Sony Alpha 7R III

At a glance

£3,200body only

• 42.4MP full-frame BSI CMOS sensor

• 10fps continuous shooting

• Hybrid AF with 399 phase-detection and 425 contrast-detection points

• ISO 50-102,400 (expanded)

• 5.5-stop in-body IS

• 4K video recording

The A7R III produces attractive colours and skin tones straight out of the camera FE 85mm f/1.4 GM, 1/8000sec at f/1.4, ISO 3200

It's now four years since Sony unveiled the world's first full-frame mirrorless cameras: the 24MP Alpha 7 and 36MP Alpha 7R. Eighteen months later, we saw the Alpha 7R II, with a groundbreaking 42.4MP sensor, built-in five-axis image stabilisation and a much-improved body design. An extremely highly regarded camera, this won our AP Product of the Year award in 2016, but it does have some flaws. It's not super-fast, it suffers from quirky handling, and its battery life is notoriously ephemeral. But many photographers have been happy to accept these limitations in exchange for its unique combination of compact size and exceptional image quality.

Now, though, it's time for round three, in the form of the Alpha 7R III. Sony has clearly decided to stick to what it knows best and kept to a very familiar template, with a compact, SLR-styled body and central electronic viewfinder. But it's taken the A7R II design and added many of the best features it debuted on the Alpha 9 earlier this year, with the aim of addressing those aforementioned weaknesses. The result is a very impressive camera with a remarkable combination of resolution, shooting speed and high-ISO image quality.

Of course, we've seen something very similar recently, with Nikon's