Sony Alpha 7S III

Sony Alpha 7S III was announced in 2020 and is a Full Frame (35.6 x 23.8 mm) Mirrorless camera with 12.1 Megapixel BSI-CMOS sensor. Its native ISO ranges from 80 to 102,400 and expands to 50 - 409,600 in boosted mode. The camera has a Fully Articulated 3.0" screen with 1,229k dot resolution and built-in 0.64" Electronic (OLED) viewfinder with 9,437k dot resolution. It has a built-in 5-Axis Sensor Shift in body image stabilization.

Sony Alpha 7S III can capture video up to 3840 x 2160 resolution with no recording time limit.

Here is the Sony Alpha 7S series lineup, where you can view and compare the main specifications of the cameras within the same series.

Sony Alpha 7S series lineup

	Model	Date	Sensor	Native ISO	Screen	Price
	Sony a7S III	July 2020	12.1 MP Full Frame	80 - 102,400	Articulated 3.0" 1,229k dot Touchscreen	amazon B&H
	Sony a7S II Compare	October 2015	12.2 MP Full Frame	100 - 102,400	Tilting 3.0" 1,229k dot	amazon B&H
	Sony a7S Compare	April 2014	12.2 MP Full Frame	100 - 409,600	Tilting 3.0" 1,230k dot	amazon B&H

You can view their side-by-side comparison here: Sony Alpha 7S III vs Alpha 7S II vs Alpha 7S.

In this section we present pros and cons of Sony Alpha 7S III.

Here we are comparing Sony Alpha 7S III to its predecessor Alpha 7S II and displaying the major changes.

For more detailed comparison between the models please visit Sony Alpha 7S III vs Alpha 7S II.

Fully Articulated Touchscreen

Sony Alpha 7S III has a 3.0" Fully Articulated touchscreen with 1,229k dot resolution. Fully articulated screen makes this camera selfie and vlogger friendly and generally very useful for video shooting.

Electronic (OLED) Viewfinder

Camera has a built-in 0.64" Electronic (OLED) viewfinder with 9,437k dot resolution. It has a 100% coverage and 0.91x magnification.

BSI-CMOS Sensor

Sony Alpha 7S III features a 12.1 megapixel Full Frame BSI-CMOS sensor with dimensions of 35.6 x 23.8 mm and a total area of 847.3 mm². Its native ISO range is 80 - 102,400 and expands to 50 - 409,600 in boosted mode.

The camera has BSI-CMOS sensor, short for Backside Illuminated Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor sensor. In traditional CMOS sensors, the wiring and circuitry are located on the front side of the sensor, which can block some of the incoming light. BSI technology flips this design by placing the photosensitive elements (pixels) on the backside of the sensor, allowing more light to reach the pixels. This significantly enhances light sensitivity and improves low-light performance. BSI-CMOS sensors are particularly effective in low-light conditions, as they can capture more light, resulting in brighter and less noisy images. This makes them well-suited for indoor and night photography. BSI-CMOS sensors deliver a higher SNR and reduced cross-talk.

Here is a sensor size comparison chart where you can see how Sony Alpha 7S III's Full Frame sensor compares with other types of sensors:

Sensor size chart

	Sensor	Dimensions	Area	Aspect Ratio	Crop Factor
	Medium Format	44 x 33 mm	1452 mm2	4:3	0.79x
	Full Frame	35.6 x 23.8 mm	847.3 mm2	3:2	1x
	APS-H	27 x 18 mm	486 mm2	3:2	1.3x
	APS-C	23.6 x 15.6 mm	368.2 mm2	3:2	1.5x
	APS-C (Canon)	22.3 x 14.9 mm	332.3 mm2	3:2	1.6x
	Micro Four Thirds	17.4 x 13 mm	226.2 mm2	4:3	2x
	1-inch	13.2 x 8.8 mm	116.2 mm2	3:2	2.7x
	1/1.7-inch	7.44 x 5.58 mm	41.5 mm2	4:3	4.7x
	1/2.3-inch	6.17 x 4.55 mm	28.1 mm2	4:3	5.6x

Camera is equipped with BIONZ XR processor and can take pictures up to 4240 x 2832 resolution.

