This Sony camera is nearly 8 years old, but it just got a major firmware overhaul. Sony’s beloved low-res mirrorless just borrowed a handful of features from the A7 IV

(Image credit: Adam Duckworth)

Sony’s mirrorless camera that trades resolution for enhanced low-light performance has just received a major firmware overhaul. The Sony A7S III has gained updated firmware, just a few weeks before the 12MP camera’s eighth birthday.

The list of updates for the Sony A7S III shares a few updates in common with the latest A7 IV update – which temporarily paused due to a bug but was re-released last month – although the changes to the A7S III are not identical to its higher resolution sibling.

Like the A7 IV, the Sony A7S III gains a handful of new choices for the autofocus options. For the camera’s autofocus area options, there’s a new Spot XL option to use spot area autofocusing that covers a larger portion of the image. Creators can also now create and save three different custom autofocus areas. The new Spot XL and custom areas have also been added to the autofocus tracking menu as well.

A handful of tweaks adjust the A7S III’s display. The camera’s display now adapts the layout of shooting information to both horizontal and vertical shooting. While recording video, the camera can now keep the amount of remaining space for both memory cards on the screen when using either simultaneous or auto switch dual card settings.

The update also brings support for USB streaming through its USB-C port.

While the firmware is free to update, the camera also gains two features that expand Sony’s paid licenses. The Camera Authenticity Solution, an anti-AI program for selected journalism outlets in some regions, will now support the ability to write a digital signature to video files. Users who are part of the Volume Photography License also gain additional scan, tag, and cropping features.

The update also fixes a bug that recorded audio when audio was set to off, along with general stability enhancements.

The update brings the Sony A7S III’s firmware to Version 5.00. Users with firmware 2.11 or older will need to update to version 3.01 before running the update to 5.00.

The firmware update is available directly from Sony.

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Hillary K. Grigonis
US Editor

With more than a decade of experience writing about cameras and technology, Hillary K. Grigonis leads the US coverage for Digital Camera World. Her work has appeared in Business Insider, Digital Trends, Pocket-lint, Rangefinder, The Phoblographer, and more. Her wedding and portrait photography favors a journalistic style. She’s a former Nikon shooter and a current Fujifilm user, but has tested a wide range of cameras and lenses across multiple brands. Hillary is also a licensed drone pilot.

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