Sony Alpha A7III

I have a 12 Pro and was thinking I'd upgrade. Usually I'd opt for the Pro tier but this cycle I think I'll actually go for the regular 16. There just doesn't seem to be enough there for someone like me. Which is maybe the point? I liked having the better camera system but these days they show all this extra stuff I don't use my phone camera for anyway. I have a Sony a7iii for the fancy stuff.

Even when I carry my camera (Sony a7iii) around, I still take a lot of photos with my iPhone. The iPhone often gives better out-of-camera results than the Sony in high dynamic range situations. And other times it's just easier to grab my iPhone and take a quick snap than to swap the lens on the Sony for something wider. Of course there are also a lot of situations where big-sensor, interchangeable lens cameras still excel, such as low light, telephoto, shallow depth of field, and resolution. So my Sony also gets a lot of use. Photography isn't dead. Smartphones have just become serious photography tools.

I shoot with an A7iii (and I owned a D70s before), and while it's small, it's not uncontrollable or unbalanced for my use. Bigger (mirrorless) cameras are bigger on purpose because you can fit more batteries inside and control heat better amongst other things, but I wouldn't want my A7iii to be the size of D70s or any DSLR, because it really hinders portability of these devices. I agree Sony's APS-C cameras maybe miniaturized a bit too much, but A7/A9 series' size is perfect IMHO (and they manage their heat really well).

Same here: Used my Sony A7III with USB and their software as an excellent webcam and since I bought the new Sony A7IV, all my client always ask in video calls, what Webcam that is. At my new employer I had several coworkers asking me how the heck I did the insane background blur. (They didn't know it was a mirrorless) If you have an old DSLR or a modern camera, you can use a 20USD Chinese HDMI Capture stick and get the best webcam on the planet.

> I suspect if you do a wedding shoot with a 6mp interchangeable lens camera, some customers are rightly going to ask questions when you hand over the work... Unless you're printing A3 pages, getting gigantic pictures, or cropping aggressively, D70s can still hold up pretty well [0]. > even lens systems get deprecated every 20-30 years too. Nikon F mount is being deprecated in favor of Z because of mirrorless geometries, not because the lenses or the designs are inferior (given the geometry constraints). Many people still use their old lenses, or nifty fifties are still produced with stellar sharpness levels. I'm not entering into "N" or "L" category of lenses of their respective mounts. Not all of them are post 2000 designs, or redesigns, and they produce extremely good images. > Newer sensors have vastly more dynamic range than the d70s among other image quality benefits. As a user of both D70s and A7III I can say that, if there's good enough light (e.g day), one can take pretty nice pictures with a D70s, even today. Yes, it dies pretty fast when light goes low, or it can't focus as fast, or can't take single shot (almost) HDR images (A7III can do that honestly, and that's insane [4]), but unless you're chasing something moving, older cameras are not that bad. [1][2][3] > I think you argument holds water much more strongly in the context of amateur users, where for sure you can keep getting nice images from old gear for a long time. Higher end, action oriented professiona…

Nikon FE2. Wonderful little(-ish) SLR that still produces better images than my smartphone. This camera, and I suppose film photography in general, has led me to set down and eventually sell my DSLR out of disuse. I ended up picking up a Sony A7III, which is technically a very excellent camera, but when I want to have a little more fun, I always reach back for the Nikon.

Yes of course, if it's for a professional production (and these days even many Youtube videos are professional productions) a (semi)-pro camera has a lot more headroom. But it will require knowledge, experience and additional equipment to better what an iPhone will do out of the box. This video is quite a good illustration, pitting an iPhone 12 Pro against a Sony A7iii (a quite respectable camera): https://youtu.be/TrEdAKCHSZg With these default settings the A7iii is blowing out the highlights in the sky, the church and the swan. Which could have been prevented by choosing one of the Log settings but then it would have required making adjustments during video editing. If it's for taking a video of family / kids and sharing it immediately with friends/family, the iPhone will produce better results with minimal effort (and that's not to mention having to bring a heavy camera, lenses, tripod/gimbal, accessories).