Canon EOS 5D Mark III Evaluate

The long-awaited successor to Canon’s extraordinarily common EOS 5D Mark II  digital camera is lastly right here. As its title implies, the corporate’s 22-megapixel EOS 5D Mark III ($3,499 listing, physique solely) is an evolutionary improve relatively than a revolutionary one. The total-frame Mark III’s  enhancements are largely below the hood, however its bigger, sharper rear LCD is one which’s noticeable at a look. The digital camera is kind of spectacular, however 5D Mark II homeowners will need to weigh upgrading rigorously based mostly on their particular wants. The digital camera impressed me, nevertheless it would not fairly handle to knock out the extra versatile—and dearer—Nikon D4 ($5,995, 4.5 stars) as our Editors’ Selection for full-frame D-SLRs.

One fast be aware earlier than we dig in: In case you’ll use this digital camera to earn your dwelling, you must keep away from grabbing one of many first items to hit the road, as Canon has recognized an publicity challenge(Opens in a brand new window) that may happen below very particular circumstances. This downside did not rear its head in any of my check pictures, and since it has been addressed by Canon, it didn’t have an effect on the 5D Mark III’s ranking.

Design and Options
The 5D Mark III is refreshingly compact when you think about that its 35mm full-frame picture sensor is far bigger than these discovered in additional widespread APS-C D-SLRs. The digital camera physique measures 4.6 by 6.0 by 3.0 inches (HWD) and weighs 2.09 kilos with battery and reminiscence card. It is not that far off from the D800 ($2,995.95), its closest competitors on the Nikon facet of the fence. That D-SLR is 4.8 by 5.7 by 3.2 inches and weighs 1.98 kilos—and manages to slot in a built-in flash. In case you favor a more-substantial digital camera, the Mark III’s measurement and weight could be elevated through the BG-E11 Battery Grip ($349), which connects to the underside of the digital camera, and provides vertical taking pictures controls. The grip can accommodate two rechargeable batteries, doubling the working lifetime of the digital camera, and offers you the choice to energy the Mark III utilizing disposable AA cells to be used in these photogenic components of the world the place electrical energy just isn’t available.

Anybody with a set of high-end Canon EF lens will respect the digital camera’s 22-megapixel full-frame sensor, which is identical measurement as a body of 35mm movie—so your 28mm lens offers you the identical subject of view on the digital digital camera because it does on a movie physique. In case you’re a Canon consumer who’s trying to improve from one of many firm’s common APS-C D-SLRs, just like the EOS 7D ($1,699, 4 stars), you must take an appraisal of your lenses. You’ll be able to’t use EF-S lenses, that are designed for APS-C cameras, on a full-frame Canon physique. It is a limitation that Nikon customers do not face—it is attainable to make use of APS-C DX lenses on a full-frame Nikon physique just like the D4  through a particular crop mode.

In case you’ve shot with a Canon SLR earlier than, you may really feel snug with the Mark III’s consumer interface. Quite than taking the entrance and rear Command Dial strategy that the opposite main D-SLR gamers use, Canon engineers opted to make use of the entrance major dial and rear Fast Management dial to regulate settings. Most bodily controls on the digital camera management two features utilizing these two dials, and the on-screen menu lets you recognize which dial modifies which setting. If you have not spent loads of time behind the lens of a Canon D-SLR , it could take some getting used to—however seasoned Canon shooters are positive to really feel proper at residence. There are quite a few different management buttons on the digital camera, together with a multi-controller to scroll via menus and manually choose autofocus factors, and buttons to regulate the Drive mode, ISO, and Metering mode.

The rear LCD is solely superb. The three.2-inch show is full of over one million dots—it is one of the vivid that I’ve seen on any digital camera. There isn’t any downside reviewing your photos on a shiny day, and it affords sufficient decision to make handbook focus throughout reside view a actuality. There’s additionally a monochrome info show on the highest of the digital camera so you may consider the present taking pictures settings at a look. You will additionally be capable of see settings within the digital camera’s massive, shiny viewfinder. It exhibits you one hundred pc of the body, so what you see via the finder is precisely what you may get in your picture—that is an enchancment over the Mark II’s 97 p.c protection finder. The draw back to this improved protection is that you’re going to now not be capable of change the main focus display out as you may with the Mark II.

When taking pictures in Reside View or recording video, the digital camera does assist autofocus. It does it in a fashion just like the Nikon D4—it’s worthwhile to press a button and the digital camera works to reacquire focus. It is a sluggish course of that entails searching forwards and backwards till the main focus is locked—that is a lot, a lot slower than the autofocus when taking pictures stills. You will seemingly get higher outcomes manually focusing. There are not any full-frame cameras available on the market that presently supply full-time steady autofocus like our Editors’ Selection APS-C digital SLR, the Sony Alpha 77 ($1,999.99, 4.5 stars)—that digital camera’s pellicle mirror design permits it to make use of its quick section detect autofocus system for each stills and video in any taking pictures mode. The Mark III data video in QuickTime format in quite a lot of resolutions and body charges. It tops out at 1080p30, however you may go for 720p60 footage to seize easy, quick movement or 1080p24 for these occasions if you need to give your video a cinematic look.

