is getting up there in consumption.

[Hangs4Fun]

1 hour ago, Geoff CB said:

Absolutely fantastic to see the 1080p 10-bit 4:2:2 is at a very high bitrate!

IKR, that is going to be some very nice looking 1080p for sure.

I wonder how well it will upres to 4K?  If you have a good quality 1080p, you can upres it to 4K and most people can't tell it was upres'ed.  So many options.... I love it

[Hangs4Fun]

1 hour ago, Geoff CB said:

Absolutely fantastic to see the 1080p 10-bit 4:2:2 is at a very high bitrate!

Man, those are some serious bitrates for 1080P, holy crap (course that is S&Q).  I have never had the pleasure of recording an All-Intra based codec (and 4:2:2 10bit) in 1080P

S&Q Mode

Normal Mode

[ajay]

I wonder if All-I is really better for most video recording? Will you be able to tell video quality wise? I can see using it if you are grabbing frame grabs and converting them into images, but otherwise I have never seen a real difference between All-I and long-gop. I guess easier editing too?

[ajay]

3 hours ago, Hangs4Fun said:

They were spot on though, and exactly at 10am, I saw the page, added to card, checked out, and had my conf email all in the first 10 secs, lol (sad, really if you think about it, I mean, it's a dang camera; hahaha). 

I am just as sad. Did the same thing and I'm also a PRO Support member. Let's hope they get more than one or I'll have to fight you for it!🙂

[Hangs4Fun]

6 minutes ago, ajay said:

I wonder if All-I is really better for most video recording? Will you be able to tell video quality wise? I can see using it if you are grabbing frame grabs and converting them into images, but otherwise I have never seen a real difference between All-I and long-gop. I guess easier editing too?

easier editing in an NLE for sure.  But also, better reproduction of each frame.  Same thing happens when you go from All-I to ProRes RAW and then from ProRes RAW to linear uncompressed RAW.    Each time you gain slight improvements, and as anyone in an industry where you create something, as you want more and more control over the final product, you add more and more $$$ exponentially for less and less actual improvements.

[Adl]

7 hours ago, Hangs4Fun said:

 powering 4 mics via the XLR-K3M, which I plan to do for Docs/Talking head/Corp work

@Hangs4FunI am not quite sure how this is supposed to work. The XLR-K3M has 2 XLR inputs and a 3.5 mm jack input. So only 2x phantom power at the XLR inputs. Also some reviewers of the A7Siii write that they can record 4-channel audio with the adapter, but I'm not sure about that either. The XLR-K3M has, as far as I know, a switch and with it you can either record XLR OR 3.5 mm jack. Do you have more experience with that adapter?

[Django]

in this video, consensus with Gerald seems to refute his initial dual gain ISO claims. camera applies NR at 16,000 ISO:

kinda weird, not sure if its a bug or what (previous A7S models didn't behave like that).

[Hangs4Fun]

13 hours ago, Adl said:

@Hangs4FunI am not quite sure how this is supposed to work. The XLR-K3M has 2 XLR inputs and a 3.5 mm jack input. So only 2x phantom power at the XLR inputs. Also some reviewers of the A7Siii write that they can record 4-channel audio with the adapter, but I'm not sure about that either. The XLR-K3M has, as far as I know, a switch and with it you can either record XLR OR 3.5 mm jack. Do you have more experience with that adapter?

Hey Adl,

The XLR-K3M is the new digital version of the XLR-K2M.  The A7SIII will be the first camera that can actually record 4 separate channels of audio digital straight into camera at 24bit/48khz.  Here is how I will be using mine.  I have 2 pairs of Rode Wireless Go mic's and a Rode SC11 Y cable (that will take the output from 1 wireless go receiver and make it the left channel and the other wireless go receiver and make it the right channel > both now being in one stereo mic jack cable that goes into the 3.5mm input on the XLR-K3M https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1582563-REG/rode_sc11_3_5mm_trs_y_splitter.html  (this is nothing new though, I have done this for many years using a similar Y breakout cable from hosa, that is around $5 and it doesn't have to be Rode Wireless Go, it could be a Rode Video Mic Pro on the left and a lav on the right).

Any way back to the explanation of 4 channels.  So if you are still with me, we now have 2 wireless lav mic's going into the 3.5mm stereo jack on the XLR-K3M.  Next, for the 3rd mic, I will have my Sennheiser MKH-416 in the #1 XLR port with phantom power this mic will be boomed.  Lastly, my 4th mic, will be the Sony ECM-XM1 that comes with the XLR-K3M which is supercardioid shotgun mic, and it will be oncamera as backup audio.

All 4 of these mic's will have no cables going into the camera itself, instead they plug into the XLR-K3M.  And yes, the A7SIII supports using all 4 of them and injects that stream as LPCM 4ch (48khz 24bit).  See below which is straight from the production release docs.

Now the XLR-K3M on the A7RIV or A9II, is only a 2 channel option, you have to choose XLR or the 3.5mm, you can't do both, but on the A7SIII you absolutely can do 4 channel.  And now with digital audio recording at 24bit going straight into your media file, no more sync'ing in post, yet I can control all 4 channels separately.  I did a Zoom session with Sony PRO Support and watched him do it, to verify it wasn't a typo 🙂

[Hangs4Fun]

11 hours ago, Django said:

in this video, consensus with Gerald seems to refute his initial dual gain ISO claims. camera applies NR at 16,000 ISO:

kinda weird, not sure if its a bug or what (previous A7S models didn't behave like that).

yeah, Josh and I were commenting back and forth in the comments on that video.  The consensus right now is, we don't care what they call it, we'll take it 😉   Proof will be in the 16bit RAW output what the heck is going on there.  Can't wait to test that out.

as info, my YT Channel is named the same as my user account here 😉

Hangs4Fun is my trail name, as I've been an avid hammocker for decades

[Hangs4Fun]

For anyone about to start do more external recording, especially external RAW, I compiled a list ProRes Disk Rates, Consumption, and Usage Times.  This time I added a section that has the number of minutes you would get out of 500GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB drives for your project estimations.  Also adding in costs soon, so that you can estimate your costs/TB and costs/Minute for the different combinations.  The spreadsheet I have will take in the size of the drive and the cost, and then calculate your costs per minute for each of the different codecs and fps settings.