Get insider access
Preferred store
Notice: Your browser is not supported or outdated so some features of the site might not be available.
  1. Table of Contents
  2. Top
  3. Main Differences
  4. Design
    1. Portability
    2. Build Quality
    3. Body
    4. In The Box
    5. Ergonomics & Comfort
    6. Viewfinder
    7. Screen
    8. Menu System
    9. Built-In Lens
    10. Sensor
    11. Battery
  5. Photo General
    1. Photo Shooting Speed
    2. Photo AF-C Tracking
    3. Photo AF-C Center Point
    4. Photo Image Stabilization
  6. Photo Image Quality
    1. Photo RAW Dynamic Range
    2. Photo RAW Sharpness
    3. Photo RAW Noise
  7. Pictures Sample Gallery
    1. The Skate Park Picture
    2. The Polish Church Picture
    3. The Studio Picture
    4. The Stairway Picture
  8. Video General
    1. Video Features
    2. Audio
    3. Video File Format And Compression
  9. 4k Video
    1. 4k Video Frame Rate
    2. 4k Video Internal Recording
    3. 4k Video Autofocus Performance
    4. 4k Video Quality
    5. 4k Video Rolling Shutter Effect
  10. Full HD Video
    1. FHD Video Frame Rate
    2. FHD Video Internal Recording
    3. FHD Video Autofocus Performance
    4. FHD Video Quality
    5. FHD Video Rolling Shutter Effect
  11. Video Image Quality
    1. Video Dynamic Range
    2. Luminosity Patch Detection
  12. Storage And Connectivity
    1. Storage
    2. Inputs / Outputs
  13. Comments

Sony α7 III vs Sony α7C

Side-by-Side Comparison

Products

Sony α7 III
Sony α7C

Tested using Methodology v0.13

Updated Feb 24, 2025 06:15 PM

SEE PRICE
Amazon.com

Tested using Methodology v0.13

Updated Feb 12, 2025 02:16 PM

SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
Sony α7 III Picture
Sony α7C Picture

Variants

  • a7 III (Black (Body Only))
  • a7 III (Black W/ 28-70mm Lens)
  • α7C (Black (Body Only))
  • α7C (Black W/ 28-60mm Lens)
  • α7C (Silver (Body Only))
  • α7C (Silver W/ 28-60mm Lens)

Our Verdict

Sony α7 III

Sony α7C

The Sony α7C is essentially a more compact version of the Sony α7 III. Being newer, it offers a few improvements, including an upgraded autofocus system with a better AF tracking algorithm, plus a longer battery life and unlimited video recording time. That said, the α7 III has better ergonomics, with more custom buttons and dials, along with a significantly larger viewfinder and dual SD card slots. The α7 III also has a tilting screen, while the α7C has a fully articulated screen, one of which may suit you better than the other depending on your needs and personal preference.

0 

Check Price

Black (Body Only)
a7 III
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
Black (Body Only)
α7C
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
Black W/ 28-70mm Lens
a7 III
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
Black W/ 28-60mm Lens
α7C
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
 
Silver (Body Only)
α7C
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
 
Silver W/ 28-60mm Lens
α7C
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com

Main Differences for
Travel Photography

Threshold 

0.10

Travel Photography 

7.8
8.5

Portability 
 

4.1
7.4

Minimum Shutter Speed Achieved 
 

1/20 s
1/8 s

Ergonomics & Comfort 
 

8.5
7.0

Full Comparison

Design

Portability 
 

4.1
7.4

Portability Picture  

Sony α7 III Portability Picture
Sony α7C Portability Picture

Height 
 

3.8" (9.6 cm)
2.8" (7.2 cm)

Width 
 

5.4" (13.8 cm)
5.3" (13.5 cm)

Depth 
 

3.1" (7.9 cm)
2.3" (5.8 cm)

Volume 
 

63.9 in³ (1,046.6 cm³)
34.4 in³ (563.8 cm³)

