The original Sony A9 was an absolute game-changer for me. I remember the moment with total clarity; I took the A9 to a destination wedding in the Caribbean. It was the first time I was absolutely blown away by a mirrorless camera, and in a high-pressure situation no less. So, it is with great excitement that I begin this Sony A9 III review!
Mind you, the original A9 wasn’t just “good enough” for me to switch from my DSLRs to a mirrorless system; it was undeniably better. My jaw dropped when I witnessed the camera delivering tack-sharp results in the above moment! (Hindu weddings are amazingly beautiful to witness, but they sure can be demanding of your camera’s autofocus!)
The A9 autofocus, combined with Sony GM lenses, was downright magical. It could nail focus in extremely dim light, even with the razor-thin DOF of f/1.4, and it tracked moving subjects with ease.
For some, the successor, the Sony A9 II, was not enough of an improvement. Honestly, in my own Sony A9 II review, I said almost as much: It was a far more comfortable and refined camera in terms of ergonomics and customizations, and certainly worth the upgrade, but only if your existing A9 was getting really worn out.
Today, the Sony A9 III has delivered an absolutely ground-breaking leap forward, with its global shutter that offers some major, unprecedented advantages. Specifically: zero rolling shutter effect for video or fast-panning still action scenes, and also, impossibly high flash strobe sync speeds!
Of course, thanks to the A9 III’s modest 24-megapixel resolution (that hasn’t changed since the origin of the series) …the FPS (still Frames Per Second) skyrocketed to a mind-boggling 120 FPS. There’s also a pre-capture mode where the camera continuously stores up to a whole second of action, effectively making this camera so fast that it can “go backwards in time”!
So, if you’re looking for an absolute speed demon that offers performance no other competitor can even touch, look no further, this is it. With that said, let’s dive into this full Sony A9 III review.
Sony A9 III Specifications
- SENSOR: 24.6-megapixel full-frame stacked CMOS (global shutter)
- LENS MOUNT: Sony E-mount (full-frame)
- STILL IMAGES: 6000×4000 pixels
- VIDEO:4K/120p, 4:2:2 10-bit
Raw 16-bit: 6K/59.94p - ISO: Native: 250-25600 (Expanded: 125-51200)
- AUTOFOCUS: 759-point hybrid AF, dedicated AI processor, subject detection & tracking, sensitivity from -5 EV to +20 EV
- SHOOTING SPEED (FPS): 120 FPS (burst) raw stills
- SHUTTER SPEEDS: up to 1/80,000 sec, including flash sync
- STABILIZATION: 5-axis sensor-shift stabilization, up to 8 EVs
- VIEWFINDER:9.44M dot LED, 0.9x magnification, 120-240 fps refresh
- LCD: 3.2” 2.0M dot fully-articulated touchscreen
- CONNECTIVITY: HDMI (full-size), USB-C (PD), headphone jack, microphone jack,
- STORAGE: Dial CFexpress Type A, SD UHS-II
- BATTERY: Sony NP-FZ100
- BODY CONSTRUCTION: Magnesium Alloy, fully weather-sealed
- SIZE: 5.4 x 3.8 x 3.3″ (136.1 x 96.9 x 82.9 mm)
- WEIGHT: 1.4 lbs (617g)
- PRICE: $5,998
(B&H | Adorama | Amazon)
Sony A9 III Review | Who Should Buy It?
First and foremost, The Sony A9 III is all about that global shutter and its blazing fast stacked CMOS speed. If you aren’t here for either the zero rolling shutter, the full range of shutter speeds (all the way up to 1/80,000 sec!) that have flash sync, or the jaw-dropping 120 FPS raw stills bursts, …then, yeah, you might be just as happy, or even better off, with the predecessor, the A9 II. (It’s currently about $1,500 more affordable!)
Having said that, obviously this Sony A9 III review is going to focus on action, action, ACTION! Whether you’re looking to freeze a hummingbird’s wings, or capture the moment of contact between a bat and baseball, this is the camera for you. If you want to create high-speed stop-action portraits of athletes using studio strobe flashes, this is the camera for you.
Action Sports Photography
Having the ability to capture stills at 120 FPS could be a total game-changer for your work. Even being able to capture raw frames at 30-60 FPS; you can effectively capture “raw video” just by jamming your A9 III’s shutter in stills mode! (As long as you don’t care about capturing audio!)
The usefulness of this speed has many great examples, such as maximizing the frames you get to choose during a golf swing or a batter at-bat, or the peak moment of any type of extreme sports, especially when tricks are involved!
By the way, even if 120 FPS is overkill for you, the A9 III still offers a huge advantage: Zero warping of objects that are supposed to be perfectly straight, such as a golf club or skis/poles. That, plus the pre-capture feature, equals three major reasons why this particular Sony mirrorless flagship camera is a champion.
