*UPDATE* 5D Mark III - February 7, 2012 [CR2]

[Deeohuu]

One thing though, someone on one of the forums who claims to have already held the 5D3, his hints wouldn't seem to fit in with the CR2 specs very well though. Sure he could be full if it, but he has tended to pop-up right before each release and offer reasonable hints before.

I was about to point this out, but you beat me to it. According to that fellow, the 5D3 handled just like the 7D... I suppose he was referring to the frame rate. But the 61 AF pt? Is that real??? Wow!

Actually his hints fit these specs pretty well. He was misinterpreted to hint at higher resolution but he did not. And he did not call it a 5D III. If anything he hinted it was a union of the 5D and 7D line.

[JR]

Actually his hints fit these specs pretty well. He was misinterpreted to hint at higher resolution but he did not. And he did not call it a 5D III. If anything he hinted it was a union of the 5D and 7D line.

Hummm...I smell a 5DX on the way!   

[Woody]

I should point out that while most of us kept talking about the upcoming D800 as a competitor, we totally forgot about Sony. The A99 should have some crazy frame rate (even if it does not AF in every frame).

But I am still quite surprised by the 61 AF point. Maybe many of those AF points are hidden unless activated by AF Servo???

[doug14]

lol d800 is coming next week good luck waiting for the 5dmk3

[DzPhotography]

lol d800 is coming next week good luck waiting for the 5dmk3

so?  And no, it's in two weeks 

[tooslick2k]

These specs are not that different from the 7D apart from the 22mp ff - did Canon worry about the 7d affecting the 1d4 sales?

+1

Producing a camera that sells well and makes a ton of money is what its about.  Selling a 100K 1DX cameras does not make the profit like selling 1 million 5D MK III's.  Reducing the 1DX sales by 10% is not a concern.

If I need a 1DX, I would buy it regardless of a 5D MK III.

In the days of film, any camera body could take the exact same image as a pro body, assuming the same lens and fillm.  That did not stop Canon and Nikon from churning out cheap bodies with fewer features, and making much more money on them than they did on the few expensive ones sold.  They would not  be in business today if they had not made the cheap bodies.

+1

[Woody]

Thom Hogan this to say about the 5D3 and D800 http://bythom.com/2011%20Nikon%20News.htm:

"Sometime in early 2012 we're going to have the full FX body updates from both Canon and Nikon. In the case of the 5DII and D700 follow ups, there will be substantive pixel increases (the rumors put both in the 30's)...

... Nikon and Canon clearly think of dedicated pros and serious enthusiasts differently. They've been prioritizing design decisions accordingly, and that includes sensor choices."

and

"The thing I was trying to address in my article was what the camera makers--specifically Nikon and Canon--had concluded about pixels versus target customer. My conclusion: they think that the amateur/enthusiast will respond more to pixels, the professional more to low-level pixel integrity. Thus, we'll get more pixels in the lower cost bodies.

Does that mean no pro will buy a 36mp body? No, it doesn't"

[bigblue1ca]

I'm sure we'll get more from CR in the morning, but this is the latest update on his Facebook account:

"5d3 not coming on feb 7. It will arrive later in the month. CR3.... Site post soon."

https://www.facebook.com/canonrumorsguy/posts/309985652381384

[doug14]

lol d800 is coming next week good luck waiting for the 5dmk3

so?  And no, it's in two weeks 

So Canon was just waiting for Nikon to then release theirs, this is cat and mouse game for me: Nikon cat and Canon mouse.

[waving_odd]

- I can see these specs being accurate if the 5DMK3 is released at $3500-$4000.

It makes sense especially when D800 is rumored to be between $3000 to $3900.  With similar amount of money, customers decide themselves if they want a niche-like D800 resolution monster (esp. with the AA filter removed); or if they want a more all-round 5D3 with a better than decent AF and the good old IQ (hopefully with better DR and without banding anymore).

- They could pull off using the 61 point auto-focus, no reason not to... but the 100,000 pixel RGB metering will be absent, as will all the features that come with it, like the intelligent tracking and spot metering using the active AF points. So the 1D X will still be well ahead of the 5DMK3 when it comes to mission critical action shots, and evaluative metering.