Weight 
 

1.43 lbs (0.65 kg)
1.17 lbs (0.53 kg)
Show Text 

Build Quality 
 

8.0
9.0

Build Quality Picture  

Sony α7 III Build Quality Picture
Sony α7C Build Quality Picture
Show Text 

Body  

Body Picture  

Sony α7 III Body Picture
Sony α7C Body Picture

Body Type 
 

SLR-Style
SLR-Style

Water Resistance 
 

No
Weather-Sealed

Mirrorless 
 

Yes
Yes

Rugged 
 

No
No

Hot Shoe 
 

Yes
Yes

Customizable Button 
 

Yes
Yes

Command Dial 
 

3
2

Tripod Mount 
 

Yes
Yes

Lens Mount 
 

E-Mount
E-Mount

Built-In Flash 
 

No
No

Fastest Shutter Speed 
 

1/8,000 s
1/4,000 s

In The Box  

In The Box Picture  

Sony α7 III In The Box Picture
Sony α7C In The Box Picture
Show Text 

Ergonomics & Comfort 
 

8.5
7.0

Hand Grip Picture  

Sony α7 III Hand Grip Picture
Sony α7C Hand Grip Picture

Hand Grip: Small Hand 
 

Yes
Yes

Hand Grip: Medium Hand 
 

Yes
Yes

Hand Grip: Large Hand 
 

Yes
Yes

Hand Grip: Extra-Large Hand 
 

No
No
Show Text 

Viewfinder 
 

EVF Menu Picture  

Sony α7 III EVF Menu Picture
Sony α7C EVF Menu Picture

Viewfinder Type 
 

Electronic
Electronic

Advertised Coverage 
 

100%
100%

Advertised Resolution 
 

2.36 million dots
2.36 million dots

Advertised Magnification 
 

0.78
0.59
Show Text 

Screen 
 

6.7
8.6

Screen Picture  

Sony α7 III Screen Picture
Sony α7C Screen Picture

Screen Articulation Type 
 

Tilting
Fully-Articulated

Screen Max Brightness 
 

665 cd/m²
725 cd/m²

Advertised Resolution 
 

0.92 million dots
0.92 million dots

Size 
 

3.0" (7.5 cm)
3.0" (7.5 cm)

Touchscreen 
 

Limited
Limited
Show Text 

Menu System 
 

6.5
6.5

Screen Menu Picture  

Sony α7 III Screen Menu Picture
Sony α7C Screen Menu Picture

Guide Mode 
 

Yes
Yes

App Name 
 

Imaging Edge Mobile
Imaging Edge Mobile
Show Text 

Built-In Lens 
 

0.0
0.0

Aperture Vs Focal Length  

Sony α7 III Aperture Vs Focal Length
Sony α7C Aperture Vs Focal Length

Maximum Aperture 
 

No built-in lens
No built-in lens

Max Aperture (Full-Frame Equivalent) 
 

N/A
N/A

Minimum Focal Length 
 

N/A
N/A

Maximum Focal Length 
 

N/A
N/A

Max Focal Length (Full-Frame Equivalent) 
 

N/A
N/A

Optical Image Stabilization 
 

No
No

Light Falloff Picture  

Sony α7 III Light Falloff Picture
Sony α7C Light Falloff Picture

Luminance 
 

N/A
N/A

Light Falloff 
 

N/A
N/A

Sensor 
 

Sensor Type 
 

BSI CMOS
BSI CMOS

Advertised Effective Pixels 
 

24.2 MP
24.2 MP

Processor 
 

BIONZ X
BIONZ X

Sensor Size 
 

Full Frame
Full Frame

Extended ISO Minimum 
 

50
50

Native ISO Minimum (Base ISO) 
 

100
100

Native ISO Maximum 
 

51,200
51,200

Tested Firmware 
 

Version 3.10
Ver.2.0
Show Text 

Battery 
 

9.4
9.6

Battery Type 
 

Sony NP-FZ100
Sony NP-FZ100

USB Charging 
 

Yes
Yes

Power Delivery While Recording 
 

Yes
Yes

Advertised Battery Life In Photo 
 

610 photos
680 photos

Tested Battery Life In Video 
 

137 min
140 min
Show Text 
Photo General

Photo Shooting Speed 
 

7.3
7.3

Low Speed Continuous 
 

4 fps
4 fps

High Speed Continuous 
 

10 fps
10 fps

Silent Shooting Continuous 
 

9 fps
9 fps

Raw Buffer Size 
 

40 Photos
46 Photos

JPEG Buffer Size 
 

164 Photos
170 Photos

Buffer Empty Time 
 

10 s
10 s
Show Text 

Photo AF-C Tracking 
 

6.8
9.0

Autofocus Tracking Shots  

tracking-run-01-01
Run 01
AF-C Tracking 01
tracking-run-01-01
Run 01
AF-C Tracking 01

Perfect Focus Hit Rate 
 

50%
81%

Usable Focus Hit Rate 
 

85%
95%
Show Text 

Photo AF-C Center Point 
 

10
10

Autofocus Center Point Shots  

center-point-run-01-01
Run 01
AF-C Center Point 01
center-point-run-01-01
Run 01
AF-C Center Point 01

