Question, does the Sony A7RIII render RAWs with fullsize JEPG thumbs in camera?

[jameskachan]

Photo Mechanic does a poor job of previewing Sony A6500 RAW files because the embedded JPEG camera preview is a very small resolution image and as such doesnt allow for zooming in to check focus.
Does the Sony A9 or A7RIII have this issue as well?

[Bob Russell]

The Sony a7 R3 ARW raw files have the same 1616 pixel preview as their other previous models.  The easy solution is to shoot raw + jpeg. Photo Mechanic will pair up the two files as a single thumbnail and preview, using the jpeg. Now you will be able to see the full image to determine if the raw file is worth processing. My sample a9 ARW files have the same small embedded preview. It would be nice if the Sony engineers would add a full sized preview to the raw files ( Canon and Nikon have been doing this for years now ).

--Bob

[jameskachan]

Thanks for confirming this, ugh, I really don't want to have to shoot small jepgs as well just to get a useable preview…
I wonder if there is any program that can write a new embedded preview in the RAW? So far I haven't found anything.

We should all reach out to Sony and let them know this is of concern to us.

[Kirk Baker]

Using Adobe's free DNG Convertor and converting your Sony RAW files to the DNG format is another solution if you use Adobe's other tools like Lightroom and Photoshop and its Adobe Camera RAW plugin.  DNG files can contain a full resolution preview.

-Kirk