neuroanatomist said:

Lol. It does depend on where you are - the Boston CL is very active, I even see superteles occasionally (400/4 DO and 500/4 fairly recently).

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Philly seems moderately active, but most of what I go looking for is vintage, which there just isn't much of it on the market in the first place. The lens I just got (the damaged one) I had been watching eBay for months before even a single one popped up.

I am not surprized this has happened. Canadians have for some time now been gouged by an artificial exchange rate gross up on all sorts of products. The clearest example is magazines where the US and Canada advertised price is always grossed up on the Canadian dollar end. Often this is a result of lazy product pricing. The manufacturer would calculate an artificial exchange rate based on years old rates and then not bother to change it for changing exchange rates. Often the official line for not changing the price is to reflect "increased delivery costs to Canada" but that is just PR nonsense for being lazy.

Unfortunately, Canadian retailers have come to rely on the artificially higher price. Their business model does not support a true cometitive price. Thereby reducing efficiencies due to competition. And that is the bottom line, reduced efficiencies and reduced competition. I say Boo to that.

I suspect Canon is no different. But as long as B&H and other US retailers continue to offer superior price and return policies to Canadian retailers then I will continue to use them. But, this means educated consumers will do their own research whereby typical consumers will just buy local in ingnorance. I do try to buy local when I can when it makes sense and sometimes the best price is local. But often it is not.

weber said:

Let me ask you some questions. How many people will actually buy a $3499.99 body only camera? And how many of those will actually understand MP does not mean everything. It is how those pixels perform, instead of how many you have packed inside.

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Me - I have done it twice

weber said:

Unfortunately, I don't think you should buy 5D3, because you don't even understand the basics. Even your 40D seems too much for you. Just buy Sony Cybershot WX7, 16MP! 6 Million more pixels than your 40D for a lot cheaper. Happy?

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I find that rather rude talking down to someone like that

The way I'd formally test would be to pick a few lenses and measure the time taken to rack the focus from MFD to infinity (with the lens cap on) on various bodies.

Obviously, though, that's only raw AF motor speed. In the real world, type and quality of the AF point, the AF system's algorithms, and the subject will play a big role - probably more than the actual AF drive speed.

The IQ penalty with the 2x is real, but minimized on top end lenses like the 70-200 II and the supertele lenses. I'd still advocate getting the focal length needed, if possible (budget and other factors notwithstanding), rather than planning on constantly using a TC with a shorter lens.

xROELOFx said:

i just wondered, does a batterygrip on for example a 7D, add more juice to the system? and therefore let you have your lens focus faster?

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The grip has no effect on AF speed. The two batteries are used alternately, not simultaneously, so there's no voltage boost with the grip. The LP-E6 battery used by the 5DII/5DIII/7D/60D puts out 7.2 V, whereas the LP-E4 used by the 1-series bodies delivers 11.1 V.

Did you guys update to 2.1.2 yet? I still have 2.0.7 on my 5D2

a used 5D1 is less than the 60D and a lot less than the 7D.

if you don't need video at all, and don't need an amazing AF, the 5D1 would do.

rocketdesigner said:

As I recall, in the past there has typically been 5 pages of lenses listed on the Canon Refurb site:

http://bit.ly/noh0AQ

Now there is just 2 pages, with notable omissions as to the models which used to be listed. Also, the BODIES listings also seems to be smaller.

Am I wrong?

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Strange! I see 4 pages with 9 items per page... The last page has 5 though. 32 items (lenses) in all.

Multiple flash in manual are a pain to get right. I use eTTL all the time, I use 7ft umbrellas from about 3ft from the subject to get really nice light. Hardest thing is to get enough room to stick the lens through

stevenc said:

Hi all,
Besides Australia and New Zealand having the 5DIII Prokit 24-70II lens in April, is there any news that this "pro Kit" will be available in other countries?

I have searched the internet and it seems only these 2 countries will be having it.
But then again, the price for the pro kit in aussie is very high, so it will be better to buy them separately overseas.

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It has been listed at Photoprice.ca since prior to the March 2nd launch day however it still does not have any pricing associated with it.
http://www.photoprice.ca/product/03869/Canon-EOS-5D-Mark-III-with-24-70-II-Kit-price.html

DPReview has just posted their full review of the Canon Powershot G1X.
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canong1x/

Paul Wright

Don't know if you have reached a solution yet.
First, turn the eTTL of and manually set the flash power.
OR, use eTTL and set the exposure with FEL without having the vests in the picture whilst taking the exposure reading.

CANONPRO123 said:

I was using center focus point with cross types activated... but since your sooooo amazing, I actually was shooting with a 70-200mm 2.8L is ii... so thanks for the advice...

