Surprise results from the CineD Lab test: The Sony A9III is the best Sony Alpha camera to date in video mode in terms of dynamic range!

CineD put the Sony A9III to rigorous testing and the conclusion is quite a surprise:

The Sony Alpha 9 III displays fantastic results in our lab test. Rolling shutter by the very nature of the global shutter design is non-existent (effectively 0ms) – the best we have and will ever see for full-frame sensors. It cannot get better from here.

Dynamic range using our Xyla21 chart and IMATEST analysis is average when compared to other full-frame consumer cameras. But as is so often the case, IMATEST results are only one piece of the puzzle looking at the dynamic range of a camera. It basically gives a feel for how noisy images are at the various Xyla stops (patches). And here it can be clearly seen that the global shutter sensor is definitely noisier than its CMOS full-frame counterparts seen in other consumer full-frame cameras.

But Sony applied some magic to the image pipeline including the codecs, as the fine noise of the sensor is conserved in the final image and shadows can be massively pushed in post without ugly larger blotches of noise. This results in a superb 9 stops of exposure latitude with some room towards 10, making it the best Sony Alpha camera to date in video mode in terms of dynamic range! It is also the best consumer full-frame camera in that regard.

What a surprise – all this from a global shutter sensor! Well, as mentioned at the beginning of the article, times are a’changin …

That supports the other findings from youtubers like Gerald Undone. The A9III has quite “workable” files where you can recover quite a lot of information.

Sony A9III at BHphoto. Amazon. Adorama. FotoErhardt. Fotokoch. Calumet. WexUK.