Hands-On Review: Filming a Wedding with the Sony A7 III

When a new camera promises faster auto focus and extended battery life, it’s easy for professional videographers to be wooed to the point of purchase. But, here’s the thing: New cameras with must-have features are released almost monthly, so this shiny penny syndrome could leave you flat-out broke.

I was in the same boat this February. I needed a new camera for my wedding film business and was considering the newest shiny penny among photographers — the popular A7R III — when the Sony A7 III (great for photo and video) hit the market. Within days of early reviews, my camera search ended. I’ll admit, I’m as easily swayed by new gear as the next girl, but there was something different about the way people were reviewing this affordable yet high-quality camera, some calling it “mirrorless magic” (for only ). I had to get my hands on it.

The Sony A7 III arrived just 10 days before my first wedding of the season. From an astounding battery life to touchscreen capabilities, here are five awesome features that make the Sony A7iii a very welcome addition to my wedding video arsenal.

1. Focus with touchscreen

Manual focus is my go-to when filming weddings. I like having full control with the ability to pull focus when the scene calls for it. It took me a while to master the manual pull focus while remaining steady (and to be honest, I still mess it up every now and again!) but the A7 III’s new touchscreen features have basically solved this problem head on.

When set to auto focus, you can simply use the screen and tap the subject you want in focus – then tap another area to smoothly shift focus from one to the next. I used this during groom prep, capturing his deep gaze out the window followed by a smooth focus shift to the skyline view. I also tested it out while capturing my establishing shots to add some movement and intrigue to these more stationary frames.

2. Battery life

With the A7S II, my main camera, I’m on a constant outlet hunt at the reception to recharge my batteries before speeches and dancing. (The Sony A7Sii’s NP-FW50 batteries last no more than 60 minutes – but most wedding days last upwards of nine or 10 hours.)

Enter the Sony A7 III, a camera that uses Sony’s new, longer-lasting NP-FZ100 batteries. This powerhouse of a camera lasted through bridal prep, ceremony, and first dances before I changed to the backup battery. (That was a total of 2 to 3 hours on; I interchanged it with the A7S III during prep.)

3. Quick autofocus speeds

Whether it’s photography tutorials or video reviews, people are all about the A7 III’s auto-focus capabilities. For the most part, it lived up to expectations.

I kept it on AF-C with wide tracking to continuously stay on my subjects during the ceremony, reception, and photo session (on a gimbal) and it retained relative subject sharpness. I still need to play around with the A7 III’s focus settings more, because the wide shots for the ceremony and speeches were a little fuzzier than I would’ve liked. (And I’ll be honest, no matter the scene I’m still most comfortable using the sure-fire manual focus with peaking.)

4. Low-light capabilities

The Sony A7S II performs ridiculously well in low light, but how does the new A7 III stand up? Pretty well, actually. Its ISO range is from 100 – 51,200, expandable to 102,400 for video, so I gave it a spin during the dancing shots and sparkler exit. While the A7S II captures sharper low-light footage (not surprising, that’s one of the standout elements of this camera), the A7iii wasn’t far behind.

5. Larger sensor size

While yes, I’m a wedding filmmaker, I do dabble into photography to capture stills for my own marketing and freelance writing, so I was thrilled to see the A7iii sensor size is double that of my A7S II. At this point, I haven’t pulled side-by-side photography comparisons, but I can tell you that when I tested the photo features for my friend’s headshot images, they turned out stunning. 

As many of you know, it’s hard to become fully versed with a new camera in just 10, not-in-the-field days (I received it April 11, my wedding was April 21). For me, it takes filming a handful of weddings to reach the point of absolute comfort. That said, the Sony A7 III does keep getting better and better, and I’m excited to test out some of its newer features – including S&Q 120 fps slow motion – in the wedding days to come!

Kate + Mike Wedding Highlight Film | Pen Ryn Estate | Philadelphia Wedding Video from Stephanie Vermillion Studio on Vimeo.