Sony’s new a7S III is quite the piece of gear on paper, but how does it perform out in the real world? Videographer Matt Johnson puts it through its paces shooting a beautiful Texas wedding, complete with high temperatures, bright highlights, and dark shadows — not to mention some dim interiors and a couple of donkeys.
The a7S III is falling into the hands of more creatives, and we’re beginning to get an idea of its potential and reliability. Johnson shoots a long day, coming away with some gorgeous footage, and taking advantage of the camera’s low-light capabilities and its 10-bit 4K 120p.
At a shade under $3,500, this new camera from Sony isn’t cheap but it does come packed with features, such as the little-discussed gyro that means you might be able to shoot incredibly stable footage without the need for a gimbal. Check out this article to learn more.
Perhaps the more important question presented by this video is why more weddings don’t feature donkeys that deliver alcohol. I can only hope that the company hiring out these beer burros is making a killing.
What are your thoughts? Should there be donkeys at every wedding? Is the a7S III going to be the wedding videographer's camera of choice? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
I’ve had the pleasure of colour grading the footage from the Sony a7siii and it’s top notch. I’m not sure what you mean about lying to ourselves? The colour science has been changed and with the additional features; eye auto focus in all rates, higher frame rates in 4K, 10 bit colour etc... I’m not sure how that would be lying to ourselves if it’s beneficial to our work? Yes, I have one on pre order because it is a tool that assists me further over more than my current set up 👍
Sorry for the typos
Does any full frame camera have excellent IBIS? Buy a gimbal, get better at hand holding, rig it out. There are a lot of cheaper options to smooth video than spending 11grand on a C300iii. Also the Sony has exportable gyro data, so you can stabilize accurately in post.
LMAO, have you seen any examples of gyro-software stabilisation. Software that analyses shots at the pixel is still guesswork. Gyro data KNOWS exactly where the camera is, and from what I've seen works excellently. Everyone buys gimbals because gyro-software stabilisation only exists for like 2 cameras at the moment.
For anyone who missed it... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BhgBDx1OeQ
Okay, good stuff. Price points are completely different and as stated by Alex, stabilisation can be achieved in a number of different ways. The footage I have doesn’t look like crap, it could easily be up at the level of being a B camera to run alongside an FX9 cinema camera. Remember, this is still a Mirrorless camera, it’s not in the price range of a cinema camera and shouldn’t be compared as such.
Great video. I can see why some are buying 2 off the bat. Outside ambient temp 93 degrees F and didn't even have to ghetto-rigg it with scotch tape and rice. *cough* canon *cough*
Ok, I’m impressed. The DR here is at least half a step ahead of what I’m used to seeing from something that’s not a professional cine camera, and the color holds up well.
Our video production company is thinking of buying into this system for live music shows along with the fx9.
I’m not 100% sold yet . We will be shooting 7-9 cameras. I didn’t watch the whole video but 99 percent of it . Did you say if there was any color grading . The skin tones looked like crap and the whole wedding video portion had a yellow cast over it . This probably killed the skin tones . What color temp did you shoot at ? And why ?