Sony A7S III vs Canon EOS R5 – We have done specs comparison of the recently announced cameras. Let’s take a look
1. Sensor Comparison – Sony A7S III vs Canon EOS R5
If we look at the sensor of both cameras then it looks like they are made for a different purpose, The Sony A7S III uses 12MP BSI CMOS sensor chip which is, of course, 2X faster than of A7S II and now allow us to push the base ISO range up to 40. So, sensitivity wise the sensor will sure outperform the Canon EOS R5 45 MP sensor. But, due to the lower 12MP resolution, the Sony A7S III camera limited to a specific group of shooters.
Get the Sony A7S III Camera from B&H Store | Get EOS R5 from Amazon.com | B&H Store
2. Video centered camera, still photographers may suffocate with 12MP resolution
The 12MP resolution will prevent many professional users to use the Sony A7S III as their primary still shooting machine. On the other side, with 45MP resolution and nearly 2X More Shooting speed, the Canon EOS R5 may become the first choice for wedding, event, and sports shooter.
| Lens Mount | Sony E | Canon RF |
| Camera Format | Full-Frame (1x Crop Factor) | Full-Frame (1x Crop Factor) |
| Pixels | Actual: 12.9 Megapixel Effective: 12.1 Megapixel |
Actual: 47.1 Megapixel Effective: 45.0 Megapixel |
| Maximum Resolution | 4240 x 2832 | 8192 x 5464 |
| Aspect Ratio | 1:1, 3:2, 4:3, 16:9 | 1:1, 3:2, 4:3, 16:9 |
| Sensor Type | CMOS | CMOS |
| Sensor Size | 35.6 x 23.8 mm | 36 x 24 mm |
| Image File Format | JPEG, Raw, HEIF | JPEG, Raw, HEIF |
| Bit Depth | 14-Bit | 14-Bit |
| Image Stabilization | Sensor-Shift, 5-Axis | Sensor-Shift, 5-Axis |
3. Sony A7S III – Best Low-light Shooting Mirrorless Camera of 2020?
As we all know Sony is the only FF sensor maker that creates FF BSI CMOS sensor commercially for FF sensor cameras. Canon EOS R6 with lowest 20MP resolution after A7S III uses a plain CMOS sensor and due to that the ISO performance of the camera is slightly better than Canon EOS R5, But, not as good as of Sony A7S III camera. One of the best things with the Sony A7S III camera is you can push your ISO from base ISO 40 to 204800. Sony A7S III undoubtedly best camera when you want to work with natural light aka low-light environment.
4. Sony A7S III forced limitations – Less Continuous shooting speed than 45MP EOS R5
Despite having a new 12MP sensor with 2X readout speed and a brand new image processor, the shooting speed of the camera is even lower than the Canon EOS R5 camera with 45MP massive resolution. It’s a clear indication that Sony wants to protect the sales of their upcoming flagship A9 series camera by limiting the speed of A7S III.
| ISO Sensitivity | Auto, 80 to 102400 (Extended: 40 to 409600) | Auto, 100 to 51200 (Extended: 100 to 102400) |
| Shutter Speed | 1/8000 to 30 Second Bulb Mode |
Mechanical Shutter 1/8000 to 30 Seconds Electronic Front Curtain Shutter 1/8000 to 30 Seconds Electronic Shutter 1/8000 to 0.5 Seconds |
| Metering Method | Center-Weighted Average, Highlight Weighted, Multiple, Spot | Center-Weighted Average, Evaluative, Partial, Spot |
| Exposure Modes | Aperture Priority, Manual, Program, Shutter Priority | Aperture Priority, Manual, Program, Shutter Priority |
| Exposure Compensation | -5 to +5 EV (1/3 EV Steps) | -3 to +3 EV (1/3, 1/2 EV Steps) |
| Metering Range | -3 to 20 EV | -3 to 20 EV |
| White Balance | Auto, Cloudy, Color Temperature, Color Temperature Filter, Custom, Daylight, Flash, Fluorescent (Cool White), Fluorescent (Day White), Fluorescent (Daylight), Fluorescent (Warm White), Incandescent, Shade, Underwater | Auto, Cloudy, Color Temperature, Custom, Daylight, Flash, Fluorescent (White), Shade, Tungsten |
| Continuous Shooting | Up to 10 fps at 12.1 MP for up to 1000 Frames (Raw) / 1000 Frames (JPEG) Up to 8 fps at 12.1 MP Up to 6 fps at 12.1 MP Up to 3 fps at 12.1 MP |
Mechanical Shutter Up to 12 fps at 45 MP for up to 180 Frames (Raw) / 350 Frames (JPEG) Electronic Shutter Up to 20 fps at 45 MP for up to 83 Frames (Raw) / 170 Frames (JPEG) |
| Interval Recording | Yes | Yes |
| Self-Timer | 2/5/10-Second Delay | 2/10-Second Delay |
5. Sony A7S III vs Canon EOS R5 – Best Video Camera
As you can see the Canon EOS R5 camera is capable to deliver 8K resolution and you can record it internally at 4:2:2 10bit. But after 20 min of continuous use of 8K video mode, users may face the overheating issue. The good news is for the first time, the Canon Mirrorless camera is using the Oversampling method while using the entire sensor resolution areas to create a 4K video file.