Oh, and as a really nice bonus, if you’re ever in a pro sports arenas, you will appreciate the global shutter for one more reason. That is, you’ll never get the horrible banding patterns plaguing all other sensors that read data line-by-line! The awful banding/flicker pattern of LED displays in the background of your photo is completely gone. With overhead lighting that flickers, you might encounter some global exposure weirdness at extremely high shutter speeds, but you’ll never worry about banding/flicker patterns.
Wildlife Photography
Wildlife photography can offer some pretty high-speed action, too. A hummingbird’s wings “beat” at 75 beats per second; some can be up to 200 times per second! A bee can flap its wings 300 times per second. If you’re into “freezing motion” in extreme ways, you’ll love this camera. Especially when it comes to those little critters, insects and stuff that often can lend themselves to the use of flash!
Having said that, you will want to be a little more careful at higher ISOs in dim lighting conditions, because the noise levels do jump up quite a bit compared to other ~24 megapixel options.
Aside from that, some wildlife and nature scenes might not lend themselves to needing a global shutter as much as action sports or extreme sports. If, for example, you are both a wildlife photographer and a landscape photographer, skip the A9 III and get yourself the A7R V instead; you’ll really appreciate the (similar, but not identical) autofocus system paired with the much higher resolution. Although the high-ISO noise is also not that great on the A7R V, (a tiny bit worse, in fact) …you’ll likely be more than happy to trade that for the incredible images you get at the native base ISO of 100 on the A7R5.
Videography
Obviously, if you do video of any of the above subjects, then the Sony A9 III gets even more exciting and advantageous. In case this isn’t apparent already, the sensor is a holy grail for videographers, especially if you do any sort of panning, or deal with any sort of flickering light.
Also, the actual video specs themselves are decently impressive, though not as game-changing as the global shutter itself. You get 4K 120P, or 6K 60p, or you can send raw video to an external device via the HDMI port.
Once again, the shadow noise at high ISOs can rear its ugly head if you’re not careful, so, get your exposures looking good in-camera, and don’t go digging too deep into the shadows either way.
Wedding & Portrait Photography
Some might argue that a Sony A9 III is a bit overkill for weddings and portraits, and I would agree. That’s mainly because the A9 II is already so good, and costs quite a bit less. Most wedding and portrait photographers don’t require more than 5-10 FPS. A serious portrait photographer is probably better off with a high-megapixel camera such as a Sony A7R V. Lastly, the autofocus tracking is already good enough.
Having said that, I must admit that having access to ANY shutter speed when using flash, without any HSS light loss, is a phenomenal advantage for wedding photography in bright sun, high-contrast scenes, and/or extremely fast apertures! Gone are the days of worrying about which ND filter you need to do portraits at f/1.2 in broad daylight.
The bottom line, however, is this: For the price of one A9 III, a wedding/portrait photographer could get a Sony A7 IV, an A7R V, and still have plenty of money left over to fund a new Sony FE 85mm f/1.4 GM II!
Commercial & Editorial Portrait Photography
When you go from “regular” portraits to high-end commercial or editorial work, you might see greater value in a few of the A9 III’s features. As one simple example, there are certainly a few apparel labels and product brands related to sports or outdoor activity where you might have an advantage if you can create high-speed stop-action advertising imagery!
Honestly, though? I suspect that the modest resolution of the A9 III will cause most high-end commercial photographers to reach for an A7R V first, or maybe an A1. The A9III is a very specialized tool, indeed.
Landscape & Nightscape Photography
Last but not least, I’m going to flat-out forbid you from thinking this is your best choice from Sony for landscapes etc. Simply put, the Sony A7R V is infinitely more optimal, heck even a Sony A7 IV is a better choice, at a mere ~$2,100!
Sony A9 III Review | Pros & Cons
Let’s switch from organizing our recommendations by photography genre, and go over the camera itself from a technical standpoint. The A9 III’s key advantage is its sensor, but that’s also its primary disadvantage, too.
The body is relatively similar to other high-end Sony cameras, which puts it in the running for one of the best cameras on the market. (That is, as long as you’re up to the challenge of mastering Sony’s “fighter jet cockpit” of a user interface!)
Image Quality
Being a one-of-a-kind sensor, we are in uncharted territory here. The Sony A9 III has a base (native) ISO of 250, which will feel quite odd to anyone who is accustomed to ISO 100. Besides that, the new sensor is optimized for speed, and there is a bit of a hit to the noise levels coming out of images. Whether you’re working at high ISOs, or you’re just digging deep into the shadows at lower ISOs, the difference is very slight, but definitely there.
