Counting down my five favorite Canon digital cameras ever. Coming in at #3…..

vjlex · Apr 14, 2020

Wow, you just blew right past the 5D Mark II.

In all fairness though, it seems there are 2 different 5D camps: those who started on the even 5D series, and those who started on the odd. 5D Mark II was my first full-frame DSLR (even though it was at the end of its product cycle), because the upgrades to the 5D3 seemed too incremental. 5D Mark IV has been almost everything I want in a full-frame camera... except for the lack of an articulated screen.

Codebunny · Apr 14, 2020

The 5DIII didn't quite produce as nice pictures as the 5DII, something just a little off with them to me so I never bought one of my own(but did try two). The main thing in the 5DIII was it had AF.

IcyBergs · Apr 14, 2020

I definitely didn't see it coming, I figured after the 5D2 that the 3 would be another high resolution video focused body with incremental improvement in AF. I agree that it truly made the 5D line the "all-arounder" it is today and made the camera desirable for shooters of a much wider range of subjects.

Cochese · Apr 14, 2020

I never owned either, but I rented both of them a lot. The 5DMIII was just better all around for pretty much everything wanted it to be at the time. I recall the regret I had after using it on my 6th wedding shoot and realizing how much better it was at pretty much every task I needed it for. It felt more responsive and it was the first one I felt that I could trust the auto-focus.
Still, I ended up skipping past both and buying a 5DMIV, now this was truly the beast I had thought the II would be and expected the III to be.

slclick · Apr 14, 2020

I was an early adopter and it's been my main (and only FF digital) camera since. Ready for something else, what that will be is anyone's guess. The more and more I think about it, the R5 might not be for me. Too expensive and too video centric. Hell, I might just be getting an R for next to nothing at some point and being happy..

David Hull · Apr 14, 2020

This was a great camera. I used mine for several years and then sold it to get the EOS R. I like the R better but there is really nothing bad to say about the 5D III.

Treyarnon · Apr 14, 2020

The first Camera on the list which I have not owned!
Strangely, to me the 5D3 was the great disappointment of the 5D line. The mk 1 and mk 2 were aimed at a very specific section of the market [aka - 'me'] - they were all about giving as much image quality as possible at an affordable price point (relatively speaking of course - but this was 1Ds image quality at half the price); fancy bells and whistles like lots of AF points and high frame rates were not great concerns.
However the 5D3 changed the approach - it was not really a camera aimed at the fans of the previous 5D's at all - this was an 'all round' camera. The image quality didn't seem to get a lot of improvement, and with a higher asking price, I said no.
The other major problem for the 5D3, was it arrived at the same time as Nikon finally got their act together with the D800... which did completely overshadow the 5D3. I know a lot of photographers who sold their 5D2 to go the the D800, while it took an awful long time until I met someone with a 5D3 round their neck.

Etienne · Apr 14, 2020

Codebunny said:
The 5DIII didn't quite produce as nice pictures as the 5DII, something just a little off with them to me so I never bought one of my own(but did try two). The main thing in the 5DIII was it had AF.

I had both the 5DII and the 5DIII. The 5DIII was better than the 5DII in every way, including the quality of the photos.

Etienne · Apr 14, 2020

I agree that the 5DIII was the first affordable FF workhorse. I sold mine two years ago after several years of good use for only $650 less than I paid for it new!

slclick · Apr 14, 2020

Etienne said:
I agree that the 5DIII was the first affordable FF workhorse. I sold mine two years ago after several years of good use for only $650 less than I paid for it new!

The 5D3 was garnering good used money until last Fall. It seriously plummeted once the R and RP was saturating the market. (I missed my opportunity)

picperfect · Apr 14, 2020

yes! 5D III finally got a usable AF system instead of the sorry joke in 5D and Mk. II.
SInce I missed selling my 5D III while used prices were still acceptable, I will keep and use it now until Canon launches what I want.And I don't have to worry any longer about carrying around a an "expensive" camera in dark back alleys and URBEX dungeons.

my #3 - EOS 7D
my #4 - EOS 40D
my #5 - EOS 350D

Bob Howland · Apr 14, 2020

shunsai said:
Wow, you just blew right past the 5D Mark II. In all fairness though, it seems there are 2 different 5D camps: those who started on the even 5D series, and those who started on the odd. 5D Mark II was my first full-frame DSLR (even though it was at the end of its product cycle), because the upgrades to the 5D3 seemed too incremental. 5D Mark IV has been almost everything I want in a full-frame camera... except for the lack of an articulated screen.