Sony, on the other hand, limited to 4k Video recording mode up to 60FPS, and as per Sony claims the camera doesn’t overheat even you use it for 1 hour of time. But as usual no 6K or 8K recording mode available in Sony due to the lower resolution sensor.
6. Sony A7S III is more Usable than Canon EOS R5 in real-world condition
If you are shooting long interviews and creating a short movie than it would be more feasible to use the Sony A7S III camera than of Canon EOS R5. At the same time, the Sony A7S III camera doesn’t have any recording limit and continuously records your videos till your card runs out.
| Recording Modes | H.265/XAVC HS 4:2:2 10-Bit UHD 4K (3840 x 2160) at 23.976p/25p/29.97p/50p/59.94p/100p/119.88p [50 to 280 Mb/s] H.265/XAVC HS 4:2:0 10-Bit UHD 4K (3840 x 2160) at 23.976p/25p/29.97p/50p/59.94p/100p/119.88p [30 to 200 Mb/s] H.264/XAVC S-I 4:2:2 10-Bit UHD 4K (3840 x 2160) at 23.976p/25p/29.97p/50p/59.94p [240 to 600 Mb/s] Full HD (1920 x 1080) at 23.976p/25p/29.97p/50p/59.94p [89 to 222 Mb/s] H.264/XAVC S 4:2:2 10-Bit UHD 4K (3840 x 2160) at 23.976p/25p/29.97p/50p/59.94p/100p/119.88p [100 to 280 Mb/s] Full HD (1920 x 1080) at 23.976p/25p/29.97p/50p/59.94p/100p/119.88p [50 Mb/s] H.264/XAVC S 4:2:0 8-Bit UHD 4K (3840 x 2160) at 23.976p/25p/29.97p/50p/59.94p/100p/119.88p [60 to 200 Mb/s] Full HD (1920 x 1080) at 23.976p/25p/29.97p/50p/59.94p/100p/119.88p [16 to 100 Mb/s] |
Raw 12-Bit DCI 8K (8192 x 4320) at 23.976p/24.00p/25p/29.97p [2600 Mb/s] H.265 4:2:2 10-Bit DCI 8K (8192 x 4320) at 23.976p/24.00p/25p/29.97p [680 to 1300 Mb/s] UHD 8K (7680 x 4320) at 23.976p/25p/29.97p [680 to 1300 Mb/s] DCI 4K (4096 x 2160) at 23.976p/24.00p/25p/29.97p/59.94p/100p/119.88p [170 to 1880 Mb/s] UHD 4K (3840 x 2160) at 23.976p/25p/29.97p/50p/59.94p/100p/119.88p [170 to 1880 Mb/s] Full HD (1920 x 1080) at 23.976p/25p/29.97p/50p/59.94p [28 to 230 Mb/s] H.264 4:2:0 8-Bit DCI 8K (8192 x 4320) at 23.976p/24.00p/25p/29.97p [470 to 1300 Mb/s] UHD 8K (7680 x 4320) at 23.976p/25p/29.97p [470 to 1300 Mb/s] DCI 4K (4096 x 2160) at 23.976p/24.00p/25p/29.97p/50p/59.94p/100p/119.88p [120 to 1880 Mb/s] UHD 4K (3840 x 2160) at 23.976p/25p/29.97p/50p/59.94p/100p/119.88p [120 to 1880 Mb/s] Full HD (1920 x 1080) at 23.976p/25p/29.97p/50p/59.94p [12 to 180 Mb/s] |
| External Recording Modes | Raw 16-Bit 4.2K (4264 x 2408) up to 59.94p 4:2:2 10-Bit UHD 4K (3840 x 2160) at 23.976p/25p/29.97p/50p/59.94p Full HD (1920 x 1080) at 23.976p/50p/59.94p Full HD (1920 x 1080) at 50i/59.94i 4:2:0 8-Bit UHD 4K (3840 x 2160) at 23.976p/25p/29.97p/50p/59.94p Full HD (1920 x 1080) at 23.976p/50p/59.94p Full HD (1920 x 1080) at 50i/59.94i |
