Sony’s mirrorless marvel
Sony α7 III
US price: $1,999.99; sony.com
What we like
Low noise
Bright live-view screen
Low-light 4K movie mode
What we don’t like
Incompatible with most control software
Sensor mask shadow
Edge glow in long exposures
IN THE MID-2000s, digital single-lens-reflex (DSLR) cameras revolutionised all areas of photography, including astrophotography. Today, a new generation of cameras without reflex mirrors lies at the heart of another major change in how we take pictures.
In the past five years, Sony, not a name traditionally associated with cameras, set the bar in ‘mirrorless’ cameras for professional-level photography. Established brands such as Canon and Nikon have only recently entered the mirrorless market but are expected to expand their offerings to the point that the DSLR might soon become a limited-edition camera.
So what’s the attraction? Removing the reflex mirror gives a shorter ‘flange distance’ from the lens mount to the sensor. That, and the lack of a pentaprism for an optical viewfinder, makes for a compact and lighter camera body.
The shallow flange distance also allows manufacturers greater freedom to design fast-yet-compact lenses that are ‘native’ for the mirrorless cameras. However, by using the right adapter — and there are dozens available — you can also connect DLSR lenses from just about any brand, preserving your investment in existing lenses.
For all types of photography, a major mirrorless advantage is that the preview image you see on the rear LCD screen or in the eye-level electronic viewfinder (EVF) closely matches the image you’ll shoot because the image you’re about to shoot. That’s because the preview comes directly from