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Honestly, this is one of those situations where, based on the information you've provided (ie, almost zero), the best advice I can give is to sit down, read the manual, and test the various settings/functions in a controlled environment - the AF system of the 5D3 is rather complex and it's worth your time to at least read that section of the manual in detail. If you still have trouble after that, seek help and post as much detail about your camera settings and the nature of the issues you encounter as you can - for example, camera mode (ie, P/A/S/M), shutter speed, aperture, focal length, IS on/off, ISO, detailed full AF settings, maybe series of bursts shot in high speed drive mode, etc.

Also, from a usability standpoint, I suggest remapping AF to the AF-on button and disabling it from the shutter half press (switch shutter half press to metering start versus metering and AF start - you should be able to access this submenu using the Q button and selecting custom controls) - try it, you'll probably love it, and if not, at least you'll know the option to decouple AF from the shutter half press exists, and how to do it. Good luck!

You can call it an apples vs crabapples comparison but this is just one more of many I've done and it still has some validity.

I had a look tonite on DPR's 5D3 page..

www.dpreview.com/previews/canoneos5dmarkiii/10

.. and compared raw files from 5D3, 5D2, D800 and A900 at 100 ISO to 12800.

Examine closely, with a good monitor, and you'll see the same thing I've expected to see without having to do a lot of extra testing work of my own.

Position the viewer over some of the black areas that also have dark areas right next to them. Some of the bottle reflections work well.

E.G. the Left edge of the Baileys bottle, just above the label.
Pick a point where you can see the blackness of the bottle, just above the gold band over the B.

All 4 cameras are displaying a solid black, likely because black level clipping is set to about 1 or 2 in ACR.

BUT the dark areas of reflection, just to the Right of the black area, and just above the gold band above the B, tell another story.

In this deep shadow area, both the 5D3 and the 5D2 appear to contain a bit of red channel noise, apparently even more so on the 5D3 but let's wait for a final on the raw converter to make a more accurate comparison.
The D800 and the A900 have less chroma noise in this same area and certainly appear less red-tinged to me than the 5D siblings.

Similarly red-tinged dark areas can be seen on the dark part of the white-on-black aiming cross in the middle of the scene

Caveat, the white balance on the 5D3's sample image seems a little warmer so there is a bit more red expected to show from that.

The D800 is providing slightly cleaner black and dark levels all the way up the ISO range, altho I'd rarely use more than 1600 for my work.

However, this also meets my expectations of Canon sensors showing up a fair bit of red channel noise ever since the 50D came out.

So, I'm not hopeful that I'll be pleasantly surprised when I see more rigorous testing of the 5D3. This latest Canon goodie is not going to do what I want it to any better than their other recent products. Let's see if the 1Dx will be any better. .. or a hopefully cleaned up and improved low-iso performing sensor in a high MP FF body still to come. (soon please)

BTW, the other thing that was easy to notice was the quality of the glass used. The Canon shots delivered good detail across the frame. The D800 was really good in the central area, then not so great in the borders; win some, lose some. :-\

Argh!! Canon, can we please have the option of custom ordering a 5D3 with a Sony sensor? Even a 22MP one?
That'd be king. And worth $5k for sure.

Marsu42 said:

stabmasterasron said:

Price is driven more by market factors than individual component price.

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While I don't know the exact cost relation in a body, I tend to agree.

The companies that produce ff dslr bodies are working like a trust and only release high quality, high cost ff products. Once someone releases a medium quality ff body at a budget price because it's possible nowadays with large sensors getting easier to produce, the deal's off and we might see aps-c pushed down to entry level and ff becoming the standard amateur format. At least that's what I hope.

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Yes, exactly. I have said this same thing on other forum posts relating to the future of FF sensors. Mirrorless is eroding out the bottom end of the dslr market. The only place left to go is upscale. Not necessarily in price, but in features (yes, there is a weak linkage there). But for canon to continue to compel people to buy entry level dslr's, they have to offer a reason to do so over a competing mirrorless system. Now for the savvy, this is easy, they can see a clear upgrade path from an entry level dslr, where the path is maybe not so clear for mirrorless. But most entry level buyers are not that savvy. So they need other reasons to buy a dslr. FF could be the answer to that question. I know FF isn't that answer to all image problems, but it could be a compelling reason for many buyers to go dslr instead of mirrorless.

and as a former Nikon shooter who jumped to Canon with the 5D MK3, I agree with him...

