Beyond any doubt, the Sony A7III is already a formidable filmmaking machine on its own being a full frame mirrorless camera that provides a multitude of professional video features at a reasonable price. However, pairing the A7III with the right accessories may help you shoot more efficiently and seamlessly, allowing you to take full advantage of its striking filmmaking capabilities, whether you’re shooting in the studio or on the go.
In the next video, seasoned filmmaker Brandon Washington goes over ten must-have accessories for anyone using the A7III as a daily driver. The best part? All of these accessories are priced under $100!
The first accessory featured in the video is the Mcoplus MCO-A9 Battery Grip. This piece of equipment attaches directly to the bottom of your A7III, connecting through the battery slot. The unit allows adding an extra grip to the lower area of your camera which seems perfect for videographers who need the extra weight when shooting handheld. Moreover, the battery grip allows you to use two NP-FZ100 batteries, effectively doubling your time to cover a full day’s worth of shooting.
If you’re looking to purchase more batteries for your A7III, consider investing in third-party options such as those sold by RAVPower. According to Washington, RAVPower’s batteries last slightly longer than those made by Sony. For less than $100, you’ll even get two batteries and a charger – a better deal compared to investing in a single OEM battery and charger.
An alternative method of powering the A7III is by using a power bank connected to the camera’s USB-C port. For this, Washington recommends a battery bank by Power Add, which include a USB-C cable compatible with the A7III. Using a power bank will allow you to charge or run the camera on set, ensuring that you always have enough time to get your shots no matter what.
An increasingly essential accessory that most filmmakers should consider is a camera cage. Smallrig, in particular, is a company that specializes in creating some great ones for cameras like the A7III. One of their best selling offerings is the suggested SmallRig A7RIII / A7III Cage that will protect your camera body perfectly without covering any ports or buttons and allow you to add a bunch of accessories on the fly.
For those looking to protect the A7III’s touchscreen from scratches, smudges, and fingerprints, you might want to consider the Screen Protector from QIBOX. From Washington’s experience, QIBOX’s product is easy to install and doesn’t interfere with the capabilities of the A7III’s touchscreen whatsoever.
If you have an A7III, then you’ll know how frustrating it is to remove and replace the strap. Furthermore, you should also be aware how annoying the triangle clip on the side can be when no strap is attached. To remedy this flaw, Washington recommends the Peak Design Anchor Links, which is essentially a clip mechanism that helps you put on and off your neck strap with ease.
As you know, the Sony A7III uses memory cards for media storage. Even though there are many different memory card options out there, Washington recommends having at least one Sony 32GB SDXC card on standby, just in case you’re out of other storage mediums. In his opinion, Sony’s SDXC cards deliver some of the fastest read and write speeds compared to other rivals on the market – perfect for burst shooters who don’t want to wait for the buffer to load.
To quickly ingest the data from the memory card, seasoned filmmaker also recommends the Uni SD Card Reader, which can connect to your laptop via USB-C. The reader can support different types of memory cards including SDHC, SDXC, and even MicroSD. According to Washington, the Uni SD Card Reader offers fast read and write speeds for quick ingestion workflows.
As a filmmaker, having multiple memory cards on standby is commonplace. That being said, it’s paramount to have an SD card case to safely and neatly store and organize your cards. Even a basic model should do the trick, just make sure it provides water-resistant and anti-shock resistance.
When working with large video files, having fast and reliable storage is a must. That being said, Washington personally favors the Samsung T5 SSD when dealing with big chunks of video footage and stills. The T5 SSD is touted to be one of the fastest and most portable mobile storage solutions available, making it perfect for filmmaking applications.
Based on your own filmmaking needs, you may not require all the accessories outlined above. However, it’s important to make sure that no matter what bits and pieces you buy, you’re investing in products that are reliable enough to keep up with the demands of your productions.
[source: Brandon Washington]
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