After years of shooting with various hybrid cameras and trying out different accessories, here is what I think is best for the Sony A7III or A7rIII.
Table Of Contents
1. Screen Protector
Sony screens are a little fragile so you might want to consider getting a screen protector. There are a lot of options out there, one brand I use a lot is Expert Shield which offers a lifetime warranty. But some brands will include two or three screen protectors which is also a great deal. The reason I go with Expert Shields is they have some nice options between glass, crystal clear or anti-glare, whereas a lot of the other brands now are just doing Glass.
Expert Shield Screen Protector For Sony A7III, Sony A7rIII
The A7 III and A7rIII screens now have limited touch screen functionality so you do need to make sure your screen protector is compatible with a touch screen. I recommend the Expert Shields screen protectors. They have a lifetime warranty and they don’t degrade touch screen performance. I’ve been using Expert Shield on all my cameras for years and have even taken advantage of their lifetime warranty without any hassle. I use the glass screen protector on my A7rIII and love it, but glass screen protectors can be very hard to take off if they ever get damaged. |
2. Memory Cards
I’ve run many of the most popular memory cards through a benchmark to get the in-camera speeds with the A7III or A7rIII. Check these links to see the individual guides.
Best Memory Cards Sony A7r III
Important: I’ve benchmarked SD cards in the Sony A7IV. UHS-II Memory card performance has improved dramatically. Only a few UHS-II cards perform extremely well in the A7IV, so I recommend you use that guide when buying memory cards because it will make sure you have a memory card that is future-proof within the Sony ecosystem. Just be sure not to buy CFexpress cards for the A7III or A7rIII.
Check out the Sony A7IV memory card guide. I’ve tested new cards and more of them.
3. Best Batteries Sony
The Sony A7rIII and A7III have a new battery compared to the older Sony A7II and A7rIII. It has a much higher capacity and is much larger.
The Sony A7rIII and A7III also use the same battery as the Sony A7IV.
Note: Older 3rd party batteries that were made before firmware 2.0 no longer work correctly with the Sony A7III, A7rIII. You will get a message “The operation and safety of this battery cannot be guaranteed. Continue use?”
The good news is, that current Wasabi batteries are coded to work with the new firmware.
You can still use the older third-party batteries, but you lose the battery indicator charge numbers and you get that popup message every time you start up the camera.
Official Sony NP-FZ100 Li-Ion Battery
Available At: Amazon The official Sony NP-FZ100 battery is much larger than previous models but it also has a significantly higher capacity of 2280mAh. The previous models only had 1020mAh. With the new Sony Z battery, you’ll be getting over twice as much power as before. It would seem the pathetic battery life in the Sony A7 III cameras is a thing of the past. |
SmallRig FZ100 USB-C BatteriesIf you want to charge your Sony batteries with a USB-C cable, you should check out the SmallRig batteries. They are compatible with Sony cameras and they have a USB-C port for charging. You don’t need to carry extra battery chargers anymore, just some USB-C cables. Specs: Capable of USB-C 2.5H Fast Charging – 2400mAh 7.2V 17.28Wh |
4. Body Grips & Cases For Sony A7III / A7rIII
There are so many third-party grips and cases out there now but there are the brands I use and am familiar with.
Gariz Sony A7 III Half CaseAvailable At: Amazon Gariz makes a great affordable leather half case for the Sony A7rIII. I like their cases because of the metal base that allows the camera to still be securely mounted to tripods. This helps prevent the base of the camera from getting scratched up from tripod plates but also adds some extra grip and protection to the camera body. |
Sony GP-X1EM Grip ExtensionAvailable At: Amazon For large hands, the Sony GP-X1EM grip extension adds some extra grip to make holding the camera more comfortable. The only problem is it makes it so you can’t set the camera flat on a table or use a tripod. This says in the description it’s for the Sony A7II, but it does fit with the Sony A7III as well. It just won’t work with the latest body designs starting with the A7rIV. |
5. Camera Straps
There are a lot of great straps out there and I’ve tried so many different brands sizes, and materials. For my hybrid mirrorless cameras, I always keep coming back to Peak Design. Their straps are very easy to put on or take off and they have grips and straps that are all compatible with each other.
