In my opinion Tony made a fair assessment. And as we learned from Gerald Undone there seems to be enough flexibility to improve the IQ even further in post production. In the era of pixel peepers we sometimes forget that Image Quality is now super on basically any new camera you buy. The real difference now is made by features that allow you to capture moments you couldn’t get before. The Sony A9III with 120fps, pre-recording, no-banding no-flickr no-rolling shutter issue, flash sync at any speed….this all makes it do things no other cameras can do!

Preorders:
Sony A9III at BHphoto. Amazon US&EU. Adorama. FotoErhardt. Fotokoch. Calumet. WexUK.
Sony 300mm at BHphoto. Amazon US&EU. Adorama. FotoErhardt. Fotokoch. Calumet. WexUK.

BI collected a couple of youtubers reaction on the new Sony FX6/FX3/FX30 firmware announcement (original article here). And now I am going to share my own key thoughts:

1. Getting the FX30/FX3 firmware update in September can only mean one thing: Sony felt the pressure from the community to develop consistent new firmware updates. But they were unprepared to react in time and therefore they are “teasing” us that they are working on it.
2. It now sounds unlikely that Sony will announce a new FX3II this year. But maybe that’s just a wrong impression and the FX3II will be so much more advanced that the FX3 firmware will not change the appeal of the new FX3II
3. I am 100% certain a new FX camera is coming in the next months. But from what I heard this might be a completely different model…(stay tuned!)

Overall we can all agree that Sony got our complains and they are working to bring software updates on some if not all the modern E-mount cameras. So thanks to you folks for your constructive criticism and thanks for Sony for acknowledging the problem.

Preorders (shipment start Feb 21):
Sony A9III at BHphoto. Amazon. Adorama. FotoErhardt. Fotokoch. Calumet. WexUK.

On top you can watch Jake Sloan Sony A9III review. There are a couple of interesting takeaways:

1) Impressive stabilization:
The 8 stops image stabilization on the Sony A9III and the 600mm GM can be used handheld and still take sharp images! Click on images to see it:

2) No more artifacts!
Everything is straight and distortion free. Like those helicopter blades:

3) Image Quality:
Dynamic range in practice same as on the Sony A1. The difference is negligible and with a little bit of post production you can get it on par with the Sony A1. Noise doesn’t seem to degrade the image (Click on it):

There are many more points he makes in the video and at the end he says he is going to sell his Sony A1 and buy the new A9III.

Preorders:
Sony A9III at BHphoto. Amazon US&EU. Adorama. FotoErhardt. Fotokoch. Calumet. WexUK.
Sony 300mm at BHphoto. Amazon US&EU. Adorama. FotoErhardt. Fotokoch. Calumet. WexUK.
Sony Holiday deals now live at BHphoto, Adorama and Amazon.
Sony Europe 500 Euro/Pounds cashback at FotoErhardt, FotoKoch, Calumet, WexUK, Amazon EU.

Preorders (shipment start Feb 23):
Sony A9III at BHphoto. Amazon. Adorama. FotoErhardt. Fotokoch. Calumet. WexUK.

Here is a link to an album of full resolution images captured by the A9II on my Flickr Pro account: flickr.com/photos/markgaler/sets/72177720314048922/

I think most of the people still underestimate the power of the Sony A9III when it comes to video. So I am happy to see that Jeven Dovey posted this video today where he clearly made this point. What he did not mention is that you don’t have any issues anymore with many classic video artifacts like banding, flickering, hello effect….all gone for the first time on a hybrid mirrorless camera!

Preorders (shipment start Feb 21):
Sony A9III at BHphoto. Amazon. Adorama. FotoErhardt. Fotokoch. Calumet. WexUK.
Sony 300mm at BHphoto. Amazon. Adorama. FotoErhardt. Fotokoch. Calumet. WexUK.
Sonny A9III Vertical Grip at BHphoto. Amazon. Adorama. FotoErhardt. Fotokoch. Calumet. WexUK.

Gerald Undone did a Sony A9III image test and actually discovered a way to gain Dynamic Range:

It appears the Sony A9III has a different more “RAW” noise level (in video) than other Sony cameras like the Sony A7IV. If you work it out the in post production you gain up to 1 stop of Dynamic Range which puts it on par with the A7IV. So it seem that after all the A9III Image Quality is damn close to all other Sony cameras, a good trade of considering the benefits you get with global shutter!

What do you think?

Preorders (shipment start Feb 23):
Sony A9III at BHphoto. Amazon. Adorama. FotoErhardt. Fotokoch. Calumet. WexUK.