Sony A7III Print Quality
Excellent, high-quality prints up to at least 30 x 40 inches up to ISO 800; Very good prints up to 13 x 19 inches at ISO 6400; Usable 5 x 7 inch print at ISO 51,200.
ISO 50/100/200/400/800 images all look fantastic with lots of fine detail and vibrant colors that can make excellent prints all the way up to a massive 30 x 40 inches. At this size, you are pushing the resolving power of the 24-megapixel sensor, as you can see very subtle pixelation if you look really closely. However, at typical viewing distances for a print this large, you won’t notice any issues. This is an impressive range of ISOs that all offer wonderfully large print sizes, despite the rise in sensitivity. At ISO 400, we finally start to see the subtlest of hints of luminance noise, but it’s such a minor amount that it doesn’t affect fine detail nor print size. It’s a similar story at ISO 800, which as expected shows ever-so-slightly more noise, but it’s still so minimal and fine detail is still abundant that a 30 x 40-inch print is definitely acceptable at this ISO.
ISO 1600 prints show very well-controlled noise, although it’s subtly noticeable in shadows, and there is some very slight detail loss due to noise reduction. That said, fine detail overall looks excellent and colors are nicely saturated, letting us easily print all the way up to 24 x 36 inches. With careful post-processing, 30 x 40-inch print may work at this ISO, as well.
ISO 3200 images display stronger noise, which reduces fine detail to some degree, though not by a severe amount. We’re going to call it at 16 x 20 inches for this ISO. However, a 20 x 30-inch print is probably usable with careful post processing or for less critical applications.
ISO 6400 prints top-out at 13 x 19-inches. At this ISO, we begin to see more significant noise, especially in the shadows, and it definitely causes a reduction in fine detail.
ISO 12,800 images show stronger noise and detail throughout certainly takes a hit, but up to 8 x 10 inches, prints look very good with pleasing detail, contrast and colors.
ISO 25,600 prints work well up to 5 x 7 inches. Images at this high sensitivity display rather strong noise and signs of noise reduction processing, which together take a toll on fine detail.
ISO 51,200 images look quite similar to the previous ISO, and we’re happy with print quality also up to 5 x 7 inches.
ISO 102,400 prints are pretty tricky. This first expanded ISO level is certainly very noisy, and there’s strong noise reduction occurring here, which significantly degrades detail and overall image quality. A 4 x 6-inch print looks okay, however, and you likely could get away with it for less critical applications, but this ISO is simply too noisy for our taste to consider it acceptable for “good” printmaking.
ISO 204,800 images are, unfortunately, much too noisy and lacking in fine detail for us to consider them usable for quality prints.