Canon released the the much awaited 5D Mark III in March as the successor to the enormously popular 5D Mark II. The Mark III along with the flagship 1DX are canon’s newest cameras in their full frame DSLR lineup.
After using the camera for a few weeks now, I can safely say that this is the best DSLR I have used to date. Canon has made so many improvements to the 5D series that taking photos with the camera is truly a joyful experience. There have also been significant improvements in video with the Mark III, but since I’m a photo only guy my review will focus solely on using it for photography.
My first impression of the camera taking it out of the box—the ergonomics have changed for the better-it’s become more curvaceous, fits in my hands very nicely and my fingers just seemed to slip right into place. Build quality and design are very similar to the 7D, and much better then the 5DII.
I couldn’t wait to mount my 70-200 2.8 IS II to test the AF which I heard has dramatically improved. I instantly fell in love with the camera after testing it with this lens, or any lens for that matter. Focusing was lightning fast and accurate, even in lower light situations where the mark II would struggle to focus, this camera just nailed focus every time. My biggest complaint with the 5DII was the AF system, which I felt showed very little improvement from the AF system on the 5D classic. It was the wish of many photographers to have a full frame version of the 7D as the next full frame camera, and I think Canon did a great job in creating such a camera. At first glance the 5D Mark III could be described as the love child of the 5D II and 7D. 🙂 Some of the features carried over from the 7D are:
100% viewfinder – this means there will be no surprises when you are framing your shot, so what you see is what you get. The 5DII had viewfinder coverage of 98%.
More advanced AF – 61 points, more on this in a moment
Button layout (not same but very similar)
On/off switch on the top left
Similar build quality and ergonomics – The Mark III body is made of high strength magnesium alloy which will enable it to withstand rugged use.
Weather resistance similar to 7D (much improved over the 5DII)
Key features and improvements on the 5DIII:
-Digic 5+ processor-the Mark III has Canon’s most advanced Digic5+ processor, which allows for a faster fps and better noise handling at higher ISOs. Canon claims this is 5 times faster then the standard Digic 5 processor, and over 17 times faster then the Digic 4. This is the same processor found in the 1DX, although the 1DX gets two of these which allow for a 12 fps continuous shooting speed.
-61 point AF system. Yes I did say 61! This is the same focusing system found in the 1DX. I found this to be a huge improvement over the archaic 9 point AF system on the 5DII. To me focusing performance is as important as image quality, because without proper focus, you have no image. When every shot is critical, having a flawless focusing system is essential. The focus point selection is very much similar to the 7D. The same multi function button is found of the 5DIII which enables you to toggle through different AF area choices. The AF areas are manual AF, Spot AF, AF point expansion, Automatic AF point selection, and Zone AF.
-6fps continuous shooting speed. Thanks to the Digic 5+ processor continous shooting at 6fps is possible. The sound of the shutter alone tells you this is a much faster camera, almost sounds machine gun-like like the 7D. Although not as fast as the 7D which had two digic 4 processors, this is very fast for a full frame camera, and much faster then the 3.9 fps on the 5DII.
-Mode dial lock. To me, this is a very handy feature. This prevents the mode dial from accidentally turning into a different camera mode. I’ve been on several shoots where the mode dial accidentally turned from “M” to bulb mode. This was available as an optional add on the 7D and 5DII, canon was charging an additional fee to have it installed.
-Silent shooting-I LOVE this feature. You can barely hear the shutter with silent shooting enabled, comes in very handy during ceremonies, or speeches during receptions.
-Comparative Playback. This mode lets you playback images two at a time, side by side, for comparison purposes. The photos can individually be rated, deleted, or locked.
-In camera RAW processing. A nice feature to have. This came in handy my first day testing out the camera. I was shooting in RAW, but then later realized that my version of Lightroom did not support the Mark III RAW files. So, I had to go back and export the images to JPG using this feature. You have the options of adjusting exposure, white balance, picture styles, distortion correction, noise reduction, etc, all from the camera menu. In case you’re wondering, I’ve now updated to Lightroom 4 🙂
-In camera HDR. The Mark III lets you merge 3 images of different exposures in camera, which enables you to capture a broad range of shadow and highlight detail in the final image. With the auto align feature taking hand held HDR images is a breeze and takes only seconds. HDR is adjustable to cover a range of +/- 3 stops, with 5 different effect settings: Natural, Art Standard, Art vivid, Art bold, and Art embossed. The Art Standard seems to be my favorite, because it creates a more natural looking photo.
-Ability to “rate” photos in camera. This will definitely come in handy for Lightroom users.
-3.2 inch screen, slightly bigger then the 3 inch found on the Mark II. The screen is also more detailed at 1040k dots vs 920k dots found on the MK II.
-Two memory card slots. You now have the ability to write to two cards at a time to create an instant backup.
-Battery-the Mark III uses the same batteries as the Mark II & 7D, which is going to save me a lot of money J
-Top LCD screen no longer truncates maximum number of shots to 999, it can now show a maximum of 1,999 shots remaining.
-Chromatic aberration/distortion correction in camera. A very nice feature to have, especially when shooting primes wide open (such as the 50mm 1.4) or for ultra wide angle lenses in which distortion is very prominent.
-Improved ISO performance-I’ve been very impressed with the high ISO capabilities of the Mark III. Canon claims the Mark III offers a two stop advantage over the Mark II. Although I have not done any side by side comparisons at same ISOs, I found the images to be very acceptable and usable as high as ISO 12800 on the Mark III. On the Mark II, I would not venture above ISO 3200. The top native ISO has also been increased to 25,600 on the Mark III vs. 6,400 on the Mark II.
-22 megapixels-I’ve never been a fan of insanely high megapixels, so I was happy when canon decided not to significantly increase the MP count from the 21 MP found in the Mark II. A not so significant increase in MP along with a newly designed processor will mean better IQ/less noise at higher ISOs, which to me is very important.
-Image quality. I would say it is very slightly improved over the Mark II, although I never had any complaints with the Mark II’s IQ. The bigger difference is not in the image but the ability to capture the image with the improved AF and better handling of images at higher ISO’s.
Things that I don’t like about this camera:
My biggest complaint would be the lack of wireless flash capability as found on the 7D. This feature really came in handy when shooting in smaller rooms/halls or close quarters outdoors since it eliminated the need to place an external flash or wireless trigger on the camera. I was very disappointed Canon did not include this feature in the Mark III.
Price-The price at launch for the Mark II was $2699, while the Mark III launch price is $3499. That is a significant increase, and there have been a lot of complaints about there being not enough features to justify such a price increase. The reason for the price increase in my opinion lies beyond just the features-and has more to do with the economies of Japan and the USA, not to mention the natural disasters in Japan and the flooding in Thailand.
Overall I feel that the Mark III is an absolute joy to use and is a must have for any wedding photographer. It has a plethora of features which I know I will use, and I have been extremely impressed by the image quality, speed, and low light performance.
Sample images coming soon so stay tuned!