Also ask for JB Deal they will give you further discount i got it for $1915.15
At this price, this is a Beast for beginners and advanced users.
The Sony A7 III is a 24.2 MP full-frame mirrorless camera with excellent image quality, 4K video, 5-axis stabilization, and fast hybrid autofocus. Durable and versatile, it suits both professionals and enthusiasts.
Claim the Cashback here:
It's as easy as submitting the receipt and S/N of the product.
https://cloud.marketing.sony.com.au/dicashback
I'm after compact version, this or a7C II is the better out of all?
Edit - Google said, a7C II is better, I should wait for a deal lol
A7C2 has 33m pixel cmos with much compact body of and much higher price. If you have budget for C2 then go for it.
Lotta camera for the money
But holy moly it’s held value well
yeah crazy expensive
But holy moly it’s held value well
Agree. Maybe partially because the successor to this model the IV is only really better if you shoot a lot of video.
yep, got it for around $1200 from previous deals & cashbacks
But holy moly it’s held value well
Mainly to do with the tech being pretty much enough for years and years to come, everything released since has been gimmicky crap only pros can justify. Spend more on lenses, ignore the body till it dies.
I have the a7III and the IV, for 99.99% of the people out there, the a7III is better value and is enough.
I feel like I say this every year around this time. I bought it 3-4 years ago at roughly the same price after cashback.
Iirc I paid low 1800s March 2019 after Amex rebates on top of Sony x pricing
What would be a good lens to pair this with?
If you are a beginner, I would suggest a prime lens. Something like 50MM F1.8
prime always
In my opinion, 40mm feels more natural than 50mm on a full frame sensor.
Tamron 28-200 (if you use one and only lens then there's no any other lens out there to challenge this one).
Nice accompanying lenses for the above would be,
16-35 F4 Zeiss (cheap second hand)
24 mm F1.8 Samyang (Bokeh, Bokeh and Bokeh - you don't need to pay three times more for Sony GM 24 mm F1.4)
The above three will do 99% of enthusiastic photography requirements in all departments IMHO from wide angle to telephoto, from low light to Bokeh etc.
But you will find 90% of the time you'll have Tamron lens on.. lol Such an amazing lens.
I just had a look at sample images online, the bokeh and rending of the Samyang 24mm F1.8 aren't all that appealing when compared to my now sold Fujifilm 16mm F1.4 (24mm F2 equivalent) and my current Sigma 24mm F3.5. perhaps downright boring and uninspiring.
24mm @ F1.8 does not yield a shallow depth of field either unless you go really close to your subject. when you get to an acceptable distance, your human subject will look a bit funny due to distortion and what not, which defeats the purpose a little bit.
if you're a beginner, i absolutely do not recommend 24mm - too many distractions during composition. it will not give you enough bokeh.
I personally recommend a 35mm, and then save for a Sigma 70-200 for a true two lens setup.
@dukeGR4: Bokeh is really a subjective thing. I used to have 24 F1.4 GM, 25 F2 Batis and checked those two against Samyang 24 F1.8. I am a pixel peeper. After trying quite a few different scenarios I just couldn't justify having the two expensive lenses over the Samyang. I'm not saying they are worse. I'm only saying they are definitely not three times better. Not even twice better. Especially close focus abilities of Samyang was amazing (hence in close objects you would be hard pressed to differentiate a photo of Samyang at F1.8 to a photo of GM at 1.4) A bit further from the subject then you begin to notice GM's capabilities a bit more but definitely not twice as good. Apart from crazy cheap, it's also crazy light as well. When you have that hooked to A7cii for an example, nobody will realise you are carrying a full frame camera with F1.8 full frame lens attached to it. I like Samyang colours and rendering (especially that of 45 mm F1.8). Only downside of Samyang for me is autofocus. While it's not bad, it definitely is not as smooth as GM or Batis lenses. For a beginner who's more interested in a focal length closer to 28 mm (mobile phone focal length) would be more appealing before trying out 50 or 85 mm (which I still find unattractive as prime lens). Just my two cents.