Honestly, though? It’s likely a non-issue for most photographers. If you’re a high-end professional action sports photographer, most shooting conditions will give you more than enough light, and not too much contrast, such that you’ll never feel held back by the sensor.
NOTE: Since there are so many high-speed cameras on the market with a 24-megapixel sensor, we are going to do a separate, in-depth image quality test, including 100% crops for both dynamic range and ISO noise samples, very soon! Stay tuned…
There could be a little bit more “pushing the envelope” if you’re a wildlife photographer who needs to freeze some action in the dim light of sunrise, or after sunset. Still, I will say this: just get a little bit better at nailing the perfect exposure for the tougher scenes you encounter, and you’ll probably never notice a “hit” to dynamic range or high ISO quality.
We should also discuss the fact that the Sony A9 III offers a rather modest 24 megapixels, while a few of the high-speed flagship competitors do offer 45-50 megpixels instead. There’s not much to discuss here, really; most pros who have ever sold an image for publication or other use, already know how much resolution they require for their subjects/clients.
Build Quality / Durability
Physically, The Sony A9 III is one of the most durable, robust cameras that Sony has ever delivered. It’s a phenomenal workhorse, with its metal body, full weather sealing, and generally rugged feel. We’ll talk more later about the ergonomics, but suffice it to say, they’re also the best yet from Sony.
Autofocus Performance
With its dedicated AI processor for subject detection and tracking, the Sony A9 III has autofocus that I like to categorize as “witchcraft”. It’s unbelievably good, arguably (and measurably) the best AF system on the market today.
The ability to identify, lock onto, and then track almost any subject, in almost any light, is uncanny and unprecedented. Let me put it this way: With the original A9, I could imagine myself going back to a DSLR, if I had to, and “making do”. By now, with the A9 III, to have to go back to a DSLR at this point would be a huge handicap. I would not be able to get certain photos, especially f/1.4 candid / action photos on a wedding dance floor or similar conditions.
Having said that, virtually all of Sony’s cameras today are good enough for most types of professional work. Make no mistake, the A9 III is a step above the rest because it is intended for high-end professional work, such as world sporting events, or a National Geographic wildlife assignment. This is far, far beyond what you need to rock your kid’s little-league game!
Features & Customizations
Here is where you either fall more in love with Sony cameras, or you face a very difficult struggle. Sony’s interface, from the button control assignment to the menus, has by far the steepest learning curve on the market.
However, these things are not unfamiliar to existing Sony users: there are some buttons on the camera that have no function assigned to them at all by default. Also, it’s very easy to accidentally customize the camera in such a way that key functions become lost deep in the menu.
All of this equals one thing: Unless you pour a few hours (at minimum) into fully understanding the camera’s controls, and applying at least a little bit of customization, there is the possibility of causing a photo shot to grind to a screeching halt as you dig through the camera menu, looking for that one function you “lost”.
With all of that said, after many years of using Sony cameras in professional work environments, I wouldn’t have it any other way. Give me the fighter jet cockpit control layout! I obsess over making sure that every button gets assigned intuitively to perform something I could need to change without taking my eye off the action. I also customize the quick access menu, for all of the second-most important functions and tools I need. Lastly, I go so far as to just throw everything else I’ll ever need into 3-5 pages of custom menus, so that I literally never have to go into the main menus for any reason while I’m actively taking pictures or video.
After putting in that hard work, I absolutely prefer Sony’s control layout, and customizations, over any other camera system.
Oh, and the new “C5” button is a very welcome addition. As a Nikon user I’ve always appreciated having buttons there! You might require a minute to wrap your brain around the muscle memory of using the C5 button versus the lens release button, but they’re far apart enough that accidentally releasing your lens will not be an issue.
Ergonomics, Comfort
Sony only made subtle tweaks to the physical ergonomics to the A9 III, but once you pick up the camera and use it for just a few minutes, you really feel the difference. Compared to the previous design iterations, the grip itself feels much more refined and professional. For my relatively large hands, I really appreciate the grip depth and the overall space it provides. This is especially beneficial with bigger lenses such as Sony’s new 300mm f/2.8, or other lenses where
Value
Just like with Sony’s theme lately among their new lenses: lighter, faster, better value!
As we will talk about next when comparing the Sony A9 III to its competitors, there is undeniable value in this camera’s uniqueness. This is a ~$6K camera, though, and that’s a considerable step up from its predecessor at $4.5K. Honestly, I still think the value is there.
Alternatively, in the class of $6K cameras, once again we have to agree that the A9 III is truly unique. It only takes a hit to its value if you regularly need lots of megapixels, or if you’re regularly under-exposing your high-ISO images. Other than that, The A9 III is absolutely worth the price tag.
