5d Mark III AEB, what gives? Am I missing something?

[rotanimod]

Man oh man, I was hoping the 5d Mark III would have everything and leave nothing to be desired.

There was one particular spec I was really hoping for: AEB 2, 3, 5, 7 @ 1/3EV, 1/2EV and 1EV. If you're an HDR enthusiast, you know how big of an asset this feature can be.

I'm not sure what to make of it now that it's finally here. So the Mark III will have:

AE Bracketing ±3 (2, 3, 5, 7 frames at 1/3 EV, 1/2 EV steps)

But why capped at 1/2EV steps? Am I missing something? tons of the Nikon cameras from the top down do full EV steps.

Nikon D3x:
AE Bracketing (2, 3, 5, 7 frames at 1/3 EV, 1/2 EV, 2/3 EV, 1 EV steps)




Nikon D800
AE Bracketing (2, 3, 5, 7 frames at 1/3 EV, 1/2 EV, 2/3 EV, 1 EV steps)


Heck, even the D300s does the same.

So the 5d M III won't do full EV steps even though the AEB has been expanded to 7...

I have to say I'm a little disappointed. A small stat indeed, but when you look at Canon's history of crappy AEB options this just seems WEIRD.

One spec may not be a deal-maker/breaker, but it is surely a consideration for my intended purposes. Man, the d800 @ $500 less + higher resolution + better AEB is looking good to me.

What do you make of this?

 

[Radiating]

Man oh man, I was hoping the 5d Mark III would have everything and leave nothing to be desired.

There was one particular spec I was really hoping for: AEB 2, 3, 5, 7 @ 1/3EV, 1/2EV and 1EV. If you're an HDR enthusiast, you know how big of an asset this feature can be.

I'm not sure what to make of it now that it's finally here. So the Mark III will have:

AE Bracketing ±3 (2, 3, 5, 7 frames at 1/3 EV, 1/2 EV steps)

But why capped at 1/2EV steps? Am I missing something? tons of the Nikon cameras from the top down do full EV steps.

Nikon D3x:
AE Bracketing (2, 3, 5, 7 frames at 1/3 EV, 1/2 EV, 2/3 EV, 1 EV steps)




Nikon D800
AE Bracketing (2, 3, 5, 7 frames at 1/3 EV, 1/2 EV, 2/3 EV, 1 EV steps)


Heck, even the D300s does the same.

So the 5d M III won't do full EV steps even though the AEB has been expanded to 7...

I have to say I'm a little disappointed. A small stat indeed, but when you look at Canon's history of crappy AEB options this just seems WEIRD.

One spec may not be a deal-maker/breaker, but it is surely a consideration for my intended purposes. Man, the d800 @ $500 less + higher resolution + better AEB is looking good to me.

What do you make of this?

The current 5DII can do over 1 EV steps so I'm sure that 5DIII can do it, it's probably just an oversight in the write up of the camera.

 

[rotanimod]

I think I got my question answered on a different forum, does this sound right?

You're not understanding the Spec correctly. The 1/3 or 1/2 adjustment increment is no different than Canon's have ALWAYS been.
The spec your missing +-3EV. That's the maximum range so you can go from-3 V to +3 Ev. The adjustments are in increments of 1/2 or 1/3 EV (depending on how you have your stop increments set in CF's)

The Old 5D have been the same except the max was 3 Exposures +-2EV

All the 1/2 or 1/ EV increments mean is, say you select 3 Exposures, The first click of the dial will be -1/3 0, +1/3, the next click of the dial will be -2/3 0, +2/3 and so on till you hit a maximum of -3, 0. +3EV If you select +-3EV and 7 exposure it's STILL the same maximum range just divided into 7 division -3,-2,-1 0, +1 +2 +3

Chose 5 and you get -3. -1.5 , 0 +1.5, + 3

You're all upset for nothing, It's fine, It's great

 

[Danack]

I think I got my question answered on a different forum, does this sound right?

No.

There's two bits of information that are being conflated to confuse you.

1) You can set the HDR ev 'value' up to 3 in either 1/3 increments or 1/2 increments.

2) You can then set the HDR to do either 2, 3, 5 or 7 shots.

e.g.
If you set the HDR value to 1 and 1/3 and then set the HDR to 5 shots it would do them at:
-2 and 2/3
-1 and 1/3
0
1 and 1/3
2 and 2/3

If you set the value to 3 and then shots to 7 it would do: -9, -6, -3, 0, 3, 6, 9


If you set the HDR value to be 2.5 and then set the HDR to take 2 shots, it would one shot at -2.5ev and one at 0 ev.

At least that's how it works on the 1DMKiii which has the same wording for the HDR settings.

 

[rotanimod]

I think I got my question answered on a different forum, does this sound right?

No.

There's two bits of information that are being conflated to confuse you.

1) You can set the HDR ev 'value' up to 3 in either 1/3 increments or 1/2 increments.

2) You can then set the HDR to do either 2, 3, 5 or 7 shots.

e.g.
If you set the HDR value to 1 and 1/3 and then set the HDR to 5 shots it would do them at:
-2 and 2/3
-1 and 1/3
0
1 and 1/3
2 and 2/3

If you set the value to 3 and then shots to 7 it would do: -9, -6, -3, 0, 3, 6, 9


If you set the HDR value to be 2.5 and then set the HDR to take 2 shots, it would one shot at -2.5ev and one at 0 ev.

At least that's how it works on the 1DMKiii which has the same wording for the HDR settings.

This was very informative, thanks!

 

[ers811]

Preface: 5D3 looks to be an IQ beast. Great job.

Now... As a software engineer, nothing peeves me more than limitations I know are purely in the firmware of a camera.

You want me to change 3 lines of code for you Canon? It won't take me 4 years either. I'll do it for free.

Hardware limitations I get... But when I know the marketing department has purposely castrated the camera to play an angle it's really disappointing. You might actually have some competition now, act like it! Those improvements are FREE to you! Good Lord, at least grab the low-hanging fruit and continue focusing on actual technological innovations.

This goes for a lot more than just bracketing. It looks like there are less intuitive ways of making that work, but my firmware wish list grows by the day.

Calling Magic Lantern...