Bokeh is really a subjective thing. I used to have 24 F1.4 GM, 25 F2 Batis and checked those two against Samyang 24 F1.8. |
It is somewhat subjective, but qualitatively, certain "features" could reduce the attractiveness of bokeh. onion rings, harshness, chromatic aberrations etc. you generally can't have it all. the Fuji 16mm F1.4 has the best bokeh I've ever used but it suffers from a lot of CA in the OOF area.
another thing i look for is the transition of OOF area, especially from short to medium distance. you may have heard of Leica/Zeiss pop, they're referring to this.
Sigma 24mm F2 is another option, bokeh is pretty creamy/smooth and the price is pretty reasonable. but it's not fully weather resistant.
For a beginner who's more interested in a focal length closer to 28 mm (mobile phone focal length) would be more appealing before trying out 50 or 85 mm (which I still find unattractive as prime lens). Just my two cents.
yea but 24 and 28mm are not beginner friendly. they maybe be used to that focal length cause of mobile phone, but they're only comfortable with it because of the ability to use zoom.
for me, 24mm just has too much distortion to work with, and too much context. 28mm removes a bit of the distortion but it is still too wide, but you can work with it. it is just such a shame that 28mm is no longer being offered by most lens makers. the only new 28mm i could think of is the 28mm F2.8 kit lens from Nikon?
35mm on the other hand is perfect, wide enough for environmental documentary but still good for portraits. i've always liked the 35mm for portraits for some reason. 85mm is an easy focal length, maybe even easier than 35mm. it offers something completely different to standard primes. The compression and the shallow depth of field means you could blur out the background. so if the goal is to graduate for mobile photography, i'd recommend something different BUT easy to work with.
@npnp which lens would you recommend for some good quality 30 seconds videos?
@UglyPanda: It's not the length of the video that's important. What sort of video that you're shooting.
See below examples:
indoor tight spaces vs outdoor
people vs landscape
whole wide angle scenarios vs narrow field of view actions
Very different lens options should be utilised for each of above scenarios. Which one is yours so I can advise you better.
Also, don't forget to mention your budget.. Because each of these will have $500 option as well as $2,000 option.
35/40 is better for a beginner, 50mm is way too tight.
The Sony 50mm F1.8 is notoriously poor
True. Despite its low price, noone should buy that even if that's the last option. There are used 55 mm F1.8 lenses out there for similar pricing and it does not make any sense why would someone want this lens.
24-105 f4 would cover 90% use cases for the average person https://www.jbhifi.com.au/products/sony-sel24105g-24-105mm-f….
24-105 f4
Jack of all trades. Master of none.
A jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes is better than a master of one
24-105 will do 90% of what you need, add lenses as you go after
Disagree, respectfully - I think for anyone but a professional, the 24-105 F4 G is basically an S-tier lens for both photo and video. And combined with the great ISO performance of the camera, is almost unbeatable for most use cases. The ONLY knock on it as far as I am concerned is the weight - she is HEAVY.
@wazman67: There will always be the 1% that will say otherwise but you will never convince them, just like audiophiles that will justify spending $10k on speakers for the extra 0.05% performance.
As a photographer for events and weddings, I always recommend the 24-70 for anyone and just sticking with that for almost EVERYTHING (i literally only use this lens and a 85 1.4), it's expensive but it's money worth spending, otherwise the 24-105 is a good next option.
Prime lenses are a WASTE of time and space, unless you are really making a lot of money off special types of photos. But there really isn't many people out there doing that.
Prime lenses are a WASTE of time and space, unless you are really making a lot of money off special types of photos. But there really isn't many people out there doing that.
that's actually a hot take lol. most wedding photographers i've seen carry a 35mm prime.
for portraits, primes excel too in outright image quality and have shallower depth of field.
There are wedding photographers out there that use film cameras or even Leica M lol. so anything is possible
There will be times you have a prime lens attached and wish it can zoom.
I used to have a 24-105, then gradually buying prime lenses when they go on sale. Eventually sold the 24-105, thinking that 24, 50, 85 cover all my use cases.
