5D Mark III doesn't live up to expectations in real world shooting...
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bkorcel
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Well with a topic such as that, who could resist!
I have been using it for sports, wildlife, low light, astrophotography and oh yes it has lived up to MY expectations. I fortunately have not experienced ANY of the issues others have reported and it's the serial "1" version. The AF functions are very overwhelming and to get the best out of the camera you need to experiment with the settings. For the first week it was hell. However once I realized the reasons why canon did things the way they did, my shots we're coming out fantastic.
Most importantly...the best thing is in fact the low noise floor at higher ISO's. This allows for much faster shutter speeds on action shots, particularly wildlife at low light levels. I pair the 5DIII up with a canon 300mm 2.8L with and without the 1.4X extender and I get great waterfowl flyby's. Unfortunately the camera still suffers from low contrast AF issues such as when a duck flies in front of similarly colored trees. None of the bodies will help with that though I suspect if I tinker a bit more with the tracking sensitivities I may be able to get some help in that. You have to give the camera SOMETHING to work with.
With that issue aside which I dont consider an issue with the 5DIII, the mark III is pretty superior over some of the other models...slight improvement over the Mark II but if I had a Mark II prior, I probobly would not have got the III. I came up from the 60D which is a fine camera for all around use but needed something more in full frame and extra AF capability for wildlife.
So while some may have high expectations, you need to come back to reality a bit. Work with tool and take advantage of some of the new capabilities and have a full understandning of how each setting effects the shot.
I have been using it for sports, wildlife, low light, astrophotography and oh yes it has lived up to MY expectations. I fortunately have not experienced ANY of the issues others have reported and it's the serial "1" version. The AF functions are very overwhelming and to get the best out of the camera you need to experiment with the settings. For the first week it was hell. However once I realized the reasons why canon did things the way they did, my shots we're coming out fantastic.
Most importantly...the best thing is in fact the low noise floor at higher ISO's. This allows for much faster shutter speeds on action shots, particularly wildlife at low light levels. I pair the 5DIII up with a canon 300mm 2.8L with and without the 1.4X extender and I get great waterfowl flyby's. Unfortunately the camera still suffers from low contrast AF issues such as when a duck flies in front of similarly colored trees. None of the bodies will help with that though I suspect if I tinker a bit more with the tracking sensitivities I may be able to get some help in that. You have to give the camera SOMETHING to work with.
With that issue aside which I dont consider an issue with the 5DIII, the mark III is pretty superior over some of the other models...slight improvement over the Mark II but if I had a Mark II prior, I probobly would not have got the III. I came up from the 60D which is a fine camera for all around use but needed something more in full frame and extra AF capability for wildlife.
So while some may have high expectations, you need to come back to reality a bit. Work with tool and take advantage of some of the new capabilities and have a full understandning of how each setting effects the shot.
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victorwol said:
Yes you are quite right, perhaps I did overgeneralize the problems I was having with my particular camera. And after trying many different suggestions and tweaks, my camera is STILL not nailing focus, so I'm now thinking that maybe I got a lemon fresh off the assembly line. Sometimes it doesn't pay to be one of the first in line especially when it comes to new technology. I really do appreciate all of the help and advice you guys provided, even if this particular camera ends up being a bust for me. It certainly helps to know more about things like AFMA which I always thought was something you rarely did as it could screw things up more than help. I have discovered through this post that it is something that is regularly done on Canon camera/lens combos. That's one of many valuable and insightful golden nuggets I can now add to my ever growing knowledge base. So thanks guys.
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Shot with LV... All my shots have the same difference between the 5d2 and 5d3...
If this isn't fixable (and I seriously don't think so) I'm hoping the 1d X doesn't suffer under the same, or else I have just spent all that money downgrading my lenses....
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Without any bashing or being a Canon fan, give Reikan FoCal a try.
AFMA is there for a reason and so that you wouldn't have to (necessarily) send your gear to Canon for focus adjustment. The reason behind all this being of course the tolerances in manufacturing.
With your MkIV and lenses you might have been lucky and the tolerances have been 0/0 or so small that they don't matter within the DOF. You instantly get bigger problems if say your MkIV has been -3 and your lenses (for arguments sake) from +2 to +4, but your MkIII is +4 so the problem is really visible now.
If the focus adjustment is off, there's no setting in the AF- menu that will make your photos sharper.
Just my 0.02$
AFMA is there for a reason and so that you wouldn't have to (necessarily) send your gear to Canon for focus adjustment. The reason behind all this being of course the tolerances in manufacturing.
With your MkIV and lenses you might have been lucky and the tolerances have been 0/0 or so small that they don't matter within the DOF. You instantly get bigger problems if say your MkIV has been -3 and your lenses (for arguments sake) from +2 to +4, but your MkIII is +4 so the problem is really visible now.
If the focus adjustment is off, there's no setting in the AF- menu that will make your photos sharper.
Just my 0.02$
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are you serious?take a lot more shots with the lens cap on what kind of sad shit is this lol get out there and shoot in the real world not lens caps and charts the whole light leak issue is a non-issue completely blown out of proportion.Get out there and shoot your cameras are fine if you bought a 3000 camera to shoot lens caps then you are all idiots!neuroanatomist said:
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japhoto said:
Can people please read the post and see that it is shot in LV=LIVE VIEW!!
I have spent more time with afma then a lot of people put together. I'm getting really annoyed people think that this softness is the users fault. I have seen more examples like mine showing the same exact thing.
I have never been lucky with my lenses, check out which lenses I own, and I can assure you that NONE of them have EVER been at 0 setting and worked.
I'm not a n00b.
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japhoto said:Viggo said:
Sorry Viggo, but this answer wasn't for you, but for the OP.
I just had to post it after yours because you were faster
Okay, I'm sorry for taking it out on you then. I'm just pi$$ed that Canon screwed up and it's only me and a few other guys who seem to realize this isn't about the user, and however hard it is to believe, it is the camera and it has never been like that with another Canon, ever.... This reminds me of the 1d3 AF.....
The 5d3 is a spectacular camera, and I have been very excited about it long before buying it, and also very happy test shooting, but the softness really gets in the way of overly excitment and joy from using the camera.
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Viggo said:japhoto said:Viggo said:
Sorry Viggo, but this answer wasn't for you, but for the OP.
I just had to post it after yours because you were faster
Okay, I'm sorry for taking it out on you then. I'm just pi$$ed that Canon screwed up and it's only me and a few other guys who seem to realize this isn't about the user, and however hard it is to believe, it is the camera and it has never been like that with another Canon, ever.... This reminds me of the 1d3 AF.....
The 5d3 is a spectacular camera, and I have been very excited about it long before buying it, and also very happy test shooting, but the softness really gets in the way of overly excitment and joy from using the camera.
No problem, but regarding your issue, you shot both of those photos with live-view and manual focus using 10x magnification?
If that's the issue, then it's not the AF-system at all. Either there's something wrong (maybe on just part of the cameras) or MkIII has a stronger AA filter (don't know if this is the case).
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neuroanatomist said:bornshooter said:
Seriously? We've locked horns what, half a dozen times, and you still can't tell when I'm being sarcastic?
Apparently, I need to use <sarcasm> tags on about 30% of my posts, just to make it obvious...
Listen, I'm dead serious here. Leave bornshooter alone and stop picking on him... he can't help the way he is.
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