Sony a7R III Mirrorless Camera: 42.4MP Full Frame High-Resolution Interchangeable Lens Digital Camera with Front-End LSI Image Processor, 4K HDR Video and 3" LCD Display - ILCE7RM3/B Body, Black

I upgrade cameras every 3-4 years so every camera should be the best camera I have ever owned. I am primarily a passionate person, but I also do a little professional work. The A7riii easily obliterates this standard. For perspective, I was a longtime Sony/Minolta shooter back in the days of traditional SLRs and DSLRs. As Sony started moving away from the DSLR format, I switched to Nikon with the Nikon D750. Back then, in 2014, I was considering Sony mirrorless, but decided the rig just wasn't ready for prime time. Focusing systems were poor, lens range was poor. Then at the end of 2017 - 3+ years in the D750 as my main camera, I started having an upgrade itch. I was ready to buy the Nikon D850...but I started to dread the potential extra weight. And I know Sony has great features that I love that Nikon lacks. So, after much thought, I started selling my Nikon lenses...and now I'm happy to shoot with the A7riii. And the verdict - I like it even more than I thought. I had high expectations and this exceeded my expectations. If you're considering the A7riii over the Nikon D850, here's my basic comparison review based on experience with Nikon and extensive research on the D850. Viewfinder: OVF (optical) vs. EVF (electronic) - This gets to the big problem for most people. There are people who use EVF, who love the "what you see is what you get" aspect and claim they could never go back to using an OVF. There are OVF enthusiasts who claim they would never want to look at an electrical image through the viewfinder. I'm agnostic, happy to use either one. But in general, the EVF A7riii is fantastic. It's big (bigger than the D850), it's bright. He is quick and responsive. It's very easy to forget that you're not looking at an OVF. The only downside to the EVF in general is when the camera starts up. A camera like the Nikon D850 is ready to shoot instantly. The A7riii and EVF need a moment to turn on or wake up if the camera has gone to sleep. It's very very fast, must be faster than older models. I'd say it's around 1 second, definitely less than 2 seconds. But it is there when you first turn on/wake up the camera. Image quality: Look at the many reviews, the IQ differences will be insignificant between the D850 and the A7riii. The small difference in resolution does not make sense. In general, the A7riii image quality is simply stunning. In terms of low light/high ISO capability, I get higher quality at ISO 6400-16000. Also, compared to my previous Sony cameras, JPEG rendering is much improved. I've always hated Sony JPEGs straight out of the camera. And if you shoot raw photos, you're rewarded with extremely malleable files. Body/Ergonomics -- This is the most cited aspect by DSLR enthusiasts. Some would say that Sony's mirrorless cameras are "too small...too uncomfortable to hold...the buttons are too small". The A7riii grip is virtually identical to the Nikon D750 grip. So, for my average-sized hands, it's just as comfortable to hold. Button placement and size are improved. It really became a comfortable body with good ergonomics. There's no top LCD plate - so that's a small check in favor of the D850. The build quality is excellent, but probably not as sturdy as the D850. I wouldn't hesitate to use the A7riii in light rain, but I'd be more comfortable with the D850 in a downpour. Previous Sony cameras all had ridiculously bad battery life. the battery has not dropped below 50%. I would always buy 1 extra backup battery, but you will rarely need it with the A7riii. Most important to me: it weighs about a pound less than the Nikon D850. When paired with the right lenses, this is a relatively compact system. My back and neck are already enjoying the improvement of the D750. Autofocus -- This is the most important. The D850 has a fantastic autofocus system taken from its flagship sports camera. Traditionally, mirrorless autofocus was inferior. Autofocus is rated by many different metrics, but by most metrics the A7riii autofocus is superior to DSLRs. It's the best autofocus system I've ever used, better than the D750. For starters, Nikon's large autofocus system only works with the viewfinder. If you resort to video or LCD, you get very poor AF. Sony has a fantastic AF system that can seamlessly switch between the viewfinder and the LCD screen. It is super fast and, above all, super precise. When set up correctly, you get “eye AF” on Sony cameras. It's an amazing feature - even with a very narrow depth of field (blurred background) you'll get absolutely perfect focus on the eyeball in almost any portrait/people shot. DSLRs are affected by back and front focus issues - focus is often off by about a centimeter. It's okay, but in high resolution you can notice it. On the A7riii... you get absolutely perfect focus more often. Meanwhile, the focus points cover a large part of the frame. The joystick and the touch screen make it very easy to move the AF point (it was VERY tedious on previous Sony cameras). So other features and benefits of the A7riii: - Pixel Shift - Create a 4-frame composite based on shifting the sensor just 1 pixel at a time. It has very limited functionality. Must have completely still subjects. Must shoot on a tripod. And must combine the images using Sony software on a computer. But in those limited cases, it's a way to get noticeably more detail than with a normal shot.