The primes are excellent lenses in their own right, but one huge drawback is an 85 can't suddenly become a 24, nor a 24 become a 50 in a second. Sure you can walk or crop, but it's not always possible and cropping sacrifice resolution, and DOF is never the same.
So bought a zoom lens again, didn't want to re-buy the 24-105, so got the 24-70 when it was on sale. The 20-70 was a strong contender, but wanted a f/2.8 as an upgrade from the f/4.
Have this exact setup and it's fab
For travel and all rounder, I'd recommend Tamron 28-200mm. I don't personally have this one but hear good things and it is a bit more budget. I do have the 35-150mm and it is beastly.
28-200
goes alright
bought it over the sony 24-105 that i spent many hours playing with back when i worked in camera retail. no regrets.
Isn't this a beast (LARGE) of a lens?
Yeah, it's not even my biggest lens…. I just got a 200600
It’s reasonable for what you get imo
Balances better with a grip
Mate this 28-200 lens is so slept on. I've also for the 35-150 and it's a beaut, but if i'm hiking it's almost always the 28-200.
Totally. After buying the 28-200 I barely touch my original 28-75 now, and even the 70-180 is getting less use. The 28-75 used to be THE lens to get with the A7III, now the 28-200 is a more compelling option as an all-rounder first lens.
$889 on eBAY Camera House atm.
I would say it depends on what you want to shoot with it. I would give very different lens recommendations for someone who wanted to bring an all rounder lens travelling, compared to someone who wanted to shoot portraits, or shoot the milky way.
This ^^^.
Love my OG A7 with Sony G 40mm f2.5. Nice little carry around.
I really want the 20-70mm f4 …looks like a performer image quality wise, and for the subjects I shoot out on a bushwalk it would be perfect! That's me though. A nice balance of size, image quality, and zoom range - everything is a compromise.
Usually a prime lens for the very best image quality…though I'm not sure that's always true these days. Some manufacturers have some up with zoom lenses that outperform some primes.
But yeah…depends what you're shooting? If you're a beginner, you might not even know until you start.
Tamron 28-200 2.8/5.6. You likely wouldn't need another lens assuming you're more of a hobbiest/traveller. Outstanding bang for buck lens.
Sony 50mm 1.8 if you're really tight on budget. Another massive bang for buck.
+1 Tamron 28-200mm F/2.8-5.6 - it lives on my a7iii as a walk around lens now. Kinda gets to be a bit of an unwieldly package when adding a grip though.
I also like to use 55 1.8 with a grip for portrait work.
I do not think that can be answered without knowing what you like to shoot with, what photos you like and budget. In other words you will know before anybody else does.
I personally am not a fan of superzooms and standard telephotos due to harsh Bokeh and sharpness but it may be more suitable for a photographer looking for a versatile do it all lens. I dot not use the general purpose and popular 35mm on full frame but all other family members do on their camera bodies.
The focal range I shoot the most are classic portraiture and a mixture of 50mm, 85mm and 70-200mm primes and zooms with fast apertures yet I have attended workshops where some of the most amazing portrait photos have been on 24mm and wider.
One official Canon photographer shoots majority of her photos with 40mm tilt-shift.
I would suggest beginner photographers unsure of what lens they would like to:
take a look at websites such as Flickr, 500px, etc for photos you do like and check the camera and lens info section for how it was done
attend photography workshops where usually you can test on the day the organisers kit i.e. Canon used to run these, Sony still does here https://scene.sonyanz.com/events
attend local and free photography events such as Eventbrite, Facebook, etc meet ups
use the basic kit lens until you know
One of these:
I think if you want to have just 1 lens that will last you a long time and give you joy then go for 20-70/4 G
it's lighter than 24-105 G and IQ is better. goes wider, you gotta play with those ultrawide perspectives at 20mm
70mm f4 will give you decent portraits
it's awesome as you will discover different focus lengths, and it covers almost all the major ones, just doesn't reach to 85mm for that classic portrait option
but I would rather have 20mm on the wide side than that. push 70mm and step a bit closer and that's your head and shoulders portrait when you need one
can't do that on the ultrawide end
This was released back in 2018, i had camera and lens sitting at home collecting dusts , hardly taking it out as phone camera is so much easier
Hello Fujifilm X100VI
My fuji with pancake len is almost as small as x100, even got a sony rx100 v, but just couldn't bother nowadays
ricoh gr iii / x ****
GR IV coming soon I think! In need of an update badly.
