Sony Alpha 7R III vs Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF6

In this comparison, we will evaluate the Sony Alpha 7R III and the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF6, highlighting the advantages of each over the other, discussing their pros and cons, shared strengths and weaknesses, and providing a rating based on their available features and specifications to assist you in choosing the one that best suits your needs.

Sony Alpha 7R III was introduced in October 2017 and Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF6 was introduced in April 2013. Let us first list highlights of the models.

Now that we've looked at the most essential specifications and gained a basic understanding of these cameras, we can delve into more details and see the differences between them.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Sony Alpha 7R III over Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF6.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF6 over Sony Alpha 7R III.

We already listed pros and cons of each model. However, you may also find useful to look at their common strengths and weaknesses shown side-by-side.

Screen

Sony Alpha 7R III and Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF6 have 3.0" Tilting screens with 1,440k dot and 1,040k dot resolutions respectively. Tilting screen makes cameras very useful for photography purposes but not so useful for video shooting. Both models feature touchscreen which has advantages such as easy menu navigation, intuitive controls, quick setting adjustment and most importantly a Touch-to-Focus functionality allowing 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.

Electronic Viewfinder on Sony Alpha 7R III

Sony Alpha 7R III has a built-in 0.5" Electronic viewfinder with 3,686k dot resolution. It has a 100% coverage and 0.78x magnification. There is no built-in or optional viewfinder available on Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF6.

Sony Alpha 7R III features a 42.4 megapixel Full Frame BSI-CMOS sensor with dimensions of 35.9 x 24 mm and a total area of 861.6 mm². Its native ISO range is 100 - 32,000 and expands to 50 - 102,400 in boosted mode. Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF6 features a 16 megapixel Micro Four Thirds CMOS sensor with dimensions of 17.3 x 13 mm and a total area of 169 mm². Its native ISO range is 160 - 12,800 and expands to 160 - 25,600 in boosted mode.

Sony Alpha 7R III 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 different sensors compare with each other:

Sensor size chart

	Sensor	Dimensions	Area	Aspect Ratio	Crop Factor
	Medium Format	44 x 33 mm	1452 mm2	4:3	0.79x
	Full Frame	36 x 24 mm	864 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

Sony Alpha 7R III is equipped with BIONZ X processor and can take pictures up to 7952 x 5304 resolution. Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF6 is equipped with Venus Engine FHD processor and can take pictures up to 4592 x 3448 resolution.

Lens Mount

Sony Alpha 7R III has Sony E lens mount and Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF6 has Micro Four Thirds lens mount. Due to Full Frame sensor in Sony Alpha 7R III its crop factor is equal to 1x, this means that a 35mm equivalent focal length of the mounted lens will be equal to its actual focal length. Due to Micro Four Thirds sensor in Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF6 its crop factor is equal to 2x, this means that a 35mm equivalent focal length of the mounted lens will be equal to its actual focal length times 2.

No Low-Pass Filter on Sony Alpha 7R III

There is no optical low-pass filter (OLPF), also known as an anti-aliasing filter, in front of the sensor on Sony Alpha 7R III. This results in a slightly sharper image but may also introduce moiré patterns and aliasing artifacts when photographing subjects with fine, repetitive patterns or details.

In-Body Image Stabilization on Sony Alpha 7R III

Sony Alpha 7R III 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

Cameras have built-in Wi-Fi (802.11b/g/n 2.4 GHz on Sony Alpha 7R III) 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 on Sony Alpha 7R III

Sony Alpha 7R III has a built-in Bluetooth 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

Cameras have 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 Inputs and HDMI Outputs

Both models have USB inputs for data transfer. Sony Alpha 7R III has a Micro HDMI and Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF6 has a Mini Type C HDMI connector for video signal output.

Battery

Sony Alpha 7R III comes with NP-FZ100 battery pack with battery life of 650 shots.

External Storage Slots

Sony Alpha 7R III has two card slots - one for SD/SDHC/SDXC (UHS-II) and one for SD/SDHC/SDXC/Memory Stick Duo Hybrid (UHS-I). Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF6 has a single SD/SDHC/SDXC (UHS-I) card slot.

Shutter

Sony Alpha 7R III has Electronic shutter. Shutter speed can go up to 1/8000 sec on Sony Alpha 7R III, and up to 1/4000 sec on Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF6. Sony Alpha 7R III can shoot continuously up to 10.0 fps. Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF6 can shoot continuously up to 4.2 fps.

Focusing

Sony Alpha 7R III has Fast Hybrid AF (Phase-detection / Contrast-detection) system with 425 focusing points and Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF6 has . Sony Alpha 7R III has detection range from -2 to +20 EV.

Exposure

Exposure meterings of Sony Alpha 7R III ranges from -3 to +20 EV and you can set the exposure compensation within the ±5 EV range on Sony Alpha 7R III and ±3 EV range on Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF6. You can also do exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Sony Alpha 7R III and exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF6.

Flash

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF6 has a built-in flash with maximum range of 6.30 m. Sony Alpha 7R III has no built-in flash but an external flash may be connected via Intelligent Hot Shoe or PC Terminal. The fastest flash synchronization speed is 1/250 sec on Sony Alpha 7R III and 1/160 sec on Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF6.

Sony Alpha 7R III body has dimensions of 127 x 96 x 74 mm (5 x 3.78 x 2.91") and Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF6 body has dimensions of 111 x 65 x 38 mm (4.37 x 2.56 x 1.5"). Sony Alpha 7R III weighs 657 g (1.45 lb / 23.17 oz) and Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF6 weighs 323 g (0.71 lb / 11.39 oz).

Sony Alpha 7R III

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF6

127 mm

96 mm

111 mm

65 mm

96 mm

65 mm

74 mm

38 mm