I have covered Jim Kasson’s work extensively at FujiAddict due to his very technical explanations of the Fujifilm GFX and some here, but recently some sites have tried to make the a7III into a camera it most certainly is not. Don’t get me wrong the Sony a7III is a great camera and a great value but it still has some technical issues that should not be dismissed.
Star Eater is most certainly not fixed according to Jim’s testing. The long exposure spacial filtering used by all Sony cameras still exists in the Sony a7III when shooting longer than 3.2s and it is just different than before.
What is clear is that there are differences. Former cameras exhibited flat response at 3.2 seconds and longer, whereas with the a7III there is roll-off visible even at 1/1000 second. The roll-off is pretty much the same until 4 seconds, where it gets worse.
Jim has also measured the silent shutter performance of the Sony a7III and it performs between 1/15 and 1/30, which you can read more about here. He also debunked some of the hysteria around the PDAF artifacts and the potential solutions, which you can read more about here.
When looking at an issue that might be critical to you it’s generally best to rely on the data over the opinions of photographers just eyeballing the problem. The range of technical expertise in the world of photography is staggering and I generally turn to Jim for the measurement that many of us are too lazy to do ourselves. He’s even tried to narrow down the battery door weather sealing issue with the current Sony a7 cameras.
I still think the Sony a7 is a great camera and a step forward for the industry, but even if an issue only affects a niche part of the market we shouldn’t downplay them. Only by being honest about the shortcomings of Sony cameras will they get better.
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Sony a7III: B&H Photo / Amazon / Adorama
