Sony A9 III First Impressions

The new Sony A9 III made its global debut in November 2023, and since then, it has been one of the most hyped-up mirrorless full-frame cameras. The reason? It’s touted as the world’s first full-frame camera to feature a global shutter image sensor, capable of shooting up to 120 frames per second. More importantly, truly flicker-free shooting.

After a few months wait, the latest addition to the Sony Alpha lineup is finally here in the country. Sony Philippines recently officially launched the new Sony A9 III, and we were lucky to try it out. Unfortunately, we were not able to save the sample images but we did get to try shooting with the camera.

Before that, let’s talk about the specs of the new Sony A9 III first. As mentioned earlier, the main highlight of the Sony A9 III is the new full-frame global shutter 24.6 megapixel CMOS image sensor, giving users the ability to shoot continuous bursts of up to 120fps.

In terms of ports, you get the usual host of USB-C for charging, an audio port for your mic, and now a full HDMI port to connect to TVs, external monitors, and more. Like other higher-end Sony Alpha cameras, the A9 III also comes with two CFexpress Type A and UHS-II SD card slots set one within the other. This gives users the option to choose between the more widely available SD format or the faster but more expensive CFexpress format.

Like the newer Alpha cameras, you also get AF/AE tracking paired with the latest image processing engine BIONZ XR®. In addition, the designated AI processing unit uses Real-time Recognition Auto Focus to recognize a wide variety of subjects with high precision. It’s a similar system if you have ever tried the new Sony A7C ii or the A7 IV, where you can select the subject you want to focus on. These include cars, birds, planes, and the like.

The screen is also a lot more flexible now. Instead of the the previous tilt only, the screen on the A9 III can be moved into various configurations even vlog style. This allows the shooter more flexibility when taking photos or videos on the go.

Another new function of the Sony A9 III is the pre-capture function that allows users to go back up to 1 second and record moments even before they have pressed the shutter button. This is perfect if you are someone like me who tends to shoot motorsports or fast-paced action scenes.

In terms of video, the Alpha 9 III captures 4K movies at up to 120p, and at 60p with full pixel readout and 6K oversampling. Paired with the fast AF and Real-time Tracking, you can get some really stunning videos. At the same time, no more flickers because of the new global shutter. It also comes with S-Cinetone for better post-process editing.

As someone who uses an A7 III for my work, I like the build of the A9 III. The grip is a lot bigger than before, making it easy to hold even when paired with the Sony G-Master 70-200 F2.8 lens. This is true whether you’re shooting portraits or landscapes. Choosing between shooting modes can now be done via the dial on the left side.

The button layout is still identical to the newer full-frame Sony Alpha models wherein C1 C2 C3 and C4 are all located where they should be, making it easy to use if you’re an existing Sony Alpha user. On the A9 III though, you do get a C5 button at the front beside the lens release button. This is used to go from low or medium to the full 120FPS without having to manually switch the dial to HI+.

Having the ability to use the full 120FPS with just the click of a button does make shooting a lot easier. Although we didn’t have the best subject to shoot, I can already imagine how helpful it will be for photographers who mainly photograph sports, nature, or motorsports.

Even when you do shoot at 120FPS at RAW + JPEG, it takes a long time before the A9 III starts slowing down from the buffering. From our experience, it took around 600+ photos before we noticed the camera shutter slowing down from continuously shooting at 120FPS. So if you have a fast CFexpress or SD Card, you can maximize the potential this camera system can do.

The only downside to this is you will need to upgrade your storage. If you’re using only V60 cards, it might not be enough for the A9 III. Instead, you might be forced to buy the really expensive Sony Tough CFexpress cards in addition to the camera. If you end up using the pre-capture function and shooting constantly at 120FPS, better bring a lot of storage with you.

Overall, I really enjoyed my short time with the Sony A9 III. If I only had the funds, it’s an upgrade I would go for from my current Sony A7 III. It’s still very light for what it can do, and not to mention the performance of the camera. We’ll dive more into the video aspect together with the sample photos once we get our hands on a review unit.

But if you’re interested, the Sony A9 III is now officially on sale from the Sony Philippines store. The retail price is a bit expensive at PHP 349,599USD 5,957INR 505,031EUR 5,674CNY 43,385, but you do get arguably one of the best-packaged cameras in the market today.

Still, what do you think of the Sony A9 III? Is it your next Sony Alpha camera? Share your thoughts in the comments below.