Doug and I have been exchanging some samples, there is not much improvement in RAW when compared to 5D2 up to ISO 6400. FPN has been suppressed a bit but not eliminated. I guess everyone just forgets how good the 5D2 was so don't get too excited over this. The main story is in AF.
One main difference is that for ISOs above 6400 which is what 5D2 calls "High1 and High 2" there is no real hardware amplification, the camera numerically scales the RAW values instead leading to very poor output. These ISOs are achieved by hardware amplification in the 5D3 and thus they look better, however the noise is still too high to deliver an image that is acceptable to me personally at these ISOs.
We will hopefully post comparisons with MK4 as well, soon. stay tuned for AF review
Right now there is a major issue with the way DPP handles 5D3 files. If you have the camera just use ACR until Canon fixes this (hopefully)
I agree it's great, so was the 5D2. Coming from MK4 you will notice the difference for sure (if using all sensor area). I hope Canon fixes the DPP issue so I can use my workflow :D
Doug, I ended up going with the 5dIII because I could not find a 1dMK4 from my usual sources in time for my trip to Alaska next week
First impressions to my "eager to learn" eye, is it looks like it will be a fine camera...in fact IMO, a very fine camera.
Yesterday, I took it out looking for some BIF opportunities while I got familiar with the differences from the 5dII. IMO, the user interface things that I preferred in the 7d over the 5dII, pretty much got all addressed. Yes there are a couple of things that I will have to get used to but I was very pleased that my peeves were taken care of
On the BIF opportunities, I only had crossing shots. The AF looked impressive to me even when viewing the images in Max magnification. Meeting my eye test is a lot different than meeting that of you pros and scientists. But my ole eyes and tired ole mind were so happy I tried a cartwheel...now that was not pretty ...and I won't do that again even though I was indeed very pleased ...
I experimented with all different AF presets. Even tried a few on some incoming automobiles...good news is that I will be at Robert O'tooles eagle workshop next week, so a combination of a pro and a target rich environment should give a good indication of the AF's prowess..especially on a lot of the dreaded "incoming" shots that some folks have trouble with.
This afternoon, I planned a different eyeball test. I took the camera to a cypress swamp knowing I would be able to put the ISO claims to the test. I shot all sorts of ISO situations. Some of those ISO numbers are so high, it would be helpful if they added commas. I also tried the auto Iso and the auto iso with limits....proof of the pudding to me was to see how those images looked after running Nik define...I can tell you that I will certainly be expanding the ISO range now because folks, to this ole eager to learn guy, they looked pretty darn good...
Of course it was a bit aggravating to take a bunch of images with the new camera and rush home to import them... and see that CS5 and LR4 don't yet handle the new cameras raw files. ..then I turned to DPP and some of the images looked odd. Robert Otoole was to the rescue and said to use the ACR beta that supports the 5dmkIII raw files and life got much better. of course, I wanted to use my workflow of LR4/CS5/Nik so I converted them to DNG for the time being....and again, I was very happy with what I saw
Now tomorrow morning, I have another test for the new camera...I am going to test the AF preset case 5 " for erratic subjects that move quickly in all directions" by shooting my granddaughters soccer game. and Hopefully I will earn her continued favor by making her a cool image by using the new multi exposure feature on the camera.
anyway, look forward to hearing impressions of the camera from those that really know how to tell.
one image to post for now using the 70-200mm f/2.8L USM IS II...1/1600s at f/5.6 ISO 1250....and I don't remember which AF I used as I was testing all of them today.
I for one will monitor this thread and all posts in Avian, Landscape etc for the hopefuly incredible 5D3 images. I am upgrading my 5D1 soon. Hope this one is a great deal. Thanks to Roger and Doug for the sound reasonings in this and other posts.
Here's a photo downsized from FF to 1024 pixels with no NR, sharpening, or other processing. This time at ISO 25,600, and I'm doing a RAW conversion rather than using the camera JPEG. Much more detail at 25,600 than the in camera JPEG has at ISO 16,000 with default NR settings.
Canon 5D Mark III, 70-300mm L @ 188mm, f/11, 1/500, ISO 25,600, manual exposure, hand held
Last edited by Doug Brown; 03-24-2012 at 06:46 PM.
If you crop a 5dmk3 image to give the same field of view as the 1dmk4 1.3 crop how many mp would it be ?
Im waiting to see just how good the 5dmk3 AF is compaired to the 1dmk4 before i decied what to get - i had ruled out the 5dmk3 for birding owing to reach needed here in the uk but now im not sure what to do .
The no f8 af really put me off but its very rare i ever use a 2xtc on my 500 f4isL so its not really a big deal.
Rob.
Disregard what I said above. I picked up my Mark III today and ran a raw through DPP with zero issues.
The DPP 3.11.10 that comes with the camera has an issue, it applies heavy noise reduction to 5D3 files that cannot be turned off, it renders the files soft. You need to switch to "high-speed" mode as opposed to "high-quality" to render the details but that disables some of the features of the software. It seems that Canon is working to resolve this issue.
Ok. I've heard people say they couldn't even convert their RAW's, that DPP wasn't compatible at all. I was expecting a train wreck when I loaded the first raw but was relieved. I hadn't checked for the softness issue. Thanks
Doug will love to hear your thoughts. attending Robert Otooles AK eagle workshop, I took images of all manner of eagle behavior burning a minimum of a 32 gb card for each morning and afternoon session. Obviously lots of bif but lots of other opps as well . I was really impressed with the AF. As was a pro who attended some of the sessions as well. I found case 5 to be best. And I experimented with all the focusing strategies