Perfect Focus Hit Rate 
 

100%
100%

Usable Focus Hit Rate 
 

100%
100%
Show Text 

Photo Image Stabilization 
 

7.3
8.3

Stabilization Slideshow  

Minimum Shutter Speed Achieved 
 

1/20 s
1/8 s

In-Body Image Stabilization 
 

Yes
Yes
Show Text 
Photo Image Quality

Photo RAW Dynamic Range 
 

9.0
8.8

Dynamic Range Scene  

Sony α7 III Dynamic Range Scene
Sony α7C Dynamic Range Scene

Dynamic Range At Base ISO 
 

11.2 f-stops
11.1 f-stops

Dynamic Range At 1/500s Exposure Time 
 

9.8 f-stops
9.8 f-stops

Dynamic Range At 1/2000s Exposure Time 
 

8.0 f-stops
7.6 f-stops

Dynamic Range At 1/4000s Exposure Time 
 

7.3 f-stops
7.0 f-stops
Show Text 

Photo RAW Sharpness 
 

8.9
8.6

Sharpness Scene Crop  

Sony α7 III Sharpness Scene Crop
Sony α7C Sharpness Scene Crop

MTF Graph  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Vertical Edge MTF50 At Base ISO 
 

1,993 LW/PH
1,905 LW/PH

Horizontal Edge MTF50 At Base ISO 
 

2,541 LW/PH
2,184 LW/PH
Show Text 

Photo RAW Noise 
 

7.9
8.0

Noise Scene Crop  

Sony α7 III Noise Scene Crop
Sony α7C Noise Scene Crop

Noise Vs Exposure Time  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

SNR 18% At 1/8 Exposure Time (125 ms) 
 

34.5 dB
34.5 dB

SNR 18% At 1/30 Exposure Time (33 ms) 
 

32.6 dB
32.7 dB

SNR 18% At 1/125 Exposure Time (8 ms) 
 

28.7 dB
29.1 dB

SNR 18% At 1/500 Exposure Time (2 ms) 
 

