Canon EOS 5D Mark III Product Advisory

[revup67]

Oh well....I'm 15mins away from Canon Service Center in Irvine, CA. Same day service I hope 

Same here being 15 mins away.  However (you may know this), if you are a CPS member don't bother to wait in line when you arrive.  You can go straight to the desk and avoid the meaningless wait.  I've never had my lenses or camera back in the same day.  Typically a 2-4 day wait as a CPS (free) member.  Waits may be shorter if you are a paying CPS member.  Hope that helps.

Rev

[ocabj]

All the tests I've seen online were done with no lens and the body cap on, or with a lens and the lens cap on.

I've tried it on my camera with no lens and the body cap on and it has the issue described.

But has anyone demonstrated a scenario and taking an actual exposure where this will result in problems?

[rushmore77]

All the tests I've seen online were done with no lens and the body cap on, .....

https://vimeo.com/40135673

http://www.cameratown.com/reviews/canon5dMKIII/light_leak.cfm

[awinphoto]

All the tests I've seen online were done with no lens and the body cap on, or with a lens and the lens cap on.

I've tried it on my camera with no lens and the body cap on and it has the issue described.

But has anyone demonstrated a scenario and taking an actual exposure where this will result in problems?

Kinda hard to get a proper exposure let alone take a freaking picture without a lens or the cap on... But what do i know, it may be the new big thing in photography... photos with no lenses. 

[V8Beast]

My 5DIII does this, too, but I can't see when I'd be in shooting situation where it would be an issue. Perhaps there are situations where it would matter, but if Canon offers some kind of fix, I'm not going to bother sending the camera in.

Think this might affect the value when you try to sell it used...

By the time I'm ready to sell my 5DIII, it's going to be damn near worthless anyway. The 5DC has known issues where the freakin' mirror falls off, but that doesn't seem to hurt resale too much. IMHO, mirrors that fall off are a bigger problem than a light leak that only affects exposure when the body cap or lens cap is on. Until the day comes where you can take pictures without a lens attached, this is an non-issue to me.

[V8Beast]

My 5DIII does this, too, but I can't see when I'd be in shooting situation where it would be an issue. Perhaps there are situations where it would matter, but if Canon offers some kind of fix, I'm not going to bother sending the camera in.

Where does it matter?

Say I've composed a shot in a dark setting by looking through the eye finder, with the camera tripod mounted.

I don't want to stay looking through the eye finger because it is an uncomfortable position to be in.

I've set the camera to Manual exposure mode.

So I stand up and to see what the exposure settings are, I light up the panel using the button and then adjust the aperture/shutter speed according to what the lit panel says it should be.

A few seconds later, I use the remote to release the shutter and take the picture.

Now when I review it, it is under exposed. What went wrong?

Alternatively, I might be shooting using P/A/V modes using the LCD panel light to let me know when I've dialed +2/3, then with the 10 second timer, wait for the shutter to release. The exposure is taken from the time that I locked it in with the panel lit up and is thus wrong.

Or you can just look at the quick menu on the bright, super-high-res 3.2 inch screen instead of the LCD panel. In the worst case scenario, you have an image that's underexposed, in which case you can change the exposure and fire off another frame. Problem solved. Do you want a camera that wipes your ass for you too?

[RyanCrierie]

Kinda hard to get a proper exposure let alone take a freaking picture without a lens or the cap on... But what do i know, it may be the new big thing in photography... photos with no lenses.

A light leak somewhere in the body would be an issue for those of us who do shoot in darkened environments like museums without tripods (some museums don't allow tripods), or night-time photography, in that while there are times we can take the time to make sure we get that shot, there are other times where we can't take a couple minutes to get the shot right, and have to take it "on the fly".

This is where the camera's automatic metering comes into play; and if there's a light leak that throws this into doubt...

[awinphoto]

Kinda hard to get a proper exposure let alone take a freaking picture without a lens or the cap on... But what do i know, it may be the new big thing in photography... photos with no lenses.

A light leak somewhere in the body would be an issue for those of us who do shoot in darkened environments like museums without tripods (some museums don't allow tripods), or night-time photography, in that while there are times we can take the time to make sure we get that shot, there are other times where we can't take a couple minutes to get the shot right, and have to take it "on the fly".

This is where the camera's automatic metering comes into play; and if there's a light leak that throws this into doubt...

But on the fly, i'm assuming you would be framing up your shot with the VF or rear LCD and not having the top LCD shining away....  I guess to me it was a nice reference but something i rarely used to base exposure off of.  Every so often I shoot for banks who send me out to take photos of buildings they have mortgages on, like retail centers/warehouses/apartments... If the buildings are occupied, great, but other times i'm shooting in buildings, sometimes without power turned on, pretty dark....  Shot with the 5d2 which had the same problem but it wasn't a problem... never affected me to the point where it was an issue.  I can see your point for how i work, i would never base exposure off of using the top LCD. 

[mvinson1022]

One word - Automatic exposure bracket. At 6fps it is an easy answer. A better answer is to do it a little slower with silent shutter on. Wouldn't want to walk up those people sleeping at the museum.

[gmrza]

I don't understand this... My 5D2 does the EXACT same thing with the light leak as my 5D3!!!

Why a recall on the 5D3 and never the 5D2? AND, will I be able to get my 5D2 fixed from them if indeed this is a problem?