Lens Mount

Sony Alpha 7S III has Sony E lens mount. Due to Full Frame sensor its crop factor (also called lens multiplier) is 1x. This means that a 35mm equivalent focal length of the mounted lens will be equal to its actual focal length.

In-Body Image Stabilization

The camera has a built-in 5-Axis Sensor Shift in-body image stabilization (IBIS) with 5.5 stops of compensation. This means that you are still getting vibration reduction when camera is paired with non-image stabilizied lenses. It also works with lenses with optical image stabilization and in combination can achieve even better compensation.

Built-in Wi-Fi

Camera has a built-in Wi-Fi (Wi-Fi 5, 802.11ac/b/g/n, 2.4/5 GHz) which allows to easily transfer photos and videos from the camera to other Wi-Fi-enabled devices, such as smartphones, tablets, printers, or computers. This eliminates the need for cables and allows for quick and convenient media sharing and social media integration. It gives you the ability to control your camera remotely using a smartphone or tablet. This is particularly useful for taking self-portraits, group shots, or capturing images in challenging conditions without having to touch the camera. Firmware updates can also be downloaded and installed wirelessly.
  Check out the cameras in our database that have built-in WiFi.

Bluetooth

Camera has a built-in Bluetooth (version 5) which lets you to connect the camera to a smartphone or a dedicated remote control device. This allows you to remotely trigger the camera, adjust settings and controls remotely through a paired mobile app. While Wi-Fi is generally faster for transferring larger files, Bluetooth can be used for small, selective transfers, it can provide real-time information about your camera's battery status, memory card capacity, and other key settings directly on your paired smartphone or smartwatch.
  Check out the cameras in our database that have built-in Bluetooth.

NFC

Sony Alpha 7S III has Near Field Communication (NFC) technology which simplifies the process of pairing it with other NFC-enabled devices like smartphones or tablets. It allows to quickly transfer photos and videos or remotely control the camera from compatible device. NFC can also be used for authentication and security purposes. It can verify your identity before accessing certain features or transferring sensitive data. It can be used with NFC-enabled accessories as well, such as lenses, flashes and GPS devices.

USB Input and HDMI Output

Sony Alpha 7S III has a USB 3.2 Gen 1x1 (5 GBit/sec) Type-C input for data transfer and battery charging. There is a Full Size HDMI connector for video signal output.

Battery

Sony Alpha 7S III comes with NP-FZ100 battery pack with battery life of 600 shots.

External Storage Slots

The camera has Dual CFexpress Type A / SD (UHS-II) card slots.

Shutter

Sony Alpha 7S III has Electronic shutter and Mechanical Focal Plane shutter. Shutter speed can go up to 1/8000 sec. Camera can shoot continuously up to 10.0 fps.

Focusing

Sony Alpha 7S III has Fast Hybrid AF (Phase-detection / Contrast-detection) system with 759 focusing points and from -6 to +20 EV detection range. Touch-to-Focus allows users to select a specific point on the screen where they want the camera to focus. This feature can be helpful for achieving precise focus in both photo and video recording. There is also face detection feature which automatically finds and focuses on faces and additional eye detection further locks the focus on one of the eyes and tracks it down during the motion.

Exposure

Camera's exposure metering ranges from -3 to +20 EV and you can set the exposure compensation within the ±5 EV range. You can also do exposure lock, exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment.

Flash

Sony Alpha 7S III has no built-in flash but an external flash may be connected via Intelligent Hot Shoe. The fastest flash synchronization speed is 1/250 sec. Flash compensation can be set from -3 to +3 EV with 1/3 or 1/2 EV step increments.

Sony Alpha 7S III has dimensions of 129 x 97 x 81 mm (5.08 x 3.82 x 3.19"). It weighs 699 g (1.54 lb / 24.66 oz) which is neither heavy nor lightweight.

129 mm (5.08")

97 mm (3.82")

97 mm (3.82")

81 mm (3.19")