-IBIS and Hybrid Stabilization. I don't have the most steady hands. I've always needed some degree of stabilization or a high shutter speed for sharp images. While many DSLR lenses are stabilized these days, many ultra-wide and prime lenses remain unstabilized. With the A7riii, EVERY lens stabilizes. For some, it is a hybrid system between the lens and the camera. For these lenses, I get an incredible degree of stabilization. I was turning easily at 105mm and 1/10th of a second. Shooting with the 12-24mm lens at 12mm (this lens has no lens stabilization so it's IBIS only) I was getting sharp images at 1/2 second. - Two SD cards. Some have complained that only 1 card slot supports super fast UHS-II cards, so you are slowed down by the other slot. I have the "slow" slot set to write JPEGs (smaller files), while RAW goes to the fast card. They both end up writing at about the same speed. - Camera generally remains responsive even when writing images to card - Earlier Sony cameras mostly crashed when writing to card. The A7riii remains mostly accessible.- 10 fps, 8fps with live view. Shooting at 10fps gives you a slideshow effect: the viewfinder displays the last frame taken, putting you 1/10th of a second behind the action. But you can shoot at 8 fps with minimal black and still have a live view. - Silent shooting - Including at 8 to 10 fps. Want to discreetly take candid photos without anyone posing for the camera? Put on face detection, silent shooting, 8 fps... fire bursts from the hip, and you'll get plenty of great shots. (or street photography, etc.). - GPS location tagging via Bluetooth - Simple setup with your phone and then works well. - Customization --- A camera like the D850 is better out of the box. Buttons and menus mostly make a lot of sense. Sony leaves a lot more open to customization. Once you spend a few hours fully customizing the buttons, the FN menu and the new "myMenu"...it becomes a much better camera. The default menus are complicated and unwieldy. But once customized, you can have a fantastic layout. A word about Sony's range of lenses - The range costs a bit more than Canon and Nikon. The quality of most lenses is absolutely excellent. If you're shooting between 10mm and 200mm, price aside, there's really nothing to complain about. For super-telephoto shooters, Sony's range remains somewhat limited. So my review was glowing...but that doesn't mean there aren't negatives with the camera. Most of the negatives are very very minor things. So the negative points, especially compared to a camera like the D850: - Difficult to remove the two memory cards. When you enter the delete function, it is only to delete from the chosen reading card. To remove it from your second map, you need to go through more menu options and change the chosen map. - There is no built-in intervalometer. You can buy a cheap external intervalometer for time intervals, but it really should be built-in. - No lossless compression option. Nikon gives you a multitude of options for managing RAW files. Sony only gives you compressed or uncompressed. Uncompressed files are too large for most uses. I'm sticking with compressed - in 99% of situations you won't see any loss in image quality. But a lossless compression option would be nice to have. -The "star eater" problem - You will find this written on the Internet. Basically, when you do astro-photography... when you have very, very small stars (1 pixel), the camera takes them for hot pixels and removes them. So instead of seeing 1,000 stars, you might only see 950 in the photo. For me, a non-issue. For a dedicated astro-photographer, this could be a problem. From memory, I can't think of any other notable negatives. The camera is really that good. Due to the fantastic eye autofocus, I think this is the best portrait camera you can buy. Combining fantastic eye-AF with silent shooting and live view, this is the best event/wedding camera money can buy. Image quality, high resolution, pixel shift make it a stellar landscape camera. Can't say it's better than the D850 for landscapes, but it's up there. For anyone who cares about camera size, the A7riii still isn't tiny. But relatively speaking, it can save you a noticeable amount of bulk and weight. So for those who want a general purpose camera with the best possible image quality, it's very easy to recommend the A7riii.