23.4 dB
23.9 dB
Show Text 
Pictures Sample Gallery

The Skate Park Picture 
 

Sample Gallery - Skate Park   

Sony α7 III Sample Gallery - Skate Park
Sony α7C Sample Gallery - Skate Park

JPEG Skate Park Picture  

RAW Skate Park Picture  

The Polish Church Picture 
 

Sample Gallery - Church  

Sony α7 III Sample Gallery - Church
Sony α7C Sample Gallery - Church

JPEG Polish Church Picture  

RAW Polish Church Picture  

The Studio Picture 
 

Sample Gallery - Studio  

Sony α7 III Sample Gallery - Studio
Sony α7C Sample Gallery - Studio

JPEG Studio Picture  

RAW Studio Picture  

The Stairway Picture 
 

Sample Gallery - Stairway  

Sony α7 III Sample Gallery - Stairway
Sony α7C Sample Gallery - Stairway

JPEG Stairway Picture  

RAW Stairway Picture  

Video General

Video Features  

Full HD Video 
 

Yes
Yes

4k Video 
 

Yes
Yes

6k Video 
 

No
No

Clean HDMI Output 
 

Yes
Yes

Advertised Max Chroma Sampling Over HDMI 
 

4:2:2
Not Advertised

Advertised Max Bit Depth Over HDMI 
 

8 bits
8 bits

Log Picture Profile 
 

Yes
Yes

Recording Light  
 

No
No
Show Text 

Audio  

Audio Test Sample 
 

Audio Recording 
 

Stereo
Stereo

Microphone Level Display 
 

Yes
Yes

Video File Format And Compression  

MP4 H.264 / MPEG-4 AVC 
 

No
No

MP4 H.265 / HEVC 
 

No
No

MOV H.264 / MPEG-4 AVC 
 

No
No

MOV H.265 / HEVC 
 

No
No

AVCHD H.264 / MPEG-4 AVC 
 

Yes
Yes

All-I Compression 
 

No
No
4k Video

4k Video Frame Rate 
 

7.2
7.2

240 fps In 4k 
 

No
No

120 fps In 4k 
 

No
No

60 fps In 4k 
 

No
No

30 fps In 4k 
 

Yes, with a Crop
Yes, with a Crop

24 fps In 4k 
 

Yes
Yes

4k Crop At Max Available fps 
 

1.165 x
1.16 x
Show Text 

4k Video Internal Recording 
 

7.8
8.2

Bitrate Maximum In 4k 
 

100 Mbps
100 Mbps

Bitrate Minimum In 4k 
 

60 Mbps
60 Mbps

Chroma Sampling In 4k 
 

4:2:0
4:2:0

Bit Depth In 4k 
 

8 Bit
8 Bit

Record Time Limit In 4k 
 

30 min
N/A

Overheat Recording Interruptions in 4k 
 

0
0
Show Text 

4k Video Autofocus Performance 
 

8.9
9.8

4k Object Tracking Video  

Object Tracking In 4k 
 

9.7
9.7

4k Face Tracking Video  

Face Tracking In 4k 
 

9.5
9.9

Face Detection In 4k 
 

Yes
Yes

Eye Detection In 4k 
 

No
Yes
Show Text 

4k Video Quality 
 

8.2
8.5

4k Sample Low Light Video  

Low Light Capability In 4k  

7.5
8.0

4k Test Scene Extract  

Sony α7 III 4k Test Scene Extract
Sony α7C 4k Test Scene Extract

Test Scene Extract In 4k  

8.9
8.9
Show Text 

4k Video Rolling Shutter Effect 
 

6.4
6.8

Rolling Shutter Video in 4k  

4k Rolling Shutter 
 

5.7°
4.7°
Show Text 
Full HD Video

FHD Video Frame Rate 
 

9.5
9.5

240 fps In FHD 
 

No
No

120 fps In FHD 
 

Yes
Yes

60 fps In FHD 
 

Yes
Yes

30 fps In FHD 
 

Yes
Yes

24 fps In FHD 
 

Yes
Yes

FHD Crop At Max Available fps 
 

1 x
1 x

FHD Video Internal Recording 
 

7.7
8.3

Bitrate Maximum In FHD 
 

100 Mbps
100 Mbps

Bitrate Minimum In FHD 
 

16 Mbps
16 Mbps

Chroma Sampling In FHD 
 

4:2:0
4:2:0

Bit Depth In FHD 
 

8 Bit
8 Bit

Record Time Limit in FHD 
 

30 min
N/A
Show Text 

FHD Video Autofocus Performance 
 

9.0
9.9

Object Tracking Video  

Object Tracking In FHD 
 

10
9.8

FHD Face Tracking Video  

Face Tracking In FHD 
 

9.5
9.9

Face Detection In FHD 
 

Yes
Yes

Eye Detection In FHD 
 

No
Yes
Show Text 

FHD Video Quality 
 

9.1
8.3

FHD Sample Low Light Video  

Low Light Capability In FHD  

9.0
8.0

FHD Test Scene Extract In FHD  

Sony α7 III FHD Test Scene Extract In FHD
Sony α7C FHD Test Scene Extract In FHD

Test Scene Extract In FHD  

9.2
8.5
Show Text 

FHD Video Rolling Shutter Effect 
 

7.5
8.2

Rolling Shutter Video in FHD  

FHD Rolling Shutter 
 

3.0°
2.0°
Show Text 
Video Image Quality

Video Dynamic Range 
 

8.3
8.5

Video Dynamic Range Waveform  

Sony α7 III Video Dynamic Range Waveform
Sony α7C Video Dynamic Range Waveform

Video Dynamic Range Slideshow  

Strict SNR Max Dynamic Range 
 

7.04 stops
7.04 stops

Lenient SNR Max Dynamic Range 
 

10.50 stops
10.50 stops

Background Floor Max Dynamic Range 
 

13.92 stops
15.30 stops
Show Text 

Luminosity Patch Detection 
 

7.9
8.6

Luminosity Patch Detection Chart  

Sony α7 III Luminosity Patch Detection Chart
Sony α7C Luminosity Patch Detection Chart

Above Middle Gray 
 

5.17 stops
6.01 stops

Below Middle Gray 
 

9.09 stops
9.98 stops
Show Text 
Storage And Connectivity

Storage  

Card Slot Picture  

Sony α7 III Card Slot Picture
Sony α7C Card Slot Picture

Card 1 Slot 
 

SD Card UHS-II
SD Card UHS-II

Card 2 Slot 
 

SD Card UHS-I
No 2nd Card Slot
Show Text 

Inputs / Outputs 
 

9.5
9.5

Input Picture  

Sony α7 III Input Picture
Sony α7C Input Picture

USB 
 

USB-C
USB-C

HDMI 
 

Micro (Type D)
Micro (Type D)

Headphones 
 

Yes
Yes

Microphone 
 

Stereo
Stereo

Wi-Fi 
 

Yes
Yes

Bluetooth 
 

Yes
Yes
Show Text 

Check Price

Black (Body Only)
a7 III
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
Black (Body Only)
α7C
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
Black W/ 28-70mm Lens
a7 III
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
Black W/ 28-60mm Lens
α7C
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
 
Silver (Body Only)
α7C
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
 
Silver W/ 28-60mm Lens
α7C
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com

Sony α7 III

Sony α7C

Comments

  1. Comparison

Sony α7 III vs Sony α7C: Main Discussion

What do you think of these products? Let us know below.


Looking for a personalized buying advice from the RTINGS.com experts? Insiders have direct access to buying advice on our insider forum.

PreviewBack to editorFormat guide
No comments yet, refresh to see new ones