When the 5D2 was introduced, I already owned a 5D. More importantly, I also had purchased a 40D the year before, which had a much better focusing system than both the 5D and 5D2. That was the start of my owning both FF and APS-C bodies and using them for different tasks. More importantly, I could get really good 20 X 30 inch prints with a 12MP 5D and 10MP 40D, as long as I didn't crop very much and the viewing distance was reasonable. The 5D3, however, had the 1DX focusing system which, to me, was anything but a minor improvement. It fixed my major complaint with the 5D. When the shutter release on my 40D became intermittent, I replaced it with a used 7D, which only gets used when I need the reach. As I get older, that is becoming less frequent.

Update: The 5D2 was introduced in 2008. In the third week of August 2007, Nikon had introduced the D3 and D300, three days after the 40D and 1DS3 introductions. Both Nikons had about 12MP and basically the same focusing system, although the D300 focusing points were more spread out. The D3 was FF and D300 was APS-C. The D300 was the slowpoke at 8FPS and a lot of Nikon photographers owned both, using the D3 most of the time and the D300 when they needed reach. I just borrowed their idea.

Arguably, one of the biggest consequences of the 5D2 was the almost complete destruction of the market for the 1DS3. Both cameras had 21MP.

Mt Spokane Photography · Apr 14, 2020

I've owned all of the 5D series, in several cases, more than one. The 5D MK III definitely deserves a place in the list. I'm going to assume that the 5D MK II will be #1 or #2, it really shook up the camera world.

picperfect · Apr 14, 2020

Mt Spokane Photography said:
I've owned all of the 5D series, in several cases, more than one. The 5D MK III definitely deserves a place in the list. I'm going to assume that the 5D MK II will be #1 or #2, it really shook up the camera world.

yes, but only for the tiny minority of cheapskate video folks who ofc were excited to get their hands on FF sensor and lenses at a fraction of the cost of proper video gear. For (majority of) stills shooters the 5D II had close to no appeal vs. original 5D.

Overall, the 5D II started the crazy wave of "absolute entitlement" and whining for "4k 24/30/60/120/240 (or 8k) in every single camera!" across all forums. And all camera makers succumbed to it. At the expense of the majority of customers who only need and would prefer to also have a choice of stills-optimized cameras.

BGBVCBCCA · Apr 14, 2020

The Canon 5D Mark III was my first professional quality camera. I love it and it is currently my only camera. Plan to keep using it for some time yet before going mirrorless. I continue to be amazed at the image quality I get with this camera. Earlier I had a Rebel XT, which was not a bad camera, but the kit lenses that came with were absolute garbage! Nothing but frustration and deleted photos with that setup. I have 2 L lenses now and an amazing sigma 180mm macro lens and could not be happier with my purchasing decisions.

stochasticmotions · Apr 14, 2020

So far I have owned each one, rebel was my first DSLR. had a bunch in between that and the 5D, and then a couple in between that and the 5DIII. Let's see what the last two are...for me it would be the 1DIV and the 5DII, although I found the 5DS was more of a favorite for me than the 5DIII.

vinsin · Apr 14, 2020

I surely have a special place in my heart for 5D Mark III as I upgraded to this from Rebel Xs in 2012. Have been using it continuously before giving it to my son this year. Got an excellent price on 5D Mark IV in December 2019, so upgraded to it. Mark IV certainly has some nice upgrades, though nothing substantially different from Mark III.

Rivermist · Apr 14, 2020

shunsai said:
Wow, you just blew right past the 5D Mark II. In all fairness though, it seems there are 2 different 5D camps: those who started on the even 5D series, and those who started on the odd. 5D Mark II was my first full-frame DSLR (even though it was at the end of its product cycle), because the upgrades to the 5D3 seemed too incremental. 5D Mark IV has been almost everything I want in a full-frame camera... except for the lack of an articulated screen.

Yes, I owned 2 5D mk1, and when the MkII came out I did not see a compelling reason to upgrade since the autofocus had not evolved and I had no use for the video capabilities or even live view. A lot is made of the sensor resolution, but I did not see that as critical, I had made a 51 inch high canvas print of a portrait from a 5D file and it looked great. The 5D mk III took a leap in autofocus capabilities, buffer size, ISO range, shooting modes (S in particular) and responsiveness. I guess that while professionals can justify upgrading to every new model amateurs will always make choices and stretch the gear until something compelling comes along. I did not go for the Mk4 for the same reason, and sold the Mk3 as I transitioned a few months ago to all-mirrorless.

IcyBergs · Apr 14, 2020

Mt Spokane Photography said:
I've owned all of the 5D series, in several cases, more than one. The 5D MK III definitely deserves a place in the list. I'm going to assume that the 5D MK II will be #1 or #2, it really shook up the camera world.

I don't know if 5D2 makes this list...Craig says he skipped the 5D2 and wasn't a fan of the AF.

I agree with you about it's place in history but not sure it makes this list.