Back in April, Photorumors had reported that Sony had five E-mount cameras lined up for release this year. The Sony a6700, Sony a7c II, and Sony a7cR are some of them that have been launched already. We’re in the last quarter of the year, and one expected camera remains unannounced – the Sony a9 III. We look at what this camera could and should bring to remain competitive.
Table of Contents
How Good Is The Sony a9 II
The Sony a9 II easily makes it to the top ranks when discussing flagship cameras that can be considered trailblazers. The a9 II improved on the Sony a9‘s ergonomics and autofocus speeds. It also brought some excellent battery life and exceptional eye autofocus performance. Both the a9 and a9 II won our Editor’s Choice Award, so the a9 III has much to live up to. In our review of the a9 II, we said:
“There is a whole lot to love about the Sony a9. It’s got the best autofocus of any mirrorless camera out there, has a blazing fast 20fps, a fantastic battery life, a lot of power in the way of the menus, an ethernet port that I’m sure will really help photojournalists and a whole lot more. On top of this though, what the target demographic will really love is the high ISO output. Sony has seriously hit a home run with this camera.”
Aimed at the working professional who shoots day in and day out, the Sony a9 II is a camera that delivers the goods consistently. With the Olympics in Paris less than a year away, the coming months might be the perfect time for the Sony a9 III announcement. But what specs could entice existing a9 II users to upgrade to the a9 III? And what would they need to do to compete with the existing and upcoming high-spec cameras from other brands?
There’s also one key area that the Sony a9 III needs to tread carefully over – the flagship spot held by the Sony a1. Match up too much to it, and then you have two cameras competing only on age and price. This really begs the question – will the Sony a9 III be a baby flagship to the Sony a1?
Higher Megapixel Sensor
For some years now 24-megapixel sensors have been the preferred choice for high burst-rate cameras. That’s mainly because these lower-resolution sensors were able to get better low-light images at high ISOs. Also, the file writing capabilities to the camera buffers and memory cards would be much faster thanks to smaller file sizes. Not anymore though. Cameras today can pack high-resolution image files with super high frame rates (the Nikon Z9 can do 45-megapixel files at 30 fps currently). Canon’s R3 doesn’t fall in the high-megapixel camera bracket, but the Canon R1 is expected to have a whopping 85-megapixel sensor. That’s pretty much future-proofing your photography needs for close to a decade or a little more.
It would be disappointing if the Sony a9 III was released with the same 24mp sensor as its predecessors. I’d hope they put at least a 45-megapixel sensor in this to give photojournalists and sports photographers ample cropping capabilities. That would make it competitive with the Nikon Z8 and Z9, as well as the Canon R5. And it wouldn’t tread on the toes of the 50-megapixel Sony a1 (which will probably get an update in 2024 though). SonyRumors feels that an all–new stacked sensor will make its way to the a9 III.
Improved High ISO Output
Such cameras undoubtedly reserve the brand’s best high ISO output capabilities for themselves. It’s one of the key factors that sets them apart from every other camera in the lineup. While high ISO performance from the a9 II isn’t bad, it wasn’t as good as expected. In our review, we noted:
“I do have to say that at ISO 6400, the images to start to look quite muddy, which really took me by surprise. For a camera that is designed to be used in dimly lit stadia and event spaces, I thought performance as this ISO would be better. It’s not bad at all, don’t get me wrong, images perfectly usable, but we have seen other cameras do better.”
Getting better high ISO output on a higher resolution sensor won’t be as straightforward as one might think, so Sony is going to have to really do a fantastic job with noise reduction in the a9 III. That said, Sony did do a decent job with this on the 61-megapixel Sony a7r V, so we can hope for some clean high ISO files on the a9 III too.
That 20 fps Frame Rate Really Needs A Boost
When I moved from the 6 fps stills frame rate of my Nikon D300 to the 11 fps of the Nikon D4, it was a whole new ballgame for me. Not that I was getting bad shots with the D300, but the D4 allowed me to get a lot more keepers per second. I remember seeing a promo video for the Sony a9 showcasing its 20fps burst rate while photographing a boxer who was training. “Gosh, that’s nearly a good enough frame rate to make a short 24 fps movie clip out of that burst,” I thought. I hope the Sony a9 III gets at least the same 30 fps top burst rate as the Sony a1. For both RAW and JPEG images. Unless they decide to up the game and go for something like 45-60 fps.
This then means that the future a1 II would have an even higher mind-boggling still frame rate. But 20 fps, as good as it might be for most professionals, falls a little short from a specs perspective in 2023.
Updated Menu System Please
I guess this goes without saying, but hopefully, Sony will have the a9 III (and all future cameras) with their newer menu system — and even that will have enhancements. There’s no point in putting all those great specs with an outdated, clunky menu that’s a pain to navigate.
We’ve praised Sony in the past for the steps they’ve made to put forth an easier-to-navigate menu system. They’re also trying to make it easier for people with low-vision to use their cameras.
A Built-In Vertical Grip
I like what Nikon did with the Z9’s size. It looks like a powerhouse but is considerably smaller than the D6. No Sony mirrorless camera that I can recall ever came with a built-in battery grip. And frankly, that’s one of the reasons I feel Sony cameras missed out on the opportunity to have a stunning looking camera. The Nikon Z9 and the Canon R3 command respect. There’s not one Sony mirrorless FE mount camera that makes me feel the same. If the Sony a9 III comes with an inbuilt grip, I think this could really change how many people think about Sony’s camera designs. This would make the camera ergonomically so much more appealing and add a certain degree of robustness that we feel the a9 II is missing. And no, slapping on the add-on battery pack never looks as good as a native built-in grip.
6K Video?
Everyone’s all on about 8K these days, but to keep itself firmly distinguished from the a1, the Sony a9 III could safely introduce a 6K 60 fps video option.
Better Stabilization
If a prosumer camera like the Nikon Zfc can boast 8 stops of stabilization, then the a9 III really needs to step up. Shooting 6K video handheld could certainly do with more than the current 5.5 stops of stabilization found on the a9 II.
If the specs are a hit, the Sony a9 III is a camera that many sports photographers hope to use at the 2024 Paris Olympics. It may take the second stage after the Sony a1 upgrade is announced later on, but until then, it really needs to make a solid impression. And it can’t do that by matching up to the specs of the existing Sony a1, which is nearly 3 years old now. Sony will have to carefully balance the target audiences for both these products, but with some creativity, they can have two distinct winners on their hands.