Sony A9 III Review | Compared To The Competition
In a few key ways, the Sony A9 III is peerless. At least for now, we just don’t have any other cameras on the market that offer a global shutter and 120 FPS!
With that in mind, what are the next-closest options? From Sony themselves, we have the predecessor, the A9 II, and we have a couple other high-speed cameras: if you’re a stills photographer, you’ll likely consider the Sony A1 II or its predecessor. If you’re doing video, you’ll likely want to check out one of the high-end Sony FX series cameras, or maybe the Sony ZV-E1.
None of these cameras can really match what the A9 III offers in terms of its various speed advantages, but if the type of imagery you’re creating requires more balance of other factors, such as resolution or video specs, you’ll have a tougher decision on your hands.
Outside of the Sony stable, others like Nikon, Canon, Fujifilm, and Panasonic may struggle to match the A9 III as well. We don’t see any high-speed global shutter cameras on the market yet. (As of December 2024.)
With that said, flagship sports cameras such as the Nikon Z9 and Z8 do offer one huge advantage: resolution. The Nikon 45-megapixel Z8 does an impressive job at offering a good value, and if you’re on an even tighter budget, the 24-megapixel Nikon Z6 III is very fast, offering 20 FPS raw stills, 60 FPS full-res JPG stills, and 120 FPS DX (APSC crop) JPG stills.
As an example, for a hobbyist bird photographer who occasionally photographs hummingbirds, the Nikon Z6 III gives you way more camera for your dollar.
[Read Our In-Depth Nikon Z6 III Review Here!]
From Canon, we also have some rather expensive high-end flagships, the Canon EOS R1 and EOS R3, and we have the very affordable option, the Canon EOS R6 II. Again, these don’t offer the same sheer speed as the A9 III, nor do they have a global shutter, but they will obviously still get almost any job done.
When will Nikon & Canon (Et al) deliver global shutter cameras to market?
I want to dedicate a whole section of this review to this subject, because it’s very important. Simply put, Sony is just the first to market with what is likely to be a whole new category of cameras. Canon and Nikon will inevitably have their own sensors with global shutters, sooner or later.
The questions are: when, and how good will they be? I don’t have either answer for any other brand, obviously, but I love to speculate!
I think it could be at least another year or two before any other brand delivers a camera that directly competes with the A9 III.
However, I do believe that both Nikon and Canon will find subtle ways to stand out, and maybe offer one or two features that attempt to lure potential buyers to their full-frame mirrorless mounts instead of the Sony E-mount.
Honestly? If you’re already a Sony user, don’t worry. What if you are a Canon or Nikon user who is looking to upgrade from a Z6 III or an R6 II? In my opinion, don’t be tempted to jump ship to Sony, unless you actually have an urgent need to use that global shutter. Wait and see what option(s) your brand brings to market, and then decide.
Either way, there is no mistaking one thing: Sony is leading the market with a revolutionary camera. The A9 III is way more camera than most photographers may need, but that’s understandable. This is a highly specialized tool that is purpose-built for those who require its key advantages.
Sony A9 III Review | Conclusion
I just said it: The Sony A9 III is a professional camera designed for just one purpose: speed, on a whole new level. There is not much to complain about, unless you’re constantly using very high ISOs, and/or ISO 100 is a huge part of your work. Either way, if you’re aggressively recovering shadows, there could be trouble.
Other than this disclaimer, “nail your exposures and don’t dig too aggressively into your shadows” …you have probably already decided whether or not you’re going to get this camera. The price tag is pretty high, and the key advantages are very specific.
Personally, the Sony A9 III mostly a dream camera for me as a 20-year wedding & portrait photographer. I absolutely love the global shutter for high-speed flash in bright sun and/or fast apertures, and all but eliminating my concerns about flicker and rolling shutter effects..
However, I just can’t deny the greater value in much more affordable alternatives. (That is, at least for my line of work which involves more casual portraits and candid imagery.)
I also would really love to own the A9 III for bird and other wildlife photography! Again, however, in that regard I’m just a hobbyist and a lesser Sony, (or a Nikon Z6 III) offers me so much more bang for my buck.
For you, the sensor will ultimately be the deciding factor. Are you a working professional who is scheduled to be at the next Olympics or other global sporting event? The A9 III should probably be in your camera bag before then. Otherwise, the alternatives are likely a better choice for their versatility, affordability, or other features.
Check Pricing & Availability
The Sony A9 III is currently going for $5,998, and that is without any rebates or instant savings. Considering the ~$6K price tag, we’d expect that eventually, maybe once or twice per year, there might be a savings of between $300 and $600, but that’s not an exact science, just a guess! Either way, this is a legendary camera that is well-worth the investment.