ET

I just did some testing too and found I get 18 Raw images with the mark III. This being with a 60mbs 16MB/S UDMA Sandisk Extreme CF card.
I shot 15 Raw images, with the Sandisk Extreme III 16g 30MB/S CF card.
The real difference was the time it took the light to go out. AkA the buffer being totally empty. Roughly 4-5 seconds for the 60 MB/S card VS 16-17 seconds for the 30MB/S card! So if you shoot lots of high FPS burst, something to think about!

Bosman said:

Sd cards aren't at the same speeds as the Cf cards but the fastest out there is the Lexar 1000x CF. It is 150mb/s. The one you use is prob 30mb/s. I'd guess one that is 60mb/s or higher is preferred. The raw files are friggen huge. Think about it if the files are 24mg and you shoot burst sec you should only get about 7. Make sense? UDMA7 is the latest highest standard for CF cards and The 5dm3 supports the speed.

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The problem with that Lexar card is it likely requires the UHS-1 (I think that's it) support, and the 5d3 doesn't support that for some reason. Only supports up to class 10, which I think will mean they will top out at 30-50 MB/s if I recall correctly.

I think you’re spot-on with the thought of getting the kit lens plus a 50mm f/1.4. Yes, the 24-105 may be a bit slow, and IS doesn’t compensate for fast-moving subjects (kids). But the 50 f/1.4 will take care of that. At 55mm on a crop body you are accustomed to seeing what would be 88mm with a full-frame body. So with the 24-70 you’re losing 18% of the reach you currently have.

For landscapes I very frequently use a circular polarizer, particularly for later in the day shooting. Usually, I don't use it pre-sunrise or post-sunset since you lose so much light, although if I'm by the sea then it does make for a nifty makeshift ND filter to get a long exposure.

I also just got my hands on the Lee graduated ND filter set... rather keen to get out and give them a try.

It's simply a focal plane issue. The queen of hearts should not be in focus; the focus is set slightly too far back on the 7D images.

The focal plane is very sensitive in these shots, sometimes a matter of moving the camera forward or back a single millimeter can have a significant effect on how two cameras compare.

I have never used auto AF. Why would anyone let the camera decide that one? Single point is what i will continue to use and maybe with the 4 assist too since they look like spot af points surrounding as backup. When you have a static subject like portraiture you can use single spot af but the manual recommends or at least i have read this that its not good to use for moving subjects because it is a very finely tuned focus point. I removed the points i wont use from the options when i go to change them. One i removed was zone, if i was shooting animals in the sky thats prob the only time id use that setting. The others were the last two auto focus settings that are full auto. I like that i dont have to scroll thru them. I also made it so my rate button was a 5 or it was nothing since i only want to find my choice images quickly.
Like others I have found the 5dm3 has tamed my beast F1.2 50mm lens. It looked pretty dang good outta the box but i have since tuned it +5 micro-adjustment which is so minuscule but then so is F1.2.

The 17-55 has actually much better IQ than the 15-85. For that price though I would consider buying the 24-105L: it's slower, but offers a wider range for a similar price, and the IQ is more or less the same (on a 7D/60D/600D). Moreover you can keep it if you move to full frame, in which case the IQ with the same lens improves dramatically.

1) Putting a teleconverter in front of a lens won't really work for two reasons. First you will not be able to attach it to different sized lenses, for example a 300mm f2.8 and a 300mm f4 lens have significantly different front elements. This alone should be a rather obvious reason. The second part is the optical setup. Here I can only point to the article about lens heritage, to throw some light at the reasons. Let us just say that technically this won't work with multiple different lenses either.

2) Zoom lenses with variable aperture are being built, because they are cheaper to make.

dilbert said:

It isn't just the megapixel difference that makes the D800 attractive, it is the difference in DR.

14.4 vs 11.

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I'm very curious about how this plays out in real world tests, especially since a 14-bit ADC (which both cameras have) shouldn't be able to exceed a theoretical maximum of 14 stops DR. Even then you'll only have 2 levels represented in your lowest stop (versus 8192 levels in your highest stop).

DanoPhoto said:

The 100-400 is a great combo with a 7D. You mentioned renting a lens, but why not rent the 7D as well?


Will deliver better results with higher fps, faster AF and 1.6x reach.


Of course, just someone else spending your money. ;D


Dan

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I've thought about renting the 7D; I even checked craigslist for used ones. Then I started to think about the noise levels from that camera at higher ISO. It turns out the local place is out of the 7D and the used ones are priced at the same as new prices right now. I remember before Christmas seeing the 7D for around $1200. I should have bought one new then. I don't see this shoot as important enough to spend more money than just renting a lens, but these are all good options. If only money wasn't an issue.