There are different reasons for doing a product "recall" - generally they fall into one of the following categories:

• The product is genuinely defective  (and possibly dangerous - mainly an issue for car manufacturers)
• There is a possible risk the failure of a product may result in liability - watch Apple's behaviour
• There is potential reputational damage from a real or imagined fault

Car recalls generally fall into the first category.  Apple's recall of the first generation iPod nano falls into the second (they replaced my 6 year old iPod nano free of charge, because there was a risk that maybe something could go wrong with the battery).
I think the 5DIII fits into the latter category.  Canon cannot afford any adverse press or publicity about the 5D line, because of how important it is to the overall positioning of the EOS product range.  Fixing this while it is only being discussed by tech nerds on forums like this has lower impact for Canon than letting it start getting into broader circulation.  The 5DIII has to be a success for Canon, so fixing even a "fault" which has no appreciable impact on the performance of the product is important for Canon's image.

[esi32]

So does this problem actually surface when a lens is attached? Last I checked, it's tough to take pictures when the body car or lens cap is blocking all the light to the sensor. 

Yes, under very specific conditions. Namely the subject you're shooting must be lit at EV 1 or darker (that's 1/4s f/4 ISO 3200, or some equivalent exposure). If the subject is brighter than that, I can't (at least on my body) produce any error in metering by switching the backlight on/off, and have to step up to shining a 100+ lux flashlight on the top LCD.

Moreover, I've tried to reproduce in the "lab" a "concert" like scenario where the camera was in the dark pointing at a slightly brighter subject with a flashlight (simulating a spot light) shined over it. Again, so long as theh subject was lit to better than EV1 I couldn't produce a change in exposure (though there are quite a few more variables here than I would have liked).

http://www.cameratown.com/reviews/canon5dMKIII/light_leak.cfm

I find it hard to take anything that camera town has to say very seriously, after his comments about removing your eye from the viewfinder affecting the metering, given that's normal and expected behavior. Moreover, I find his claims that his 60D doesn't do it to lack voracity at best, doubly so given the lack of control in his tests.

A light leak somewhere in the body would be an issue for those of us who do shoot in darkened environments like museums without tripods (some museums don't allow tripods), or night-time photography, in that while there are times we can take the time to make sure we get that shot, there are other times where we can't take a couple minutes to get the shot right, and have to take it "on the fly".

This is where the camera's automatic metering comes into play; and if there's a light leak that throws this into doubt...

I don't see how, by the vary nature of this problem, if you're composing the image though the viewfinder, there's no reason to have the top LCD on. Moreover, so long as whatever you're photographing is lit to better than EV1, there doesn't appear to be a problem—at least in my testing. Finally, so long as you don't have a super bright light shining on your camera lighting you/your camera to an appreciable level over the subject material, again, there shouldn't be an issue (at least there wasn't when I was testing this with my camera).

Which brings me back to the "concert" scenario (which too could be applied to your museum scenario, that is a dark environment with very bright lights shining on the camera directly. How accurate is that really though? I can't recall the last museum that I was in that shone lights directly on the patrons while keeping the exhibits comparatively in the dark.

[LetTheRightLensIn]

In all seriousness it does seem like an very, very.... very.... very, very minor issue. 

[justsomedude]

All the tests I've seen online were done with no lens and the body cap on, or with a lens and the lens cap on.

I've tried it on my camera with no lens and the body cap on and it has the issue described.

But has anyone demonstrated a scenario and taking an actual exposure where this will result in problems?

[V8Beast]

I don't see how, by the vary nature of this problem, if you're composing the image though the viewfinder, there's no reason to have the top LCD on. Moreover, so long as whatever you're photographing is lit to better than EV1, there doesn't appear to be a problem—at least in my testing. Finally, so long as you don't have a super bright light shining on your camera lighting you/your camera to an appreciable level over the subject material, again, there shouldn't be an issue (at least there wasn't when I was testing this with my camera).

That's what myself and others in this thread are getting at. Most people compose their images through the viewfinder, and therefore meter through the viewfinder. The number of people freaking out about this issue makes it seem like using the top LCD screen to meter in dark environments is a common scenario. It may be for some, but there are easy ways to work around it.

I don't see why you'd use the top LCD screen to meter when it's much easier to do so in the viewfinder, or even the rear LCD if you're on a tripod. I often shoot from very low angles where the camera is an inch or two off the ground, sometimes at night. I just find that it's much more convenient to meter through the viewfinder. I guess others prefer to look at a tiny LCD screen on top of the camera that's difficult to see. 

Which brings me back to the "concert" scenario (which too could be applied to your museum scenario, that is a dark environment with very bright lights shining on the camera directly. How accurate is that really though? I can't recall the last museum that I was in that shone lights directly on the patrons while keeping the exhibits comparatively in the dark.

Another good point. If you're in a dark environment where bright light is beating down on the camera, the light on the LCD panel isn't even going to be turned on. If it is, the light entering through the viewfinder is going to impact exposure much more than the LCD illumination. Again, it's an easy fix. Shade the camera or cover up the viewfinder with your thumb.

Exposures get thrown off all the time for a number of reasons, but it's not like we're shooting film anymore. Just review the image on the back of the camera, and adjust exposure accordingly if necessary.

[prestonpalmer]

In all seriousness it does seem like an very, very.... very.... very, very minor issue. 

yep.  And my 5D2 does the EXACT SAME THING!