The New Canon 5D Mark III

Canon EOS 5D Mark III

Canon EOS 5D Mark III

The Canon EOS 5D Mark III isn’t just an upgrade to the 5D Mark II, it’s a big jump forward in quality and technology.  It combines some of the best features from the Canon 7D and the new, top of the line Canon 1D X.  It’s been a long time since the 5D Mark II came out in 2008, and if you have been waiting for the upgrade, the wait has been worth it. You can pre-order the 5D Mark III using the link at the end of this article.

The 5D Mark III takes the look, ergonomics, and features of the 7D (including the movie mode/live view switch), and the 61 point autofocus system from the Canon 1D X. The new autofocus system is one more example of Canon taking one of the best features from the top of the line camera and putting it in a lower cost camera.

The 5D Mark III has a 22.3 megapixel, full frame CMOS sensor, the Digic 5+  image processor, and a 63 zone dual layer metering system.

Most exciting for low light shooters is the dramatically improved high ISO quality with a range from ISO 150 to ISO 102,400. While the highest ISO settings are valuable only for surveillance work, online sample images indicate ISO 6,400 and 12,500 are much more useable. One preliminary review indicates that ISO 12,500 or 25,000 on the
the 5D Mark III are as good as ISO 1600 or 3200 on the 5D Mark II. If that turns out to be true in full scale tests of production model cameras, that is a huge improvement and a big boon for those of us who occasionally need to shoot indoors without flash.

The 1080 HD video system, which was already good enough in the 5D Mark II to be used in Hollywood for movie productions, has been improved in several ways (see the link below).

The LCD has been improved, and the viewfinder now shows 100% of the image area.  The 5D Mark III can shoot at up to 6 frames per second. There are dual CF and SD memory card slots. You can have one memory card ready to take over when the other one fills up (it is never a good thing to be right in the middle of a fast moving photographic situation and see the warning that your memory card is almost full), or you can back up one memory card to the other one.

Canon also added an in-camera HDR (high dynamic range) mode and a multiple-exposure mode, which is great news.

The camera is scheduled become available in late March. You can pre-order a the link below and get Amazon’s great price and extended return and exchange guarantee.

“Pre-production” cameras have been sent out for preliminary reviews. As test results become available from production models, I will keep you updated.

In the Field Review

Be sure to read Brent Stirton’s review after using the 5D Mark III for several days on location in France. You will learn a lot more about this camera from Brent’s experiences in the field than you will from most of the “technical” reviews that are currently available online.

Canon Features Links

You can read more about the new and improved features here and read about the video improvements here.

Pre-Order the 5D Mark III

Pre-order the Canon 5D Mark III and get Amazon’s great price, service, and extended return policy.