-  I also expect we won't see any more than a doubling of the ISO speed, probably up to 12,800, but much more usable and probably software limited just to keep it from eating into the 1D X sales. Hopefully we'll see a nice jump in the DR too. But expect the 1D X to trounce the 5DMK3 when it comes to low light and DR performance, even if Canon has to kneecap the upper ISO select-ability of the 5DMK3 to do so. I don't think Canon will let the selectable ISO be anywhere near the 51,200 of the 1D X, even if the noise levels for the two look identical up to 12,800... the 5DMK3 will just not have anything higher available.

Exactly, and that's why I think mission critical pro-togs will still pay $7k for ultimate AF and ISO.  No matter what.  Their mission critical jobs pay for their top of the line equipment.  And without top of the line equipment, they can't make a living.

What about other less-demanding pro-togs or enthusiasts?  They will hesitate and think they might not need the top of the line AF and ISO.  But they definitely want something better than 5D2.  They will settle for a $4k deal.  They were never meant to be the target audience of 1D X anyway.

Either way, I see Canon's future line of FF models somewhat better positioned than Nikon's.

[waving_odd]

Producing a camera that sells well and makes a ton of money is what its about.  Selling a 100K 1DX cameras does not make the profit like selling 1 million 5D MK III's.  Reducing the 1DX sales by 10% is not a concern.

If I need a 1DX, I would buy it regardless of a 5D MK III.

Bang on.

Flagship is never meant to be the top seller.

Affordable model for enthusiast is always the blockbuster.

A good analogy is like BMW's 6 Series and 3 Series coupe.

[waving_odd]

I'm sure we'll get more from CR in the morning, but this is the latest update on his Facebook account:

"5d3 not coming on feb 7. It will arrive later in the month. CR3.... Site post soon."

https://www.facebook.com/canonrumorsguy/posts/309985652381384

Yeah, announcing on the same day with competitor is weird (unless you're Jannard from RED )  Craig now says "later in Feb" is CR3.  It isn't bad news at all.  It might even be able to distract the media a bit away from the D4's delivery. 

[LetTheRightLensIn]

-  I also expect we won't see any more than a doubling of the ISO speed, probably up to 12,800, but much more usable and probably software limited just to keep it from eating into the 1D X sales. Hopefully we'll see a nice jump in the DR too. But expect the 1D X to trounce the 5DMK3 when it comes to low light and DR performance, even if Canon has to kneecap the upper ISO select-ability of the 5DMK3 to do so. I don't think Canon will let the selectable ISO be anywhere near the 51,200 of the 1D X, even if the noise levels for the two look identical up to 12,800... the 5DMK3 will just not have anything higher available.

I don't think so, Canon has never once intentionally crippled sensor performance. That way would also make them look poor too easily in the tests that will pop up all over the net. That is one game they don't mess with.

And you forget that the higher ISO are all pushed anyway, so even if they left above 12,800 you'd get the same (plus more highlights preserved by pushing RAW in post), well as much for jpg or video shooters but. and thos ehigher ones often look a mess anyway.

[LetTheRightLensIn]

One thing though, someone on one of the forums who claims to have already held the 5D3, his hints wouldn't seem to fit in with the CR2 specs very well though. Sure he could be full if it, but he has tended to pop-up right before each release and offer reasonable hints before.

I was about to point this out, but you beat me to it. According to that fellow, the 5D3 handled just like the 7D... I suppose he was referring to the frame rate. But the 61 AF pt? Is that real??? Wow!

Actually his hints fit these specs pretty well. He was misinterpreted to hint at higher resolution but he did not. And he did not call it a 5D III. If anything he hinted it was a union of the 5D and 7D line.

But didn't he say one of three main specs in that one guy's list were wrong? That guy listed:
6fps
22MP
19 pt AF with Digic 4 assist

Two of those specs don't appear to match this CR2 info.

[npherno]

61pt AF

CR-Guy: Do you believe any S___ in your inbox?


This will NEVER HAPPEN!

I do think 61-pt is somewhat of a stretch, but you never know.  He's been right many times before and has reliable sources and wouldn't CR2 this if he didn't think it was probable.  Everyone is saying these specs are unbelievable based on a price of $2500 (which I highly doubt will be the final cost).  But if the camera is $3000-$3500 it seems like it could be possible.

I agree that it's much more likely to get a variant of the 7D AF, but if it did come Spec'ed as rumored, and at a reasonable price, Canon would have a hell of a camera to sell. It would be like the D700 we wished we had.

Does anyone know how many D700's sold vs D3's? Im not sure about the specifics of the Nikon line, but perhaps the accountants at Canon rather sell volume rather than a limited number of the high-end?