The Sony A7sIII — What can we expect?
Sony have been on a roll of late with new versions of all their flagship mirrorless bodies: With the A7RIII replacing the A7rII and, most recently, the A7III replacing the A7II. The A9 fills a slot in their line-up aimed at competing with the fast-shooting DSLR’s from Canon with their 1DX Mk2 and Nikon with the D5. But what about the A7sII? The video orientated camera which has become the gold standard for filmmakers and videographers?
At this stage we know very little about what Sony have in mind for this camera, which save for its poor battery life, is still very much a very relevant and lusted-after piece of kit. Let‘s take a look at what we are getting with the current A7sII:
Sensor Size & Type: 35 mm full frame (35.6 x 23.8 mm), Exmor CMOS sensor
Color Space: 4:2:0
Effective Megapixels: Approx.12.2 MP
Video Format: XAVC S/AVCHD format Ver. 2.0 compliant/MP4
Resolution & Frame Rate: XAVC S 4K: 3840 x 2160 (30p/100 Mbps, 30p/60 Mbps, 24p/100 Mbps, 24p/60 Mbps); XAVC S HD: 1920 x 1080 (60p/50 Mbps, 30p/50 Mbps, 24p/50 Mbps, 120p/100 Mbps, 120p/60 Mbps); AVCHD: 1920 x 1080 (60p/28 Mbps/PS, 60i/24 Mbps/FX, 60i/17 Mbps/FH, 24p/24 Mbps/FX, 24p/17 Mbps/FH); MP4: 1920 x 1080 (60p/28 Mbps, 30p/16 Mbps), 1280 x 720 (30p/6 Mbps)
Recording Media: Memory Stick PRO Duo, Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo, Memory Stick Micro (M2), SD memory card, SDHC memory card, SDXC memory card, microSD memory card, microSDHC memory card, microSDXC memory card
Display Size and Resolution: 2.95-in 1,228,800 dot LCD
Lens Mount: E-mount
Audio In: 3.5 mm Stereo minijack
Audio Out: 3.5 mm Stereo minijack
Video Out: micro-HDMI
Shutter Rage: 1/8000 to 1/4
ISO Range: 100–102400 equivalent (expandable to ISO 100–409600 equivalent)
Shot Assist: Zebra, Peaking, Face Detection, 5-axis Image Stabilization
Going in order of the spec list above we expect the following changes from Sony:
Sensor:
We may see an upgrade to a stacked CMOS sensor which may boost image quality in low light conditions.
Color Space:
With the Panasonic GH5 and GH5s already boasting 4:2:2 10 bit, we would very much like to see an improvement here from Sony and my money is that they will probably do this. Many argue that the important factor here is the bit rate improvement going to 10-bit color, which effectively means gentler gradations between color to avoid banding.
Effective Megapixels:
It is possible that Sony may keep the same resolution of the A7sII at 12.2MP rather than going to the 24MP to make use of 6K. The benefits would be to try and optimize the capabilities of the 12.2MP/4k sensor and improve performance in color and frame rates rather than simply trying to impress with 6K resolution but making do with 8-bit. Most feel that with Panasonic making this available on the GH5, Sony would lose ground and possibly even customers serious about taking their image making to the next level.
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Resolution and frame rate:
We expect to see Sony try to match the GH5 in the resolution stakes and give us the option of 4K at different frame rates/color space combinations. The A7sII peaked at 120FPS at Full-HD, so we can possibly expect 240FPS at Full-HD with 120FPS at 4K. Sony have always been good at providing a lot of options, so it will be unlikely that this wouldn’t be maintained.
Display:
A Touch display will very likely be adopted for the A7sIII which will fall in line with the rest of the A7 series. The A7sII already had a tilting screen and it may be possible that Sony adopts even more articulation from its rear LCD.
Autofocus:
Standard really for Sony cameras, but after seeing the lightning performance from the A9 and A7sIII, we don’t doubt that Sony will give us a much improved AF on the A7sIII. Phase detection AF please, Sony! Sony may also adopt touch control focus for its rear LCD which would be a benefit for those wishing to carry out fast and accurate focus racking between defined AF points.
Handling:
One of the more noticeable aspects of the A9 was its slight increase in size over is stablemates and one which was well received. This is not an aspect that is of utmost importance with the the A7sIII as it will likely spend less time in-hand; however, it may require some bulk if it is to fit in larger components or if the battery size increases, which is pretty much a given.
Battery:
Probably the biggest gripe of all: battery consumption. The NP-FW50 is not up to scratch for the type of work the A7sIII is likely to do. It isn’t uncommon to go through 6–7 batteries with the A7sII during a normal shooting day if rolling constantly. Prior to the release of the latest E mount A cameras, they all shared the FW-50 battery, so it’s more than likely that the new A7sIII will adopt the higher capacity NP-FZ100. Still, be prepared to need at least 3–4 of these if you have long days shooting.
There will likely be other small modifications, possibly even the improved menu system found on the A9 and A7rIII and better ergonomics more specific to video making.
What would you like to see improved or added to Sony’s A7sIII? Let us know in the comments below.
