I was one of the first to own the Canon 5D MIII in Wisconsin on March 19 I drove to Mike Crevellos in Milwaukee, WI to pick up my new camera. I shot several text shots comparing to the 5D MII. I used a 25-105 f4 L lens on both cameras. For the outdoor photos I shot in Landscape mode, ISO 100 and had identical settings on both cameras. I was hoping to see a greater vibrancy in the blues and greens. For the indoor photos I shot in increasingly high ISOs with f8 and increased the shutter to maintain a proper exposure. I used a video light with white shoot through umbrella from Lowell Tota and set a custom white balance to 3200 Kelvin. I shot all the photos in Large JPG with no editing except to composite the photos next to each other. When I cropped the photos I cropped them exactly proportional. You can see my test shots in much greater detail by visting my SmugMug site. Here is the link, 5D MII comparison photos to 5D MIII. I have included some low res versions below. Here is are my initial thoughts after having used the 5D MIII all afternoon:
- I like the solid feel and build of the newer model.
- Canon did a good job of staying true to the 5D series. I had no trouble adjusting to the new camera.
- That said, there are so many great new features I can't wait to explore more. For example: New in-camera HDR, Dual Slots for Compact Flash and SD memory cards, extremely vibrant screen, improved menu features, a new rating system so I can pick out my favorite wedding photos as I shoot, the 61-point AF system, and a new audio out for listening to video as it is being recorded. The most astounding feature is the increased ISO capability.
- It was very thoughtful of Canon to use the same battery sustem and to continue the ability to use Compact Flash when I have invested in these needed tools.
- Regarding ISO I felt like the 6400 of the MII was very close to the 25600 of the MIII in terms of sharpness and color saturation. Look at the last photo in this series.
Again, I would encourage you to view these samples in full resolution on my photosite. Here is the link,
5D MII comparison photos to 5D MIII
. At the end of this gallery you will see several in-camera HDR images. The 5D MIII composites the photos in camera...even lines up the photos automatically and does it within 2-3 seconds. I remember when the Canon 10D used to take that long to shoot a RAW file!
Update: I was able to use the 5D MIII with a model shoot the day after I bought the camera.
Here is the blog I wrote about that shoot
. I feel like the images were more true to life than the MII. The skin tones and detail looked beautiful and processed nicely from RAW. I shot most of these images with the 70-200 2.8 II IS. I also used my 24-70 2.8. The combination of these great lenses with the MIII was breathtaking to me. I really enjoyed using the camera and the screen was significantly easier to see in a very bright sunlit day.
**Matt Mason and his associates are
Lake Geneva Wedding Photographers
. They specialize in telling your story through extraordinary imagery and fusion film. Fusion brings the best of photography and film making into a "rockstar music video" of your day. If you want to know more about Matt Mason Photography please click on the Contact tab and reach out today.