CanonEOS 5D Mark III 22.3 MP Full Frame CMOS with 1080p Full-HD Video Mode Digital SLR Camera (Body)

This is my review as a landscape photographer. Upfront you should know that I don't shoot video. I realize there are many video upgrades but I wouldn't have a use for them in my current work. That's not covered in this review.When the MkIII first was announced, it was about $500 more than it is now. And on paper, I decided that for the quality differences in my actual images, it would not be worth the upgrade. I felt content in my analysis and went on happily using my MkII for several more months in which I logged thousands of frames and make several new additions to my portfolio, which you can see at LensTraveler18 and at this moment all images in the last 3 years are from the MkII. This winter, I traveled to Jordan with a group of photographers and met a guy who went through the same thought process I did. He gave me a complete tour of the new features and I was blown away with the improvements made by Canon.After the recent price drop, which brought the MkIII within about $500 more than what I paid for the MkII, I decided to make the purchase. I am thrilled that I did.I just returned from Iceland and used both cameras and started to notice differences that make my experience more enjoyable and my images "better" from my perspective. I will try and explain what I found and why those changes were important to me.This is a complete overhaul, upgrade and enhancement of the MkII.There are no similarities except the size of the sensor physically and the number of megapixels which is roughly the same as the MkII. So to consider this an upgrade is misleading.The body is shaped differently yet almost completely familiar to the MkII user, and the menu structure is an enhanced version of the MkII. It's VERY enhanced.The Canon "Experience:"If I were to summarize what I realized and what's been said over and over here in the forums is that Canon actually listened to users carefully and implemented nearly every suggestion for improvement, and there are many. I cannot say enough about Canon and Canon Professional Services (CPS,) who are the repair and service arm of Canon. Nikon readers should tune out here, I suspect you will be disappointed. Before I left for Iceland, I had my 5dMkII cleaned and adjusted by CPS, it took 3 days, the camera came back better than it was before and I had a long conversation with the service rep who explained what was found and what was done to my camera. Side note: I slipped and smashed a 17-40L zoom to smithereens. I spent 5 minutes picking up the pieces so I wouldn't litter. I put all the pieces into a box and shipped it to Canon. They charged me under two hundred and returned a perfect, tested lens. That's what you get with Canon.Features:With the MkIII, autofocus has been enhanced so much that it's practically telepathic. The problem is that so much new functionality is built in, the learning curve on the autofocus system itself is substantial. You can just use it like you did on the MkII and it's 1000% better but there's so much it can do. I cared about that, I was thrilled to see how heavily it was enhanced.The AEB (autoexposure bracketing) system now matches Nikon in allowing for 3, 5 and 7 frames, with 1/3 to 2 stops between each frame and with full offset. For HDR types, this is a huge improvement and very welcome. The memory card management system now accepts two cards, one SD and on CF, and you can separate which image types goes to which card or use them as backup. I realize Nikon's high end cameras had this before so it's catchup here too. But very welcome.There are two new "functions" which are useful and one of them is AWESOME. The camera can now shoot HDR and process 3 frames into a single Jpg image. I have no use for this since I do everything in software but many people will really enhance their results with this new feature. The other new function is "multiple exposure" shooting which I haven't had since my film days. Yes, I am that old. I had some fun with it this past weekend and I am thrilled it's there.Virtually ALL buttons are definable and a new "Q" button has been added. I think it was on other Canon models but not on the MkII. I have already become so used to it, I almost can't imagine working without it.The processor upgrade shows up as faster processing time for noise reduction, higher frame rates and generally snappier performance. Since I spend time out in the dark, I was concerned with low light performance. This gets into a discussion of how the new sensor performs. The new sensor has about double the dynamic range as the MkII. At night, I expose at ISO100 for 10 minutes typically and sharpness was always excellent on the MkII, I never complained. Yet the MkIII is better in several ways; the pixels are "sharper" the fringing/noise is far lower and the color appears more accurate. There are also non-specific differences in that images seem to "look better" which is totally subjective, when shot with the MkIII.I know the new 6D will be readily available soon and it will be a great camera from what I have read. And with the 6d came two improvements I wish were included in the 5dMkIII; the built-in GPS and WiFi. I did buy the external GPS receiver and I am generally happy with it. I wish it were smaller and more "informative" on its own. But now I can tag my image files with GPS data. And it works in Lightroom 4.Besides these two obvious exclusions, I have found wanting for almost nothing else with the MKIII. Yet, I do have my wish list. And this goes for all SLR's and even all digital cameras.My Wish List:- Include a built in intervalometer with bulb ramping (google it) and lightning triggers, along with full time-lapse as well as internal stacking. This would make a lot of sense.Better yet, the entire line of Canon cameras should have APPS. This way, the entire photographic community can create time-lapse, tracking, remote control and a host of other amazing functions all run from a menu. Wouldn't that be incredible? You could buy or create any software function you could imagine.- Like I said, include the GPS and WiFi remote control AND bluetooth functionality.- Add USB 3.0 transfer directly so I can stop using a card reader.- Lower the price by $500 and Canon, you will own the DSLR market.Thats what I have so far, I know I have left out a lot of the new functionality because it's not as meaningful to me. I will update this review after several more months of shooting.

