How are your experiences with 5D III and landscape photography so far?

Hello,

I currently do my landscape photography mostly with this setup:

EOS 7D
EF-S 10-22
4/17-40L
4/70-200L

I am thinking about adding the 5D Mark III (and the new 2.8/24-70L IS II) and use this as my primary camera for landscapes, macro and even birds when I won't need the extra pixel density of the 7D.
I did a lot of research on the 5D III (also tested it at a camera store) and the IQ is awesome and definitely much better than the 7D (which itself is not bad at all), particularly at ISO 800 and above which I sometimes need for landscapes too, e.g. in the evening when there is wind and I want to freeze the movement of plants in the foreground.
Better AF might also come in handy for BIF.


But the main reason is landscapes as I want better IQ, get rid of the 10-22 (great lens but then one lens less to carry) and real wide angle with the 17-40L and make some really large prints like 80x120cm (about 32x48 inches if my math is right).

- How are you satisfied so far with the 5D III for your landscape shots?

- How does the 4/17-40L perform on the 5D III? I know that many used it with the 5D II and 1D III. I was stupid and forget to take it to the store for testing so I don't have any samples. There are many good reviews for that lens on FF bodies and I love it on my 7D and 40D but there are also quite a few reports about problems on FF but often with image samples. Vignetting, etc can be fixed with Lightroom 4 but lack of sharpness not so much. As there is no 2.8/14-24L in Nikon quality from Canon yet the 4/17-40L is my best choice.


Any comments on your experiences with the 5D and landscapes, particularly with the 4/17-40L is very interesting.

Markus

The 5D3 is the best landscape camera Canon makes IMO. Great IQ, sharp and clean RAW files. You should look at 5D2 as well since it offers almost identical IQ but for cheaper. For landscapes you won't need the better AF and faster continuous shooting speed of 5D3.

The 17-40 lens is not great on a FF body IMO, the corners are soft and distortion is off the chart. It shows in large prints. It did not pass my personal standard of IQ so I sold it but some people find it quite acceptable so it really depends on what is acceptable to you.

You have to try it for yourself :)

The new Canon DPP software offers DLO feature that can correct some of the aberrations (CA, distortion, color blur etc. ) to some degree but you should not expect Nikon wide angle quality. The 16-35 f/2.8 MKII is somewhat better than 17-40 in optical performance but still not quite there IMO.

Hello Markus,

I have a 5D2, 1DIV and 7D. In my opinion, the 1DIV is the best of the 3 for landscapes. The reason is that the fixed pattern noise is lowest in the 1DIV, and there are fewer hot pixels. That means better detail in the shadows, and better low light photography. The 5D3 has reportedly similar fixed pattern noise as the 5D2. From what I've seen, I would choose a Nikon D800 if I wasn't locked in to Canon. If Canon doesn't fix the fixed pattern noise problem soon, I might switch to Nikon.

Roger

Thanks for your answers. In the meantime I could do a test on friends 5D II and my 4/17-40L is softer in the corners but acceptable. Other problems like vignetting can easily be fixed with LR 4. I also compared it to the 2.8/16-35L and didn't see much difference, the 4/17-40L is equally good as the 16-35.
The 5D III is more interesting to me than the 5D II despite the higher price because of better AF, more fps, better body and a bunch of other small features. I will probably stick to the 7D when I need more pixels but use the 5D III also for wildlife and birds when I can get close enough.
I will probably wait till autumn, often the price drops a few hundred Euros in the first 4-6 months.

Markus

So what wide angle do you recommend for FF landscape shooting?

@James: A Nikon 2.8/14-24 :-)

Seriously. For Canon the 4/17-40L seems the best choice according to my tests on a 5D II and my research on the net. Far from perfect but until Canon comes up with an equivalent of the Nikon 14-24 we will have to live with that lens. 28/16-35L seems similar but more expensive and heavier - not good when hiking up a mountain.

Other options might be to adapt the Nikon 14-24 to Canon which some have done. I have no experience with this setup.
Also Zeiss offers some great pimes with 18 and 21 mm but they are primes and I prefer zooms for landscapes because they give you great flexibility to compose and image. Canon's primes my also be worth looking at.

I hope that Canon soon comes up with something like Nikon's 14-24 and for sure there is some pressure on Canon here. But no one knows when - and if - such a lens will be available. And then it will probably be much more expensive than the 17-40L

I think I can live with my 17-40 on a 5D III (which I do not yet own, probably autumn). Sharpness in the corners is acceptable at f8 or f11 and all other problems like vignetting can easily be solved with Lightroom 4 or Canon's DPP.

Markus

Hi Markus- Many people come down hard on Canon's 17-40/4 but I loved mine. And for the record I have high standards of IQ too, just as I am positive most other folks here do as well. People get hung-up about corner sharpness and pixel-peep down in those nether-regions. To my mind, I never put anything that matters in the corners anyway, and often the corners are out of the depth of field so no lens will make them sharp. I'm not that interested in shooting flat brick walls either! For landscapes you will want to shut down to the optimum f-stop (f8) and the lens is an excellent performer there. Combine that with what DLO does for corner sharpness, vignetting and chromatic aberration in DPP and I am sure you will be pleased with the results mounted on a FF body.

By the way, I now have the Nikon 14-24/2.8 with Novoflex adapter on a 5D2 and it is nice. I got it because I lost the 17-40 in a burglary and wanted to try something else. It's a totally different lens to the 17-40.

@John: Thanks for your comment. Does the Novoflex adapter transfer f-settings from camera to lens?

Markus

Unfortunately not Markus. You can get a "chipped" version of the adapter that gives you AF confirmation but it works for lenses that have an aperture ring. My adapter works with "G" Nikon lenses with no ring and has a sliding aperture adjustment on the side. I figure it's better to make a nice image that know what the f-stop is! And why not buy a Nikon camera for the lens? Simple, the 5D and 5DII remain the most affordable FF options to connect to this lens.