Panasonic S5 vs. Sony a7 III for Photography and Video

With the S5 Panasonic released a very intresting enry level camera. The big problem is their autofocus performance when shooting videos. But put that aside and the camera is a worthy competitor of the Sony A7III. Here is the full report from Explora (article here).

For photography:

Pitting the S5 and a7 III against each other results in a very close battle. They seem to trade out features, making a decision based more on the specific things you want and less about which is flat-out better than the other. Panasonic offers advanced features like a High-Res Shot mode for 96MP JPEGs and raw images, Live View Composite, and plenty more. However, I believe the a7 III wins on some regular specs such as autofocus performance and continuous shooting. To be honest, pick whichever one you like best.

For video:

Videographers and filmmakers of all types will appreciate the advantages of the S5 over the a7 III—which is starting to show its age. The S5 offers 10-bit recording, which is incredibly important for high-quality video. It has a crop mode that enables 60p for 4K video. And, the screen is a free-angle design that is ideal for vlogging. The a7 III is still a great pick if you need photo performance as well, but the huge advantages of the S5 for video mean that if you are video first it is well worth it.

New Tamron 70-300mm FE reviews by Marc Alhadeff, Richard Wong and Matt Granger

Tamron 70-300mm FE lens at BHphoto, Adorama, FocusCamera, Wex UK.

Marc Alhadeff tested the lens and concluded:

The Tamron 70-300 F4.5-56.3 Di III RXD (700 euros) is a very good telephoto lens for a A7c or A7III. On a 24Mpix results it will be excellent at al focal lengths , all that for a light weight (545g) and a small price (700 euros). Performances are better than the Sony FE 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 G OSS in term of background blur, AF and sharpness for half the price and 33% less weight.

Richard Wong also tested the lens:

And this is Matt Grangers test:

New Sony A7sIII firmware update released. And newreviews by Fstoppers, Dan Watson, Max Yuryev, Camera Conspiracies

Today Sony issued a new firmware update for the Sony A7sIII (download here).

Benefits and Improvements

  • Fixes an issue where FTP transfer could fail when used with some USB-LAN conversion adapters
    Note: Not all USB-LAN conversion adaptors are guaranteed to operate properly
  • Improves connection stability of USB tethering when using an iPhone
    Notes:

    • Currently, the USB tethering function does not support iOS 14
    • We recommend using a smartphone and USB cable that support USB-PD (USB Power Delivery)
  • Improves the overall stability of the camera

At the time of posting this the Sony A7sIII is nearly impossible to find in Stock in US and EU stores like Adorama. BHphoto. Amazon. FocusCamera. Fotokoch. Calumet DE. WexUK. Park UK.

And these are three new reviews from Fstoppers, Dan Watson, Camera Conspiracies:

Sony a7C review at Dpreview: “having this kind of quality in a genuinely small camera is extremely attractive”

Preorders: BHphoto, Adorama, Amazon, FocusCamera. Calumet DE. Foto-erhardt DE. Fotokoch DE. Wex UK. Park UK.

Dpreview tested the new Sony A7c and concluded:

The Sony a7C is gives up very little in the way of features in order to achieve its small size. Its image quality is very good and its AF is excellent, but its small viewfinder takes away from the experience a little. Its video and menus aren’t as polished as its rivals but its size and battery life make for a powerful combination.

The a7C’s appeal can really be summed-up in a single phrase: ‘full-frame image quality in a compact body’. When using the a7C it’s easy to forget the size of the sensor that Sony has packed inside it, and while there are frustrations (the viewfinder experience is adequate but not amazing, and I wish there was a front control dial) having this kind of quality in a genuinely small camera is extremely attractive.