Friday, March 2, 2012

Canon EOS 5D Mark III - An object of desire

OK, I will say it.  I WANT the 5D Mark III!  It's a camera that fixes all of the 5D Mark II's short comings (ok, I still want the swivel screen).  The specs are pretty much the same as what the rumor have been saying, except the price, which is higher than what most people expected.

The image quality test at dpreview sure looks pretty good, but I don't think it's that far ahead of the 5D Mark II.  Strangely enough, if you check out Canon's official sample images, image #1 (the aurora) shot at ISO 800 has a  lot of chroma noise.  Not sure if they turned off the noise reduction or what.  Canon jpeg engine still falls behind Olympus, which generates exceptionally good jpeg as if they were converted from RAW.  Would 5D Mark II owners upgrade?  If I had the Mark II, I would probably not upgrade, unless superior auto focus is what you are after.  

For me, this camera would replace my 1D Mark III, but the price is just too high to justify at $3,888 CAD.  I guess it's a camera for most pros and semi pros of still and videographers.  I am sure many well heeled buyers will snap the 5D III up, but it's just too much money for non-money making use.  I will pick up a used 5D Mark II when it hits $1500, and keep my 1D III.

Megan
Megan -- Sony NEX-5N & Minolta RF Rokkor-X 250mm f5.6

5 comments:

  1. You're right, the opportunity to me seems that you will be able to pick up a 5DMkII at a much cheaper price than the new one offering any great improvement over the current camera.
    The D800 though offers some very measurable improvements over the D700, so I can see why people would want to upgrade.

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    1. I think the 5D III offers many improvements over the Mark II, perhaps the image quality is not as big an improvement as other areas, namely AF system. It's a worthy upgrade for people who need a very good AF system or shoot video.

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  2. How I know that look: Dad, not again!
    :-)

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  3. I'm in exactly the same situation.

    Exactly.

    My current digital workhorse is a 1D Mark III and though I'd love to find a shiny new 5D Mark III on my doorstep, a used 5DII, once prices come down a little more, is far more likely.

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