Canon EOS 5D Mark III vs Sony SLT A99

Winner
Canon EOS 5D Mark III

100
Sony SLT A99

96

Runner-up

Reasons to buy the Canon EOS 5D Mark III

Large screen
Screen size
3.2"
Great viewfinder
Viewfinder
Pentaprism
Barely any delay taking photos
Shutter lag
120 ms shutter lag
Many cross-type focus points
Cross type focus points
41
 

Reasons to buy the Sony SLT A99

Dynamic range
 Wide dynamic range
14 EV
Image stabilization
 Image stabilization
  1. Sensor shift
Screen flips out
 Flip-out screen
Great for movies
Panorama
 In-camera panoramas
Stitches together multiple photos into a panorama
More detailed differences and similarities →

galleries

Explore our gallery of 49 sample photos taken by the Canon EOS 5D Mark III.
Explore our gallery of 50 sample photos taken by the Sony SLT A99.

competitors

Canon EOS 5D Mark III Competitors

Canon EOS 5D Mark IV

Canon EOS 5D Mark IV

Pro DSLR

$3,299 body only

$4,049 with 24-70mm lens

Screen resolution Significantly higher resolution screen
Touch screen Has a touch screen
Storage slots Has fewer storage slots
Compare the EOS 5D Mark IV vs the EOS 5D Mark III
Canon EOS 6D

Canon EOS 6D

Pro DSLR

$1,148 - $1,399 body only

$1,799 with 24-105mm lens

Dynamic range More dynamic range
GPS Has a GPS
Screen size Significantly smaller screen
Compare the EOS 6D vs the EOS 5D Mark III
Nikon D750

Nikon D750

Pro DSLR

$1,496 - $1,797 body only

$2,126 - $2,297 with 24-120mm lens

Dynamic range More dynamic range
Overall image quality Significantly better image quality
Cross type focus points Many fewer cross-type focus points
Compare the D750 vs the EOS 5D Mark III

Sony SLT A99 Competitors

Sony Alpha a99 II

Sony Alpha a99 II

Boutique

$3,198

Focus points Many more focus points
True resolution Significantly higher true resolution
Interchangeable lenses Built-in lens only
Compare the Alpha a99 II vs the SLT A99
Canon EOS 6D

Canon EOS 6D

Pro DSLR

$1,148 - $1,399 body only

$1,799 with 24-105mm lens

Viewfinder Has an optical viewfinder
Low light performance Significantly lower noise at high ISO
Image stabilization No image stabilization
Compare the EOS 6D vs the SLT A99
Sony SLT A77 II

Sony SLT A77 II

Pro DSLR

$1,198 body only

$1,798 with 16-50mm lens

Continuous shooting Shoots significantly faster
Focus points Significantly more focus points
Low light performance More noise at high ISO
Compare the SLT A77 II vs the SLT A99
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discussion

Canon EOS 5D Mark III
EOS 5D Mark III
Canon

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Sony SLT A99
SLT A99
Sony

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Showing 11 comments

Avatar for German Karatayeu German Karatayeu (6:10 AM, January 21, 2017)
not the motor, a partial engine,electrically crossing allthrough circuit from charging unit, onboard they work threesome with electronic shutter, if the charging unit drive dies, shutter curtain atomatically closes until repaired with replacement.
most of mototrs are in dearly costed autofocus lenses.
 
Avatar for German Karatayeu German Karatayeu (6:02 AM, January 21, 2017)
yeah, and the only thing canons Digic can do is anti alias the noise, the A99II wins them both by being a twice high in low light as it has a back illuminated sensor like in A7RII, which is a rare found actually. the last and least were the Super HAD CCD sensors that had an oppurtunity of this class in matrix
 
Avatar for Stathis Stathis (4:21 AM, August 23, 2014)
The same wronfg in every test of sony cameras...All the sony cameras have built in focus motor.
 
Josh (1:26 AM, August 22, 2014)
To me, it comes down to image quality. How the Canon wins is perplexing here. More lenses and a pentaprism are deal breakers? Your comparison criteria is low level and simplistic. Legitimate reviews like the ones done at Dpreview score the A99 84 and Canon 5Dmlll 82. The A99 beats the 5D in every category except "build quality". Image quality, video mode etc. are more important then pentaprism vs. digital. I actually prefer the Sony viewfinder.
 
Phodeo (2:52 PM, April 25, 2014)
It seems snap sort gives the edge on any camera based on high ISO performance. I'm not sure how else the a99 can have many more advantages, including better image quality and still lose on here.
 
Ronny... (6:09 PM, January 02, 2014)
I currently hold A77v and A58K cams this r better, cheaper then nikon, canons cams.... and as what i feel A99 is more more better then mark iii... if u r planning to buy high end cam then go for A99... the pic qlty just amazing on this cam then mark iii... enjoy...
 
Avatar for Ayaz Ayaz (9:31 AM, June 10, 2013)
The best part of SONY ALPHA series has not been mentioned which is fast auto-focus in live view and movie recording...apart from that it also has a unique peaking level option which assists in manual focusing as well. A99 has multi-frame noise reduction which is not available in Mark iii
 
Avatar for Benjamin Rodriguez Benjamin Rodriguez (5:56 AM, March 11, 2013)
This comparisons are ALL inaccurate and unreliable. Anyone seriously interested should go to a site where humans do the reviews, or for simple specs comparisons, look up the specs themselves.
 
Avatar for Benjamin Rodriguez Benjamin Rodriguez (5:55 AM, March 11, 2013)
There is none
 
jorge (0:53 AM, November 29, 2012)
Where the hell is the built in flash on a a99
 
Avatar for AStarbucks AStarbucks (7:16 AM, November 22, 2012)
Why is it that the world beating 0.05s (or 50ms) shutter lag of the A99 is not listed? That's less than half that of the 5D Mk III and even beats the 1DX (although you can reduce it to 36ms thru its custom functions).

The A99 uses an electronic front curtain to achieve it, similar to the top of the line Canon 1DX.

The even greater irony is that in Snapsort's comparison between the 5D Mk III & the D800 (204 ms), the former was rated as significantly better even though its 120ms!
 
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