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March 23, 2012

Canon 5D MKIII Initial Review

My new Canon 5D MKIII arrived today so of course I dropped everything and started playing with it. I have been waiting for this as I am not a very patient person with new technology, I just have to have it. Canon only releases a new 5D every four or so years it seams, so needless to say, I have been waiting.

Pardon the horrible iPhone photos of my Canon 5D MKIII. This was an impulse blog. 😉

I have been getting a lot of questions on Facebook so I thought I would post my initial thoughts based on the limited testing I have been able to do with it.

The way the new camera body feels in my hand is great. I love the way it fits in my hand. My MKII fit well but I would get tired of gripping it after hours of holding it. I can tell that this camera is going to feel better throughout long days of shooting.

Canon 5D MKIII 50mm 1.2 Prime

The shutter is fast. I like the silent shutter mode however it is not completely silent. It does slow things down a bit when using it but that’s ok. Those moments where I need to be extra quiet, this will come in handy.

Canon 5D MKIII Settings

Canon 5D MKIII Menu System

The menu system is completely different. There are some similarities from it’s older brother the MKII but it’s quite different and is going to take some getting used to for me. I know the MKII inside and out. I could change something deep in the menu in milliseconds to avoid missing a shot. There are many more menu screens than before. I will have to take advantage of custom shoot modes to prevent having to go through all of the menu screens. Lets take a look at some of the menus.

Canon 5D MKIII Auto Focus Presets

The first thing that threw me off was the auto focus presets in the Auto Focus Config Tool. There are 6 Cases they give you, I think they make more sense as presets. You can adjust the cases to fit your needs. This is suppose to help you tell auto focus what you want it to do instead of letting it run wild. I know that at weddings this is going to be great, and for those who shoot fast moving sports it will be fantastic. Auto Focus has always been one of those things that I am glad I have but hated using because it was so inconsistant when you needed it. When that moment comes for the groom to kiss the bride, I am locked down with auto focus turned off. I don’t want the camera to even have the opportunity to think about focusing elsewhere. It will be interesting to see how this pans out.

Canon 5D MKIII Custom Function Menu

The Custom Function Menu in the Canon 5D MKIII is actually easy to use now. Before there was a silly menu that I set and avoided because it was not easy to understand in the moment where my attention is elsewhere. Now you don’t have to remember what 1 or 2 means, you can see what you are changing in the menu. This will get me to what I want to accomplish much quicker

Canon 5D MKIII HDR Menu

Canon 5D MKIII HDR Effects Menu

This brings me to the HDR feature of the Canon 5D MKIII. On first impression, I have to say that I am not very impressed with the built in effects. I played around with it outside in the middle of the day and was embarrassed with the outcome. I tried hand holding the camera to take a bracket of three photos. The result was slightly worse than the iPhone 4’s HDR. I set the in camera effect to vivid and I can’t say that is what I got. I know that I need to spend more time with the camera to give it a fair chance but even setting the camera on a flat surface, turning off in camera effects and simply letting it create the HDR image did not present me with the outcome I expected. To be fair, I am used to using PhotomatixPro on my Mac. I understand that a software program on a computer is going to do a better job than a camera could on it’s own.

Canon 5D MKIII Buttons

Canon 5D MKIII Video Setting Switch

Overall I am very impressed with the camer and am glad I purchased it. To me, it is worth the extra cost over it’s older brother. The image quality at high ISO is worth the extra money to me. One thing I did notice when trying to take a photo at ISO 20,000 (I know right), is that auto focus is impossible in that dark of situations. Canon actually built a camera that can take great pictures in the dark, but can’t focus for them. This was my other main concern. The 5D MKIII has superior focus over the previous version however it still lacks focus ability in the dark. Perhaps the Canon 1D X that is soon to release will be better in the dark.

Do I suggest you purchase one? That is a loaded question. It really depends on what you will be shooting. If you shoot weddings or fast moving objects, than yes I suggest you get it because it is far superior to previous versions of the camere including the 60D and 7D, both of which I have owned before.

Below I am posting a photo I took in very low light in my room of my son sleeping. I shot this image at ISO 20,000 at 1/100th and 1.6. This image is untouched and fresh out of the camera. I set my camera to capture medium RAW + medium JPG. What you are looking at is the medium JPG the camera produced.

Canon 5D MKIII 20000 ISO

As for video, I have not spent much time playing with it. I simply wanted to see what video looked like with the ISO maxed out. I will continue to play with it and report my thoughts. I will be shooting a lot of video with this camera this year as I have several weddings booked for videography this year. I am very excited to get to shoot wedding videos this year.

Anyhow, I just wanted to post some of my thoughts on the camera so far. I will probably blog more about it later after I get my Canon EF 24-70 F/2.8L II USM lens in. I also have the Canon 1D X on pre-order however I am not sure if I am going to cancel that order or not. I know that I would have to travel at least 40 miles to get my hands on one so it’s almost easier just to order one.

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