Freezing a moment in time is something all photographers agree is readily possible. But what about freezing a moment from all angles? What if you could pick your composition after the capture and explore an entire moment in hyper-realistic detail? As it turns out, not only is this possible, but it's also quickly becoming the norm for consumer-grade hyper-real 3D photography, thanks to Radiance Fields methods.
Currently, the two most popular ways to reconstruct a Radiance Field are NeRFs and Gaussian Splatting, but there are many more. All these methods share the goal of using standard 2D images to bring hyper-real 3D imagery, previously contained in the physical world, to our devices in unprecedented lifelike detail.
Not all capture devices, however, are created equal. It's already been a year since I tested the Sony ILX-LR1, and while I still believe it has tremendous Radiance Field potential, I was eager to try out another Sony camera: the Sony Alpha 9 III.
When the Alpha 9 III was first announced, its specs seemed almost too good to be true. A blazing 120fps still image shooting rate in RAW, a full global shutter in a full-frame mirrorless body, and the innovative pre-capture mode all promised incredible possibilities. I knew it could offer serious advantages in capturing hyper-real Radiance Fields.
I often shoot Radiance Fields of both people and locations, and having access to a ludicrously fast frame rate is a real game changer. It allows me to work faster, shoot more strategically, and embrace the risks of more complicated captures, even in constrained environments.
One of the biggest advantages the Alpha 9 III brings is the global shutter. Unlike a rolling shutter, which reads the image sensor line by line and can cause distortions when either the subject or camera is moving, a global shutter captures the entire frame at once. It might sound like a minor change—switching from a rolling shutter to a global one, but in 3D reconstruction, this feature makes a huge difference across input frames.
While my tests were limited to static captures, I imagine this camera would shine in dynamic capture sequences within volumetric rigs. If you're building a large volumetric rig, the Alpha 9 III could be a strong contender.
Another aspect I appreciated was Sony's subject detection. Not only did it hold focus on individual subjects, but it also stayed locked onto their faces throughout the entire capture process. With this level of precision, I could capture a full 360-degree image in about 20 seconds on the single camera, with greater ease than ever before.
There's an ongoing debate between using photos or videos for Radiance Field captures. I've gone back and forth on this, but after almost three years of experimenting, I'm increasingly convinced that still images offer an incremental fidelity boost over video. Videos are easier to capture, yes, but still images deliver precise control—provided you can manage the challenges of memory buffering.
Speaking of buffering, the Sony CFexpress Type A media card I used with the Alpha 9 III turned out to be an invaluable upgrade. It could actually keep up with the camera's speed, allowing me to shoot in RAW + JPEG without hitting the dreaded memory buffer wall. It's certainly the most expensive memory card I've ever used, but the peace of mind it provided was worth it. When capturing Radiance Fields, avoiding interruptions due to buffering lets me focus fully on the creative aspects, rather than worrying about whether the memory card can keep up. In the past, this has ruined several Radiance Field captures for me and always increases my capture time significantly. When I use other camera systems, I inevitably dread the moment when I hit the memory buffer wall.
Some of the other features that made huge differences for me was setting the shutter speed and ISO bands for Radiance Field exposure control. For people curious, my shutter speed settings were capped at a minimum of 1/250th a second and the ISO was not allowed to exceed 12,800.
You might be wondering why I set the ISO up to 12,800, when surely that will contribute to grain? As it turns out, Radiance Fields obey a slightly different exposure triangle than we as photographers are used to and allows us to shoot at significantly higher ISOs without worrying about the final reconstruction.
These technical settings and improvements allowed me to push the boundaries of what is possible with Radiance Field captures. This camera's capabilities have given me confidence in tackling more ambitious projects and experimenting with new techniques that I wouldn't have attempted before.
And that’s what excites me most about this journey. The Sony Alpha 9 III, with its combination of speed, precision, and control, opens up new doors for creativity. It allows us to push the boundaries of what is possible with Radiance Field captures, to embrace the artistry of imaging in ways we hadn't imagined or had access to before.
Through our lives, we have been accustomed to documenting the world around us in 2D, but the next foundational wave in imaging has already begun. We're in the infancy of hyper-real 3D emerging from standard 2D images, and the transition is happening faster than I ever expected. Even more exciting, there aren't yet universal best practices— which means there’s room for discovery and experimentation. And with tools like the Sony Alpha 9 III, that future feels closer than ever.
This camera was sent to me to test by Sony, but this review was neither sponsored nor influenced by Sony. The opinions stated here are my own. The camera can be purchased here.