Peak Design Clutch
The Peak Design Clutch helps secure your hand to the camera. I pretty much always keep this on my camera and it also has attachments for a strap. So you attach a peak design strap to this clutch. The clutch also comes with an arca-swiss base plate that the clutch attaches to, but it also has an extra loop for attaching a strap. |
Peak Design Straps
Their straps are great and made of seatbelt-like material and are very durable. For years I used the 32mm strap but for these smaller mirrorless cameras, I’ve moved down to the 19mm strap and am much happier. I recommend either the 32mm or the 19mm strap, go 32mm if you’re using a lot of big heavy lenses, and the vertical grip, go 19mm if you have a fairly light system with prime or kit lenses. SL – 45mm wide SSL – 32mm wide L – 19mm wide |
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6. Best On-Camera Mic For Sony A7IV
Since the Sony A7III is known as a great hybrid camera, it’s nice to pair it with a good on-camera mic.
Not all mics are going to produce equal sound on all cameras and some will produce more or less noise with certain bodies. The Sony A7III does have decent pre-amps so with this camera you can just keep it simple and still get good results. Here are my two favorite simple on-camera mics that sound good.
Rode Video Mic Go IIThe Rode Video Mic Go, both versions I and II, are my favorite budget-friendly on-camera mics. To my ears, it has a nice warm sound for a mic this size, and I actually prefer it to the Pro+ mic. The latest version of this Mic (version II) has USB inputs and you can use it with mobile devices or computers that support the input. Very handy if you also need a mic for your computer. The old mic, the version I, is still great and that’s still what I use most of the time when shooting with on-camera sound. |
Diety V-Mic D4 Duo Microphone Mini
Another really interesting mic that I’ve come to really like is the Diety 2-way mic. The mic has a two-way function so you can record what’s in front of the camera while recording what’s behind the camera. This is useful if you’re narrating while recording and don’t want to lose your voice when pointing the camera away from you. The mic has a switch that you can turn on or off the back mic. When the back mic is on, you will get separate recordings to the left and right channels. |
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7. Camera & Sensor Cleaning Accessories
Here are the essential accessories for cleaning your camera. I have a more detailed list of even more accessories in my cleaning guide.
6-Pack Micro Fiber ClothAvailable At: Amazon Microfiber cloths get dirty very easily and then instead of cleaning up oil and grease from our lenses, they will smear it around. It’s important to always have some clean cloth on hand for this reason which is why I like to buy the 6-packs. To get a better life out of your microfiber cloths, keep a separate one for your camera body that you can use for regularly cleaning the EVF or LCD screen, but then always try to use a very clean one when cleaning your lens. |
Rocket Air Blower
Available At: Amazon The Rocket Air blowers are essential for quickly cleaning your camera gear. I also use them to clear off any dust from my lenses and UV filters as well as my sensor. An air blaster should always be your first choice when it comes to cleaning off your sensor and lenses. There are a few sizes of the Rocket Air but I’ve found for mirrorless cameras any size works fine. I have the large and the medium sizes and would probably just go for the medium if I were to buy them again. Make sure you always give a few blasts before using it on your sensor to clear out any debris. |
Sensor Brush
Available At: Amazon I generally always reach for the sensor brush before trying any sort of sticky gel sticks or wet method for cleaning the sensor. 90% of the time I can get all the dirt and debris off my sensor with this sensor brush and I still highly recommend it. Just keep it clean and in its case when not in use and it will work great. Also don’t ever touch the bristols since the oils from your skin can ruin it. |
Extras
Sony E Mount Lenses
I’ve put together a complete list of every Sony E-Mount Lens. You can find any of the official Sony E-Mount lenses for the full-frame bodies in this list as well as all the available third-party lenses.
Replacement Parts A7rIII, A7III
Sony FDA-EP18 Eyepiece CupAvailable At: Amazon I lost my eyecup the first week of owning my camera. If you end up losing your eyecup for your Sony A7III or A7rIII this is the official replacement. I have confirmed that this eyecup works for the Sony A7r III and A7 III. I’ve gone through two of these now. My first one popped off, this new one has torn. |
Best Accessories For The Sony A7III | Conclusions
These are some of the best most used accessories for the Sony A7III and A7rIII. There are a few other accessories by SmallRig and a few more cases but they are more specialty items and I haven’t tried them out yet. I’ll keep reviewing new accessories as I find them and update them here.
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You mentioned third party batteries. As far as I know there aren’t any yet. If you know of some it would be great to see.