Efficiency and Conclusions

Efficiency and Conclusions
The 5D Mark III is not absolutely the quickest D-SLR that we have examined—you may desire a pace demon just like the Nikon D4 or Canon’s EOS-1D X ($6,799) if it’s worthwhile to quickly rattle off lots of of pictures from the sidelines of an NFL sport. The D4 can begin and hearth an in-focus shot in about half a second—barely quicker than the 5D’s 0.7 second time. The Nikon’s lightning quick autofocus makes its shutter lag virtually unperceivable—lower than 0.1 second. The Mark III notched a constant 0.1 second shutter lag, together with the time required to focus.

In steady drive mode, the Mark III can rattle off pictures at 6 frames per second, however the variety of pictures it might seize earlier than slowing is determined by what recordsdata you might be taking pictures and what kind of reminiscence card is loaded within the digital camera. I examined with two SanDisk playing cards—a 90MBps CompactFlash card and a 95MBps SDXC card. Each playing cards managed a mere 7 Uncooked+JPG pictures earlier than slowing, though the CF card was capable of recuperate from that burst in 3.5 seconds whereas the SDXC card required 11.4 seconds. The digital camera does higher taking pictures solely in Uncooked—it might handle 19 pictures there with a 5.2 second restoration time utilizing the CF card, and 14 pictures with a 17.6 second restoration time utilizing SDXC. If you wish to shoot advert infinitum at 6fps you may must use JPG seize—the digital camera had no bother maintaining with that format at 6 frames per second, no matter your alternative of reminiscence. The D4 is a significantly better digital camera when it comes to burst taking pictures—it might seize dozens of Uncooked pictures at 10 frames per second earlier than slowing down.

The Mark III helps ISO settings a full two stops larger than its predecessor. I used Imatest(Opens in a brand new window) to see simply how good the out-of-camera JPGs are at these ultra-high sensitivity settings. The digital camera was capable of hold noise under 1.5 p.c via ISO 12800, though there’s understandably some lack of element there compared with decrease ISOs. To my eye, JPG element was superb via ISO 6400 and wonderful via ISO 3200. You’ll be able to squeeze slightly extra out of the digital camera should you decide to shoot in Uncooked and course of pictures in a great converter like Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4. It will allow you to alter noise to swimsuit the shot, supplying you with full management over the stability of graininess and element. I might really feel very snug taking pictures at ISO 6400 usually, and at ISO 12800 once I did not thoughts a grittier look when working in Uncooked. The Mark III did not fare in addition to the 16-megapixel Nikon D4—it was capable of hold noise below management via ISO 20000—nevertheless it manages it higher than the Sony Alpha 65 ($999.99, 4 stars), an APS-C sensor digital camera of the same decision. That 24-megapixel shooter can solely management noise via ISO 1600.

Canon does supply the 5D Mark III with the 24-105mm f/4L equipment lens for $4,299, however our body-only check unit was bundled with the superb EF 17-40mm f/4L USM ($839.99) zoom lens. I examined its sharpness in Imatest and located it to be an admirable performer in that regard. It exceeded the 1,800 strains per image peak that we use to find out a pointy optic all through its zoom vary, even at its most aperture. At 17mm it notched a formidable 1,962 strains at f/4 and a pair of,207 at f/5.6. Zooming to 28mm netted 1,999 strains at f/4 and a pair of,201 strains at f/5.6. The lens carried out at its greatest at 40mm—recording 2,288 strains at f/4 and a pair of,470 strains at f/5.6.

The digital camera has loads of enter and output ports. It helps a mic enter, making it appropriate for professional video use, and likewise features a headphone jack so you may monitor audio whereas recording. There is a plug for a Canon wired distant management, in addition to an industry-standard PC Sync socket so the Mark III can management studio lights or an off-camera strobe. You’ll be able to hook up with an HDTV through a mini HDMI port, though it doesn’t assist uncompressed video output just like the Nikon D4 does. An ordinary mini USB port is there for laptop connectivity and tethered taking pictures.  The digital camera has two reminiscence card slots—one helps CompactFlash and the opposite is suitable with SD, SDHC, and SDXC playing cards.

The EOS 5D Mark III is a strong improve to its predecessor, and a good selection for any Canon shooter who earns a dwelling by capturing photos within the studio or at occasions—nevertheless it’s not going to fulfill each photgrapher’s wants. Fans who desire a full-frame digital camera could also be higher off with the less-expensive 5D Mark II, which continues to be a really succesful digital camera. The Mark III’s 22-megapixel sensor does nicely in low mild, nevertheless it won’t fulfill these accustomed to working in medium format digital the way in which that the 36-megapixel Nikon D800 guarantees to do. In case you’re a sports activities or information photographer who requires quicker, longer burst taking pictures, the dearer EOS-1D X or our Editors’ Selection, the Nikon D4 would most likely be a greater match.

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