@Munki: Yeah… look if they can get the hdf and just improve af and low light to 2024 standards I’ll buy lol
@Jimothy Wongingtons: It's getting way too expensive though. A GR IV might get to $2,000 to compete with the Fuji X100VI (and still be cheaper than the Fuji lolz).
It's an old camera but autofocus and image quality still holds up pretty well against recently released cameras.
I bought a OMd EM10 Mk2 and it just sits gathering dust too. A shame really. It does take better photos than my phone but just can’t really find the motivation to take it out and learn all the settings etc.
learn settings
just set to p for professional.
not even being funny.
Yeah pretty much this. It'll help you adjust everything. Turn your expensive AF camera to a point and click! As long as you get the shots, who gives a shit?
@Munki: point and click, with monster low light performance, awesome DR for raw recovery, next level auto focus etc **
I guess phone camera will get a good picture most of the time. But taking a picture with these cameras can take really bad photos with the wrong settings… So you can actually miss a good shot if you don't have time to review.
It's not just that, it's the convenience of always with you, i normally pack my sony rx100 which is small enough in a jacket pocket, even that, i still reach to my phone first
lol I have a rx100m6 that I’ve set up with just the leather case and pd wrist strap… and I still just leave it in my bag. Then when it gets to low light I wish I had my a7iii anyway
Does anyone use this as a webcam? I bought an r6 ii but the the canon software or teams keeps breaking on macos
Do you sell content? If not, why do your co-workers need to see you in such high quality on Teams calls?
Sometimes you have to sell WFH. Not everybody is comfortable with it. A dull badly coloured image with a talking silhouette doesn't really help.
a 20 buck one should do you fine, no need to spend so many monies, unless you are rich
Probably not worth the effort of using this as a webcam unless you have a permanent streaming setup and/or are streaming professionally. Even then I'd probably recommend one of Sony's video-oriented cameras (with a built-in fan) because there's a risk this will overheat and switch off during a long stream or 'hot' environment.
Even though I have multiple Sony cameras, I just use my iPhone or Pixel as webcams. There's little difference in a Zoom or Teams call.
A dongle may be your best bet. Camera specific software seems to just provide headaches. Similar to trying to use OBS (personally, it breaks if I switch my video from it in Teams).
I'm running an old beat up mirrorless through an Atomos Connect. Rock solid…turns any camera that can deliver a HDMI image into a USB camera as far as your computer is concerned. Image is far superior to anything I've seen from a webcam, and I can make it a little tighter so it doesn't show my whole office.
Grab a Cam Link 4k and a micro HDMI to HDMI cable. It will run a live feed from the camera to your computer which picks it up as a new webcam. More reliable than the camera software solutions. You'll have to turn off the screen overlays on the camera since it comes through on the signal.
If you don't need a 4K signal, any generic HDMI to usb capture dongle should do the job. They started mass producing a decent 1080p capture chip around the start of covid that went into most of the Chinese made models and works perfectly well.
R6II should do UVC straight no problems, meaning you can stream without any additional software - it was one of the first in 2022. Haven't had a problem with it at all.
Have you tried setting it up via Settings > Choose USB connection app?
As mentioned, despite its release date, absolutely fantastic 'budget' camera for a hobbiest or part time content creator.
Would this be a significant upgrade for a casual user or hobbyist who primarily uses auto mode, currently using a Canon R50?
What in the ChatGPT is this
IMHO…in most situations, using better lenses will make more of a difference than changing a camera.
Upgrading bodies might give you a higher resolution, or more dynamic range, or better autofocus.