I’m kind of starting to think they may not allow third-party batteries. A couple brands are doing that now. I think GoPro doesn’t let you, and a few Nikon cameras won’t let you. I just got the vertical grip and the two batteries last for days, so I don’t think I’ll need anymore considering I don’t shoot much video. However, I wouldn’t mind having a few more just incase and $70 for a spare battery is kind of steep
my thoughts exactly. thanks for the reply too.
Are there any half cases for the r3??
Yes, Gariz has some now as well as Lim’s on Amazon. They are saying the A9 Cases are compatible with the A7r III body
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What is idea using these half cases?
What do you mean?
Why do people buy them? Not for the looks I assume (I don’t think they look very good actually)?
I started buying them after I damaged my A7r when I dropped it on concrete. It messed up my screen because the corner hit the floor perfectly. Then later the base got very scrapped up from taking it on and off a tripod plate and setting it down on hard surfaces. So I started using these or vertical grips. I think some of the leather cases do look nice on some cameras like the Fujifilm X100F and they help with the grip of the camera. So for me with a small camera like the A7r or my X100F, they help with grip and keep the camera protected. I often sell my cameras after a few years and it’s easier if they are in good shape. But yes, I agree some cameras look weird with these leather cases. I don’t think the A7 series cameras look particularly great with half cases, but it has helped me keep my A7rII in great shape and it feels better in the hands.
Thanks. I see your point. So it does offer some form for protection. Maybe I should consider one after all.
Have you had a chance to test the screen protectors for Ar7ii? What are the results and your recommendations? Thank you.
Yes, For the Sony A7rII I’m using the Sony PCK-LG1 glass screen protector and for the A7rIII I’m using the ExpertShield glass screen protector and I really like it. I’ve had a few different screens on my Sony A7r and a bunch more on my other cameras and I think these glass screen protectors are the way to go. Especially since Sony screens are not that tough. Also, with the ExpertShield glass screen, the touch screen still works great.
Thanks for replying!
Clarification- !1 even though the Expert Shield product descritpion is
for AR7ii, it will fit the Ar7iii? 2) Or is it a new product that fits the Ar7 iii and accommodates the touch screen feature? Note-I can’t find this new product…
My links should point to the A7rIII screen protectors. The two screens are the same size, I just measured them to be sure. I’m just not sure if they are interchangeable because of the touch screen.
So what bag are you using?…
I have a few Lowepros for different occasions. The Fastpack 250AW which are great, I also have the Lowepro Vertex which I don’t love but it holds a ton of stuff. For shoulder backs I have a bunch of ThinkTank Mirrorless Movers. the 5, 10 and 20.
What about the card readers for the two types of memory cards? B&H has 2 readers: Sony XQD/SD and Sony UHS-II SD. Do I need both?? What about the computer to download the memory cards to? I have a MacPro notebook from 2013. Will it be able to read UHS-II? and UHS-I. I’m assuming “yes to UHS_I” but I’ve learned not to assume anything. Thank you.
That’s actually a good point. So your Mac 2013 has a UHS-I SD memory card reader. You can use that to reader both UHS-II and UHS-I memory cards. You don’t need the Sony XQD / SD memory card reader since the camera does not use XQD memory cards. Only a few Nikons use those right now. There are a lot of good UHS-II memory card readers, most are USB 3.0 which will also work with USB2.0. If you don’t mind waiting a little longer to transfer files to your computer just use the built in SD reader of your computer. Otherwise grab a USB 3.0 UHS-II memory card reader. Sandisk, Kingston, Sony all make good ones. I personally use my computers SD memory card reader even when I’m using UHS-II cards.
New to this system and found your article handy, thank you! Now going to look at the Ravpower battery charger suggestion!
Thanks. Good luck!
Will Foto&Tech Shutter Release trigger Sony a7III with Godox X1T in the hotshoe and few offcamera flashes?
Yes. That’s the one I use on my A7rIII, except I have the Godox XPro. Anything that engages that shutter will trigger the X1T. Keep in mind those are IR shutter releases and the IR sensor on Sony is in front of the camera. If you’re indoors you can get enough bounce and reflection to usually trigger the camera even standing behind it, but if you’re outside you will have to be line of sight of the front of the camera. Otherwise you will need to setup a unit with a radio trigger and a lot of those are designed to sit on the hot shoe. But you can rig them to set off the side too. The other option is to use your phone and the app, which is a pain.