A9 or A7III

[iitsdavis]

I've been doing some research and was hoping for some extra opinions/advice. I 'm looking to purchase a Sony E mount. I was originally looking at the A7RIII, but I don't think I need the extra MP, so I started looking at the A7III. With the new release of the A9II, the A9 used price dropped into my budget. Now I'm considering purchasing the A9. However, I've done some research and some people are saying due to the AA filter on the A9, the IQ on the A7III is better. Is that true and noticeable? 

Is the banding issue for the A9 only problematic when using artificial light with the electronic shutter, so if I'm shooting concerts at night I'll have banding? And if the A9 can shoot 20 fps using the E shutter and 5 using the mechanical compare to the A7III doing 10 fps in both categories doesn't that make the A7III a slightly better camera because you're getting 10fps in both categories. If you're shooting events at night with led lights and need to use the mechanical to prevent banding you're getting 10 instead of 5...

 I'm just trying to find out as much information before making any purchase, so if anyone have some pros and cons or life experience with any of the cameras, I would appreciate the input.

 

[mack100]

You haven't said what kind of photography you do mainly, if you do sports, wildlife (birds in particular) or anything else that moves quickly then the A9 is the one you want.

I'm not saying that the A73 is a slouch in those circumstances and that it will not provide excellent quality images but the A9 is in a different class. I went from an A7R3 to the A9 simply because of the improved autofocus performance and I really haven't noticed a degradation of image quality. If speed isn't a premium requirement for you then price is the only factor that will be important.

[iitsdavis]

16 hours ago, mack100 said:

You haven't said what kind of photography you do mainly, if you do sports, wildlife (birds in particular) or anything else that moves quickly then the A9 is the one you want.

I'm not saying that the A73 is a slouch in those circumstances and that it will not provide excellent quality images but the A9 is in a different class. I went from an A7R3 to the A9 simply because of the improved autofocus performance and I really haven't noticed a degradation of image quality. If speed isn't a premium requirement for you then price is the only factor that will be important.

I don't do much sport or wildlife photography, most landscapes, nightscapes, portraits and street photography. I like to capture my subjects moving or snow in the air, but I was wondering if the A73 is fast enough to capture the photo without any distortion. 

[Pieter]

If you're shooting A7iii with the mechanical shutter it will have less distortion than the A9 using silent shutter (sensor readout speed is about 1/300 sec with the mechanical shutter versus 1/200 sec with the silent shutter on the A9 or 1/60 sec with the silent shutter on the A7iii). No need to worry about distortion, unless you absolutely need a silent shutter.

[HansStel]

19 hours ago, iitsdavis said:

I don't do much sport or wildlife photography, most landscapes, nightscapes, portraits and street photography. I like to capture my subjects moving or snow in the air, but I was wondering if the A73 is fast enough to capture the photo without any distortion. 

I would go for the A7RIII. By far the best camera for landscapes, nightscapes, portraits and street photography.

www.hansstel.com

 

[Pieter]

3 hours ago, HansStel said:

I would go for the A7RIII. By far the best camera for landscapes, nightscapes, portraits and street photography.

Not if 24 MP is enough to suit your needs: then the A7iii is just as good as the A7Riii. By the options presented by OP, apparently it is.

[iitsdavis]

4 hours ago, HansStel said:

I would go for the A7RIII. By far the best camera for landscapes, nightscapes, portraits and street photography.

www.hansstel.com

 

I was looking at the Riii for those reasons but the A9/A73 does better in low light and I think 24MP would be enough

[iitsdavis]

16 hours ago, Pieter said:

If you're shooting A7iii with the mechanical shutter it will have less distortion than the A9 using silent shutter (sensor readout speed is about 1/300 sec with the mechanical shutter versus 1/200 sec with the silent shutter on the A9 or 1/60 sec with the silent shutter on the A7iii). No need to worry about distortion, unless you absolutely need a silent shutter.

Are you saying the con on the a7III is the silent shutter because the photos can be distorted but the mechanical shutter will be fine? Does the A9 have any distortion using mechanical or electronic? 

[Pieter]

7 hours ago, iitsdavis said:

Are you saying the con on the a7III is the silent shutter because the photos can be distorted but the mechanical shutter will be fine? Does the A9 have any distortion using mechanical or electronic? 

Correct: the electronic shutter on the A7iii is fairly slow (actually I was a bit optimistic in my post yesterday, it's more like 1/30 sec it seems) so will show distortion on fast-moving subjects and may show banding under artificial light. The mechanical shutter is much faster and barely shows distortion/banding.

The A9 has a very fast electronic shutter, which is the selling point of the A9: it's almost as fast as a mechanical shutter so will barely show distortion. Unlike a mechanical shutter or the A7iii it has no blackout in the viewfinder. The electronic shutter on the A9 is therefore the 'default' shutter on that camera. The mechanical shutter on the A9 is still a bit faster than the electronic shutter but doesn't allow as fast frame rate (5 fps on the A9, 10 fps for the A9ii versus 20 fps with the electronic shutter).

Edited May 5, 2021 by Pieter

[iitsdavis]

2 hours ago, Pieter said:

Correct: the electronic shutter on the A7iii is fairly slow (actually I was a bit optimistic in my post yesterday, it's more like 1/30 sec it seems) so will show distortion on fast-moving subjects and may show banding under artificial light. The mechanical shutter is much faster and barely shows distortion/banding.

The A9 has a very fast electronic shutter, which is the selling point of the A9: it's almost as fast as a mechanical shutter so will barely show distortion. Unlike a mechanical shutter or the A7iii it has no blackout in the viewfinder. The electronic shutter on the A9 is therefore the 'default' shutter on that camera. The mechanical shutter on the A9 is still a bit faster than the electronic shutter but doesn't allow as fast frame rate (5 fps on the A9, 10 fps for the A9ii versus 20 fps with the electronic shutter).

When you're using the mechanical shutter, you're more likely to suffer from rolling shutter right? So, normally you wouldn't use the full 10 fps?

[Pieter]

You're confusing some things. Framerate has nothing to do with rolling shutter, and the distortion described above is due to rolling shutter effect. Mechanical shutter has the least rolling shutter distortion. So to summarize again:

 - A7iii / A9 - mechanical shutter - negligible distortion

 - A9 - electronic shutter - very minimal distortion (in photo's at least, in movies it's just marginally better than A7iii). Very fast frame rate with zero blackout

 - A7iii - electronic shutter - distortion will be a problem with moving subjects