I think its time to start a thread where people can talk about what they LIKE about the new cameras released by Canon. Lately, it seems there has been nothing but whining about one minor discrepancy or another, and all the GOOD stuff that Canon has packed into both the 5D III and the 1D X is being ignored and buried under too much complaining.
So, this is the OFFICIAL thread where you can come to chat about the things that you LIKE! The things that will make your life as a photographer, professional or otherwise, easier and more enjoyable, thanks to one of the huge number of improvements in these two cameras.
If you are hear to complain, GO SOMEWHERE ELSE. There are a good dozen threads on this forum perfectly suited to those of you who wish to bitch and moan. THAT IS NOT WELCOME HERE!!!
Personally, I like the following:
1. The new 61pt AF system that has a whopping 41 cross type points, as well as no less than FIVE double-cross type points in the center (diagonal and standard cross types overlaid on top of each other.)
- As someone who does bird photography and wildlife photography, I would have been quite pleased to get something like the 7D's all cross-type 19pt AF system in the 5D III. I'm extremely happy to see Canon's best AF system in both the 1D X and 5D III.
2. The 100% CF viewfinder with transmissive LCD heads up display.
- I have this in the 7D, and its truly a beauty. Its great being able to change the grid display, or even disable it and just have a clean, empty viewfinder. The AF point display with the transmissive LCD is far nicer than it was before. All content on the transmissive LCD is semi translucent, so it never fully obstructs your view of your subjects...only augments it. Very glad this made its way into all of Canon's new cameras.
3. In the case of the 5D III, I'm happy they used 6fps rather than 4.5fps (as was rumored a few times.) Combined with 18 continuous RAW frames (which is actually more than the 7D which can do 15), this really makes the 5D III a solidly viable candidate for higher action photography, such as birds and wildlife.
- Frame rates much less than 5-6 per second make it difficult to capture enough shots such that you get a high enough percentage of keepers. Its not surprising Canon did not put in a higher frame rate, given what appears to be the 144mb/s maximum throughput for a single DIGIC5+, and 6 22mp frames per second comes out to around 135mb/s. I'm glad they pushed it as far as they could without increasing cost even more with a second DIGIC5+.
4. The noise characteristics of Canon's new sensors seem to have been significantly improved!
- Despite all the speculation about zero improvement in DR (which really only seems to apply at ISO 100, assuming its true), Canon has definitely improved the characteristics of their noise. There does not appear to be any more fixed-pattern noise at all, even at low ISO's in the shadows. There does appear to be some vertical banding, however in most of the sample shots so far, it doesn't really seem to be a problem. The bulk of noise, even at high ISO, appears to have far more pleasing and random characteristics than it did in the past. Even without improved DR, thats still a huge improvement over prior Canon sensors, and I'm pretty happy about that.
(Possibly more to come, not enough time to think of more.)