4:2:2 10-Bit DCI 4K (4096 x 2160) up to 59.94p UHD 4K (3840 x 2160) up to 59.94p |
| Recording Limit | Unlimited | Up to 29 Minutes, 59 Seconds |
| Video Encoding | NTSC/PAL | NTSC/PAL |
| Audio Recording | Built-In Microphone (Stereo) External Microphone Input |
Built-In Microphone (Stereo) External Microphone Input |
| Audio File Format | AAC LC, AC3, Dolby Digital 2ch, Linear PCM (Stereo) | AAC, Linear PCM |
| Live Streaming | Yes | |
7. Autofocus – Sony A7S III vs Canon EOS R5
Canon has now upgraded its DPAF system and now the camera quickly tracks animal eyes and even bird eye while shooting videos or still. The AF system is also very fast and accurate. The Canon EOS R5 supports you even when you are using the 20FPS continuous shooting speed. More or less both of them are camera makers makes the world best AF system, you be not disappointed from any of the two camera.
| Focus Type | Auto and Manual Focus | Auto and Manual Focus |
| Focus Mode | Continuous-Servo AF (C), Direct Manual Focus (DMF), Manual Focus (M), Single-Servo AF (S) | Continuous-Servo AF (C), Manual Focus (M), Single-Servo AF (S) |
| Autofocus Points | Phase Detection: 759 Contrast Detection: 425 |
Phase Detection: 1053 |
| Autofocus Sensitivity | -6 to +20 EV | -6 to +20 EV |
8. Sony A7S III features a better viewfinder
Sony A7S III us using a higher resolution viewfinder with a more magnification ratio than of Canon EOS R5. And, Canon EOS R5 features a better display unit system than of A7S III.
| Viewfinder Type | Electronic (OLED) | Electronic (OLED) |
| Viewfinder Size | 0.64″ | 0.5″ |
| Viewfinder Resolution | 9,437,184 Dot | 5,760,000 Dot |
| Viewfinder Eye Point | 25 mm | 23 mm |
| Viewfinder Coverage | 100% | 100% |
| Viewfinder Magnification | Approx. 0.9x | Approx. 0.76x |
| Diopter Adjustment | -4 to +3 | -4 to +2 |
| Monitor Size | 3″ | 3.2″ |
| Monitor Resolution | 1,440,000 Dot | 2,100,000 Dot |
| Monitor Type | Articulating Touchscreen LCD | Free-Angle Tilting Touchscreen LCD |
Physical
| Battery | 1 x NP-FZ100 Rechargeable Lithium-Ion, 7.2 VDC, 2280 mAh (Approx. 600 Shots) | 1 x LP-E6NH Rechargeable Lithium-Ion |
| Dimensions (W x H x D) | 5.07 x 3.81 x 2.74″ / 128.9 x 96.9 x 69.7 mm | 5.43 x 3.84 x 3.46″ / 138 x 97.5 x 88 mm |
| Weight | 1.35 lb / 614 g (Body Only) | 1.62 lb / 738 g (Body with Battery and Memory) |
9. Conclusion:
For still shooters, EOS R5 is the best option and Video A7S III is more user friendly.
Get the Sony A7S III Camera from B&H Store | Get EOS R5 from Amazon.com | B&H Store