I purchased this camera 5 months ago to use in my Fashion business and also for my Photography business. I had been shooting with the Canon 7D which is a great camera. I will still shoot with the 7D for my Photography business but for my Fashion business this camera has resolved all of the lighting problems we had with interior shooting. I needed the speed of the AF and all those cross type AF points and the high fps for action shots occasionally and couldn't find anything that came close to the 7D in terms of performance before now.The Body is well built and handles well in every situation I have used this in.The Low Light capability is over the top. I have not noticed the weight at all on this camera being a problem, even with longer heavier lenses it handles well.61-POINT AUTO FOCUS:The AF system here is identical to that in the 1Dx and is THE most sophisticated AF system EVER put in any Canon body. It is superior to that in the 1DV and all bodies before it.While most of us wanted only a 7D equivalent AF system, Canon delivered the flagship system found in the 1Dx. The AF has not missed focus for me yet.The AF accuracy, metering and noise is over the top in comparison to other cameras I have shot with and handled over the years. This camera is super fast and super sharp.I have tested the AF point in servo and one shot mode with my fastest lenses. Speed, accuracy, and consistency have been exceptional and better than anything I have used before. AF gets the job done. enter AF point and all peripheral AF points are all usable with fast primes.I am amazed with the results at 1600, after minor RAW adjustments to the noise, there is virtually no grain and the image is perfectly useable. I did test the 25600 and while I would never use this ISO in a shoot situation, I was impressed with the quality. Yes there was noise, but you're at an ISO of 25600ISO Range. This is one of the main reasons why I bought this camera. Whereas the the 5D3 is usable up to ISO 12800. (In comparison, the 7D is usable up to ISO 1600Every feature on 5D3 is an upgrade over the 5D2.BUILD QUALITY:It's hard to put my finger on exactly what changed, but the 5DIII just feels more substantial. It feels like a chopped down 1-series instead of a buffed up 10 series. The contour of the body has changed to fit your hand better. The rubber is also a new compound which is much grippier than before. The 5DIII feels much better to hold and use than the previous 5D bodies.JPEG:Out of the camera, the Canon JPEGs are phenomenal. With processing if needed they are quite remarkable.Exposure Bracketing / HDR / Stacking* The Mark III now supports 7 exposures -- A huge improvement in the software for anyone doing HDR.* The Mark III has in-camera HDR processing, which is nice (perhaps to get an idea how something looks, on the spot)* The Mark III supports in-camera image stacking, which can be used for a variety of creative and scientific effectsSD Card* Having a second slot, with the second one being SD is a very nice addition, however slows down your shooting tremendously and this is a feature I will not be using.Silent mode* It is perhaps quiet enough for you to even take a few shots in places where photography is generally frowned upon.Burst mode* 6FPS is a major improvement over the previous version.ISO:The high ISO performance of this camera is simply incredible. With the 7D I tried to limit my high ISO shooting to about 6400... I am extremely comfortable shooing up to ISO 25,600 with the 5D3. Images are still very detailed with very nice looking, fine grain. Images don't become flat looking and still have a really nice look to them. I will even shoot 51,200 without a problem, although there is a big increase of noise beyond the native ISO values. It really is impressive.he JPEG engine in this camera is staggeringly good and a solid 2 stops better at controlling noise at high ISO than the previous version.METERING:I find myself correcting with exposure compensation MUCH less now, Shooting with the two side the newfound metering accuracy of the mark III is very obvious.The new 5DIII is much improved here.WHITE BALANCE:I've noticed that while post processing I'm having to correct color less with the 5DIII files. This is very exciting, as it will save me a fair amount of time in post processing. Per usual, all of the cameras struggle under tungsten lighting. However, AWB is able to get color surprisingly close with anything that contains natural lighting.MENUS:I would strongly advise reading the manual because there are a lot of new settings and options which won't be familar to 5DII users. There are also a LOT of different ways to set up your AF system, so a little experimentation is needed. In general, the menu system is more complicated that before, but this also allows a much greater degree of customization of the camera. In that regard, the 5DIII is much closer to a 1-series than before. Take the time to learn it and set it up correctly.My next camera will definitely be the Canon EOS-1D X but for now this camera meets all of my needs and then some for my Fashion Business and my Photography business.LENS: EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USMI purchased the Canon EOS 5D Mark III 22.3 MP Full Frame CMOS with the included EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM. I was familiar with this lens already having purchased two of them prior for two family members and using it for from time to time. I had wanted a walk around lens with IS so getting this included lens was going to be my answer for that.So far as an owner of this lens I really do not like it on my 5D camera. (personal choice) I will use it more on my 7D camera in my photography business.I am used to shooting with the EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM and this will be my lens that I will use the most on this camera body.