If you put a crappy slow kit lens on it though…what's the point?
If you're an action/sports/wildlife shooter though…well…that improvement in AF and or low light and dynamic range is something you might really benefit from. That particular branch of photography can get expen$ive though.
Surely not gonna get a better price during black friday?
Great post OP thanks
wasnt it like $1400 with cashback last black friday?
Amazing camera! Great buy for most anyone as their first mirrorless camera.
I still have this camera since released. Rendered so many photos paired with 35 and 85 GM. But seriously, new iPhone models is enough especially during travels and day to day. Save money and get the latest. Just my opinion.
Edit: but the cinematic video/B-roll is still way far better compared to the new Iphones especially at f1.4. Subject separation is just very noticeable.
Much better than Canikons!
Compare to canon r8?
If you have not invested in either system yet, I would pick the R8. It is 5 years newer, lighter, faster shooting speed, higher max native ISO, more focus points and more advanced AF and tracking. The R8 also has rotating LCD display.
It is currently $1678 after code and $300 cash back.
a7iii has ibis and much better lens range
the LP-E17 batteries are pretty bad
just some counter points to consider
A73: simply put, much better handling. More dials and buttons, dual sd cards slot for backup. I usually put a 512GB slow card in slot 2 and never take out. Battery is also way better. Build is better. Lots of people used A73 for professional work, but very little choose R8.
"Lots of people used A73 for professional work, but very little choose R8."
"Build is better"
That is pretty inaccurate
Build is better.
As an owner of both cameras, I'd respectfully disagree.
And professionals are no longer using a7 III, that may be true over 5 years ago. They'd be migrating to a7r IV (or a7 IV) and then a7r V by now. Sony is keeping a7 III as entry level full frame nowadays. Technology is from 2018. E.g. Touch screen is limited in functionality and lower resolution compare to modern mirrorless.
R8 is not targeted to professionals market, hence the toned down features without sacrificing the image quality and AF. Canon has R6 II (or R5) for professionals.
I have owned the Sony A73 and sold it years ago, in 2024 I would pick the R8 or other options available over the A73.
The A73 has been around this sale price for years now with stacking discounts.
A73 release date: 2018
R8 release date: 2023
Canon R8: Made in Japan
5 Years Warranty, vs 2 Years with the A73
Resale value: Just look at how many A73 are for sale on marketplace..
The Canon R8 shares the same 24.1MP full-frame sensor and autofocus system as the Canon R6 II and same Digic X image processor as the Canon R3.
Both the R6ii & R3 are high-end, current models.
R8 has 4K 60p oversampled video from a full-width 6K sensor readout (no crop), vs A73 has a 1.5x crop factor.
10-bit 422 colour depth internal recording, vs A73 can record internally in 8-bit 4:2:0 which is below par in 2024.
There are also pros and cons to IBIS and a lot of professional video cameras do not have IBIS. Heat can be an issue, micro jitters and less control.
I personally don't like the effect of IBIS a lot of the time and find it can create unnatural movements.
It is easy to stabilise the R8 for video with an OIS lens, or any stabilisation available today, rigs, tripod, monopod, gimbal, digitally, and in post etc.
Might be worth getting Sony website to price match, sign up with a new account which then provides a 10% off first order code. So total with cashback should be: $1,328.13
When Sony price matches nowadays, they will disable the field to enter promotional code.
I tried recently and got that error - I messaged their support and they unlocked it for me. Not sure if lucky or not but worth a shot :p
I asked the same tonight with my price matched cart, they said "This would mean that your cart has a camera or lens or products that are price matched. Meaning you can't use vouchers on top of price match." I had to remove those items before they enabled the promo field again.
Also, the sign off bonus now does not include cameras:
Enjoy a single use voucher for 5% off TV and 10% off selected audio when you join MySony*
Can you pay with gift cards with this and still be eligible for cashback?
Sony dirrect will price beat the price at JBs + the bonus battery offer.
Also, it has got a touchscreen display for quick focus switch !!