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Canon smarter than we think

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unfocused:
As the new 5DIII starts to appear in the real world I think I'm starting to get a better feel for Canon's strategy and, I must say, it seems pretty brilliant.

When Canon announced the 5DIII they placed a lot of emphasis in their announcement on the camera being the result of feedback from professional photographers. But, of course, "professional" is a very broad term that can cover a lot of very disparate specialties.

Now that we are seeing some examples of what the camera can do, it seems like they focused on one particular, but very large segment of the professional market – wedding and special event photographers.

Early examples seem to show a camera that performs very, very well at higher ISOs. Not necessarily in the stratosphere, but rather significant improvements in the 1600 to 6400 range. A range that I suspect many wedding photographers find themselves needing. The autofocus improvements, of course, benefit everyone, but event and wedding photographers don't get the chance to refocus their shots, so improved autofocus would certainly be beneficial.

At the same time, the camera is very well-equipped for ordinary studio work under controlled lighting situations. So, no compromises for studio work but more flexibility in the field. Not to mention some improvements in video for those who need to use it for that purpose as well.

Now, of course, the camera is great for other purposes as well, but it does seem to have some significant improvements that will benefit a large and very competitive segment of the professional photography market.

In short, what I am saying is that it seems as though Canon really did study their market closely and may have produced a camera that is intended to sell, rather than a camera that is intended to be popular on forum and testing sites.

ramon123:
+1 well said

BobSanderson:
good points

x-vision:
Hmm. While Canon did listen to users and did incorporate user feedback into the 5DIII, their strategy is not brilliant.
In fact, just the opposite.

Raising prices in the face of ever increasing completion is ... well, just dumb.

With mirrorless cameras increasing their share in the lower end of the market, the smart strategy for Canon (and Nikon) would be to move as many users as possible upmarket, where FF has a unique size advantage.

The 5DIII should have been announced at $2600 - a symbolic lowering of the price (compared to the 5DII), designed to make a switch to FF more attractive.

Instead, Canon raised the 5DIII price by 30%, effectively repositioning the 5DIII as a camera strictly for pros.

The problem is, pros have never been the core market of the 5D series.

In case there are doubts about Canon’s "brilliant" pricing strategy, just consider that the 5DII could not be found in stock for more than a year after it went on sale. In contrast, just a week after the 5DIII’s general availability, it is now in stock in many retailers:
http://instock.1001noisycameras.com/canon-5d-mark-iii-pre-orders/

It is very safe to say that just a week after general availability, supply is already outstripping demand for this camera.
Good luck to Canon as even more 5DIII’s are on their way to the stores.

CatfishSoupFTW:
I do agree with you. The 5D always seems to show up quite a bit in the wedding world, and for them to target it seems about right. I do agree with all your other points, about the AF, the specific ISO fix.

its still a wonderful camera, and it would be a wonderful one to own :D though i am sure they also made it amazing enough to work with all other stuff, such as extreme sports.

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